The Last Vigilant

• Author: Mark A. Latham
• Genre: Fantasy
• Publication Date: June 24, 2025
• Publisher: Orbit
• Series: Kingdom of Oak and Steel #1

Thank you to Orbit and Oliver Wehner for sending me a copy of this audiobook in exchange for an honest review.

The Last Vigilant begins an unmissable new epic fantasy series, where unforgettable characters, intricate conspiracies and ancient magic collide

Shunned by the soldiers he commands, haunted by past tragedies, Sargent Holt Hawley is a broken man. But the child of a powerful ally has gone missing, and war between once peaceful nations is on the horizon. So, he and his squad have been sent to find a the Vigilant. They are a rumored last survivor of an ancient order capable of performing acts of magic, and they’ve been lost to the world for decades. No one truly expects Hawley to succeed.

When he is forced to abandon his men, he stumbles upon a woman who claims to be the Last Vigilant. Enelda Drake is wizened and out of practice, and she seems a far cry from the heroes of legend. But they will need her powers, and each other, to survive. For nothing in the town of Scarfell is as it seems. Corrupt soldiers and calculating politicians thwart their efforts at every turn.

And there are dark whispers on the wind threatening the arrival of an ancient and powerful enemy. The Last Vigilant is not the only myth returning from the dead.

I had never heard of the author or this book before, until it came across as an offering from Orbit. The fact that it was an audiobook was a plus, since that’s what I seem to be able to focus the most on, lately. However, I’m always a little nervous about reading a new fantasy novel as an audiobook, because sometimes I need to literally see the words and have a map or something else to refer to in order to fix the setting in my mind. 

I’m not going to lie. It did take me a couple of restarts for me to retain what I was hearing, but to be fair, I fell asleep while listening to, and woke up completely confused. But it was totally worth the time—I found this story engrossing when I finally started listening during the daytime. Saskia Maarleveld shines as narrator, voicing so many different tones and characters and accents that its a pleasure listening to this story narrated by a person who was perfectly suited for the book.

Let’s start with the characters. Sergeant Holt Hawley is a man who has been a soldier for his entire adult life, taking the rare opportunity to enlist in the army and improve his situation from life as a serf to live within the ranks. However, there is a lot of discrimination towards those in the army who aren’t ‘of the blood,’ or descended from generations of soldiers. He’s seen the bad side of the troops enough to be disillusioned by his ability to serve justice and mitigate harm to the serfs and merchants. In addition, he’s been thoroughly put in his place by his superior officers, and has been sent to lead a group of rowdy soldiers with a penchant for mayhem on a search for the legendary Last Vigilant, which is widely viewed as a pointless mission. 

There are quite a few side characters, who run the gamut from new members of the group to helpful strangers, useful allies, and atrocious villains. It made for an exciting read, especially considering how strongly written the interactions are between Holt and Enelda. Holt manages to actually fulfill a mission that no one thought he could do, and in order to bring her back to assist with a case of a missing child of an army general. However, Enelda is wise and cunning, and has survived as the last Vigilant after the order has been completely altered to resemble something that felt eerily similar to the Catholic Church at the height of of their power. Enelda has common sense by the boatload in a world where the people in charge seem to lack common sense, but I think my favorite thing about her is how she encourages Holt to start thinking and coming to conclusions rather than awaiting orders. She realizes that Holt sees and perceives the events around him in a way that can be nurtured to be like, the detective’s assistant. 

I was blown away by the world-building and how things kept expanding to include more depending on where they were and who they were interacting with. I loved how Holt has a strong moral compass, even as he is prevented from acting on it at times. Enelda encourages Holt to think outside the box, learn to trust his intuition, and is a wonderful foil to Holt’s long-time soldier mindset. 

The mystery underlying the story was done beautifully and I enjoyed getting to see this new world in all the positives and negatives. Overall, I really enjoyed the story and how the relationship between Holt and Enelda especially became more of a found family than simply traveling companions. This is one that snuck up on my radar, but I can’t wait to see what happens next in the series. 

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