Kindle Edition

When a man discovers the body of the long-lost Messiah, he fears her very presence might incite a holy war. When she wakes up, he is certain of it…

Nathan Rook never had much use for faith. As a soldier in the last war, he witnessed first-hand the devastation wrought by the ageless religious schism so deeply dividing his country. But when he discovers an ancient coffin and finds a living, breathing woman inside, he believes he may have stumbled across the greatest discovery in history—or the greatest hoax. From her ceremonial dress to her elaborate tattoos, the mysterious woman is the perfect incarnation of the Messiah, and she wields a power that defies the very laws of magic. There’s just one problem: she doesn’t remember anything, not even her own name.

As he strives to restore her memory, Rook realizes it might not matter if she is the genuine Messiah or not. Once word of her discovery gets out, every faction in the city will seek to claim her legendary power as their own. Together they struggle to evade a mad prince, a renegade general, and a power-hungry senator, but he has yet to confront the biggest problem of all: he is falling in love with her.

The Last Goddess is a very well-developed, detailed and fully enjoyable story of a legend that comes to life but not in the way that is expected. The characters all have strong personalities that provide conflict and resolution, strength, weakness and vulnerability in their relationships with each other that you could expect outside the pages of the book.

The powers that some of the characters possess are perfectly balanced, not overwhelming to the story, with other physical abilities that may be considered old-fashioned to modern-day techniques. Familiar weapons and physical training are added creating a nice base of common understanding while you can be in awe of the powers or the results of training that some possess when conflict does arise.

There are a few twists and turns in the story line keeping the reader on their toes, there is an especially good surprise at the end that leaves the perfect cliff hanger and opening to The Last Empress, the follow-up to The Last Goddess in the Shattered Messiah Trilogy.

Kindle Edition

The Last Goddess is a very exciting, smoothly written adventure that will stay in my collection to be re-read someday, which is not offered to many novels by me. I will also be keeping on the lookout for other writings by C.E. Stalbaum as I have really enjoyed his voice in that comes out  in his written words.

You can tell that Stalbaum has plenty of experience in writing, he is no novice, and that is proven in his short biography at the end of his novel and makes his adventures all the more enjoyable.

C.E. Stalbaum has a PhD in Political Science/ International Relations from Purdue University. He has taught courses in English Composition. Creative Writing, and International Politics.

You can visit him for news an updates at http://www.cestalbaum.com/. You can also follow him on Facebook or Twitter @C.E.Stalbaum.

Coffee Order:  Quad