The Last Vigilant by Mark A. Latham – Review

Published: June 24, 2025

Publisher: Orbit

Series: Kingdom of Oak and Steel #1

Genre: Fantasy

Pages: 501 (Paperback)

My Rating: 4 Stars

A copy of this book was provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

Synopsis:
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 didn’t get around to this book in June when it initially released and then I kept putting it off because I had seen some mixed reviews and it’s a long book. However… I made the time for it and I’m so glad I did because I really liked it! I knew this had a large mystery/investigative component to the story and it had a great classic fantasy feel.

The Last Vigilant follows Sargent Holt Hawley as he and a small company of men set off on a search for a True Vigilant – a member of a now dissolved group of mendicant judges with uncanny investigative abilities. Hawley is successful and finds an old woman in a tower who is reluctant to venture back into a world that no longer wanted her order and replaced it with a pale imitation. Hawley and Enelda Drake return to the civilized world to investigate the disappearance of a young political hostage. If the boy isn’t found, there will be war. What they uncover goes far deeper than a single disappearance and may involve supernatural forces that the Vigilants once held at bay. 

Hawley and Enelda have great rapport, even though they don’t always get along or agree on how things should be done. Hawley is an intelligent man, but often makes assumptions and resorts to the sword before he should at times. Enelda, or Vigilant Drake as she is often referred to, gives off a Sherlockian vibe without the drug abuse thanks to her brilliant deductions. The Last Vigilant is a slower paced book, but there’s plenty of action and some pretty epic reveals that kept me hooked. 

Overall, I really enjoyed The Last Vigilant and eagerly await the sequel. This book strikes me as a nice blend of The Justice of Kings and The Tainted Cup without being quite either of them. I like the supernatural element that was introduced and while it wasn’t quite the otherworldly horror that Richard Swan wrote in Empire of the Wolf, it definitely added a layer of menace to the whole story. I also particularly liked that perceived roles of angelic or demonic beings were turned upside down – each is malevolent in their own way! I think The Last Vigilant is seriously underhyped and hasn’t gotten the attention it deserves, given that it has under 300 Goodreads ratings.