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The Last Man (Leybound Book 1) Kindle Edition

4.6 out of 5 stars 14 ratings

The first book In the Leybound series. A gritty epic fantasy novel from Peter Roberts that will throw you into a world embroiled in war, where the battlefield is a crucible for men and magic.

The Faelen have returned to reclaim their place on the continent of Parthanea, crushing any force that stands in their way. The ragged remnants of the Arcanum regiments now hide in the last stronghold of Helgan’s Rest, pursued by Bimil-pal and his Mazral army. Their only hope: that the Erudorans arrive in the spring.

But Sergeant Nathaniel Riot of the Duke of Fallow regiment has bigger problems. Once, they called him the last man. Now, after twenty years of war, he feels more like a man on his last legs.

Betrayed by his commanders, Riot chooses the final reprieve of the damned and becomes Leybound. When a simple mission goes bad, he ends up trapped behind enemy lines with a band of thieves, murderers, and deserters.

To finish the job, he’ll have to reach the citadel of Morbian and its famed Sun Tower and break the blockade.

They are the scum of the regiments, but if he can find a way to lead them, he might just make real soldiers of them all.

The war isn’t over. And neither is he.

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From the Publisher

The Last Man title text
The debut gritty fantasy of war, magic, and the will to rise
No chosen ones. No prophecies. Just a condemned soldier with nothing left to lose.
Author Peter Roberts

Editorial Reviews

Review

With 90000 page views and 1500 followers on Royal Road, here's what readers have to say about The Last Man:
 
  • "Riot is as grimdark as you would imagine, but still has those redeeming qualities that kept me interested in how he would react to each problem."
    R. C. Vetta
 
  • "The prose used is excellent. The tone of that scene adds a layer of complexity. The dialogue is fantastic, as it feels realistic."
    PotatoTurtle
 
  • "Characters that have depth and motivations... you really feel like you know these people."
    iridium248
 
  • "The author did an incredible job with the descriptions that immerses you into the story. The story is great. It is paced at just the right pace. It develops at the right pace too."
    Kairanger
 
  • "Leybound is excellent. If you like grim and gritty, you need to read this."
    Dylan King
 
  • "This is one of the best written things I've read on here."
    XanderZan
 
  • "The author's writing just hits the spot. Especially when it comes to medieval magical war."
    Pirate-Captain
 
  • "Riot is a character you can easily root for. His well-balanced strengths and flaws make him feel like a real person."
    PotatoTurtle
 
  • "The Last Man is a truly immersive experience, well told and well crafted, and will pull you in before you realize it."
    LokiTheQuick

From the Author

Peter Roberts is an emerging voice in sword and sorcery fantasy, known for his compelling storytelling and complex characters. His work, including Champion of Small Gods and The Last Man, has garnered five-star reviews and a loyal following on Royal Road.
Readers are drawn to his rich world-building and the morally gray situations his characters navigate, where every choice carries weight and the line between good and evil is never clear. His stories balance high-stakes action with emotional depth, keeping readers hooked as characters face both epic battles and deeply personal journeys.
When he's not writing, Peter enjoys discovering the rich history and culture of Paris, his adopted home city, which often inspires the dark, atmospheric settings in his stories.

Product details

  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ B0F4LSB1YZ
  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Leybound Publishing
  • Accessibility ‏ : ‎ Learn more
  • Publication date ‏ : ‎ April 18, 2025
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • File size ‏ : ‎ 1.3 MB
  • Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
  • Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
  • Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Print length ‏ : ‎ 340 pages
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-2959945250
  • Page Flip ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Book 1 of 1 ‏ : ‎ Leybound
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.6 out of 5 stars 14 ratings

About the author

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Peter Roberts
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Peter Roberts is an emerging voice in sword and sorcery fantasy, known for his compelling storytelling and complex characters. His work, including Champion of Small Gods and The Last Man, has garnered five-star reviews and a loyal following on Royal Road.

Readers are drawn to his rich world-building and the morally gray situations his characters navigate, where every choice carries weight and the line between good and evil is never clear. His stories balance high-stakes action with emotional depth, keeping readers hooked as characters face both epic battles and deeply personal journeys.

When he's not writing, Peter enjoys discovering the rich history and culture of Paris, his adopted home city, which often inspires the dark, atmospheric settings in his stories.

Customer reviews

4.6 out of 5 stars
14 global ratings

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Top reviews from the United States

  • Reviewed in the United States on June 16, 2025
    Format: Kindle
    What a find! Kick ass action, great characters, cool magic and the right amount of intrigue and plot. Fair to compare to Black Company. I won't be surprised if the series edges out Abercrombie (in my ranking anyway)-this book is a promising start.
    I can't praise the characters and their dynamic enough. This guy has a deft touch. And yes, the soldiering had the little bit of Malazan je ne sais quoi this old reader gets far too little of and cackles and weeps when he finds it.
    Ahem.
    BUY THIS BOOK!
  • Reviewed in the United States on April 22, 2025
    Format: Kindle
    The fact that I'm writing this review at all is proof enough that Leybound is excellent.
    The book follows Nathaniel Riot, a battle-scarred warrior disenchanted with his superiors. He is a complicated character, riddled with ambivalence and regret. He's also a badass--but not such a badass that he's alienating to readers. He fights dirty, but that's because where he comes from, fighting is a dirty job.
    Most of the conflict in the beginning of the book orbits around tensions between Riot and his superiors. This is the driving force of the early part of the story, and it's captivating. What's most impressive to me is how careful the author is at picking out the subtle undercurrents--the real resentments couched within the name calling and the skirmishes--that drive the antagonism Riot feels from the people around him. These undercurrents stem from issues of class, caste, and some good ol' fashioned prejudice. It's fascinating to read, roots the story in something deeper than your run of the mill fantasy/war epic, and, most impressively, handles that conflict in expert and implicit ways, rather than spilling it all outright. It feels like literature.
    The story moves along, aided by clean and concise language that occasionally and welcomingly pivots into flourishes. The ancillary characters are all well-developed, even if they only appear fleetingly, and this adds to the staggering level of immersion present herein. Stylistically the book is doing exactly what it's supposed to do: sculpting the rugged and jaded interiority of our war-scathed protagonist, dancing gracefully between internal psychological angst and moments of harrowing external action.
    Overall Leybound is excellent.
    One person found this helpful
    Report
  • Reviewed in the United States on April 21, 2025
    Format: Kindle
    Overall this is just fantastic! The introduction is jarring in the immediate realism. Once you start reading you are there in the thick of it, whether you are ready for it or not. It was a thrill right from the first chapter.
    Style- I truly enjoyed the third person as well as the inner feelings of the main character who is entangled and engaged in so much conflict. Riot is as grim dark as you would imagine, but still has those redeeming qualities that kept me interested in how he would react to each problem.
    Story- I am not a huge fan of the genre, but this story road the line. It still has all of the things a Grim Dark fan will fawn over while leaving enough room for those who are interested in a story about a heroic man stuck in an impossible situation surrounded by corruption and an ever present annihilation.
    Character- These characters are so well written I am jealous. When I read I find myself giving characters voices. If I don't have a good idea of who the character is right away I have a hard time deciding on their voice. That was never the case here. Each character came alive as I read.
    One person found this helpful
    Report
  • Reviewed in the United States on May 12, 2025
    Format: Kindle
    Such an amazing book! The Last Man is one of my favorite books that I got to read this spring. Peter Roberts is an amazing author who creates a compelling world full of amazing characters and magic. I was first introduced to the author's work in Royal Roads, reading Champion of the Gods, and I loved the world that was created. Last Man is an amazing book, and I can't wait to read the next one.

Top reviews from other countries

  • D.S. Smith
    4.0 out of 5 stars Battle-filled fantasy with a complex hero
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on May 14, 2025
    Format: KindleVerified Purchase
    Riot's stubbornness will get him killed, but fighting dirty is enough to save him - just. He's surrounded by people who want him to suffer, and some he wins around, others he dispatches - the fight scenes in this book are nicely written (and there are a lot of them). One niggle I do have with the fighting, though, is that Riot's ribs are cracked or broken and his knee sustains serious damage early on, but he seems to 'forget' this in some battles, performing actions a fully fit man might struggle to. The book has an interesting premise for the magic system, but I felt spellcasting was somewhat underutilised in this book - I'm hoping for more elaborate uses of layline magic in later books in the series.
  • Thomas Bray
    4.0 out of 5 stars Enjoyably grim
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on May 21, 2025
    Format: KindleVerified Purchase
    A very enjoyable book with a novel type of magic. The main character didn't particularly develop but I don't suppose he needed to.

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