The fall and rise of Jericho Raeke
Last Dance review
Production company – Blackabbey Productions
Rating – 
Ok, full disclosure here. I’m really not a fan of fantasy fiction, but god knows I’ve tried. I’m that age where I was there for the early to mid 80s boom of DnD, and the 90s boom of the various Warhammer games. I don’t really like any of them. When I was about 8 or 9, based on the recommendation of some friends, I bought Sorcery! by Terry Pratchett and hated it. My parents liked it though and subsequently collected all his books.
With very few exceptions, I tend to find fantasy fiction generic to the point of cliché. Despite this, you may have noticed that a few of my recent reviews have been in the fantasy genre. The reason for this is that I really want to like it. I do. It just makes me cringe most of the time. But enough of that, lets dig into this week’s review shall we?
So what’s it about?
Set in the 1400’s in a strange realm, Last Dance follows the hard (and soon to be eventful) life of Jericho Raeke, a battlefield scavenger. A man indebted to a local criminal, and supplier of an elixir that many in this world need to survive. Raeke scratches a meager existence selling various trinkets to his boss/dealer in exchange for the strange liquid that keeps him alive.
On a seeming suicide mission given to him by the criminal associate, Raeke finds himself at the centre of an epic mission filled with ancient mysteries, downtrodden peasants, and lots of fighting.
Alongside this story, we discover the equally tough, yet completely different life of Knight-Sister Alyssa of Orr. She is the last of the Canvas Knights, and she begins her own journey. Soon their paths cross as the plot threads its way through the episodes.
What will ultimately happen to Raeke though? Will he survive and become his true self, or will he fall foul of the many antagonists that lurk in this strange land?
Is it any good?
If you ignored the rating at the top of this post and just read the opening paragraphs, you would be forgiven that I was going to be overly harsh and disparaging about this show.
On the whole, the voice acting is brilliant. It’s a refreshing change to hear a show like this without American accents. Not that I have anything against our friends across the pond, but I love the fact that there is so much great talent on less well known shows that can certainly give companies like the BBC a run for their money. The show is also produced in Ireland, which shows that (again) it isn’t only London that produces great shows in this neck of the woods.
The story is very well written. I like how it’s not really high fantasy. It’s set in a world where magic is real, and the balancing of humours is a real necessity. Especially as many of the inhabitants of this world have sold parts of themselves (and thus become dependent on the aforementioned elixirs to survive). It has more of a steampunk feel. I guess I could coin the phrase “alchemypunk” in this situation, although my pathetic attempt at creating a zeitgeist doesn’t do the podcast any favours at all.
Final thoughts
Maybe I’m coming around to the fantasy genre, after all, I also gave Roll For Impact a glowing review a few weeks back. More likely though, I’ve been lucky enough to get sent the top shows in the genre. Who knows?
If, like me, you are reluctant to dip your toes in the realms of fantasy fiction, then I really suggest you give this a go. Its muddy, stubbly rough and tumble world is well worth a visit.
You can get Last Dance here:
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