The Last Phi Hunter is a fun and action-packed fantasy based off of Thai mythology. I thought the descriptions of the phi, hunters, and the land/magic was fantastic and vivid - the action scenes flow and are easy to follow. I think Ex's character is appropriately awkward but also extremely competent at his job; his dynamics with Arinya, the Hound, and his hunter seniors are realistic, and I ended up caring for most of the characters (especially Narissa).

Pacing-wise, I do think the last third of the book is the most solid and interesting. The first half was interesting but it took some time to get fully invested into the stakes and the characters. Likewise, I'm still not entirely convinced of the romance between Ex and Arinya. I would have loved to spend some more time developing their attraction for each other. Still, I would recommend The Last Phi Hunter if you're looking to explore Thai mythology, or if you are interested in a Witcher-esque monster hunter society.

3.5/5 rounded up.

Thank you to NetGalley and Angry Robot for the ARC!

70% into the book, I got anxiety.

Now, given that this book has a fair amount of gore as it has fantastical elements, it would have been understandable. I squirm during horror movies and could not finish a Last Destination movie without getting actual nightmares. But no, this time it wasn't due to its quite descriptive violent scenes. I realized just when I was about to finish through the epilogue... that it was because the book was ending. It was going to be over, finished.

I got so attached to this book without realizing it. I LOVED THIS BOOK.

Ex is a 24 year-old Phi hunter. I won't go into details about what the Phi are but know they are dark spirits that often cause grief in the mortal plane, so phi hunters exist to eradicate them. Phi hunters are "morally gray", one would say. They hunt and kill phi, yes, but only do so when the Phi actively causes strife in an area of the kingdom. They (or at least our MMC) never kill humans and are not considered murderers. They hunt efficiently by scavenging phi parts to sell to witches and apothecaries who need the phi parts.

Ex is on a journey to take our FMC, Arinya, to a well-known witch for... a ritual. It all starts there, the adventure, the romance, and Ex's journey to hunt the True Demon (greater Phi), Shar-Ala.

This book, I realized when I jumped into the audiobook at Chapter 1, is so similar to a game my significant other and I enjoy playing: Monster Hunter. The game requires you to hunt monsters and "farm" for parts for your armor. Usually, monsters that have caused trouble to the Village you belong to. Because of this connection, it was easy for me to imagine most of the fighting in the book, the appearances of the phi, and even the guild of the Phi hunters. Oh, and he has a best friend, who is a Hound, that I think is a cross between Cerberus and a Palamute.

The dash of romance was also very cute. I LOVED Ex and Arinya's dynamic, with him being a younger, more naive boy than his older counterpart (8 years apart, if I recall correctly), chaos and funny moments were likely to ensue. Though there are times when Ex would make decisions about his feelings and relationship with Arinya that would lead you to think he has 5 different layers of stupid in him, it was all understandable because he had no experience with love. All this guy thinks about is Shar-Ala, hunting Shar-Ala, and Spicy Bami noodles.

Until Arinya came.

I won't reveal more about their romance because it only gets better and better, just like their character development. Their love becomes so pure and sweet that it just makes me ache with happiness and envy. Oh, and I should add right now that this is a semi-clean romance, and I'm glad it is.

I'd like to share a quote that made me scream into my pillow, when the master asked Ex about his feelings for Arinya:

"It is a force of nature, boy. Sometimes it swells like a tsunami, and drowns you. Sometimes it grows as slow as a tree, and blooms like a flower. Which was it?"

Ex exhaled as his will faded into slush. "How the sun rises. And the stars come out."

Like??? I CANT!!! To him, their love is slow but inevitable!!!

Anyway, I digress.

A LOT happens in this book. After achieving one goal, you'd think the villain is defeated. Alas, there is not one villain, but TWO. The real one, being the second, is such a character. Think Jafar from Aladdin or Tzekel-Khan of El Dorado. THOSE VIBES.

The story touches briefly on other planes of existence, reincarnation, ambition, Karma, and all that good stuff. This is the first novel I've read with a background in Thai culture and mythology, so most of it went over my head, but I enjoyed it nonetheless. I love elements of reincarnation--or an implication of such a phenomenon.

All in all, Goldenberg has weaved a new and exciting prose, not despite Thai culture and mythology, but because of it. The way each character is flawed and finds peace with those flaws is so achingly human despite half of them not being one. The political and social issues, such as the fading of magic and the declining need for phi hunters have not been resolved at the very end simply because it is inevitable. Their world, much like ours, will simply move on and progress, and myths and legends will soon cease and become superstitions until finally, they become pages in a storybook.

With how the story ended, it might be true that Ex is indeed THE LAST PHI HUNTER... it is inevitable. And that's okay.

SOLID 5 STARS.

Dear author, if you're reading this, I'm asking for HELP. What in the 5 realms was THAT ENDING?! Can we have a long, nice chat over coffee or tea while I interrogate you about it and all the other theories that have kept my mind occupied for the last 8 hours!? Please and thank you!

P.S, my boyfriend is dying to read your book. :)

THANK YOU netgalley and angryrobotbooks for giving me the ARC! love yall!

Thank you Angry Robot and NetGalley for providing me with this arc in exchange for my honest review.

Amazing cover and an impressive debut!

Ex is a 24 year old Phi Hunter, the youngest in the guild and keen to earn the respect and recognition he deserves by killing a true demon he’s been hunting for 2 years. A demon called Shar-Ala, a legend who attacks in dreams and hasn’t been heard of in decades. Phi are hungry ghosts and demons who had all been human once. Phi hunters can enter a realm of spirits and magic called the Everpresent and speak voiceless words. Reading about Ex traveling through there and the different kinds of Phi and the animal spirits, was fascinating! I also loved the connection and respect Phi Hunters have with and for nature.

When Ex returns from killing a Phi and ends up in a fight with a drunken farmer who doesn’t like his kind, in a village that disrespected him by not giving him the reward he should have gotten for getting rid of a Phi that was eating villagers, an unexpected person saves him. A pregnant lady with a connection to the throne, called Arinya. She asks him to escort her to a witch he was already going to visit anyway and when they get there, we are witness of an incredible ritual called a soul-capture. Arinya is running from certain people and they end up traveling together. Arinya, Ex, his sometimes partner The Hound (part spirit/part wolf) and his two horses with very opposite behaviors, make an entertaining little crew. Along the way we get to meet the guardians of the Emerald Forest and of the swamp, who were beyond fascinating, we get glimpses of strange ancient empires and even walk into the Deva realm (which I can’t stop thinking about).

Ex is a very awkward boy and often kind of an idiot but he grew on me and I really liked him by the end. Arinya didn’t have much depth as a character so I didn’t feel the romance between them but that didn’t really matter to me because the world building was incredible and the fast paced story very engaging. The different kinds of magic and magic users and the guild’s home and their habits, were things I really enjoyed reading about too. And I almost forgot to mention Narissa! An intriguing Phi who helps them and wants to become human. Although her Phi form was the only thing that was a little too gross for me in this book, she became one of my favorite characters. I think that ew moment and the several men along the way who were disgusting in forcing themselves onto women (once very close to rape) and the amount of vulgar talk in this book, was what actually almost stopped me from reading on at one point but I’m glad I kept reading. I really enjoyed this one and I was completely sucked into the story.

The Last Phi Hunter, the debut novel by Salinee Goldenberg, is a fantastical journey inspired by Thai folklore and history. I most enjoyed that aspect of the story—the parts where we got to explore the Phi and this unique world Goldenberg has created. While the characters were interesting, I found I didn't care to follow their stories as much. Parts of their character arcs felt disjointed and underdeveloped. The plot was unpredictable at times, which made it hard to put the book down.

Overall, an interesting debut! I'd be interested to see what the author writes next, hoping they have a chance to grow and fix some of the weaknesses of their craft expressed in this.

I thought that this was a unique fantasy novel that captured my attention. I will say that sometimes I got a little lost, but the action and the whole background of the spirit world/other world that the hunter traveled through were fascinating.

I didn't know what to think of Ex for most of the novel, but I grew to like him by the end. I adored Arinya and her personality. It was cool to see more and more of the depth of her character.

When there was a somewhat descriptive mention of gore early in the novel, I was worried that it would pass my comfort level throughout the book, but it wasn't too gory for me, which says a lot.

I think that overall, it was a solid book that I would recommend to people who read a lot of fantasy, but it just wasn't quite the book for me. I would probably give it between 3.5 and 3.75 stars.

Thanks to NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review!

An engaging and fast-paced adventure through a world of mystique and magic. This book is based on Thai folklore, which is excellent, because I have been meaning to read more South-East Asian fantasy.

I find that debut fantasy novels struggle with introducing new concepts to readers, and either end up with huge chunks of exposition or with the characters verbally explaining things in a way that doesn't feel natural, but I found none of that with this book. The author does an excellent job of balancing well-timed and concise exposition with character dialogue in a way that feels organic without breaking my suspension of belief. I know nothing of the folklore, but I was able to easily grasp all the concepts. The world-building is vivid and lush, and the magic system and lore goes so hard, there's mutliple realms and different planes of reality, different types of magic, ancient civilisations, different religions, and I get the sense that the phi that appear on page are only a fraction of the vast variety of phi in this world.

Moving on, the characters seem interesting, but I feel that we don't get as much depth from them as the world-building does. The main character, Ex, has a funny and engaging narrative voice, but aside from flashbacks to when he was younger, I don't feel like he shows a lot of depth. Arinya also seems really cool, but she remains kind of unknowable for most of the story; it's hard to discern her motives or get a sense of who she is. The romance also came off as really forced, I never rooted for them to get together. They could have just stayed friends and the story would be exactly the same.

Overall, a great read, highly entertaining and immersive.

I received an ARC from the publisher in exchange for an honest review

The Last Phi Hunter by Salinee Goldenberg is a Southeast Asian fantasy inspired by the phi of Tai folklore. Ex is a phi hunter who travels around to kill monsters when he meets Arinya, the companion of the crown prince and carrying his child. When Arinya needs to hold off on giving birth as the crown prince’s wife-to-be hunts her down, Ex needs to help her escape from those trying to kill her and her child.

I fell in love with Ex as a character when he blurted out that Arinya was beautiful when they first met. There was something earnest and endearing in his openness and I’m a sucker for guys falling first every time. He also recognizes that Arinya is a badass in her own right and he doesn’t coddle her or try to shield her from blood.

Arinya was pretty easy to love as well. A fighter who will do whatever she can for the child she wants, she also is quickly attracted to Ex but has her own duties. Her past as a fighter is an interesting spin on the ‘consort of the prince is on the run’ trope and gives layers for her character.

The magic system has some ties to nature, with forests appearing out of nowhere when a hunter needs to speak to a guardian and vast swaths of land can be crossed quickly. Ex’s hair turns white and his eyes become red when he uses his magic, making the magic tangible and noticeable.

Several of the chapters are from the POV of Narissa, a krasue from Southeast Asian folklore. I really liked her chapters and found her to be sympathetic and a different view on phi because she has to refrain from killing a human for thirty years in order to achieve redemption. Years ago, she killed the only man she loved and it haunts her.

I would recommend this to fans of Asian fantasy looking for explorations of Southeast Asian mythology and folklore, fans of fantasies about monster hunters, and those who are interested in multi-POV fantasies where monsters are POV characters.

Salinee Goldenberg nos ofrece la mezcla perfecta de fantasía con raíces en el folklore tailandés, acción y diversión en The Last Phi Hunter, una obra muy cinematográfica.


El protagonista es Ex, un joven cazador de demonios obsesionado con cazar a Shar-Ala, un ser de leyenda al que hace tiempo que no se le ve. Ex vende los restos de sus presas para subsistir, ya que son valiosos recursos en el mundo mágico. Sin embargo, Ex no es invencible y cuando Arinya, embarazada de nueve meses, le salva de una buena tunda, no puede negarse a acompañarla y protegerla en su periplo hacia su destino.

Las principales bondades de la novela son una construcción de mundo muy atractiva con la existencia de criaturas mágicas fuera del bestiario más conocido en occidente. Aunque el desarrollo de los personajes y sus relaciones podría mejorar, sobre todo el principio de la novela es muy divertido con las constantes pullas que se lanzan. Tiene su parte de romance, pero no es un eje fundamental de la novela o al menos no me lo parece.

Aunque la trama no es excesivamente intrincada, es innegable que los tejemanejes de los poderes en las sombras sorprenden en más de una ocasión a los lectores. Sí que algunos de los elementos de la historia parecen un poco acelerados, quizá huyendo de la pérdida de ritmo que podría suponer un exceso de exposición entre escenas de combate. No le hubiera venido mal algo más de equilibrio en este aspecto.

Otro de los personajes, no mencionaré cuál, tiene un arco de redención cautivador, negándose durante décadas a saciar su hambre en pos de la salvación. Un concepto budista cuya filosofía empapa cada página del libro, sin menoscabo alguno de escenas violentas y sangrientas. Es posible que por momentos nos recuerde a Geralt de Rivia, por su tarea de acabar con monstruos por dinero, pero Ex es mucho más joven y bisoño, sin el poso de amargura del Brujo.

Aunque el libro no se presenta como parte de una saga y tiene una conclusión satisfactoria, no me extrañaría que la autora volviera a este universo con una nueva entrega, ya que tiene los elementos necesarios para continuar contándonos historias de Ex.

Thank you to Netgalley and Angry Robot books for an advance review copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

DNF at 40-ish percent

I was so excited for this book because I love SEA-based fantasy, and the cover is gorgeous! However, I found it hard to connect with Ex and Arinya; both of them felt a little flat as characters, and the building romance was meh. I liked Narissa and think she's more interesting but her POV are few and far in between.

The mythology and lore are so rich, and the world felt very alive. Will be attempting to read this book again in the future just for this.

A young man, Ex, is the last Phi hunter and while on a hunt he runs into a woman, a heavily pregnant woman who buys his services as a security guard to escort him to the home of a witch. Ex doesn't know what this woman needs with the with but he's broke and he's heading to see the same witch anyway, little does he know that this woman is hunted by people willing to kill to get her, and Ex rapidly discovers that his life killing Hungry Ghosts seems far less dangerous than the life of a courtesan.

This was a pretty decent read, especially since it seems to be based on Indonesian myth/folklore surrounding Ghosts and demons, a rabbit hole I haven't gone down yet, but now I'm gonna have too.
.
I enjoyed the characters as well, for a first novel they were surprisingly well fleshed out and whole. Especially Ex, honestly, he was my favorite part of this book.

The Magic system is interesting as well as there seems to be two distinct systems. The one the Hunters use and then the one that Sorcerers use and while the magic seems to be rooted in the same place, how, the individual groups access it seems to be quite different. And I really enjoyed that, it creates a distinct difference between the groups while not making a huge complicated mess.

It's genuinely got an anime feeling to it as well and I, of course, enjoyed that. I could see this being picked up for a manga or an animated series easily.

There are some points where the writing is a bit rough, where I had to go back and reread things to figure out what was going on, and there was some use of language that I found to be a bit jarring to the story like it just snapped you out of it. Modern words that just didn't fit the setting of the story. But honestly I think that can be easily chalked up to this being the author's first book.

Overall, this was a solid first book and a well done Southeast Asian fantasy adventure.

I really enjoyed this book, but in the first half the characters felt flat, especially Arinya, I just couldn’t get a read on her personality or emotions and that is my biggest issue with this novel.

This book really surprised me, because I thought the plot was going to be pretty straightforward, but I was relieved to find that I couldn’t predict what was going happen next and that really kept me intrigued and immersed in the story.

All around I would recommend this book if you’re looking for a good story based upon Thai folklore.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the arc.

Thank you Angry Robot, NetGalley, and Dreamscape Media for an eARC and advanced listening copy in exchange for an honest review!

Ex is a member of the Phi Hunters Order, and he is on a quest to slay a demon that has been plaguing the Order and his masters. Shar-Ala is the demon of nightmares and madness, though, and on the way Ex gets his ass kicked and is saved by Arinya, who is a muay-boran champion and nine months pregnant. In return for saving him, Arinya wants his help, and so his quest gets a little derailed.

The Last Phi Hunter was so fun and one of those books where you’re like “yeah, this is definitely a romp.” I liked Goldenberg’s writing and found her tone to be humorous in a way that works in this land of demon slaying. I really loved her worldbuilding and how Thai mythology and folklore was used to create the Suyoram Kingdom. While I do think that one of the weak points of this novel was Ex and Arinya’s characterizations, they were still fun to follow and the actual journey they went on was super entertaining. Also, the demons and spirits were wonderful. While I don’t think this particular book will live rent free in my head, it’s also one I see myself rereading and I’d definitely read anything else that Goldenberg wants to set in this world. This is such a wild ride of a debut in every positive sense you can imagine, and the world is really interesting.

David Lee Huynh did a great job with the audiobook! He did a good job differentiating the voices of each character and it was an enjoyable experience.

Definitely recommend this, and I’ll keep an eye on Goldenberg’s career.

Goldenberg wrote an incredible novel filled with color and flavor I have never experienced before. You will be whisked away into a world of beauty, horror, love, and terror. Absolutely wonderful.

The Last Phi Hunter is witty, quirky, and episodic adventure filled with Thai folklore, ghosts, and demons, following a bumbling protagonist named Ex. This would be the perfect read for fans of The Witcher, but where the humorous bard is the one with the powers and becomes the hero rather than the stoic and powerful. Outside of the action-packed story, The Last Phi Hunter also explores what we want versus what we need, the ways of goals may shift unconsciously as we come to realize what is truly important in life outside of external validations, medals, rewards, badges, acknowledgement.

A big thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for and ARC of the book!

The Last Phi Hunter is an epic, Thai-inspired fantasy that finds our phi-hunting protagonist, Ex, saddled with a mysterious, yet equally skilled (and did I mention: pregnant), fighter, Arinya, and a quest to deliver her safely home to the royal palace. And I found it to be a real treat to read!

Salinee Goldenberg's vivid descriptions not only of the world she constructs, but the action that takes place in it, is stunning. I could picture every city the main pair traversed and each threat they encountered. Threats, I should say, that deserve praise in their own respect. The phi that Ex, the eponymous last phi hunter, encounters are nuanced creatures, at turns monstrous and startingly human, and made for great antagonists in the story. They helped Goldenberg's world, rich with diversity, both kindly and deeply evil creatures, come to life.

The protagonists of the story, Ex and Arinya, also made for great companions on this quest across an epic world. Ex, a snarky hunter, was a fantastic narrator. I absolutely loved seeing him create chaos around him and dig himself deeper into already perilous situations. Arinya, while at times slightly under-developed, offered a perfect balance to Ex's chaos. And her growing story helped to shade the world in further.

All this is to say, if you love an epic fantasy story or even enjoy a deeply chaotic (and at times, unhinged) protagonist, I couldn't recommend The Last Phi Hunter. It is a truly vivid fantasy.

I lasted three chapters with this one. I am not sure who the intended audience is, but it certainly (in my opinion) is not for the young, like middle grades. Let me start with the first couple of pages as examples of how hard it was (is) to get into this story. There are so many things mentioned that I have no understanding of, that I cannot imagine what is going on with any real sense of world building detail. What is a phi? What is a Hungry Ghost? A chamchuri tree, kongkoi, devas? And on it goes, like I've finished one book and am expected to understand all of this background. In other words, there is not enough descriptive detail for me to imagine.

The other element was the graphic nature of describing the half-digested face of a boy's head inside the stomach of the Phi. To me this passes way beyond the boundaries of description, especially when it deals with young readers. Call me narrow-minded or whatever, but there is a responsibility that writers have that should bring a balance between too graphic and non-descript. Pull this back. Perhaps indicate a small human, but in my opinion, that should be it. The point is made, time to move on.

The action parts kept me going through the rest of what I read, but again, going back to these other things didn't motivate me at all to continue the story, so I didn't. Perhaps others (as indicated by the other reviewers here) will have a different take, which is fine. But for me, the story ends here.

I absolutely devoured this book, and loved it to bits. Goldenberg's fantasy world, taking its inspiration from Thai folklore and Buddhism and more, is such a great take on epic fantasy. There's all sorts of magic, there's spirits and ghosts being hunted, there is evil afoot in the kingdom, and there's a great slow-burn friendship/bond/romance happening. Phi hunter Ex's hunts and quests in the spiritual realm are the highlights of the book for me, and I also love how the world and its characters are drawn with so much empathy, humour, and also both salty and sexy twists.

Many thanks to Salinee Goldenberg, Angry Robot, and NetGalley for providing me the ARC in exchange for my honest review. This book will be published and available for public sale/access on April 09, 2024.

The Last Phi Hunter follows the title character, Ex, as he travels into the spirit realm called the Everpresent to “kill” the malignant ghostly demon creatures and send their souls onward. His ultimate quest to hunt down the infamous phi called Shar-Ala is detoured by a desperate woman Arinya, who needs his help. They end up becoming travel companions on a magical, action-packed quest where the humans they encounter are just as dangerous as the demons.

WHAT I APPRECIATED:
- Short chapter-lengths
- Rich descriptive writing — I could picture the vivid landscapes, creatures, and action sequences.
- Soft magic system and a world with MANY types of magic: magical creatures and spirits, spirit realm, and different types magic-users including hunters, sorcerers, and witches
- Characters are efficiently introduced.
- Magic, nature, spiritualism, and traditionalism versus state-driven modernization, development, and new magic
- Action-packed with fighting scenes
- Quest fantasy, traveling, and something of a bodyguard/princess dynamic

MY ISSUES:
- A hefty percentage of the text was (too much) exposition on the spirit realm and characters’ surroundings.
- I wanted more interpersonal interaction. We have Ex, Arinya, and then random encounters with beings and humans on the road. Scattered details about the politics, king, and factionalism made me feel like we missed out on some rich sociopolitical interplay that could have been better woven into the story.
- I wish we’d gotten more backstory and deeper characterizations for Ex and Arinya. What we got was fascinating.
- I wanted more tension embedded in the plot so that the eventual plot developments and reveals had bigger pay off. As it was, I did not feel the high stakes and sense of danger that I was being told about.

Overall, I found the world and characters incredibly ambitious and imaginative. I liked the plot and friendships created. I only wish that the execution had more cohesion and stakes.

This was a surprisingly fun adventure inspired by Thai mythology.

A warrior is determined to prove his prowess by hunting down a legendary demon; a pregnant woman about to give birth -who is fiercer than she looks- employs him to help her get to her destination before her baby comes. Along the way they unravel political plots of the kingdom, clash with dark sorcerers, confront the possibilities of demons seeking redemption, and even become entangled with complex spiritual and metaphysical considerations.

The main character can occasionally be lewd or more sexual than I expected, but it was otherwise very upbeat and unlike stories I've read before.

Audiobook Notes:
This is narrated by one of the better male narrators I've listened to. It stands in stark contrast against the recent male narrators I've listened to who employ a falsetto for female voices that sounds truly terrible-- so glad he didn't do that here!! Though it was kind of adorable in the last 10% when he pronounced the "c" in scythe multiple times.

[3.5/5] In THE LAST PHI HUNTER, Ex, a member of the Phi Hunters Order, has one main goal in mind: to kill Shar-Ala, a great demon who haunts his victims with nightmares. Although ridding his kingdom of problematic phi, or spirits, is his primary directive, he knows killing Shar-Ala will bring him more respect. But he hits a detour in his plans when he runs into Arinya, who is nine months pregnant and requests him to escort her to a low magic witch. What seems like a somewhat simple request turns into something more complicated as Ex learns more about Arinya during their journey.

To jump straight to the point, I picked up THE LAST PHI HUNTER because the heavily-pregnant-character premise is unique. I expected Arinya to be a be a badass woman. However, early on in the book she essentially becomes unpregnant while still being pregnant. I won't say more because spoilers, but this event rendered that whole part of the premise null and void for me. Arinya remains a badass, but an unpregnant one. I really looked forward to seeing how the author would run with this pregnancy status in a spirit-hunting world. Instead I felt like a bait and switch happened. I also felt like this made it easier to write the action parts of the story. I would have liked to see how a late-stage pregnancy affected character choices, especially during tense situations.

Second, while the book is a standard novel length, I felt like it took me forever to read it. To be clear, the author writes well and the descriptions were great. Goldenberg excels at describing each phi that Ex encounters. Each description reveals a vivid imagination and my brain turned round and round trying to fathom their disturbing countenances. However, THE LAST PHI HUNTER falls heavily into the journey trope. I'm fairly neutral to long journeys in fantasy books and lean toward appreciating them. With this book, the scene changes weren't different enough for my preferences, which made this book feel longer than it is.

As the official synopsis implies, romantic feelings develop between Ex and Arinya. Yet, despite their shared experiences and peril, I felt they more or less lacked chemistry. I liked Ex and Arinya as characters, but their interactions erred on the side of illogical. Ex clearly doesn't know how to talk to women, so that created some incensed dialogue. And some of Arinya's decisions made no sense, especially given certain people are trying to find her. Thankfully there aren't too many of these scenes, but I found a portion of them irksome.

I also didn't particularly care for part of the ending. The epilogue rendered one of the major plot points of the book, well, pointless. I suppose it serves to show that we are all connected and share many past lives. But the method in which this occurred fell flat for me. There is also a backdrop of "modernization," or the monarchy outlawing traditional ways to usher in change, though not necessarily in a good way. While perhaps meant to represent the influence of the West, it also didn't really add much to the story.

I know it seems like I didn't particularly enjoy this book. For the most part, though, I did. But I think it might appeal more to readers who don't mind that most of the story is a journey. In addition to the phi descriptions, Goldenberg vividly describes higher, godly planes. And I found it entertaining that THE LAST PHI HUNTER clearly draws inspiration from THE WITCHER. Ex reminds me a lot of Geralt, particularly with respect to his personality. He is a phi hunter much like Geralt hunts demonic creatures that hurt humans and is one of the last of his profession. He even has various potions to use, can descend into a parallel plane to help him hunt, and a horse companion.

Overall, THE LAST PHI HUNTER is a solid debut, but some aspects didn't work for me. However, others may find they quite enjoy the very things that made this a slower read for me. THE LAST PHI HUNTER presents an imaginative world of spirits and traditional ways against a changing culture, forcing one man to decide whether to put himself or those he cares about first.