Spicy Japanese inspire supernatural adventure

General Thoughts
I have to admit I’m no expert on Asian inspired fantasy books and it is a bit out of my usual medieval European fantasy. I do watch a fair bit on anime so this was a refreshing change which I enjoyed. Rob J. Hayes attention to detail on the costumes, settings, mannerisms and mythology shone through in his writing and made it very authentic and believable.

Story – 9
Ein is a 8 year old boy who was brought back to life by a Shinigami (God of Death) and given a mission to kill the Emperor of Ten Kings. In order to accomplish this goal he has to recruit various heroes of legends.

The first hero he recruits is Itami Cho, the Whispering Blade. She carries two swords but it forbidden to draw the second blade. She uses her voice to power-up her sword attacks. They then encounter Zhihao Cheng, the Emerald Wind. He is a slippery rogue who can teleport to evade attacks. Iron Gut Chem is a larger than life character who has impenetrable skin and a massive appetite for life and food. Roi Astara, Death's Echo is a sharp shooting sniper who body is riddled with leprosy. Bingwei Ma is a monk who is the master of unarmed combat, unmatched in skill.

Not all these recruits are willing and Ein uses his necromantic magic to bring them back from death which binds them to him. Ein offers them a reward of a second life but If they stray too far away from him they will perish. This leads to a very strange dynamic of a 8 year old boy ordering legendary heroes. Also this is a group of individuals who would never been in a team together so there is some tension and unusual friendships formed.

There is a fair bit of action when unnatural creatures are sent to stop this group accomplishing their goal.

Characters – 8
I really enjoyed the quite a memorable cast of characters. They were all diverse and all have completely different motives, values and outlooks on life. The relationships they created and their banter was marvellous and sometimes hilarious and occasional very heart warming. All the heroes had very distinct fight styles and went through quite a bit of character development in the final third of the book. It wasn't until the final third of the book that I connected to some of the characters but I believe this was intentional as not all the heroes are show heroic personalities.

The Narration – 9
Kim Bretton was very good a narrating this book. She did an amazing job and making every character very distinct. This made everyone instantly recognisable who was talk at any point in the book. I thought the voice used for Ein was amazing. Kim did a great job with both sexes voices. The only voice that grated on me a little was Iron Gut Chem to start with but I got used to very quickly and actually like it by the end of the book.

Wrap Up
Rob J. Hayes is a British author which I quite like being from England. He is a very new talent winning SPFBO (Self-Published Fantasy Blog-Off) 2017. Hayes did a great job of fitting so much story in such a short book.

I have to acknowledge the book cover as being truly amazing. The style was amazing and clearly shows you a lot of details in the story. The artist Felix Ortiz & designer Shawn King have outdone themselves.

I did find recruitment process of the heroes my only gripe. Each new heroes was about as strong as all the previous heroes put together probably to keep it interesting but I didn't like it as it made the previous hero look a bit weak and meant they could not recruit them in any other way.

This did feel like an anime in book form (I know there are Japanese light novels) with special powered heroes being recruited to form a crew.... cough...One Piece...cough at times. Not that is bad thing because it has 900 episodes for a reason.

Great standalone book which I would recommend and secretly hope there are more adventures in the same universe.

[Note - I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review.]

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

2 people found this helpful

enjoyable

nice narration good story it had no real pizzaz but still very enjoyable and a good listen

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

A classic adventure with a twist

I recieved this book for review The book provides a solid adventure, following a group of misfit heroes on their quest. The action is well written and the narration is good. My only issue was that the conclusion felt abrupt as I had just started warming to the characters.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

Excellent storytelling

The characters in this book are fantastic. it's extremely well written. I was hooked, could not stop listening. the narrator was excellent and it was utterly enjoyable. I love how the story progresses. More please!

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

Excellent Grimdark Novel

Reminiscent of the character and world-building of Abercrombie's First Law series, this is an excellent grimdark novel.
Interesting premise, some excellent anti-heroes, plenty of violence, and most importantly, this is well written. Thoroughly enjoyable, and Hayes is definitely an author to keep an eye on.

I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request via Audioboom and have voluntarily left this review.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

Excellent adaptation

Excellent adaptation. Having been jammy enough to read an Arc, I found the audiobook even better.

Well worth anyone’s monthly token. Different to the authors usual work and doesn’t suffer for it. Like the book, the ending feels well rounded, less lean and the better for it.

I look forward to future adaptations.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!