Rob Hayes

Classical Epic Fantasy with a Modern Voice

Revisado: 02-18-25

An excellent adventure through a land teeming with spirits and monsters, and a protagonist who both charms and frustrates, making her feel more real than most.

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A heart breaking story of war and love

Revisado: 09-02-20

We'll start this review proper with a little comparison. The Sword of Kaigen is Avatar the Last Airbender meets Robin Hobb. Sounds a bit strange on the surface, but it really does fit. The world ML Wang has created is a place where there are nations around the world each with their own affinity for an element, and their own powers to control those elements. Delving a bit deeper, certain families within each nation have specific and powerful bloodline powers. As an example, the Matsuda family are water theonites and their bloodline ability is the power to create a whispering blade; a blade of ice that can cut through anything. For those of you who like a bit of anime, you can likely already see a few similarities to a certain ninja story.

Talking about the world... it's large and well-realised. This is a dense book, full of lore and world building, but it never sticks out even when you're being bombarded by words you don't know. Some of it is Japanese (I think...) and some of it is made up terms for the world. It never feels out of place or left me wandering what was going on. You get a real sense that the story we're following is only a small part of the world, and fairly minor in the grand schemes of things. There's a lot happening, a lot of important world changing events, but the story is character focused.

As for the characters. They are varied and so well presented. For the most part we follow Misaki. She's a middle aged woman with an exciting past, who has forced herself into a very traditional housewife role. And if your heart doesn't break for her, it may just be made of whispering blade ice (sorry, had to be done). We also follow Mamoru, Misaki's son, and a powerful theonite who is thrust into understanding of the wider world, and struggles to come to terms with it. The supporting cast are just as strong and there's not a one that doesn't feel like a fully realised character with their own story to tell.

ML Wang manages to inject so much emotion into the pages and the character's plights. Just like with Robin Hobb's works, I found my heart strings thoroughly pulled, and I was really rooting for the characters. I felt their highs, their lows, and their turmoil.

So that's a lot of gushing. I should probably think of something negative to say, right? ... ... I got nothing. Honestly, I loved reading this book cover to cover.

5 stars and it painstakingly earned every single one of them.

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Like all your fav sci-fi games rolled into one

Revisado: 07-02-20

What happens when you put Halo, Mass Effect, and the Expanse in a blender? Everything turns blue. This is kinda how Stormblood felt. Like the Master Chief from Halo wondering around a space station like the Citadel from Mass Effect, with the looming threat of the proto-molecule from Expanse. Oh, and the Master Chief has PTSD and crippling drug addiction. It's a mash up, but one that works surprisingly well.

We follow Vakov. He's a Reaper, which means he's an elite super soldier who was pumped full of a drug made of alien DNA (Stormtech). This makes him super strong, super fast, super sensed, and super addicted to adrenaline. And the biggest catch... you don't get clean... Ever.

There's a lot of mysteries in play with this one and many are revealed slowly over the course, while others are held back for later books. There's also a bunch of really cool tech on display from stealth suits, to giant mechs, to warships. At times the book delves into these with wild abandon, so for anyone who likes to read about cool tech... check this one out! Do it!

There's also a deep character drama unfurling as Vakov wars with a side of him he's been trying to deny for a long time, while also discovering some new facets to his own personality.

It's a fun, action-packed ride full epic battles, mysteries, detective work, and a lot of heart.

4 well-earned stars.

Oh, and the narrator was Colin Mace who nails the bitter soldier voice to the wall!

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Fast paced urban fantasy with heart

Revisado: 09-26-19 El oyente recibió este título gratis

I have to admit, I'm not really into Urban Fantasy. It's just not my cup of tea. I also don't like a lot of humour in my books. A bit of gallows humour maybe, but that's usually about it. I say this so I can impress upon you that this book was up against it. But the author himself offered me a free copy and I know a few folk who have said it was good so... what the hell.

And I really enjoyed it.

For a quick story gumpf. We follow Gabe, a conman who is permanently broke and quite likes it that way. He a snarky arsehole who doesn't know when to shut up. After an apparently botched B&E job, Gabe finds himself catapulted into a world filled with umbras (demons and the like), and has to navigate his way through it... while also trying to remove a god from his head. Along the way we get a sexy succubus (I'm not sure there's any over kind) and a host of colourful characters. Sounds a bit hackneyed? Well the author manages to make it work, largely by making us empathise with a main character who is so far out of his depth he drowned about 100 pages ago.

I'm gonna point out here that the author narrated this one himself and did a bloody good job for the most part... although the voice of the God made my teeth itch.

It's a fast paced ride full of daring jobs, twisty plots, moments of genuine emotion, and big action pieces. Honestly my only real issue is it sometimes a bit too fast paced. Some of the best moments are when the book slowed down for a moment and gave us some worldbuilding and emotional gut punches. Other times I was wishing it would slow down for a second.

So there we go. Not a long review, but they don't all have to be. A thoroughly enjoyable urban fantasy read(listen) which is something I don't say very often at all. 4 stars.

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A sequel that ups the stakes and delivers

Revisado: 07-02-19

A fantastic conclusion to the duology and a great send off to mighty Edrin Walker.

So the Age of Tyranny duology is undoubtedly all about Edrin Walker. He's a thief, a magus, a tyrant, and an arsehole extraordinaire. He's also charismatic and downright fun.

God of Broken Things does exactly what it needs to as the second and final book in the series. It upped the stakes, delivered on the mysteries and promises of book 1, and gave a fitting finale to the crass, foul-mouthed bastard who we've been following. It also tightened things up a bit. Book 1 (The Traitor God) felt a bit slow and bloated in places. The pace occasionally meandered it couldn't quite decide if it wanted to be a murder mystery, a dungeon crawler, or an adrenaline-fueled action spectacular. Book 2 does away with all the fat and leaves us with the grisly heart of our favourite tyrant. It has blistering battles, monstrous monsters, heartfelt reunions, and a glorious ending that just felt right.

It's also definitely worth noting that Paul Woodson again nailed the narration. He was an entirely believable Edrin Walker and really helped bring the character to life in all his aresholic glory.

I think I gave book 1 4 stars, but I'm going for 5 stars for book 2 and for the Age of Tyranny series as a whole. An absolute joy to listen to and I'm going to miss Edrin Walker.

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Action galore, witty banter, juvenile banter, hear

Revisado: 04-29-19

The Traitor God is the story of Edrin Walker, a surly deviant of a magician who has spent the last ten years running away from a past he can’t quite remember. He’s fairly certain, however, that it has something to do with his murdering of a god. But when his best friend is killed and enemies from abroad start to invade, Edrin returns back to his home city in an attempt to unravel the plot and his past both.

I’ll start by saying I listened to this one and it was narrated by Paul Woodson who did a fantastic job of it. His sarcastic flair really helped bring Edrin Walker to life in all his sour, aresholic glory (yes, I just made up a new word for it).

We ride along in Edrin’s head for this one, and he’s a fairly typical anti-hero for the most part. He’s the type of man who claims he’s only there to gain vengeance for his friend, and only cares about those he calls friends… but when the threat becomes bigger than him, he’s the first one to throw himself into the fray. He’s a complex character and best of all, he barely even understands why himself. At Edrin’s core is a mystery, a hole in his mind. He’s fairly certain he killed a god, and he knows there were consequences for that that he’s dealing with even 10 years after the fact, but he has no idea how or why he did it. It’s a compelling mystery with an answer that is 50% drip fed to the reader, and then 50% slammed into the reader’s mind like a magical command.

There’s action galore, witty banter, juvenile banter, heart felt reunions, and horrifying monsters. It’s a bit of a thrill ride really and rarely lets up on the pace once it gets going.

A hearty 4 stars from me, and I’ll definitely be picking up book 2 when it releases.

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X-Men meets The Running Man

Revisado: 07-27-18

X-Men meets The Running Man. (If you don’t know what The Running Man is, you should quickly go and familiarise yourself with Arnold Schwarzenegger’s back catalogue. Do it. Do it now!)



Superhero City: Ghoul is a fascinating look at superheroes in a corporate, capitalist America gone mad. It’s a world that’s all about the ratings and the merchandise. Heroes are picked for super teams, not by any skills or powers they might have, but on their bankability. At no point is this more clear than the fact that the prime super time, The Wild 5, needs a new member and instead of picking a black, homosexual Flash, they pick a hot latino teenager who can set her hands on fire. It’s all about the money. Kinda like what would probably happen if Michael Bay became the next president… which now I think about it is a terrifying prospect that could probably come true.

Hero teams are accompanied by drones, conflicts are televised, and it’s all about getting people to subscribe to the next version of the platinum plus viewing package. If you haven’t guessed it yet, this is a super cynical look at what could happen if mutants (they’re called enhanced in the story) start popping up everywhere. It’s cynical, but not all together unrealistic. The author uses the medium of the Superhero genre to shed a damning light on the way the real world is moving. This is where The Running Man reference comes in. You should probably all read this book and also watch that film right now.

We get a good range of PoV characters, including some heroes, some villains, and a scientist with an agenda that sits apart from the other characters. The characters are all a bit tropey at times, but that’s actually part of the point. This is a look at a world where people ARE boiled down to their tropes. My only real criticism with this is… they’re all so angry all the time. Every character is angry. All the time. It fits within the setting, but it’s a little bit tiring.

The prose is good, with a slight over-reliance on infodumps to exposit about characters back stories, but the dumps are dropped in such a way that it flows smoothly within the story. The book is short, a little slow paced at the start, but it picks up about half way through and from then on it’s relentless.

So I’m giving Superhero City: Ghoul a well earned 4 stars. It’s a terrifying and damning look at where our world is headed, told through the lenses of a X-Men style superhero story.

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A worthy sequel to one of the best books of 2017

Revisado: 07-09-18

Well, I absolutely loved Blackwing. So much so I actually cheated my own rating system to give it the 5 stars it deserved. It still remains the only book I have done that for. So when Ravencry released I jumped straight on it, expecting another wild and wonderful ride full of despair, misery, nihilism, and hope.

I was not disappointed.

Ravencry picks up a few years after the events of Blackwing and the world has moved on a bit. Ryhalt has, if anything, become more of a belligerent arsehole determined to falsely prove to everyone that he doesn’t care. The nameless and the deep kings are still locked in their eternal battle, but there is a new threat rising, seditious and nebulous… religion.

The book is quite different to the first one. Gone is the mystery, that wonder at what the Misery is and the things it contains. The oppressive power of the deep kings and the nameless are vague concepts rather than at the forefront of the tale. Instead we have Ryhalt trying to uncover a new plot against his city and his people, one that in many ways feels a little disconnected from the larger narrative. Honestly, after finishing the book and letting it sit, it feels like a 2nd book in a trilogy. The plot happened and some changes were felt across the world, but it does feel more like the major changes are all character based. The world at large stays the same, but by the gods does Ryhalt go through some changes.

It deals with some interesting issues, including the march toward fatherhood, and the rise of religious power within a military state. It does them both incredibly well and hangs such emotional weight on each and every one of Ryhalt’s choices and actions, that we truly feel the weight of the world dragging his shoulders down every step of the way.

As with Blackwing, the narration was excellent. Colin Mace does an amazing job and really brings Ryhalt to life. Rarely has it felt to me that a narrator has such a hang of the character.

I have little else to say. I loved this one almost as much as book 1, but not quite. The Misery felt less mysterious and a touch less dangerous. And even though I think there is a good reason for that, the world lost something because of it.

Overall, 4 stars. I loved Ravencry and I am eagerly chomping at the bit for book 3!

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A mix between Lord of the Rings and WoW

Revisado: 01-31-17

So Wraith Knight is the story of Jacob Riverson. Jacob was the greatest hero of his age and a shining light against the darkness... right up until the big bad dark lord guts him like a fish. The end. Well, not quite. Jacob wakes up a few hundred years later only to discover the big bad has been using his body (and possibly soul) as a weapon against the forces of light. In short, after being brutally cuddled to death by sharp objects, Jacob was turned into a Wraith Knight (see Ring Wraith). But the surprises aren't quite done for poor Jay-Jay and he's reliably informed by the big bad itself that evil kinda lost the war on purpose because the big bad was just a bit bored of being the big bad. But it's OK, because humanity is a vile species and there's always another war just around the corner. Oh, and the world needs evil so the big bad has volunteered Jacob for the role. No auditions necessary. And that's pretty much where the book starts.

We follow along with Jacob and his growing (and shrinking) collection of super friends (I say this literally as everyone with a name seems to have a super power of some sort) as they attempt to right the wrongs of the world by becoming... evil.

So I described the book as “A mix between Lord of the Rings and World of Warcraft with more epic battles than a 40-man raid.” (Yes. I was there at the beginning. I killed Ragnaros and it was glorious).

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Middle-Book-Syndrome

Revisado: 08-08-16

Been struggling with this review for a few reasons. Finally figured I'd just pull it together. Here goes.

I listened to the audio version and therefore may get a few names wrong as spelling is hard.

Providence of Fire(PoF) picks up directly where The Emperor's Blades(TEB) left off. There's pretty much no time lost and we see the characters in the same dire peril we left them in. Kaden and Valyn are united and determined to uncover the plot that tried to slay them both, avenge the death of their father, and plonk Kaden's arse down on the Unhewn Throne. Adare is doing Adare things; sleeping with the enemy, realising she's sleeping with the enemy, running away.

I'll start with Simon Vance's narration. This guy continues to impress. He has a good range of voices, none of which sound forced or unnatural and he does an excellent job of giving characters unique voices so you can tell who you're on board with even before the text specifically states it. One interesting thing I did notice was that a few of the voices and pronunciations have actually changed since TEB. This is probably just the author correcting inaccuracies. I'm pretty sure Simon Vance's voice was designed for reading epic fantasy and there's little higher praise I can give it than that.

So what did I love about this book? Well there was a lot to love. We get a much deeper look into some of the characters and I'm not just talking about the back stories that TEB layered upon us. PoF is very much a book living in the present whereas TEB felt like a book living in the past. If Staveley completes the trend with The Last Mortal Bond(TLMB) feeling like it lives in the future, I will be very impressed.

We get a much greater look at the world and the various factions inhabiting it. That being said, the world continues to feel very tightly packed with everything happening in just a small section (geographically speaking). I don't doubt the world is very large, but for that reason it feels very small. Everybody seems to be within a few days/weeks travel of each other and ALL the important events are happening around Anore (?) as if the rest of the world doesn't really matter.

Tristae (?) is awesome. Possibly my favourite character (after Valyn) because of the way she flits between helpless little girl to hand-crushing nutbar. She's definitely one of the most interesting and not just because of the secret she's hiding.

Gwenna is another highlight as the foul-mouthed demolitions expert. She's worth mentioning as well as we start getting PoV chapters from her perspective... which seems odd. Up until now all the PoVs have been the Emperor's Blades; his 3 children. Now that changes and suddenly we have Gwenna chapters. Don't get me wrong, they're interesting and fresh and probably some of the best chapters... it just seems odd, almost as though Staveley really wanted to tell more of the story and had to break his own formula to do it. I'm glad he did though as Gwenna's chapters are certainly some of the most rewarding.

Kaden is... Kaden. He still feels like a potato. He goes around, he does things (important things), and yet he's just so hard to connect with that I struggled to care about his plight.

Adare is still as useless as she was in TEB. I really wanted to like her and for her character to flourish, but she's too much like Dany-fucking-Targaryen for me. One mistake after another and doesn't give a damn what any of the people around her (advisers appointed by her) say. Maybe she gets more likeable in TLMB, I'm told she does... but then I was told she does in PoF... lies.

Valyn, despite making some face-palm choices, is the bright light. I think I would have preferred books written all from his perspective, but then telling the whole story would be pretty much impossible. He's a broken man who is a product of a very harsh past and continually tries to put himself back together even when he just wants it to stop. He's fascinating and compelling and drives the story forward and keeps me coming back to find out more. I can't wait to see how he progresses into TLMB because he's left on a fair cliffhanger and I can only imagine he's going to become even more of a badass.

OK, time for biggest gripe (and it's a biggie). There is SO MUCH FAFFING AROUND in this book. There was a bit in TEB, but that was to be expected as there was a lot of scene setting, world setting, character back story. In PoF there's just a lot of people wandering somewhere, wandering elsewhere, splitting up, getting back together, doing a thing, doing the opposite thing. The book waffles and it slows down the pace to a crawl at times. That's not to say that there are chapters where nothing important happens, just that often those important things are surrounded by the rest of the chapter where nothing happens. The book is slow, lethargic at times, and it's why I struggled through much of it... and why I'm struggling to get into TLMB at the moment.

So that's about it. I enjoyed Providence of Fire, but not as much as The Emperor's Blades. I give it 3 stars.

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