Book Review - TITAN HOPPERS by Rob J. Hayes

 

(Title: Titan Hoppers / Author: Rob J. Hayes / Publisher: Self-Published / Publication Date: July 12, 2022 / Total Pages: 469)

Back Cover Blurb

Courage Iro will shatter the Gates of Power to protect his fleet.

Born talentless, Iro has all but resigned himself to a life of drudgery, watching his sister hop across to the massive space titan for supplies. But when the titan explodes and his sister is killed, Iro finds a new determination to take her place. He's not about to let weakness prevent him.

When the fleet encounters a new titan, filled with powerful monsters, deadly traps, and mysterious cloaked figures, Iro is the first to spontaneously manifest a new talent. Now sent to a different ship, to train with others far beyond his strength, Iro will have to train twice as hard just to catch up. 

To protect his fleet, and to uncover the mysteries of the titans, Iro won't just open the Gates of Power. He'll break them.

Review

Rob J. Hayes is probably my most reviewed author. Part of it is that he's so prolific in his output, I mean the guy churns out books at a pace that would make most writers envious. But part of it is also that I really love his stories and am usually captivated by whatever brilliant tale he conjures up. TITAN HOPPERS is Hayes' latest offering and although slightly different from his past books in setting, it nevertheless filled me with wonder and excitement to the very last page.

This was such an action-packed book from the very beginning with no wasting of time before jumping right into things. If you've never read a Rob J. Hayes book before, he doesn't spend a lot of time info-dumping you to death, but rather reveals the backstory through dialogue and natural flow of the narrative. I prefer this method a lot and it's another reason why I'm just naturally drawn to reading his books.

The main thrust of the story in TITAN HOPPERS is centered on the young protagonist, Iro. Not coincidentally, the word iro or "iros" is the Ancient Greek root for the English word hero. So in this regard, Iro is literally the hero of this story and quite a clever play on words by Hayes. Iro has grown up on the Courage, just one in a fleet of spacefaring ships that traverse the universe raiding humongous titan ships for supplies in order to survive. Problem is these titan ships are populated by some of the most vicious and hideous monsters imaginable throughout their various levels. Questions soon begin to arise about what exactly occurred to put these characters in their present position, who built the giant titans and for what purpose? All of this makes for a tantalizing story that will absolutely keep you glued to every sentence.

As Iro gets "trained up" on his talents, it becomes apparent that this might be an uphill struggle. The reasons are many but the one major hurdle is that he is really hard on himself at times and doesn't believe he has what it takes to be a skillful and powerful titan hopper like his older sister Neya. But he better learn fast because the fleet is in dire need of supplies and food or else their extinction will become a certainty. And it doesn't help that many of those who Iro is training with look down upon him and bully him mercilessly.

Once the true conflict of the story hits this becomes an original and heart-pounding dungeon crawl on a giant spaceship. Need I really to say more than that? I've never read a book quite like this. It combines a variety of different genre elements that you wouldn't normally think would work together, but in the hands of Rob J. Hayes they do so seamlessly. I'm honestly in awe of how he pulled it off actually.

If you are looking for a book that is ridiculously fun, loaded with action, has breakneck pacing, and stands every genre preconception you can think of on its head, TITAN HOPPERS should absolutely be your next read. A pure unadulterated thrill ride is all I can say. I enjoyed every brutal training session, terrifying monster encounter, tense mission, and bloody battle. Pick it up and you won't have a minute's worth of sleep until you are done, it's truly that impressive. Rob J. Hayes you have done it again and as always, I look forward to whatever is next.

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