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M. Wanchoo

Heroic epic fantasy within an East Asian setting

Reviewed in the United States on January 29, 2019

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OVERVIEW/ANALYSIS: Never Die is Rob J. Hayes' newest standalone fantasy and the first of his two releases in 2019. Rob was inspired to write this fantasy story due to an action sequence in a video game trailer as well as the innumerable anime movies that he gorged upon in his impressionable years. The world of Never Die was first introduced in Rob's short story in "The Two Faces of War" in the Art Of War: Anthology for Charity.

Never Die introduces us to a world which is based on several nations/regions in East Asia. The story is primarily set in the region of Hosa (China analogue) and there are quite a few other regions mentioned such as Ipia, Unga, Cochtan & Nash. I believe they might correspond to Japan, Mongolia, & India or Tibet. The story focuses on a young boy named Ein who's tasked by a Shinigami (a death god) to kill the Emperor of ten kings of Hosa. But such a task is nigh impossible considering the Emperor's superhuman powers and stature. However Ein has an edge, he's out to recruit his favorite warriors from his book of heroes to help him in his task. The only catch, they must first die so he can bind them to his cause.

Focusing on four characters, Itami Cho the Whispering Blade from Ipia, Zhihao Cheng the Emerald Wind, Iron Gut Chen Lu, & Bingwei Ma the undefeated wushu master of Sun Valley. Joining them in this mission in an enigmatic assassin called Roi Astara a.k.a. Death's Echo, his loyalties are unknown as are his motivations. But the only constant is that he's dying of a particular disease that forces him to wrap himself in bandages and hope that his body is able to survive till the end. Rounding out the cast is young Ein whose intention is singular and powered with death magic, he will do everything in his power to kill the emperor for reasons only shared between him and the Shinigami. The prologue of the story is short, dark and reads "Itami Cho woke to the screams of her own death. She remembered it all!"

The story beginning on such a somber note proceeds to quickly introduce the plot and characters involved. Primarily we get the story from Itami's and Zhihao's viewpoints and secondarily from Chen Lu, Bingwei Ma and Roi Astara. Rob J. Hayes has created a story that primarily focuses on a revenge plot and seems pretty dark. But (and this is big) the world isn't a grimdark one, in fact an argument could be made for it being epic or heroic fantasy. Still not noblebright though as that would be a bridge too far for the author 😄

The world is very reminiscent of a parallel earth and steeped in Japanese mythology. The author liberally uses terms and creatures like Yokai, Oni, Jikininki, etc. which mean the same as they do on our Earth. But he also uses terms like Shintei and Thopters which correspond to specific things on our Earth (which the readers can RAFO). This world is a very deep one as snippets of its geography, history and peculiarities are sprinkled throughout the story. Nothing is particularly spelled out but you will have to pay attention as there are a lot of clues, nods and hints interspersed throughout.

Besides the intriguing world setting, the characters are the strongest component of the story. Beginning with Itami Cho, the troubled Shintei warrior, then Zhihao Cheng a bandit whose moral qualms are shakier than most. Iron gut Chen Lu is a boastful glutton whose powers and most striking physical characteristic start and end with his gargantuan stomach. Then there's also Bingwei Ma, the most heroic character of them all but also the one that might be the hardest to bend to Ein's strategy. All these characters along with Ein and Roi Astara, give the readers plenty to ponder about. These POV characters are multi-faceted and come in all shades. We have outright heroic characters, we have those who strive to achieve good but are more opportunistic. Plus there are those who are cruel and evil so to speak but they have their reasons and while they might not be palatable to most common folks, those reasons are their own.

The POV characters as well as the secondary ones are fully realized characters with motivations as pure and putrid as any found in our lives. They have their frustrations, they don't get along and aren't quite sure of Ein's true motives. How would they? He's an eight year old that brings back people to life and binds them his cause:

"Cho now realized the boy would make monsters of them before his quest was done!"

There's also a very solid mystery to this revenge storyline:

- What did happen to Ein?

- Why does he want to kill the Emperor?

- Why does he wear a red scarf and no shoes? (see the magnificent cover for Ein's red scarf).

These are pertinent questions and all of them are answered with some mental deduction by the readers as well as some huge plot twists by the author. Including the biggest twist of them all which left me stunned and was one which I don't think has been explored much in the fantasy genre. This was a particularly wicked one and I truly can't talk more. But believe me, you will know when you stumble across it as do the characters...

The story is filled with action sequences and personal battles that bring to mind Wuxia literature and anime movies. The author is a huge fan of anime and manga and there are plenty of homages and nods snuck in throughout the book. One particular reference is about China's most celebrated historical epic and it was a nice wink. I appreciated how Rob Hayes has managed to utilize East Asian lore and martial arts aspects and add his own particular brand of twisted plotlines to give us a revenge story that's uniquely his own. This world that's introduced within is too interesting for the author to just give us a standalone entry. I hope that the author write more stories set in this world as I would like to know more about:

- Of the Century Blade's past as well as the outcome of his fifth trial,

- The troubles and possible conflict with the Cochtan,

- The true backstory & the future of Daiyu Lingsen also referred to as The Art Of War by friends and foes alike.

There's just so much of this world that's mentioned in a throwaway line or character remembrance that as a reader, I was completely entranced and left wanting to explore more of it.

Lastly I must say that the cover of this book is truly fantastic. Artist Felix Ortiz & designer Shawn King have come up with something unique and wondrous. The cover matches the brilliance of the story and dare I say perhaps outshines it. As self-published books go, this cover is one of the best that I've ever seen and rivals the best that traditionally published books have to offer. Don't believe me, the Barnes & Noble SF&F blog folks say so as they hosted the cover reveal for the book. Making this a special first for any self-published title or author ever in the history of the fantasy genre. Now that's just a particular inkling for the kind of book this is.

With such a superlative story, there’s not many faults that I find in this story. But to be objective, the only thing I can say is that the final twist is perhaps not telegraphed as smoothly as it could have been. Again I can’t talk more without spoiling the story and so I’ll just leave it at that. Lastly as an Asian, I’m glad to say this book is very much a homage to the anime and manga medium. It utilizes several aspects of Japanese mythology and their usage is done with proper context.

CONCLUSION: Never Die is an incredibly action-packed, twisted story that showcases another side to Rob J. Hayes’ writing. With shades of epic fantasy, action-packed sequences as well as East Asian mythology, Never Die is a fantastic amalgamation that solidly underscores why Mark Lawrence emphatically calls Rob J. Hayes “One of self-publishing's rising stars”.

Chris Haught

Whispering Blade and More

Reviewed in the United States on April 6, 2019

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Now, that’s what I’m talking about when I say I love the Grimdark subgenre. This is it exactly.

Many describe Grimdark fantasy as that which is bleak and full of misery, lacking in hope. But to me, that’s not what it is at all. It might have some of these things on the surface, but it’s much more than that. I see it more as the story of grey characters striding the line between being a hero and a villain. It’s a struggle within and the study of the internal conflict that the characters must deal with as they contemplate and live with their choices.

Never Die is full of blood and mayhem and poor odds of survival and success for our characters. But at the heart of that is hope, as each of them looks within and considers the balance between right and wrong.

Ein is a child “gifted” with the ability to bring fallen heroes back from the dead. In exchange, they are bound to him and his quest, with the promise of being returned to full life from their current status as “mostly alive”. We start with the heroic Itami Cho, also known as the Whispering Blade, as she is first killed and then brought back at the end of the battle she’d fallen in. She joins Ein in his quest, swearing an oath as Shintei, bound by her code of honor as much as by his power.
Cho helps him find and “recruit” the rest of his team of heroes as they join him with varied amounts of reluctance with the goal of defeating the evil Emperor of Ten Kings.

What seems like a hero’s quest might not be, as the team is assembled. They really have a variety of motivations and intentions, only joined by the fact of being bound to their savior, Ein. This turns into a great character study though as we learn what makes each of them tick through Hayes’s brilliant writing and shifting of point of view from one to another. The reader can’t help but get on board as they learn to work together and interact.

Hayes has two things that really bring color to his dark fantasy: humor and an Asian influence. Much like Joe Abercrombie and Michael R. Fletcher, the grittiness of the violence in this story is offset by humorous interactions between the characters. I found myself laughing as the banter between The Emerald Wind and Iron Gut Chen, in particular. Also, the Asian flavor to the worldbuilding made this one stand out from the rest of the genre.

This book was a pleasure to read from cover to cover, and I offer a high recommendation to any that like the qualities in a story that I’ve pointed out here. It is all of that, and so much more. I strongly urge fans of dark fantasy to join Ein on his quest alongside the likes of Whispering Blade, The Emerald Wind, Iron Gut Chen, Death’s Echo, the Steel Prince, and the Master of Sun Valley.

Shawn T. King (stk_kreations)

Like reading a kicka$$ anime

Reviewed in the United States on April 16, 2019

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What a great read! As with everything Rob Hayes writes, this one delivers on all fronts, grabbing hold of my attention and never letting go until the last page.
Never Die felt like a really kickass anime to me, one of those epic 24 episode series that has you begging for a sequel season or at least a spinoff. The colorful and creative characters, over-the-top fights with cool kill-shots and blood spray, and the entire concept are wildly entertaining.

The story revolves around a young boy, Ein, who has been tasked with a near impossible quest from a shinigami, a Death God. To help Ein in his quest he has been gifted the ability to bring people back from the dead to fight for him. I don't really want to say anything else in fear of spoiling all the awesomeness this book offers, but I will say there's a major twist at the end that I never saw coming, and made me think back over the events I had read and saw some things in a different light. I feel that was a really telling fact about how great Rob Hayes is as a writer -- he weaved this terrific story that already had my full attention, then to make sure I remembered just how badass the story was he made me reflect on it in the end. Bravo, Mr. Hayes. Bra. Vo.

Top reviews from other countries

S. Naomi Scott

Wuxia meets Anime in a tapestry of well-drawn characters and high octane fight sequences

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on February 12, 2019

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This is a fantastic book. It's an exhilarating mix of Chinese wuxia action and Japanese folklore, all wrapped up in a tapestry of well-drawn characters and high octane fight sequences. This is what happens when you throw a bunch of carefully selected tropes and motifs into a blender and pour the results onto the page. In a word, delicious.

The boy child Ein has been tasked with a mission by a shinigami, a god of death. The mission: to assassinate the Emperor of Ten Kings. To aid him in this quest, the shinigami has gifted young Ein with the power to resurrect dead heroes to fight for him, with the promise that when the mission has been completed those who survive will be given a second chance at life.

The first hero to be drawn into Ein's quest is Itami Cho, The Whispering Blade, but she is soon joined by the bandit Zhihao (The Emerald Wind), Iron Gut Chen Lu, and Bingwei Ma, the Master of Sun Valley. Ein knows of these heroes from their exploits, recounted faithfully in a book he read, though not all of them agree with his belief in their greatness; Zhihao especially considers himself more a villain than a hero, given his past exploits as a bandit.

Along with the recently deceased heroes, the group is also joined by Roi Astara, also known as Death's Echo, a sharpshooting leper who appears to be part assassin, part folk hero. He knows of Ein's quest and wishes to join the heroes in the hope that his reward will be an end to his terrible disease and the pain it causes him.

Structurally, the narrative reads like a cross between a typical wuxia movie, some of the darker examples of fantasy anime and a particularly frenetic JRPG. Chapters more or less alternate between character building and kick-ass fight action, often with one of the named heroes taking centre stage for the fight against the bad guys. And what an array of bad guys we've got. There are bandits, yokai (evil spirits of the dead), a mizuchi (river dragon), an oni (evil giant ogre with horns) and of course, eventually, the armies of Wu and the Emperor himself.

The fight scenes themselves are superlative. They capture the feel of wuxia/anime perfectly, and often lead to the hero or heroes involved needing some form of assistance to beat their foes, hammering home the idea that the characters need to learn how to work together to achieve their ends. I can imagine that for some readers this approach might seem repetitive or tedious, but for me it was just another example of Hayes' understanding of the source material used for inspiration. Even the quieter chapters carry a lot of the eastern influence in them, with Hayes' use of colour and description echoing the characters' situation at the time. Put bluntly, it's nothing short of beautiful.

As you can probably guess, I loved this book and I'm really hoping the author gives us more in a similar vein going forward. It's only the second of his works I've read, the other being his first novel, The Heresy Within , and I can definitely see an improvement in style and ability between the two. On that alone I'm already planning on going back and reading the rest of his back catalogue at some point soon.

Long story short, if you love over the top anime action and classic wuxia movies, this book was written for you. Buy it, read it; I really don't think you'll regret it.

Cindy (Midnight Blue)

This is solidly one of the best endings I’ve read in a long time.

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on November 7, 2019

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Never Die starts in a rather unusual way. The hero we are introduced to, Itami Cho, also known as the Whispering Blade, takes on the hordes of bandits under the leadership of the infamous Flaming Fist to save the citizens of a sacked city. Cho can channel her Qi and use it to fortify one of her blades, Peace, to make it cut through just about anything. As she makes her stand however in the city, she is quickly outnumbered and she ultimately dies a rather horrific death.

I was ready to become fully committed to Cho and then she was abruptly taken away from us! I was quite taken aback by this development and wondered how the rest of the story was going to develop now. Are we going to meet a vengeful family member, going on a quest for revenge for her death? Turns out this wasn’t the case because the story takes another unexpected turn when Cho is brought back to life by a little boy called Ein.

I knew right then and there that this was going to be an interesting story.

Ein is charged by a Shinigami, a God of Death, to kill the tyrannical Emperor of Hosa, Henan WuLong. He is gathering a band of heroes to help him on his quest. To bind them to him though, he lets them die and then brings them back from the dead. Anyone he brings back has to stay close to him or they will die all over again. Ein promises a second chance at life if they help him kill the Emperor, vowing to fully restore their life after the deed is done. With Cho brought back from the dead and bound to Ein, they move on to Zhihao Cheng, one of Flaming Fist’s commanders known as the Emerald Wind, who was also killed in the sacking of the city where Cho died. Zhihao is a bit of a peculiar choice as he is a renowned bandit and, as he so adamantly insists, he is definitely not a hero. Zhihao is able to step through the world, disappearing in one spot and appearing in another. I think Zhihao’s journey throughout the book is the most significant one and he is by far the star of the story when it comes to character progress. I enjoyed reading about him and seeing him change from a ruthless bandit with a secret, to someone embracing his softer side. His dynamic with Cho was also quite endearing. Starting out as enemies, they have to find a way to start working together if they want this mission to succeed.

Throughout their journey they “collect” more heroes by fighting them, killing them and bringing them back to life. Next on the list: Iron Gut Chen, a hero with skin that can’t be pierced by anything and who can ingest just about everything without having any negative side-effects. He’s quite fond of wine and seems to think he is invincible. Along the way a leper called Roi Astara, also known as Death’s Echo, who is very skilled with a shotgun joins them. He is loyal to Ein without having to be killed and bound to him because he hopes that Ein will cure his disease if he helps him. The last addition to this unlikely band of heroes is Bingwei Ma, the Master of Sun Valley, a master of hand combat who has never been beaten before. Bingwei Ma refuses to kill and will only incapacitate, but still he is a valuable and calming asset to the group.

During their journey they are set upon by Yokai – vengeful spirits called forth by a Shinigami to stop them. This leads to some exhilarating and entertaining battle scenes where our heroes get a chance to work together to slay weird and powerful monsters.

Getting closer to the capital, they join forces with the Steel Prince, the leader of the rebellion who also wants to kill the Emperor to avenge the murder on his father. His right hand, Daiyu Lingsen or the Art of War, is a character I’d have loved to know more about as she has some very interesting powers. She only appears later on in the book though, so her time on the page is only limited. I’d happily read a book just about her!

Although the rest of the book is entertaining and interesting enough, the ending is what really made Never Die absolutely spectacular for me. There is an epic battle and so many revelations that my mind was completely blown. The first revelations I’d seen coming and I was a bit disappointed. It was quite obvious… But then! Then! Two more revelations followed that changed my whole perspective on the story and I was in awe. This is solidly one of the best endings I’ve read in a long time.

Never Die is a standalone self-published novel and absolutely one of the best I’ve read in that category.

S. D. Howarth

Great stuff, a solid 4.5 stars.

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on January 31, 2019

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A very accomplished novel, with a motley mostly dead, dirty half dozen in an asian setting. It has a tight, enjoyable narrative that makes it easy to devour, and takes some time introducing the mismatched characters. Zhihao comes out of it as my favourite character, with hint of grimdark redemption about him. He is a whiny sod on occasion, but he is the one interesting to see evolve into a couple of different roles. Cho is the lynchpin, but I find her personality a tad too stiff, with the others filling roles and tasks as necessary.

The ending is very solid, slickly paced as typical with Rob’s work and is very neatly packaged as carnage ensues and pointy things get abused double-time. The plot twist fills in the missing pieces without being too outlandish.

Cracking stuff and a stonking cover.

Kieran McLoughlin

Absolute pleasure to read!

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on February 12, 2020

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Throughout reading this, I've been debating between giving this 4 or 5 stars. Obviously, you can see that I decided on a 4. To start off with, the writing is really good, really enjoyable and flows from page to page. Secondly I absolutely loved the use of Japanese mythology and folklore. In a suckered for anything like that. The fight scenes are also top draw. However, there is a certain formula to this book, and you're either going to like it or not. Essentially you go from one battle to the next, and that's mostly it. There isn't so much in the way of character development and the main villain at the end wasn't that good for me, a tad generic. With that being said, the ending as absolutely phenomenonal, really changes how you view the book once you're finished. Overall, I absolutely recommend this to those who love action and want a highly enjoyable read. Give this a try, you won't regret it!

Pip @thelittlebookowl

Fantastic indie fantasy book with Japanese influences.

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on May 22, 2019

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This is a self published fantasy book influenced by Japanese folklore. Never Die begins in the midst of a battle and it had me hooked from the first few pages. It was quite a quick read for me because I didn't want to put it down. The characters are well written, the world building is fantastic and the plot is compelling throughout. I highly recommend checking this out.

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