First, I will define my terms… What is a Titan Hopper? A titan hopper is a gifted member of the armada who hops from the fleet ships to the gargantuan Titan ship to fight monsters and grab supplies. This parasite existence has been going on for generations in this post-Earth galaxy. The story picks up as the current Titan is breaking up and the fleet is forced to stumble away as their ships lack fuel, food, and other necessary supplies. The fleet has a new goal… limp through the void and find a new cache of supplies…
The action is focused on a young man named Iro who lost his talented Hopper sister in the last jump before the old Titan was destroyed. Now Iro has found out he has a talent for the sword, yet a different aptitude than his sister. Iro wants revenge for the loss of his sister, while at the same time training with his group of Paladin peers.
Titan Hoppers is a coming-of-age piece with a LITRPG-flair? TBH, I’m not as familiar with this genre as I am with trad fantasy and scifi, but I’d be apt to say that Hayes’s writing as always is accessible. And as I can tell the main aspects of the genre is a connection to role-playing games like D&D and also Choose-Your-Own-Adventure books. I’ve dabbled in D&D and played several text-based vid games growing up, but CYOA books were standbys of my youth. So… there was some familiar ground in Titan Hoppers.
Iro is thrown in with a new crew and needs to at least level-up to start on the path and keep hopping. And pursuing supplies before the old fleet ships totally disintegrate. The plot travels a somewhat predictable arc, yet the magic system and unique premise create excellent nuance to the novel. I did find Iro a bit grating at times; he just didn’t grab me.
Come for the tech and action, stay for the inner story of the galaxy.
4 out of 5 stars
Thank you to the author for providing a copy for review.
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