Fleet Champions
Basic Survival of the Strongest.
After surviving the Spire and opening their Second Gates, Iro and Emil are named Heroes of the Fleet, their faces on posters across every ship. But with the benefits of notoriety, comes a dangerous new responsibility.
The Raider Fleet, not content with stealing their food and murdering their people, demand ownership of the wing. To avoid an unwinnable war, the Home Fleet agree to a grand martial tournament, Hopper against Raider, and both Iro and Emil must compete.
Can they fight their way through the competition to claim the title of Fleet Champion? And why are the Black Cloaks so eager to see who wins?-Goodreads
Title: Fleet Champions
Series: Titan Hoppers #3
Author: Rob J. Hayes
Page Count: 464
Genre: Science Fiction
Rating: 4.75/5.0
Date Read: November 1st, 2024
Opening
I began my reading adventure with the Titan Hopper series book one of the same name in April of last year and followed it with book two Spire Climbers the following month. Here we are almost a year and a half later and I find myself diving into book three Fleet Champions. I've honestly not found a book yet by Rob J. Hayes I didn't enjoy and this series continues to entertain me!
Pacing
The first thing I'm mention in regards to pacing is I did switch gears a bit and went with the audiobook of Fleet Champions narrated by Michael Gallagher. I previously did visual reads of both the first two books so I wasn't sure what to expect with this. Thankfully it didn't take me very long to get comfortable with Gallagher's performance and I could settle in for some more Titan Hopping adventures.
This series does seem a bit on the faster pace side of things but that could be due to the fact of just how much action there is throughout these stories. That isn't to take anything away from the world and it's characters because it all just seems to work very well. I didn't have any issues with names of locations or characters to trip me up either.
World Building
The world building continues to be a strong aspect to this series. I'm really enjoying the different depths and areas of the Titan and we continue to learn even more history and background of this world as well. The tournament of champions and the incidents leading up to and following were all amazing! Hayes has definitely kept me on my toes with this story. We keep finding out more and more about the resources, levels of power, hierarchy and politics of this world. Again the author took full advantage in tossing a well timed wrench or two into where I thought things might be going in this one.
Character Development
Then there is the character development. Again there are perhaps some significant twists and turns for our characters in Fleet Champions. I don't know if I'd call Iro's arc growth but there is change for sure! Growth usually indicates something good or productive and I'm not sure I'd go that far. We definitely have more to learn and see from Iro in the future no doubt. On the flip side Emil continues to grow more in book three. He might be a bit abrasive at times but he's really grown on me during the series to this point.
Rollo's additions in book three were great! Both in what he continues to teach Iro as well as the glimpse into what he can do. There are some many great relationships continuing to strength and form as this series continues.
Closing
All in all this was another great experience from Rob J. Hayes. I can't seem to get enough of his works. I still have a few more to get to as we wind down on 2024 and begin a new in 2025. I have some early works and two more from the Godeaters releases to get to.
I will most certainly be keeping my eyes peeled for the next installment of Titan Hoppers.
If you haven't had a chance to check out book one Titan Hoppers and you like science fiction adventures with a mix of Dragonball Z, this might be right up your alley. If you have already read Titan Hoppers and might not have progressed this far, get on it! This series has it's foot on the gas and doesn't appear to be letting up anytime soon.
Scoring
Pacing 4.5 / 5.0
Worldbuilding 4.75 / 5.0
Character Development 5.0 / 5.0
