Black Cloaks by Rob J Hayes

Blurb:

The Enemies of your enemies...

Iro has left the home fleet to join up with the Black Cloaks, eager for the power and the answers they've promised him. But danger lurks in every corner deep in the TITAN core, and some revelations are more than he can bear. What if he was never a Corsair?

War has come to the Home Fleet and the new Squad Four Home find themselves on the front lines over and over again. Emil fights for his friends and for his ship, but what if Fleet Command isn't trying to win the war?

A new threat lurks in the depths of the TITAN core. Monsters band together, all of them wearing a golden crown. Iro and Emil will soon learn some old enemies are not as dead as they believed.

Black Cloaks is book 4 of 6 of TITAN HOPPERS, an Epic Science-Fantasy adventure perfect for fans of Cradle, Iron Prince, and Star Wars.

Review:

ATitan Hoppers is one of my favorite on-going series that I look forward to reading every year. It’s beautifully imaginative, constantly pushes its characters to face progressively more compelling conflicts, has a fast-paced plot that never seems to have a dull moment, and… is just generally super-fun. I’ve almost always read the books right on the day they release (unless I received an ARC, in which case it was before). 

However, I wasn’t able to get to Black Cloaks until much later this year. And damnit, I really wish I had read this sooner, because so much happens in this instalment that I slept later than usual every night that I was reading this book. It was simply un-put-down-able. 

SPOILERS AHEAD!

What I liked:

Okay, so I’m going to spoil everything for the series up until the end of Fleet Champions in the opening paragraphs. If you haven’t read it yet, go read those books then come back. 

Iro joined the Black Cloaks in the end of the last book, Fleet Champions. Not only that, he also realizes that Arrow—one of the Black Cloaks who was spying on him during the Tournament—is actually his thought-to-be-dead sister Neya! And Black Cloaks starts off right from that moment. I really appreciate that Rob took the time to let us relish Iro’s relief. Pretty much the first 25-30% of the book is from Iro’s POV only, with the first few chapters just him reconnecting with his sister. The emotional reward of seeing these scenes play out, all the while having Mufar leading them back to the Black Cloaks headquarters was strangely cozy. 

But it doesn’t stop there. We get answers, and holy hell those answers were so satisfying. Iro explores the Black Cloak community and culture, slowly learning more about the Titans, the nature of his Current, and human history. Often, books that indulge with worldbuilding tend to meander away, leaving the plot feeling directionless. However, Rob beautifully weaves these worldbuilding scenes into Iro’s story in a way that’s satisfying and rewarding. After three full books of mystery and intrigue, we get the answers we’re owed. Some were expected, others not really, but they definitely change the way you’ll see this series going forward. I’m not going to spoil those because I want you to experience them for yourself. 

Iro was never my favorite character, and Black Cloaks didn’t do anything to change that. However, his arc was wonderful. It was my favorite part of the book. Everything worked perfectly for me. From his interactions with Neya, to his demanding answers, to even his bonding with Wave. 

And speaking of Wave, I didn’t know I’d come to love a character like her. She was kind of a villain in Fleet Champions, but the way Rob treats her in this one was just… splendid. Her mimic talents especially were intriguing, both in a brilliant and heartbreaking way. To be honest, character-wise, Wave was my favorite in this one. Her backstory is heartbreaking, her conviction in the present is admirable, and her plot—while being a supporting story to Iro’s—was fascinating. 

Also, Alfvin is alive. I wasn’t a fan of Alfvin being alive, but the direction his character takes and the way he pushes the plot was some of the most mind-blowing use of the ‘bringing back a dead character’ trope. I would have preferred this role to be played by a new character, but it made sense, and gave us an epic and explosive finale. The ending was great, and has me all pumped for the next book. 

The scope and scale of everything expands manifold, and if you haven’t read Titan Hoppers yet, now is the perfect time to hop on (pun intended), because we’re starting our journey towards the endgame, and it’s looking epic and awesome. 

Lastly, I forgot to mention, but Keritus Rex gives me the creeps. An absolutely intruiging character. I’m genuinely looking forward to seeing how Iro, Wave, the Black Cloaks and Home Fleet deal with her. 

What I didn’t like:

Honestly, there was just one thing that I really did not like in this book, and that’s Emil’s arc. And by extension, the whole of Four Home’s storyline. 

I used to love Emil. He was my favorite character in the last three entries. But for some reason, he just didn’t work for me in this one. His character felt like he wasn’t really doing much except survive, try to help the Courage survive, and other things that were staple to his arcs in the past books. Even though he’s now the captain of the Four Home squad, I wasn’t able to enjoy his struggles with being a good leader, or his struggles with figuring out his dual-gates and how to progress. SPOILERS: I did love when he opened his second Surveyor Gate and got 3 new autodages. That was fun. But one awesome element didn’t nearly make up for the rest of his arc, which felt like a drag.

Also, it could be that because the conflict Emil is faced with didn’t appeal to me all that much. Which actually brings me to the second part of this complaint.  The entirety of the B-plot with Four Home played out like a filler arc. Not much happens, except them defending against the raiders. The character moments with Justice and Toshiko, even Ingrid, were really touching. More touching than the ones we got with Emil. Still, the plot overall fell flat to me. Especially given how much happens in the A-plot with Iro discovering the truth of the Titans and human history. While there is politics brewing in the background, we barely see the Home Fleet other than the Four Home Squad fighting as per duty. Rollo, Gadise Samir, and everyone else who we’d come to know and love are pretty much absent in this instalment, further making this B-plot a bit dull. 

The imbalance did affect my reading experience, but with the way things ended, I’m confident we’re in for a crazy ride in the next instalment. 

Conclusion:

Black Cloaks changes everything you know about Titan Hoppers! This criminally underrated progression fantasy keeps getting better and better with every entry.

TL;DR:

WHAT I LIKED: Iro’s arc and everything we learn about the Titans, Wave, Climax & Ending

WHAT I DIDN’T LIKE: Emil & Four Home’s arc