In 2017, Harry discussed T. Ellery Hodges’ 2014 novel, _The Never Hero_, which was Volume 1 of a trilogy called “The Chronicles of Jonathan Tibbs.” It had gotten excellent reviews, and had won an award.
The premise was that college student Jonathan Tibbs is attacked one night, and wakes in a pool of blood. Although mentally traumatized from the attack, he seems physically untouched. Later, however, a monstrous alien being comes to Earth, and begins slaughtering humans. As it kills, it screams. Jonathan hears the screams -- and somehow understands the alien's language. The alien is calling for a challenger – it is calling for Jonathan to come fight!
In our discussion, we all gave it a thumbs up! We thought it was good, especially for a "first novel." It had well-written fight scenes, which let us follow the action. It had an interesting "resetting time line" idea, which was not something we had seen too much in science fiction. We also liked the cool, self-referential "hero movie" subplot. We thought that it was very cinematic, and would make a good movie.
I was impressed enough with Volume 1 to get Volume 2, _The Never Paradox_, which was published in 2017. As good as Volume 1 was, Volume 2 was generally better. Volume 1 had a lot of introductory material to present, while Volume 2 could just jump right into the action – and in fact, it ramped up the action quite a bit. It continued delivering solid character development, exciting twists and turns, and stunning plot reveals, along with occasional moments of comic relief.
In the years since 2017, I occasionally googled to see if Volume 3, _The Never Army_, had been published. One day late in 2022, I googled and found that it had been published at the end of 2020.
Jeanne and I thought it was a wonderful capstone to a wonderful series! And according to Amazon, we’re not the only ones who thought so ...
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Out of 844 Amazon ratings, the average rating was 4.8 out of 5.0 Stars:
- 82% were 5 Stars
- 15% were 4 Stars
- 3% were 3 Stars
- 0% were 2 Stars
- 1% were 1 Star
"When this book was announced I re-read the first two and got ready. Wow. This finale didn't just satisfy, it expanded the scope of the trilogy while ending it flawlessly. My annoyance at the wait was trivial when compared to the joy and satisfaction I took from this series. If you have not experienced these books yet, I envy you. This series is a rollercoaster filled with excitement and thrills, with 3 dimensional characters that are highly relatable. I have read thousands of books and have reviewed less than a handful - 5 stars.”
~Amazon Reviewer ★ ★ ★ ★ ★
“Its like 4 books in one. It took the author a long time to get #3 out, but it is so worth it. Character development was spectacular. The action sequences were fantastic. The story line was simply flawless. You know all those times you yell at characters for being stupid? Never happened for me even once in this read. It is one of the finest books in sci-fi I have ever read. If you read 1 and 2, buy this. Reread 1 and 2 if you need to, but #3 is the ride we all wanted.”
~Amazon Reviewer ★ ★ ★ ★ ★
“Powerful, smart and thoughtful! This conclusion is likely one of the best I’ve read in years. It syncs easily with the first 2 volumes, adds to the story, leaves no hanging chad, and wraps the story and characters succinctly without the feeling it was rushed or contrived. Sincerely enjoyed the entire Never Hero series, and once the Audible version comes out, will join the re-listen shelf.”
~Amazon Reviewer ★ ★ ★ ★ ★
“Excellent trilogy, great ending for a time travel alien invasion super hero mashup that hangs together in terms of plot and uses old sci-fi tropes in a new and fun mashup configuration - serious without being humorless and good action.”
~Amazon Reviewer ★ ★ ★ ★ ★
"Game of Thrones failed, Star Trek didn't succeed, and the less said about Star Wars the better, but The Never Army sticks the landing."
~Amazon Reviewer ★ ★ ★ ★ ★
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If any of you would like to borrow the books, just let us know. Cheers!
