Spirits of Vengeance is an epic, martial arts, horror fantasy. It follows an ensemble cast of aging martial artists and mischievous spirits as they wander the sundered empire of Ipia, battling a rogue’s gallery of yokai (Japanese spirits or monsters). In this world, yokai are always the result of a human who died an unhappy death, though their appearances and powers vary far more than those of the typical European ghost.
References are made to characters from Hayes’ previous stories in this setting, but there’s nothing much to trip up a reader who is new to the series. Generations have passed since the events of Never Die, for example.
Haruto is an onmyoji, a hunter of yokai. A deal with a somewhat malicious Shinigami (soul collector or death god), granted Haruto immortality, regeneration, and a range of techniques for bringing yokai peace and sending them on to the afterlife. He has a kind and generous nature, which he endeavours to hide behind the grumpiness of a wandering hermit.
Shiki is the other thing Haruto received—a cheeky little furball of a spirit who likes to possess small animals. When Shiki possesses a weapon, Haruto can use it to cut the flesh of spirits such as yokai.
Guang is Haruto’s other companion. A middling poet with a dark past that caused him to swear a number of vows, including one against using his signature martial arts technique and another against using bad language. Though more upbeat than Haruto, he is no immortal and often complains about his aching bones and failing body. Guang can make paper into shields, weapons and even flowers, which gave me pleasant memories of Read or Die.
This trio are joined by Yanmei, a martial arts instructor with her own troubled past whose flame-summoning technique is slowly killing her, Katsuo, a princely assassin, and Kira, a spirit in the form of a human girl.
Kira is incredibly dangerous, with power over mirrors, illusions and glass, but has no moral compass beyond the advice Yanmei gives her. For the other characters this is a tale of redemption, a final adventure to make up for the sins of the past. For Kira, it is a tale of self-discovery, the struggle to master her own strange abilities and the choice of whether to use them for good or evil.
The villains of the novel are the titular Spirits of Vengeance. They are identified as onryo. In Japanese folklore onryo are vengeful ghosts, seeking to kill those who harmed them in life and eventually all the living. Sadako from The Ring is an onryo many westerners might be familiar with. Hayes has reimagined onryo as super-yokai, spirits whose thirst for vengeance is so strong it makes them supremely powerful. Each villain is nastier than the last, with a wild array of gruesome powers, ranging from possessing venomous fangs and web spinnerets, to steel-hard murder-hair, to being made entirely of smoke. Most of the onryo lean into their monstrous status, affecting a leering, crazed, slightly cartoonish way of speaking and acting. Crow, the stoic smoke spirit, stands in contrast to all this posturing. I definitely got some anime vibes from this novel!
The novel opens with a massacre, carried out by the onryo. It’s the first of many. No one, from mystical warrior monks to imperial guards, stands a chance against the almighty onryo. Apart from our rag-tag band of heroes of course. Be ready for a death count well into the hundreds, if not thousands. This is definitely a plus for those who like a gritty world with hopelessly powerful villains. I did find the sheer number of powerful martial artists with magical abilities that got kerb-stomped by the onryo stretched my suspension of disbelief after a while, but this is, in fairness, probably a genre staple.
The first massacre also causes a personal tragedy for one of the heroes. Though all the viewpoint characters have earned their fair share of trauma by the time Hayes has finished exploring their rich back stories and telling the tale of their journey together. This novel does not pull its emotional punches. Have a box of tissues handy!
It’s a cruel, cruel world, but Hayes does lighten the mood a bit with constant bickering and banter between the characters, particularly Guang and Haruto.
In between pursuing the main plot, Haruto carries out his calling of bringing peace to restless spirits. Hayes has assembled a truly impressive menagerie of horrors—giant, hungry, earth-eating children, frost maidens, many headed dragons, and more.
The land of Ipia and its surrounding countries have a rich history, full of war, heroism, villainy, politics, magic and even some gay romance. It’s pleasant to sink into such a well realised world. I was particularly keen to get to the bottom of whatever was happening with the dragons.
And, of course, there are the martial arts battles. Many of the martial artists of Ipia possess rare or unique techniques that are effectively super-powers. Most yokai and all the onryo have powers of their own. Coupled with the toughness and regenerative abilities of Haruto, Kira, and the onryo, this leads to long, inventive, and gruelling battles where victory is as much about puzzling out an opponent’s weaknesses as it is about fighting them to a standstill. (Albeit an extremely violent puzzle that requires an entire Mortal Kombat tournament’s worth of spilled blood and broken bones to solve.)
Hayes weaves a tangled web of plot threads that come together as the novel reaches its conclusion. There were a few too many coincidences for my taste, but there are enough mysteries and emotional beats to keep you reading on until the end.
If you like a grimdark world lightened by genuine friendship and some glimmers of hope, this is the book for you. If you like martial arts battles where you feel every splintered limb and punctured organ, this is the book for you. If you love weird monsters or Japanese folklore, this book will be an absolute treat.
*Disclaimer: I received a free digital copy of this book in return for an honest review.*
Jennie Ivins
Julia Kitvaria Sarene