Stars: 4/5
Blurb: Sixteen year-old Ewan Mao knows one thing for certain: according to prophecy, it’s his destiny to kill the evil tyrant whose dark reign has terrorized Britain. Although he’s just a normal boy, deep down Ewan is confident that he has exactly what it takes to be a hero. But when Ewan’s big moment comes, he freezes. His best friend, the clever and talented Oliver Abrams, defeats the villain for him, and Ewan’s bright future crumbles before his eyes.
Five years later, Oliver has a job as an Unusual in the government’s Serious Magical Crimes Agency, the life he and Ewan always dreamed of. But a routine investigation leads him and his partner, Sophie Stuart, to uncover a dangerous and powerful cult… one that seems to have drawn his former best friend into a plot to end the world.
A deftly plotted, hysterically funny take on Chosen One narratives, A Hero at the End of the World expertly walks the fine line between satire and sincerity. Its sensitive depiction of a broken friendship and wry take-down of unfairly great expectations will appeal to all readers of modern fantasy.
I’m thoroughly excited to be review Hero at the End of the World today, because tomorrow I’ll be posting an interview with the author, Erin Claiborne of Big Bang Press, which focuses on bringing those fanfic authors ready to be published to the mainstream.
To think of this debut novel as something from just another fanfic author does yourself as a reader a disservice more than anything else. Think of this as something more along the lines of Hyde or Havisham, whose authors took classics and wrote a different point of view to a familiar story. Hero at the end of the World is going to make you want to reread Harry Potter, and any other book (and there are plenty) that follow the narrative of a hero with the very heavy mantle of “saviour”.
When Hero opens, we’re introduced to Ewan and Oliver, who as Ewan’s best friend is with him when he goes to face the villain Britain is afraid of. It’s Ewan’s destiny to defeat him, and that weight is something he’s carried with him all his life. Unfortunately, destiny doesn’t always get it right in this world and things go awry because Ewan really is just a boy.
Oliver is the one who steps up to defeat the villain, changing their lives and their friendship forever.
Erin Claiborne takes Ewan and Oliver on a witty, laugh-out-loud journey in the aftermath of this momentous event and where their lives ended up. I didn’t actually expect it to be as funny as it was.
Five years later, Ewan is still living at home, dealing with the fall-out of not being the hero and stuck in a dead-end job. He’s witnessed his now former best friend living the life he should have had. Oliver, for his part, is working his way up through the Magical Crimes Agency, using his fame where he can, but Sophie, his long-suffering partner is there to keep him grounded. There’s an already easy familiarity and comfort between these two, one that hints at something more, without ever needing to spell it out.
Oliver and Ewan’s paths cross again when Ewan joins a cult in an effort to regain his sense of “hero” self. But, what this really means is he has to trick Oliver into committing a crime, though for the greater good in the end, he reasons. It’s much funnier in the book, trust me.
So begins Ewan’s journey to discover he can be a hero all on his own, without needing it to be pre-ordained through destiny, and Oliver, who is determined to bring Ewan and a cult leader to justice, finds he has to do it without the mantle of “saviour”.
The world is at stake, of course, as it is in every other book like this, but the author’s wry sense of humour and deft touch takes this pretty regular convention of stories like this and lets her imagination take flight with it. What you get is an otherworldly adventure (not what you’re thinking, I promise) in the last chapters of the book.
Ewan and Oliver’s twin journeys are incredibly witty and bittersweet as these two former best friends begin to realise things about each other and themselves. The writing is well-paced and the action never loses that edge of humour. Add to that the supporting characters of Archie and Sophie, Ewan and Oliver’s respective love interests, and you have an adventure that is going to keep you laughing and riveted until the very last page.
