The Heroic Age: A Mortal Techniques Boxset

This is a fantastic collection and the fact that you can get the entire set for a single credit is practically criminal! And $9.99 on kindle is nothing to balk at either. The narration by Kim Bretton is fantastic and unique and so fun. 
1- Never Die. I was gifted a copy of the audiobook narrated by Kim Bretton to judge for the Indie Ink Awards for Best Audio Narration. Sad I don't own it now because the cover is too damn good. 
This was amazing. You get sucked right into a world utterly different from ours. It makes you want to know more and more. It's transformative with action that lights up visually. The world is very Asian inspired. Kind of like ‘Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon'-esque with the action styling. But with vengeful reanimated spirits throughout! 
The author does a great job with a group of completely different characters. They do learn and grow, but they are also so definitely themselves through the story. My favorite is ‘The Whispering Blade', Itami Cho. Her character has personality and purpose and she was such a cool fighter. 
The narration is absolutely top notch. The narrator's accent and voices are perfect for the distinct characters she's bringing to life. You can tell who's talking right by the voice she's doing and that's pretty unique. I would 10/10 recommend going the audio route.
Personally a 5/5. I need more. And again, I'm really loving this new age run of short fantasy books! 2- Pawn's Gambit. I decided to continue on with the audio, as I received Never Die to judge for best narration from the Indie Ink Awards. Kim Bretton does a fantastic job bringing these novels to life.  This one follows the Art of War, now referred to as Yuu, as she hides from the repercussions of her miscalculation at the end of Never Die. It takes place five years later, but is written to be read as an entirely independent story. Which is good because it has been nine months in between them for me.  This is pretty unique as the author is giving us the same world, with a previously seen character, but it's a completely different story. The tone, the plot, the pacing. Everything is different.  Yuu is wrapped up in a competition filled with merciless and vengeful gods, taking out their spite and boredom on those chosen to participate.  Personally a 4/5 for me. For me the story hit a little less than ND, and for the audio, calling the character Yuu got very confusing as your brain tells you they're saying “YOU”.

3- Spirits of Vengeance. This is book three of the Mortal Techniques. They all function as standalone stories, but reading them in order does definitely add a bit to each as two and three feature side characters turned leads. 
This one was a bit drawn out for me. The opening felt overlong and towards the middle of the book it still only had a singular plot point. I don't necessarily think books need a reason to exist though, I just didn't find the ‘why' for a while. 
Haruto is immortal and promises to rid the world of evil spirits. He uses ritual staffs to cleanse the world of them, and it's a clever choice by the author to have the staffs get re-blessed in between each use. This allows for the main to not be all powerful. It also has some unfortunate repercussions for our hero. 
Haruto is accompanied by an old, ornery poet, who may or may not have a familiar past. They go from town to town, removing spirits, destroying kimonos, drinking wine, and getting paid. They also pick up a couple more friends along the way. Additional connections everywhere!
The combat is great, unique, and thrilling. The use of so many different spirits keep things fresh along the way with different abilities and what it takes to stop them. 
Personally a 4/5* for me, Never Die still hails as king.