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4.01 AVERAGE
4.01 AVERAGE
Excellent novel about the most famous actor/assassin on Earth/in Overworld. Certainly not for everyone or the faint of heart. But how much fun is Caine? A lot! Dark and gritty, gripping and full of detailed action. Fast-paced, fun, and well told. A novel before it's time.
For the love of Pallas Ril!
For the love of Pallas Ril!
Like Total Recall and the Running Man mashed together in a Medieval fantasy novel in a really good way. Started off a little clunky, but when it got rolling was so fun and well paced all the cheesy-ness could be forgiven.
Heroes Die is the first part in the Acts of Caine fantasy series. Although being fantasy, the story also incorporates some intriguing sci-fi elements.
We follow the tale of Hari Michaelson whose life is set on earth where a cast system has been put in place. As an actor Hari belongs to the 'professional' cast and is known across the globe for his performances as the assassin Caine. For his performances as Caine, Hari is transported to another universe to impersonate his character there on a world called Overworld. This means Overworld and everything happening on it isn’t fictional; it’s a real cruel medieval version of earth. It incorporates the fantasy elements in the story: magic, ogres, stonebenders, Gods and all other sorts of weird fantasy creatures. There he’ll fulfill dangerous adventures, often at the risk of his own life, to please the studio he’s working for and the leisure people who subscribe to his adventures for enormous fees. Not only do they watch the adventures of Hari, they truly experience everything Hari sees, feels and does.
In his newest adventure Hari/Caine needs to travel once more to Overworld, this time to save his (ex-)wife from a terrible death and kill the invincible emperor of Ankhana, Ma’elKoth. In the meantime he'll also have to deal with his employers on earth.
From the start the story unfolds in an action packed tale with a lot of violence, blood and gore. Through the eyes of several POV’s, the reader will experience an amazing story with plenty of action scenes, magic, blood, multiple deaths but also a lot of intrigue and back stabbing. The reader truly rolls from one action packed scene into another.
The story consists of (mostly) well fleshed out grey characters. The most profiling ones are Shana/Pallas Rill, Lamorak, Ma’elKoth, Kollberg, Berne, Talaan … but besides these there is a myriad of other interesting characters, and none of them are safe from death. But the character that wins it all in this story is Hari/Caine! He's a true anti-hero; not a bad guy as Hari Michaelson on earth, aware of the cruelties he performs for entertainment, but once on Overworld he becomes the cruel assassin Caine. He's one of the most entertaining characters I’ve read about this year. He really thrives towards his goal and will not back away of the challenges that await him. I especially loved the rivalry between him and Berne, with Berne being the evil and cruel antagonist in the story (together with Ma’elKoth).
The worldbuilding itself remains limited throughout the book. We are thrown into the story with not much information and learn some details as the story progresses but most is left to our imagination. It however didn’t bother me a bit as the story is just so engrossing.
Conclusion:
This book brings an interesting take on fantasy with some nice sci-fi elements, a sh*t load of great characters (with Caine taking the cake) and one amazing action scene after the other. I'm already looking forward to reading the next instalments (probably in 2016) as I'm wondering how the story will progress after the ending of the first book. I enjoyed this book enormously and gave it a well deserving 9/10.
We follow the tale of Hari Michaelson whose life is set on earth where a cast system has been put in place. As an actor Hari belongs to the 'professional' cast and is known across the globe for his performances as the assassin Caine. For his performances as Caine, Hari is transported to another universe to impersonate his character there on a world called Overworld. This means Overworld and everything happening on it isn’t fictional; it’s a real cruel medieval version of earth. It incorporates the fantasy elements in the story: magic, ogres, stonebenders, Gods and all other sorts of weird fantasy creatures. There he’ll fulfill dangerous adventures, often at the risk of his own life, to please the studio he’s working for and the leisure people who subscribe to his adventures for enormous fees. Not only do they watch the adventures of Hari, they truly experience everything Hari sees, feels and does.
In his newest adventure Hari/Caine needs to travel once more to Overworld, this time to save his (ex-)wife from a terrible death and kill the invincible emperor of Ankhana, Ma’elKoth. In the meantime he'll also have to deal with his employers on earth.
From the start the story unfolds in an action packed tale with a lot of violence, blood and gore. Through the eyes of several POV’s, the reader will experience an amazing story with plenty of action scenes, magic, blood, multiple deaths but also a lot of intrigue and back stabbing. The reader truly rolls from one action packed scene into another.
The story consists of (mostly) well fleshed out grey characters. The most profiling ones are Shana/Pallas Rill, Lamorak, Ma’elKoth, Kollberg, Berne, Talaan … but besides these there is a myriad of other interesting characters, and none of them are safe from death. But the character that wins it all in this story is Hari/Caine! He's a true anti-hero; not a bad guy as Hari Michaelson on earth, aware of the cruelties he performs for entertainment, but once on Overworld he becomes the cruel assassin Caine. He's one of the most entertaining characters I’ve read about this year. He really thrives towards his goal and will not back away of the challenges that await him. I especially loved the rivalry between him and Berne, with Berne being the evil and cruel antagonist in the story (together with Ma’elKoth).
The worldbuilding itself remains limited throughout the book. We are thrown into the story with not much information and learn some details as the story progresses but most is left to our imagination. It however didn’t bother me a bit as the story is just so engrossing.
Conclusion:
This book brings an interesting take on fantasy with some nice sci-fi elements, a sh*t load of great characters (with Caine taking the cake) and one amazing action scene after the other. I'm already looking forward to reading the next instalments (probably in 2016) as I'm wondering how the story will progress after the ending of the first book. I enjoyed this book enormously and gave it a well deserving 9/10.
I love Stover's Acts of Caine series, and I love Caine even more; he's an amazing character, my absolute favourite character in fantasy (so far). Unfortunately this book has been a bit of a let down in the series for me. It's still a decent read, but it just didn't reach the greatness of the previous books.
The book continues the story where the third one ended. The outset of this book isn't very clear however and it remains like that for a long while. The plot leaps around a lot between places (and timelines) and a lot of the chapters fail to hang together. You have chapters that seem to form a story on itself, but don't seem connected with other chapters and it made me wonder if all of it was even relevant (the prologue also played a role in this). As the story progresses we do have some very nice developments and great scenes, but it remains really vague what is going on. It is probably one of the main reasons why I didn't like the story all that much.
When the revelation finally comes that explains what's going on I was already far into the story. But when it comes I have to say that it is fantastic. I loved it and it's great what Stover tried to do with this book, but the problem for me still lied in the execution of it. I think the final result could have been great if handled better.
If you start with it, I think it's important to read the book as a collection of individual chapters/plots and not to worry too much about the overarching storyline at first.
I would still recommend this book though; it still remains a decent read and if you already liked the previous books this one is a must read, if only to have a view on the conclusion of the previous book and the whole series. But most importantly, it still has Caine!!! ... and off course it still has some great action scenes as well! Everywhere Caine goes, you have those.
I'll probably re-read the whole series myself in the future, and I hope I'll enjoy this book more with the knowledge I have now about the overarching plot.
Rating: 7.3/10
The book continues the story where the third one ended. The outset of this book isn't very clear however and it remains like that for a long while. The plot leaps around a lot between places (and timelines) and a lot of the chapters fail to hang together. You have chapters that seem to form a story on itself, but don't seem connected with other chapters and it made me wonder if all of it was even relevant (the prologue also played a role in this). As the story progresses we do have some very nice developments and great scenes, but it remains really vague what is going on. It is probably one of the main reasons why I didn't like the story all that much.
When the revelation finally comes that explains what's going on I was already far into the story. But when it comes I have to say that it is fantastic. I loved it and it's great what Stover tried to do with this book, but the problem for me still lied in the execution of it. I think the final result could have been great if handled better.
If you start with it, I think it's important to read the book as a collection of individual chapters/plots and not to worry too much about the overarching storyline at first.
I would still recommend this book though; it still remains a decent read and if you already liked the previous books this one is a must read, if only to have a view on the conclusion of the previous book and the whole series. But most importantly, it still has Caine!!! ... and off course it still has some great action scenes as well! Everywhere Caine goes, you have those.
I'll probably re-read the whole series myself in the future, and I hope I'll enjoy this book more with the knowledge I have now about the overarching plot.
Rating: 7.3/10
A classic "not so smart, not so good, not so great a fighter, but one ready to fight till the end" trope. The worldbuilding is detailed and interesting, though there are some logical gaps (or mistakes). A high-tech dystopian society on Earth uses another word as an entertainment source by sending actors to make their less or more bloody adventures there. Harry is such an adventurer/actor, and this particular adventure might be just one too much for him, no matter how hard he tries.
The best part is that the adventure allows Harry to grow and mature and we're allowed to witness it first hand. By the end of it he's wiser, better, kinder and finally sees at least a glimpse of a bigger picture.
Other characters are mostly shallow and one-sided, often the logics behind the actions is flawed and the mistakes they make are just too stupid. Female characters are practically non-existent in the way they appear. And the story is full of bloody and gory details, they're just too many.
Wavering between 3.5 and 4.
The best part is that the adventure allows Harry to grow and mature and we're allowed to witness it first hand. By the end of it he's wiser, better, kinder and finally sees at least a glimpse of a bigger picture.
Other characters are mostly shallow and one-sided, often the logics behind the actions is flawed and the mistakes they make are just too stupid. Female characters are practically non-existent in the way they appear. And the story is full of bloody and gory details, they're just too many.
Wavering between 3.5 and 4.
Heroes Die is one of the most interesting sci-fi and fantasy books I have ever read. Both worlds (The Sci-fi as well as the Fantasy World) are well thought-out, and the characters are very real.
Anyone who wants to read something that's MORE than just fast-food entertainment will find an excellent book - and while reading about deeply troubling moral questions, and starting to think how much a life should be worth, you can still get a book that keeps your interest - partially exactly through those things that are exposed and criticised through that exposure (e.g. violence as a way to get attention...)
Nothing for the faint of heart, and too much thinking involved for people who are just into ist fr teh enterteinment - but anyone who wants to read a good book with interesting themes: go for it!
One of my favourite books of all times!
Anyone who wants to read something that's MORE than just fast-food entertainment will find an excellent book - and while reading about deeply troubling moral questions, and starting to think how much a life should be worth, you can still get a book that keeps your interest - partially exactly through those things that are exposed and criticised through that exposure (e.g. violence as a way to get attention...)
Nothing for the faint of heart, and too much thinking involved for people who are just into ist fr teh enterteinment - but anyone who wants to read a good book with interesting themes: go for it!
One of my favourite books of all times!
Found this book on r/Fantasy's underrated list. It really is underrated. You do not hear this title discussed as widely as Sanderson's Mistborn, Martin's Song of Ice and Fire, or Tolkien's Lord of the Rings. The notion is a little strange. In this world, an actor gets ported to a distant land to "act" for the entertainment for people on Earth. However, the "acting" actually affects the lives of these very real people in this distant land where magic reigns.
The book is action-packed. You feel as if you were playing an RPG game. Kept me up for a few nights (when I'm not spending all night playing Fallout 4 hahaha). The fights are very realistic. As an amateur writer, I respect authors who can create such vivid fight scenes as if they were happening in front of your eyes. I heard the other books in the trilogy aren't as good. Not sure if I want to read them right away and ruin the nice closure at the end of this book.
The book is action-packed. You feel as if you were playing an RPG game. Kept me up for a few nights (when I'm not spending all night playing Fallout 4 hahaha). The fights are very realistic. As an amateur writer, I respect authors who can create such vivid fight scenes as if they were happening in front of your eyes. I heard the other books in the trilogy aren't as good. Not sure if I want to read them right away and ruin the nice closure at the end of this book.
adventurous
emotional
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Heroes Die was a treat. It was one of the most exciting books I have read (or listen) in a long time. It is just that exact combination of clever science-fiction and fantasy which keeps reader guessing what will come next. Top-notch narration from Audible is the cherry on the top.
adventurous
dark
tense
fast-paced