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4.01 AVERAGE
4.01 AVERAGE
I've been a fan of Stover's since reading his Revenge of the Sith novelization.
Unencumbered from playing within a franchise, Stover's writing goes into some very interesting places. His action scenes are often the thing most people praise, and I'd agree, but the the intensity of the violence, coupled with the ideas at play in this book, create some very potent character moments that stick with you after reading. Moments shift from politics, to philosophy, to straight action, and it's all interesting.
Not to mention the overarching concept: people in a futuristic Earth travelling to an alternate dimension as 'actors' having fantasy adventures that are recorded from their first person perspective, for the entertainment of people at home. This creates a fascinating frame and continuous concept on the nature of fiction and reality, how things can be crafted as a story, and our own fascinations with violence and drama.
Stover's ability to both utilize the recursive nature of this concept and allow his characters to recognize and transcend these frameworks is possibly the most powerful and useful idea in the whole book.
Unencumbered from playing within a franchise, Stover's writing goes into some very interesting places. His action scenes are often the thing most people praise, and I'd agree, but the the intensity of the violence, coupled with the ideas at play in this book, create some very potent character moments that stick with you after reading. Moments shift from politics, to philosophy, to straight action, and it's all interesting.
Not to mention the overarching concept: people in a futuristic Earth travelling to an alternate dimension as 'actors' having fantasy adventures that are recorded from their first person perspective, for the entertainment of people at home. This creates a fascinating frame and continuous concept on the nature of fiction and reality, how things can be crafted as a story, and our own fascinations with violence and drama.
Stover's ability to both utilize the recursive nature of this concept and allow his characters to recognize and transcend these frameworks is possibly the most powerful and useful idea in the whole book.
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Second read of the book. Still holds up. See below for original review. Kind of slow and confusing at first but at around the 20% mark, it ramps all the way up and pretty much stays there.
Literally one of the best books I've ever read. Great action. Great adventure. Some fantastic plot twists.
Characterization is on point. I think about this book very often and is definitely a touchstone in my life
Literally one of the best books I've ever read. Great action. Great adventure. Some fantastic plot twists.
Characterization is on point. I think about this book very often and is definitely a touchstone in my life
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death
Minor: Homophobia, Rape, Violence
Looks like an extremely interesting premise, but I didn't like the Altered Carbon-like, testosterone-dripping narration style.
I was hesitant to read this book - it has been on my list for a while.
When I started it I was thinking it was a bit too sci-fi for my personal flavour of books.
... but this book grows on you quick fast!
Hari/Caine is as badass as the reviews claim.
Overall an excellent book. Great writing, awesome characters. I just can't wait to read the remaining books in the Acts of Caine!
When I started it I was thinking it was a bit too sci-fi for my personal flavour of books.
... but this book grows on you quick fast!
Hari/Caine is as badass as the reviews claim.
Overall an excellent book. Great writing, awesome characters. I just can't wait to read the remaining books in the Acts of Caine!
A fantastic read. Actually 4.5/5, and comes damn close to getting 5 stars from me. Everything was terrific, from the universe to the characters. I even enjoyed the touches of meta-fiction, which were just enough to pique my whimsy and not too much to be overbearing. Loved this through and through. There was one aspect towards the end that jarred a little, but not nearly enough as to spoil my enjoyment of the book.
adventurous
dark
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Our anti-hero has to do a seemingly impossible feat under duress, but don't fear - he's more than up to the task!
This mish-mash of fantasy and SF worked quite well in being entertaining. Non-stop action, a plethora of characters, the villain to hate, the villain to have mixed feelings about, the hero to have mixed feelings about, and a heroine to root for. There was even some commentary on the caste system, poverty, colonization, nature of oppression, and manipulation of the masses. Reading this as a narrative that constantly breaks the fourth wall will bring the most satisfaction, I think.
Violence is quite over the top, as are our villains. I chuckled at some scenes - they were pretty dramatic, and served as a metanarrative about the nature of voyeurism pretty well (we are the voyeurs here, as we are reminded quite often). The women are all... there... and objectified, as are all the creatures and beings, frankly (all the asses were described, quite lovingly at times). There is a rampaging psychopath so you might wanna skip those parts if you are uncomfortable with torture porn (even if it all stays in his head, mostly). Also, the ending was not quite as impactful because the powers-that-be stay in their place and nothing really changes, for all the talk about revolutions and whatnot.
I won't be continuing the series as I've heard other books are quite weaker. This works very well as a stand-alone.
This mish-mash of fantasy and SF worked quite well in being entertaining. Non-stop action, a plethora of characters, the villain to hate, the villain to have mixed feelings about, the hero to have mixed feelings about, and a heroine to root for. There was even some commentary on the caste system, poverty, colonization, nature of oppression, and manipulation of the masses. Reading this as a narrative that constantly breaks the fourth wall will bring the most satisfaction, I think.
Violence is quite over the top, as are our villains. I chuckled at some scenes - they were pretty dramatic, and served as a metanarrative about the nature of voyeurism pretty well (we are the voyeurs here, as we are reminded quite often). The women are all... there... and objectified, as are all the creatures and beings, frankly (all the asses were described, quite lovingly at times). There is a rampaging psychopath so you might wanna skip those parts if you are uncomfortable with torture porn (even if it all stays in his head, mostly). Also, the ending was not quite as impactful because the powers-that-be stay in their place and nothing really changes, for all the talk about revolutions and whatnot.
I won't be continuing the series as I've heard other books are quite weaker. This works very well as a stand-alone.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Torture, Violence
Moderate: Rape, Sexual violence
Minor: War
I've often heard Heroes Die described as "before its time". It came out in 1999 -- 8 years before Joe Abercrombie helped put "grimdark" on the map -- and it is a direct inspiration for Scott Lynch's The Lies of Locke Lamora. It is a fascinating combination of grimdark and "fantasy heist". But it is also a "portal fantasy" (i.e. people from "our world" go to a "fantasy world", most famously as in The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe), a subgenre that (outside of Japanese isekai has almost entirely fallen out of favor). And it is also a futuristic dystopian "audiences watch blood sport for fun" as in 80s classics like the The Running Man or, more recently, Hunger Games.
And it mostly manages to pull off that unholy combination -- and I have to give it a lot of credit for the originality of that unlikely premise. Yet, outside of a relatively small set of fans, Stover seems to have mostly missed the boat when it comes to super-popularity. (Compare the 600 Goodreads reviews for this to the 8,000 for Abercrombie's first book.)
Stover gives us a dystopian future where a caste-stratified society has discovered a way to send actors to a parallel fantasy dimension. The actors live stream their "adventures" for a blood thirsty audience back home. Hari Michaelsen is the most famous actor of his time but in nearly middle age and in the twilight of his action-acting career. On this edifice, Stover also gives us one of the most intriguing -- and sympathetic -- "villains" I can remember. Caine is sent by studio executives to kill the new & rising emperor -- and rescue his extranged ex-wife along the way -- not because he's evil but because he's about to unite much of the world and usher in a Pax Romana that would be terrible for ratings.
Stover wraps things up maybe a little too well. There are loose threads but life has loose threads and overall there's a feeling that he went into this as a "I'll write one book...and I guess if it sells well I'll figure out a way to expand some of those loose threads to a full series". So even though I enjoyed this, I'm don't feel a great deal of urgency to read the next three books in the series.
And it mostly manages to pull off that unholy combination -- and I have to give it a lot of credit for the originality of that unlikely premise. Yet, outside of a relatively small set of fans, Stover seems to have mostly missed the boat when it comes to super-popularity. (Compare the 600 Goodreads reviews for this to the 8,000 for Abercrombie's first book.)
Stover gives us a dystopian future where a caste-stratified society has discovered a way to send actors to a parallel fantasy dimension. The actors live stream their "adventures" for a blood thirsty audience back home. Hari Michaelsen is the most famous actor of his time but in nearly middle age and in the twilight of his action-acting career. On this edifice, Stover also gives us one of the most intriguing -- and sympathetic -- "villains" I can remember. Caine is sent by studio executives to kill the new & rising emperor -- and rescue his extranged ex-wife along the way -- not because he's evil but because he's about to unite much of the world and usher in a Pax Romana that would be terrible for ratings.
Stover wraps things up maybe a little too well. There are loose threads but life has loose threads and overall there's a feeling that he went into this as a "I'll write one book...and I guess if it sells well I'll figure out a way to expand some of those loose threads to a full series". So even though I enjoyed this, I'm don't feel a great deal of urgency to read the next three books in the series.
Spoilers:
Loved the idea of the book. Planets kept down technologically so we could send actors there to live out medieval/magical plays? Great idea. I just stopped reading once the extended torture scene happened. Not for me!
Loved the idea of the book. Planets kept down technologically so we could send actors there to live out medieval/magical plays? Great idea. I just stopped reading once the extended torture scene happened. Not for me!