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The Acts of Caine #3
Caine Black Knife
In Heroes Die and Blade of Tyshalle, Matthew Stover created a new kind of fantasy novel, and a new kind of hero to go with it: Caine, a street thug turned superstar, battling in a future where reality shows take place in another dimension, on a world where magic exists and gods are up close and personal. In that beautiful, savage land, Caine is an assassin without peer, a living legend born from one of the highest-rated reality shows ever made. That season, Caine almost single-handedly defeated—and all but exterminated—the fiercest of all tribes: the Black Knives. But the shocking truth of what really took place during that blood-drenched adventure has never been revealed…until now.
Thirty years later, Caine returns to the scene of his greatest triumph—some would say greatest crime—at the request of his adopted brother Orbek, the last of the true Black Knives. But where Caine goes, danger follows, and he soon finds himself back in familiar territory: fighting for his life against impossible odds, with the fate of two worlds hanging in the balance.
Just the way Caine likes it.
Thirty years later, Caine returns to the scene of his greatest triumph—some would say greatest crime—at the request of his adopted brother Orbek, the last of the true Black Knives. But where Caine goes, danger follows, and he soon finds himself back in familiar territory: fighting for his life against impossible odds, with the fate of two worlds hanging in the balance.
Just the way Caine likes it.
343 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2008
About the author
Matthew Woodring Stover
48 books942 followersMatthew Woodring Stover is an American fantasy and science fiction author. He is perhaps best known for his Star Wars novels -- Traitor, Shatterpoint, Revenge of the Sith and Luke Skywalker and the Shadows of Mindor. He has also published several pieces of original work, such as Heroes Die, which Stover described as 'a piece of violent entertainment that is a meditation on violent entertainment'. Stover's work often emphasises moral ambiguity, psychological verisimilitude and bursts of intense violence.
Stover is deeply interested in various forms of martial arts, having trained in the Degerberg Blend, a concept that utilises the thought behind Bruce Lee's Jeet Kune Do as its foundation.
Stover is deeply interested in various forms of martial arts, having trained in the Degerberg Blend, a concept that utilises the thought behind Bruce Lee's Jeet Kune Do as its foundation.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 133 reviews
August 11, 2022
”Whoever said ‘Revenge is a dish best served cold’ never tasted it hot.”
This, my friends, was one giant setup for the next book.
In the previous volumes, one of the Adventures in which Hari Michaelson aka. Caine took part was mentioned more often than others. Retreat from the Boedecken was what made Hari into Caine and served as a springboard for his career, which brought him to the top of the Studio’s pantheon of most popular actors. While it had been repeatedly referred to, we didn’t know what precisely happened except for the trivial fact that it was then that Caine annihilated the Black Knives - one of the most dangerous ogrillo clans, feared by other gorilloi and humans alike. In this volume, we basically get a second-hander cube of this adventure.
The whole book is an interweaving of flashbacks and contemporary events that more and more intertwine with the original Retreat from the Boedecken.
In the past, Caine embarks on a treasure hunt expedition. During their journey, they are attacked by the Black Knives. Carnage ensues, but let’s put it aside. Together with vulgarity, brutality, sometimes rubbing against masochism, sexual deviations or total amorality. But that’s Caine for you. And he is the most important thing in the story, or more specifically, the genesis of him becoming himself. The genesis of Caine. In this regard, the retrospective plane was, for me, much more interesting than the developments happening in the present. So if someone is wondering whether it is worth reaching for this volume, especially if you had mixed feelings about the previous instalments, I would strongly advise against it. However, if someone is interested in the story of how Caine became a legend, here you will find the answer.
Speaking of the present: After three decades, Caine returns to the place where his career began. He returns because of his adopted brother, a Black Knife ogillo named Orbek. Caine arrives incognito, and we don’t have a clue what is really going on. What we do know, however, is that where Caine appears, there is also mayhem, violence and death. Lots of death.
I didn’t come to save anybody. Saving people is not among my gifts.
This part is as bloody as the first volume but less dynamic. The author interweaves the past with the present in a fairly predictable way. And while there are decent elements in both tales (Tyrkilld!), the rhythm was distracting me and constant plunging from one to another plot line had a negative impact on the immersion effect. I felt that both the protagonist and the author are fatigued. And this tiredness, with the story, with other characters, with all this mess, rubbed also on me.
Don’t get me wrong, I don’t blame Mr Stover that he had decided to expand on some of the existing themes. If you have a cash cow, you milk it. But I would very much prefer a retrospective companion novella on the original Retreat from the Boedecken adventure, and then a proper finale to Caine’s story that would have been much better as a trilogy.
Why? Reread the first sentence again.
Also in the series:
1. Heroes Die ★★★★☆
2. Blade of Tyshalle ★☆☆☆☆
4. Caine's Law
This, my friends, was one giant setup for the next book.
In the previous volumes, one of the Adventures in which Hari Michaelson aka. Caine took part was mentioned more often than others. Retreat from the Boedecken was what made Hari into Caine and served as a springboard for his career, which brought him to the top of the Studio’s pantheon of most popular actors. While it had been repeatedly referred to, we didn’t know what precisely happened except for the trivial fact that it was then that Caine annihilated the Black Knives - one of the most dangerous ogrillo clans, feared by other gorilloi and humans alike. In this volume, we basically get a second-hander cube of this adventure.
The whole book is an interweaving of flashbacks and contemporary events that more and more intertwine with the original Retreat from the Boedecken.
In the past, Caine embarks on a treasure hunt expedition. During their journey, they are attacked by the Black Knives. Carnage ensues, but let’s put it aside. Together with vulgarity, brutality, sometimes rubbing against masochism, sexual deviations or total amorality. But that’s Caine for you. And he is the most important thing in the story, or more specifically, the genesis of him becoming himself. The genesis of Caine. In this regard, the retrospective plane was, for me, much more interesting than the developments happening in the present. So if someone is wondering whether it is worth reaching for this volume, especially if you had mixed feelings about the previous instalments, I would strongly advise against it. However, if someone is interested in the story of how Caine became a legend, here you will find the answer.
Speaking of the present: After three decades, Caine returns to the place where his career began. He returns because of his adopted brother, a Black Knife ogillo named Orbek. Caine arrives incognito, and we don’t have a clue what is really going on. What we do know, however, is that where Caine appears, there is also mayhem, violence and death. Lots of death.
I didn’t come to save anybody. Saving people is not among my gifts.
This part is as bloody as the first volume but less dynamic. The author interweaves the past with the present in a fairly predictable way. And while there are decent elements in both tales (Tyrkilld!), the rhythm was distracting me and constant plunging from one to another plot line had a negative impact on the immersion effect. I felt that both the protagonist and the author are fatigued. And this tiredness, with the story, with other characters, with all this mess, rubbed also on me.
Don’t get me wrong, I don’t blame Mr Stover that he had decided to expand on some of the existing themes. If you have a cash cow, you milk it. But I would very much prefer a retrospective companion novella on the original Retreat from the Boedecken adventure, and then a proper finale to Caine’s story that would have been much better as a trilogy.
Why? Reread the first sentence again.
Also in the series:
1. Heroes Die ★★★★☆
2. Blade of Tyshalle ★☆☆☆☆
4. Caine's Law
February 9, 2017
I have nothing bad to say about this novel except that it is a scaled down and streamlined version of the previous two novels. Assume you're taking our favorite badass, Caine, and developing a subplot that was teased in the previous novel about the Black Knife Clans, where Caine was made a blood-brother to a bunch of orcs, and run with it.
We've got the backstory where he made enemies of them when he was just starting out as as an Actir making huge ratings and long after that, indeed, several years after the events of the previous novel, where he takes on yet another god while being hounded by another that *loves* him. *shudder*
It's quick and it's fun and it has everything we love while reading Caine, including a bit more of him from first person, of which we had a taste in the previous, but not a lot. That means we can get lied to. A lot. Which is fine, because we can always fall back on Caine's Laws to know exactly where he stands.
Some characters are so well known that they become a force of nature. That's where Caine stands for me, too. I know I'm not alone.
This novel is a straight character novel, so don't expect huge revelations and twists like in the previous two. The scale is much, much reduced, but that doesn't mean it isn't fun. It's more in the nature of a great action novel with a beloved character we all know well, doing what he does best.
Kick-ass.
The best part is, for all it's apparent normalcy in a fantasy field that is full of similar feels, it's *still* better than most. I could read this stuff forever. It's just that good. :)
We've got the backstory where he made enemies of them when he was just starting out as as an Actir making huge ratings and long after that, indeed, several years after the events of the previous novel, where he takes on yet another god while being hounded by another that *loves* him. *shudder*
It's quick and it's fun and it has everything we love while reading Caine, including a bit more of him from first person, of which we had a taste in the previous, but not a lot. That means we can get lied to. A lot. Which is fine, because we can always fall back on Caine's Laws to know exactly where he stands.
Some characters are so well known that they become a force of nature. That's where Caine stands for me, too. I know I'm not alone.
This novel is a straight character novel, so don't expect huge revelations and twists like in the previous two. The scale is much, much reduced, but that doesn't mean it isn't fun. It's more in the nature of a great action novel with a beloved character we all know well, doing what he does best.
Kick-ass.
The best part is, for all it's apparent normalcy in a fantasy field that is full of similar feels, it's *still* better than most. I could read this stuff forever. It's just that good. :)
August 18, 2022
This is 100% Caine and he is 100% badass. Badass as in, bad guy and a complete asshole. And thoroughly grimdark awesome.
This installment of Caine's Adventures is half creation myth and half I'm too old for this shit. We learn about the Adventure that made him a star way back when, alternating with a present where he's back in that same place seeing the aftermath. Lots of people want him dead and he kicks a lot of ass and gets his ass kicked too.
I enjoyed learning about what he did in the past which is often referenced in the first two books but without explanation. The best part for me were his non-stop quips and his I'm a badass asshole running commentary. Solid gold stuff.
The only thing I didn't love was that for too much of the book his past is being referenced before it has been fully unveiled so we'll meet somebody who wants him dead because of that one thing but we don't know who this person is or what that one thing was. As the book progresses this gets sorted out but as first it's rocky. It definitely made me want to reread the series though.
If you're more a fan of Hari than Caine you will be disappointed. We don't get even a whisper from him. I didn't miss him but some people might.
Definitely reading the next one.
This installment of Caine's Adventures is half creation myth and half I'm too old for this shit. We learn about the Adventure that made him a star way back when, alternating with a present where he's back in that same place seeing the aftermath. Lots of people want him dead and he kicks a lot of ass and gets his ass kicked too.
I enjoyed learning about what he did in the past which is often referenced in the first two books but without explanation. The best part for me were his non-stop quips and his I'm a badass asshole running commentary. Solid gold stuff.
The only thing I didn't love was that for too much of the book his past is being referenced before it has been fully unveiled so we'll meet somebody who wants him dead because of that one thing but we don't know who this person is or what that one thing was. As the book progresses this gets sorted out but as first it's rocky. It definitely made me want to reread the series though.
If you're more a fan of Hari than Caine you will be disappointed. We don't get even a whisper from him. I didn't miss him but some people might.
Definitely reading the next one.
January 27, 2018
"Why would I want to join your f_cking clan?"
"What 'you' want? Who cares?" Orbek rose grinning. "You don't choose your clan, Caine. Born Black Knife, you're Black Knife. Borned Hooked Arrow, you're Hooked Arrow. Now: say that you are Black Knife, then let's go kill some guards, hey?"
Actor Hari Michaelson on the Home planet, known as Caine on parallel universe Overworld, is sort of retired from violent pursuit, following what can only be described as wholesale slaughter in the first two books in the series. Yet he's now coming back to the scene of his very first video adventure, the one that made his an instant star on Home, because one of his former enemies, the Ogrilloi Orbek seems to be in trouble with the local authorities.
Below, the vertical city spreads in descending rings like a peeled-open map of the Inferno.
Huh! When I called it Hell, I was just, y'know, riffing. But now I see it with different eyes.
Welcome back to Hell, a cliff city at the edge of the Boedeken badlands, where once the Black Knifes where the most feared of the cannibalistic ogrilloi tribes preying on the unwary traveler. That is, until they came face to face with Caine and became virtually extinct. How Caine became a clan member of his once mortal enemies is told in "Blade of Tyshalle". This new episode takes place three years later , as he returns to the vertical city, where the surviving ogrilloi tribes (a sort of huge, mean orcs) are enslaved by the Knights of Kryll. The arrival of Overworld's most famous assassin is a sure portent of troubles ahead, as Caine has a tendency to kill indiscriminately whenever one of his family, even an adopted one, is threatened. And Caine at fifty is as dangerous as Caine at twenty-five, especially since he is on speaking terms with God:
He told me once I have a gift for breaking things in useful ways. So sometimes He pushes me towards things He thinks need breaking.
The story is told in two parallel streams : a young Caine, minor freelance actor in a group of similar small time mercenaries, is staging a "Die Hard" style commando raid against Black Knife raiders in Hell, in what will became known on Home as the hit reality show "Retreat from Boedecken". A middle aged Caine infiltrates the fortress of the Knights of Kryll as several unknown political factions are making a play for control of what appears a new gateway to forbidden planet Home.
The style of storytelling – the excessive foul language, the explicit gore, the black humor, the volatile temper of Caine, the high stakes of the game – should be familiar o readers of the first two books in the series. Less expected for me was the apparent lack of tension, of fast paced and clearly exposed plot. The book seems to be going nowhere at a leisurely pace, with an inordinate amount of time spent dwelling on the past. It wasn't until I reached the last page that I realized this is only half of the third episode in the "Acts of Caine" and everything is just a big setup for the final confrontation in book 4. So, I will let my initial four star rating stand, even if I already read through the rest of the story and it proved to be every bit as good as the first two installments.
As a teaser for the last action hero on Overworld final appearance, here's what to expect:
I came to Overworld – became an Actor in the first place – to taste the kind of power I could never have on Earth. Sure, wealth. Sure, fame. Adulation, and even some political influence. But all that was just perks, y'know? The real prize was power: to ignore the laws that circumscribe the lives of Earth' undercastes. To live without law altogether. To bow to no law except my own will. But that's more abstract than it really was; when you get right to the bone, it was about being a god.
To kill without consequence.
September 28, 2024
**" 3.95 ***
Time changes in the narrative are somewhat difficult to adjust to in the beginning. Also, the ending wasn't as such, because the whole book was obviously just a set up for the final book.
Still, very strong entry in the series and totally worth the time!
Time changes in the narrative are somewhat difficult to adjust to in the beginning. Also, the ending wasn't as such, because the whole book was obviously just a set up for the final book.
Still, very strong entry in the series and totally worth the time!
August 12, 2012
This is the third book in The Overworld or Acts of Caine series. The writing remains good and the story enthralling and all my warning caveats remain in place. Come to this book understanding that the language, the situations, the graphic descriptions are all decidedly what might be called "R" rated.
That being said I say again that these are well written and at times even thought provoking reads.
I think that so far as pure storytelling, plotting, characterization and just plain quality goes the first is the best (at least so far). The second novel in the series ratcheted up the adult content just a bit. Here we change the story telling paradigm.
With the story picking up from the point events "ended" for us in the last book the novel alternates between Caine's present and "excerpts" from the "master cut" of "Retreat from the Boedecken" which is the adventure in which Caine/Hari became a star. It's also the story of the "demise" of the Black Knives. The ripples of that"adventure" are reaching into the present. It mostly holds up with both stories holding the interest.
An aside here, for me anyway will be understood by most anyone who's been in the service. Caine is in the habit of always, that is ALWAYS using the most vile language he can (the writer can) come up with. The thing about crudity, obscenity and blasphemy is that it sort of loses it's punch if it's someone's common mode of speaking (well, okay the blasphemy still makes me cringe). The fact that Caine uses crude words for bodily functions, bodily waste, unusual sex acts and so on has to an extent lost a lot of it's edge. It will still offend many readers of course so go into the book knowing it's there. Still after while it simply leaves most (I think) sighing a bit and thinking, "yeah yeah get on with it I understand your a bad, bad boy".
Well, just a side thought.
Anyway, good book, well written thought provoking, action filled and holds the interest. I plan to get the next.
That being said I say again that these are well written and at times even thought provoking reads.
I think that so far as pure storytelling, plotting, characterization and just plain quality goes the first is the best (at least so far). The second novel in the series ratcheted up the adult content just a bit. Here we change the story telling paradigm.
With the story picking up from the point events "ended" for us in the last book the novel alternates between Caine's present and "excerpts" from the "master cut" of "Retreat from the Boedecken" which is the adventure in which Caine/Hari became a star. It's also the story of the "demise" of the Black Knives. The ripples of that"adventure" are reaching into the present. It mostly holds up with both stories holding the interest.
An aside here, for me anyway will be understood by most anyone who's been in the service. Caine is in the habit of always, that is ALWAYS using the most vile language he can (the writer can) come up with. The thing about crudity, obscenity and blasphemy is that it sort of loses it's punch if it's someone's common mode of speaking (well, okay the blasphemy still makes me cringe). The fact that Caine uses crude words for bodily functions, bodily waste, unusual sex acts and so on has to an extent lost a lot of it's edge. It will still offend many readers of course so go into the book knowing it's there. Still after while it simply leaves most (I think) sighing a bit and thinking, "yeah yeah get on with it I understand your a bad, bad boy".
Well, just a side thought.
Anyway, good book, well written thought provoking, action filled and holds the interest. I plan to get the next.
June 25, 2010
4.5 stars. The Caine/Hari Michaelson books are some of the best SF/Fantasy books that have ever been written. Not quite as good as the previous two entries but still incredibly entertaining. Highly recommended!!
September 5, 2022
Ekselents sērijas turpinājums. Un, jā, šeit ir ne tikai notikumi iz pagātnes, bet tik tiešām arī Kaina sāgas turpinājums.
July 30, 2020
Notes:
Hari/Caine is crazy but the kind that keeps me glued to the pages. This was more disjointed than the other two books but necessary for the last book in line.
Hari/Caine is crazy but the kind that keeps me glued to the pages. This was more disjointed than the other two books but necessary for the last book in line.
December 11, 2023
4.5 stars
April 21, 2016
ugh. I'm conflicted on this one. On one hand, by book three of this series, you know exactly what you're getting into with Caine. On the other hand, this book was far more brutal, unrelenting, vulgar, disgusting and inhuman than the others. At least in the other two books there was a break from Caine being Caine. We had Hari and his relationship with his wife and daughter, we saw him care about people. We saw him have friends and a real life - there were other characters who were in the story.
Caine Black Knife is 99% just Caine being an asshole, killing shit and being tortured. There's pretty much nothing humanizing about him. I'm not one to usually be queasy about violence in books, but this one was just too much for me - which is ironic because I thought Caine was a bit of a cry-baby pussy in book 2. I wish I had just read Heroes Die and stopped there - but I bought all the books, so I'll take a shot at the last one and see how it goes.
Caine Black Knife is 99% just Caine being an asshole, killing shit and being tortured. There's pretty much nothing humanizing about him. I'm not one to usually be queasy about violence in books, but this one was just too much for me - which is ironic because I thought Caine was a bit of a cry-baby pussy in book 2. I wish I had just read Heroes Die and stopped there - but I bought all the books, so I'll take a shot at the last one and see how it goes.
March 11, 2017
Three years have passed since Hari Michaelson - better known to two worlds as Caine - defeated his enemies, left the rancid and overpopulated Earth behind and escaped to Overworld to live in peace. When his adopted ogrillo brother Orbek goes missing in the Boedecken, Caine is reluctantly pulled back to the site of his first and greatest adventure, the one that won him his name, and he finds that he must finally face the ramifications of the huge events that happened twenty-five years earlier.
Caine Black Knife is the third novel in the Acts of Caine series. With every book in this series, author Matt Stover seems to enjoy changing gears, shifting genres, mixing up casts and generally wrong-footing the audience. After Blade of Tyshalle, a massive, epic and weighty (in terms of both size and theme) tome, Stover resists the urge to go bigger and more apocalyptic. Instead he strips things down, delivering the shortest and most focused novel in the series.
Caine Black Knife at heart is a detective story. Caine is trying to find out where his friend Orbek has gone and, once that's done, what the hell is going on in the Boedecken Waste. Caine is not happy to be back, as his former visit transformed him into a superstar but at the cost of enormous numbers of lives and only by Caine performing some truly heinous acts. The novel is divided into chapters that alternate between Caine's investigation in the past and flashbacks to his first adventure in the Boedecken. Some familiar faces return (or are discussed at length) from the first two books but for the most part this is a new and stand-alone adventure.
Caine is a complex protagonist at the best of times, and in this novel Stover has to show him twice over at different points in his life. The contrast between the more ruthless and selfish 25-year-old Caine and his 50-year-old, half-crippled, more cynical but also more reflective and (dare we say it) guiltier older self is fascinating. Caine is driven by his demons and ghosts in this novel, but Stover cleverly avoids undercutting the character development from the previous two books: Caine has made his peace with a lot of the problems he had previously and even made something of a new life for himself before he is drawn into Orbek's problems.
The shorter page count and tighter focus means more action and plot development, but never at the expense of characterisation. The cast is much smaller than Blade of Tyshalle, but we still get to meet several Knights of Khryl (a bunch of fanatical warriors who somehow manage to be unlike any other bunch of fanatical religious warriors you've ever met in a fantasy novel) and a bunch of Caine's past associates. Stover has a gift for fleshing out even briefly-appearing characters, with even the staff and patrons of the inn Caine is staying it getting developed and involved in the storyline. Also, whilst black, cynical humour has always been part of the series, it feels a bit more prominent in this volume which helps alleviate the grimness.
This is a pretty dark book - if not quite as harrowingly bleak as Blade of Tyshalle - but Stover manages to sidestep a lot of the problems associated with modern 'grimdark' fantasy. The violence is prominent but never feels gratuitous. Apart from Caine, most of the major and important characters in the book are female (as in the previous two, for that matter) and whilst sexual assault is implied, it is kept firmly off-page and treated with seriousness. There's a strong undercurrent of tragedy and inevitability running through the book and Stover even subverts his own 'happy ending' for a couple of the characters by pointing out how they died during another adventure years later.
If there is a problem with the book, it's that it feels like a stand-alone but ends abruptly with numerous plot strands left unresolved. Though irritating on release (with a four-year gap for the next volume), this is not a problem now since the fourth book, Caine's Law, is already available.
Caine Black Knife (*****) is Stover once again changing the way he writes and even the genre (to an extent) and still coming up with a gripping, intelligent and original fantasy novel. Outstanding. The book is available now in the USA and as an ebook-only release in the UK.
Caine Black Knife is the third novel in the Acts of Caine series. With every book in this series, author Matt Stover seems to enjoy changing gears, shifting genres, mixing up casts and generally wrong-footing the audience. After Blade of Tyshalle, a massive, epic and weighty (in terms of both size and theme) tome, Stover resists the urge to go bigger and more apocalyptic. Instead he strips things down, delivering the shortest and most focused novel in the series.
Caine Black Knife at heart is a detective story. Caine is trying to find out where his friend Orbek has gone and, once that's done, what the hell is going on in the Boedecken Waste. Caine is not happy to be back, as his former visit transformed him into a superstar but at the cost of enormous numbers of lives and only by Caine performing some truly heinous acts. The novel is divided into chapters that alternate between Caine's investigation in the past and flashbacks to his first adventure in the Boedecken. Some familiar faces return (or are discussed at length) from the first two books but for the most part this is a new and stand-alone adventure.
Caine is a complex protagonist at the best of times, and in this novel Stover has to show him twice over at different points in his life. The contrast between the more ruthless and selfish 25-year-old Caine and his 50-year-old, half-crippled, more cynical but also more reflective and (dare we say it) guiltier older self is fascinating. Caine is driven by his demons and ghosts in this novel, but Stover cleverly avoids undercutting the character development from the previous two books: Caine has made his peace with a lot of the problems he had previously and even made something of a new life for himself before he is drawn into Orbek's problems.
The shorter page count and tighter focus means more action and plot development, but never at the expense of characterisation. The cast is much smaller than Blade of Tyshalle, but we still get to meet several Knights of Khryl (a bunch of fanatical warriors who somehow manage to be unlike any other bunch of fanatical religious warriors you've ever met in a fantasy novel) and a bunch of Caine's past associates. Stover has a gift for fleshing out even briefly-appearing characters, with even the staff and patrons of the inn Caine is staying it getting developed and involved in the storyline. Also, whilst black, cynical humour has always been part of the series, it feels a bit more prominent in this volume which helps alleviate the grimness.
This is a pretty dark book - if not quite as harrowingly bleak as Blade of Tyshalle - but Stover manages to sidestep a lot of the problems associated with modern 'grimdark' fantasy. The violence is prominent but never feels gratuitous. Apart from Caine, most of the major and important characters in the book are female (as in the previous two, for that matter) and whilst sexual assault is implied, it is kept firmly off-page and treated with seriousness. There's a strong undercurrent of tragedy and inevitability running through the book and Stover even subverts his own 'happy ending' for a couple of the characters by pointing out how they died during another adventure years later.
If there is a problem with the book, it's that it feels like a stand-alone but ends abruptly with numerous plot strands left unresolved. Though irritating on release (with a four-year gap for the next volume), this is not a problem now since the fourth book, Caine's Law, is already available.
Caine Black Knife (*****) is Stover once again changing the way he writes and even the genre (to an extent) and still coming up with a gripping, intelligent and original fantasy novel. Outstanding. The book is available now in the USA and as an ebook-only release in the UK.
July 30, 2021
A review of the whole series:
1: Heroes Die is great. The dynamic between the two worlds is great, and all the forces on Caine play off each other in great ways, and Caine himself is a great protagonist. Gritty, bloody, and very funny. This is the best book in the series. The ending is very conclusive, and the book works great standalone.
2: Blade of Tyshalle is good. Shockingly introspective, but still a violent action filled book. The competing forces around Caine are just as good as in the first book, if not better. The black goo felt out of place, and didn't sit well with me as a plot device. Not as good as the first book, but still enjoyable. The ending was so conclusive I wasn't sure how the series could continue.
3: Caine Black Knife is just okay. The flashback sections are great, but the main timeline is pretty weak. Caine doesn't have the tension around his actions that made the first two books so good, and the actual main story isn't super engaging. This book has to be read with book 4, as they are sort of two sides of the same story, with book 4 having the real ending.
4: Caine's Law is the weakest book in the series. While it was interesting trying to figure out how the scenes presented tied back into Caine Black Knife, they didn't make for an interesting story. There was no tension around Caine's actions, and even less of an actual goal. Lots of random scenes trying to justify the ending and talking about how neat horses are. The ending it does give you is not noticeably better than the one in Blade of Tyshalle. Caine is still a fun protagonist, and piecing everything together is neat, but the book isn't great.
I'd treat the first book as a standalone, and if you are interested in reading more and seeing a more fitting conclusion, read the first two as a duology. The last two should really just be read if you loved Caine as a protagonist and would read anything about him. I don't regret reading them, but I can't say I really recommend them.
1: Heroes Die is great. The dynamic between the two worlds is great, and all the forces on Caine play off each other in great ways, and Caine himself is a great protagonist. Gritty, bloody, and very funny. This is the best book in the series. The ending is very conclusive, and the book works great standalone.
2: Blade of Tyshalle is good. Shockingly introspective, but still a violent action filled book. The competing forces around Caine are just as good as in the first book, if not better. The black goo felt out of place, and didn't sit well with me as a plot device. Not as good as the first book, but still enjoyable. The ending was so conclusive I wasn't sure how the series could continue.
3: Caine Black Knife is just okay. The flashback sections are great, but the main timeline is pretty weak. Caine doesn't have the tension around his actions that made the first two books so good, and the actual main story isn't super engaging. This book has to be read with book 4, as they are sort of two sides of the same story, with book 4 having the real ending.
4: Caine's Law is the weakest book in the series. While it was interesting trying to figure out how the scenes presented tied back into Caine Black Knife, they didn't make for an interesting story. There was no tension around Caine's actions, and even less of an actual goal. Lots of random scenes trying to justify the ending and talking about how neat horses are. The ending it does give you is not noticeably better than the one in Blade of Tyshalle. Caine is still a fun protagonist, and piecing everything together is neat, but the book isn't great.
I'd treat the first book as a standalone, and if you are interested in reading more and seeing a more fitting conclusion, read the first two as a duology. The last two should really just be read if you loved Caine as a protagonist and would read anything about him. I don't regret reading them, but I can't say I really recommend them.
June 27, 2013
In book 3, Caine visits the Khryl homeland to get his dumbass adoptive ogrillo brother Orbek out of trouble with the Khryllian law, which plans to execute him in combat for failing to grovel properly in the presence of a knight. Granted, Orbek did kill a couple of Khryllian armsmen when they took exception to his appalling deferential deficiency, but still. (Note that Khryl is a relatively warm and fuzzy nation, full of shiny knights and noble heroes, and that should tell you a lot about the world Stover has built.)
Interspersed with these chapters are flashbacks to Caine's first Adventure, which took place in the same location and made him an international star. Extensively, creatively, nauseatingly violent, as usual. Nobody paints a picture of credibly exploding viscera like Matthew Stover.
He makes numerous confusing references to characters and events which appeared briefly and in passing 200 pages earlier. Or--with no explanation--in 2nd person. Possibly as "God". Or something. The first time I read Caine Black Knife, I found it frustratingly hard to follow. More recently I read it in sequence with the other books and it improved dramatically. It's a 3 star book on its own, but if you can track the plot it transforms into a hellaciously good book, mixing the best action writing in the business with thoughtful interludes of philosophy and a grim civil rights story.
Interspersed with these chapters are flashbacks to Caine's first Adventure, which took place in the same location and made him an international star. Extensively, creatively, nauseatingly violent, as usual. Nobody paints a picture of credibly exploding viscera like Matthew Stover.
He makes numerous confusing references to characters and events which appeared briefly and in passing 200 pages earlier. Or--with no explanation--in 2nd person. Possibly as "God". Or something. The first time I read Caine Black Knife, I found it frustratingly hard to follow. More recently I read it in sequence with the other books and it improved dramatically. It's a 3 star book on its own, but if you can track the plot it transforms into a hellaciously good book, mixing the best action writing in the business with thoughtful interludes of philosophy and a grim civil rights story.
February 19, 2011
Stover's Heroes Die is an excellent- if brutal and rather vulgar- book. Unfortunately the series takes a downhill turn from there; I didn't like Blade of Tyshalle at all.
The third book snaps back and forth between the present and the adventure that originally made Caine a superstar. Neither one is fully satisfying, although it's an improvement on Blade of Tyshalle. Unfortunately it also ends halfway through the story, so you'll be waiting for book #4 to find out how it ends.
Only Heroes Die works as a standalone. If you haven't read it or the second book, you'll have no clue what's going on. My recommendation is to try the excellent Heroes Die and decide if you want to wade into the rest of the series.
The third book snaps back and forth between the present and the adventure that originally made Caine a superstar. Neither one is fully satisfying, although it's an improvement on Blade of Tyshalle. Unfortunately it also ends halfway through the story, so you'll be waiting for book #4 to find out how it ends.
Only Heroes Die works as a standalone. If you haven't read it or the second book, you'll have no clue what's going on. My recommendation is to try the excellent Heroes Die and decide if you want to wade into the rest of the series.
October 16, 2013
So, the third book of Matthew Woodring Stover's series about Caine, a wandering mercenary who in reality is an actor from our world, whose adventures are followed by us, the adoring masses. Acts of Caine, get it? Clever. I first picked up 'Heroes Die' many many years ago, on recommendation by the lovely chaps at the Borderlands bookstore in San Francisco, on my first ever trip there. And absolutely loved it. It's brutal, funny, gripping and a pretty harsh book. But I loved it. Then a couple of years ago, I randomly searched for a sequel and found The Blade of Tyshalle, to my great delight. I did not enjoy that one as much as the first, but enough so that I was still pretty excited to hear that Caine Black Knife was coming out this hear. This is a very different book, however, and I found it a little abrupt; in fact when I reached the end it completely took me by surprise as I hadn't been expecting it. So, huh. The style is similar but it's mostly done in first person, which was a little difficult to follow (not very bright, me) but somehow it also lacked the special something I loved most about Heroes Die. Ah, well. Still worth reading.
February 8, 2024
Another excellent book from Stover. While it's part 1 of a two-part story and thus ends on a cliffhanger, it was a pure adventure through and through. There is more humor here than in either of the first two Caine installments, and a less oppressive outlook in general than in BLADE OF TYSHALLE.
However, the stakes are lower and overall Stover doesn't push himself as much as he did in BLADE. CAINE BLACK KNIFE is a much more fun read, but it's not as impressive a literary work. 4 stars is the order of the day for this one.
REREAD EDIT: Holy crap, this book completely changes with the context of CAINE’S LAW (once you figure out exactly what CAINE’S LAW actually is). I’m laughing at myself for the “not as impressive a literary work” comment in my initial review, because CBK is swinging some Gene Wolfe-level big dick recontextualization-in-hindsight literary cleverness.
However, the stakes are lower and overall Stover doesn't push himself as much as he did in BLADE. CAINE BLACK KNIFE is a much more fun read, but it's not as impressive a literary work. 4 stars is the order of the day for this one.
REREAD EDIT: Holy crap, this book completely changes with the context of CAINE’S LAW (once you figure out exactly what CAINE’S LAW actually is). I’m laughing at myself for the “not as impressive a literary work” comment in my initial review, because CBK is swinging some Gene Wolfe-level big dick recontextualization-in-hindsight literary cleverness.
July 25, 2011
The third book in Stover's "Acts of Caine" series continues to impress. Unlike the first two books, which told complete stories, this one ends in a bit of a cliffhanger (which will be resolved in book 4, Caine's Law).
The book interweaves two stories. One picks up the story of Caine from a couple of years after the events of book 2 (Blade of Tyshalle). The other tells the tale of an adventure from Caine's past - a story that has been referred to several times in the first 2 books. The two stories take place in and around the same city, and Stover does a good job of weaving them together.
If you like fantasy/science fiction literature, I urge you to pick up the first book of the series (Heroes Die).
The book interweaves two stories. One picks up the story of Caine from a couple of years after the events of book 2 (Blade of Tyshalle). The other tells the tale of an adventure from Caine's past - a story that has been referred to several times in the first 2 books. The two stories take place in and around the same city, and Stover does a good job of weaving them together.
If you like fantasy/science fiction literature, I urge you to pick up the first book of the series (Heroes Die).
July 23, 2014
The best fantasy novel of 2008 till now for me. The power of the first two Caine novels in a tight, well honed, no words wasted package. Not for the squeamish since it's even more graphic than the first 2, it follows Caine's adventures in 2 threads, one in the past detailing his first famous adventure that made his name, second in the present picking up some pieces of that original 25 years ago adventure.
September 23, 2010
Quite a letdown for me. I love Stover's stuff. My problems, in a nutshell, are as follows:
- the overuse of the first person: Caine is a much better badass in third person, and we really need the distance and the mystery, which is taken away in the 1st person perspective
- problems with how the "adventure" portion is handled (it is portrayed as a cube, or maybe as a first-hander experience, but the internal "thoughts" of the main character seem out of place for a cube)
- lack of any other character in the story or narrative...this is yet another problem with 1st person. One of the general rules of storytelling is to use the most effective character for every scene, and Caine is most definitely not the best for each scene
- Pacing problems: way too slow in the beginning with Caine's sleuthwork and revelation of the plot
- The ending is horrible. Loose ends, the obvious prep for a sequel, no good sense of finality here
I'd heard this book wasn't as good as its predecessors and starting reading it with trepidation. I don't know if I'll read the sequel, whenever it comes out. I really think that Stover needs to kill this storyline and start another. Maybe under a different name. He's been rumbling about a pen name for awhile, and it might help curb expectations.
- the overuse of the first person: Caine is a much better badass in third person, and we really need the distance and the mystery, which is taken away in the 1st person perspective
- problems with how the "adventure" portion is handled (it is portrayed as a cube, or maybe as a first-hander experience, but the internal "thoughts" of the main character seem out of place for a cube)
- lack of any other character in the story or narrative...this is yet another problem with 1st person. One of the general rules of storytelling is to use the most effective character for every scene, and Caine is most definitely not the best for each scene
- Pacing problems: way too slow in the beginning with Caine's sleuthwork and revelation of the plot
- The ending is horrible. Loose ends, the obvious prep for a sequel, no good sense of finality here
I'd heard this book wasn't as good as its predecessors and starting reading it with trepidation. I don't know if I'll read the sequel, whenever it comes out. I really think that Stover needs to kill this storyline and start another. Maybe under a different name. He's been rumbling about a pen name for awhile, and it might help curb expectations.
April 9, 2009
This man can write. I can't say whether this is the best sword/sorcery novel of all time, but it's easily the best I've read.
October 14, 2013
I want this series to never end...
August 20, 2018
This really only felt like half a book. I've since started Caine's Law and hopefully I'll see a conclusion to the story started here.
October 22, 2021
Phenomenal book. A return to Ankhana and the circumstances that made Caine. More importantly, a glance into his past, back when his self-loathing was tempered by youthful piss and vinegar, allowing the character some distance from the trope of the repentant monster (although Caine was never repentant enough to stop being a monster, he'd just grumble swear words about it) and displays him as an up-and-coming young psychopath, calculating and feral. Young, dumb, and full of hidden knives.
Caine's adopted brother, Orbek Black Knife, has gotten himself into some shit and he's scheduled to throw down in a ceremonial fight to the death with a champion of Krill. He can't win it, and he knows it. It's a sacrifice he's making to breathe new life into the Black Knives, a defunct clan of sadistic ogrillo warlocks.
It's been defunct because they pissed off Caine thirty years ago, and he responded by salting the earth. Imagine if the Anakin Skywalker Sand People arc was actually good, and that's the plot. The Black Knife bitches offer up regular sacrifice to a powerful local demon by torturing their captors until the demon is sated, and grants them whatever dark juju they're petitioning for, be it strength in battle for the bucks, thaumaturgic prowess, or just luck. They are the baddest of the bad, a spooky ghost story throughout Ankhana.
Caine and his posse find themselves cornered by these devil-worshiping ogre magi shitkickers, and he pieces together that he and the other actors on the expedition are all low-earning nobodies, and highly expendable. It's a snuff film. They're not supposed to make it out alive.
A young Caine, charismatic despite his unbearability, gives a rousing speech to his traveling companions, despite being openly contemptuous of them all. He even bangs one out. She is, unsurprisingly, a muscular, Lawful Good paladin type, and the frequency of that iteration of righteous Amazonian babe somehow eagerly slobbing Caine's manlet knob throughout this series says more about Stover than about the narrative. No judgment. Nothing wrong with a lady who could crush your head between her iron thighs like a watermelon. Right fellas?
... Fellas?
Once the troops are roused and/or aroused, he explains his Kobiyashi Maru plan: we kill 'em back. We get so ax-crazy that the ax-crazy demon trafficker monsters get scared of us. C'mon, it'll be fun. Eventually everyone agrees to his suicide mission, and to market they go.
It goes okay for a minute, but then they get got, and crucified, and raped, and tortured, and eaten in parts, all the usual stuff. Here's where it gets cute: Up on the cross, Caine petitions the genius loci of the area, the pandimensional, despair-drinking Cenobite-by-proxy that the Black Knives revere, and promises to make it rain blood now and forever if it'll get him off the cross.
Unclear if it lands. It seems like the demon left him on read. But, lucky boy, he cheeses off the head witch so bad that she reanimates his hands so he can feel pain again, and when one of his colleagues sacrifices herself to raise the angry dead, Caine angles the situation so he can get off the cross, jujitsu the shaman, and drag her off the city wall, ultimately jabbing her to death with the spikes driven through his wrists.
Woo lads! Worth the price of admission already! The Black Knives are staggered. Rest in peace, li'l homie.
Then, intervention, though not necessarily the divine kind. Caine gets yanked back by the studio and patched up by modern medicine. Enter Arturo Goldberg, sadistic pervert social climber, likely already in the thrall of the Blind God, willing to bet it all on this nobody Hari Michaelson to try to springboard both their careers. Goldberg tells Hari how it'll be. Hari tells Goldberg, "Your plan sucks, bc you suck, and are fat. This isn't an escape. This isn't a rescue. This is decimation. Send me back in there and I will genocide those fuckers."
Goldberg needs some convincing, but not much. His greed is only exceeded by his hard-on for carnage. "Okie dokie, underling," he says. "Go wipe them out."
Caine gets zipped back into Ankhana and crawls back into the site of his own crucifixion, a little later, after everyone thought he died. I could swear I heard that story somewhere before. He springs what few of his comrades remain and gives them another insulting, nihilistic pep talk, which snaps them out of the shock they experienced from being tortured, raped, and partially eaten. He has another plan. They go along with it.
Surprise! The plan was not to kill only armed male combatants. The plan was to slaughter everything with tusks. He cuts down the bucks by the score. He chases the cowering bitches into their homes and cuts their throats. He murders the pups in their creche with fire bombs. His goody-goody companions get real mad about it, violently mad about it, but Caine cannot be bothered to give a shit. Everything must burn. It must rain blood, now and forever.
So goes the dissolution of the Black Knives. But back in the present, they're being resurrected. Both figuratively, by Orbek's efforts (as manipulated by a sort of middle-aged, orcish Yoko Ono) and literally, by the studio, who have found a way to resurrect the corpses of dead Black Knives and allow vile teenage gamers to pilot them from the absolute safety of earth, assigning a point system to how many civilians they can kill.
And then Caine gets snatched by the sopies and dragged back to earth, where he's paraplegic, to await his sentencing by the BOG. Drop curtain.
An absolute masterpiece of fantasy sci-fi and psychological horror. I can't say enough good things about this series. I started the next book the moment I finished this one.
Caine's adopted brother, Orbek Black Knife, has gotten himself into some shit and he's scheduled to throw down in a ceremonial fight to the death with a champion of Krill. He can't win it, and he knows it. It's a sacrifice he's making to breathe new life into the Black Knives, a defunct clan of sadistic ogrillo warlocks.
It's been defunct because they pissed off Caine thirty years ago, and he responded by salting the earth. Imagine if the Anakin Skywalker Sand People arc was actually good, and that's the plot. The Black Knife bitches offer up regular sacrifice to a powerful local demon by torturing their captors until the demon is sated, and grants them whatever dark juju they're petitioning for, be it strength in battle for the bucks, thaumaturgic prowess, or just luck. They are the baddest of the bad, a spooky ghost story throughout Ankhana.
Caine and his posse find themselves cornered by these devil-worshiping ogre magi shitkickers, and he pieces together that he and the other actors on the expedition are all low-earning nobodies, and highly expendable. It's a snuff film. They're not supposed to make it out alive.
A young Caine, charismatic despite his unbearability, gives a rousing speech to his traveling companions, despite being openly contemptuous of them all. He even bangs one out. She is, unsurprisingly, a muscular, Lawful Good paladin type, and the frequency of that iteration of righteous Amazonian babe somehow eagerly slobbing Caine's manlet knob throughout this series says more about Stover than about the narrative. No judgment. Nothing wrong with a lady who could crush your head between her iron thighs like a watermelon. Right fellas?
... Fellas?
Once the troops are roused and/or aroused, he explains his Kobiyashi Maru plan: we kill 'em back. We get so ax-crazy that the ax-crazy demon trafficker monsters get scared of us. C'mon, it'll be fun. Eventually everyone agrees to his suicide mission, and to market they go.
It goes okay for a minute, but then they get got, and crucified, and raped, and tortured, and eaten in parts, all the usual stuff. Here's where it gets cute: Up on the cross, Caine petitions the genius loci of the area, the pandimensional, despair-drinking Cenobite-by-proxy that the Black Knives revere, and promises to make it rain blood now and forever if it'll get him off the cross.
Unclear if it lands. It seems like the demon left him on read. But, lucky boy, he cheeses off the head witch so bad that she reanimates his hands so he can feel pain again, and when one of his colleagues sacrifices herself to raise the angry dead, Caine angles the situation so he can get off the cross, jujitsu the shaman, and drag her off the city wall, ultimately jabbing her to death with the spikes driven through his wrists.
Woo lads! Worth the price of admission already! The Black Knives are staggered. Rest in peace, li'l homie.
Then, intervention, though not necessarily the divine kind. Caine gets yanked back by the studio and patched up by modern medicine. Enter Arturo Goldberg, sadistic pervert social climber, likely already in the thrall of the Blind God, willing to bet it all on this nobody Hari Michaelson to try to springboard both their careers. Goldberg tells Hari how it'll be. Hari tells Goldberg, "Your plan sucks, bc you suck, and are fat. This isn't an escape. This isn't a rescue. This is decimation. Send me back in there and I will genocide those fuckers."
Goldberg needs some convincing, but not much. His greed is only exceeded by his hard-on for carnage. "Okie dokie, underling," he says. "Go wipe them out."
Caine gets zipped back into Ankhana and crawls back into the site of his own crucifixion, a little later, after everyone thought he died. I could swear I heard that story somewhere before. He springs what few of his comrades remain and gives them another insulting, nihilistic pep talk, which snaps them out of the shock they experienced from being tortured, raped, and partially eaten. He has another plan. They go along with it.
Surprise! The plan was not to kill only armed male combatants. The plan was to slaughter everything with tusks. He cuts down the bucks by the score. He chases the cowering bitches into their homes and cuts their throats. He murders the pups in their creche with fire bombs. His goody-goody companions get real mad about it, violently mad about it, but Caine cannot be bothered to give a shit. Everything must burn. It must rain blood, now and forever.
So goes the dissolution of the Black Knives. But back in the present, they're being resurrected. Both figuratively, by Orbek's efforts (as manipulated by a sort of middle-aged, orcish Yoko Ono) and literally, by the studio, who have found a way to resurrect the corpses of dead Black Knives and allow vile teenage gamers to pilot them from the absolute safety of earth, assigning a point system to how many civilians they can kill.
And then Caine gets snatched by the sopies and dragged back to earth, where he's paraplegic, to await his sentencing by the BOG. Drop curtain.
An absolute masterpiece of fantasy sci-fi and psychological horror. I can't say enough good things about this series. I started the next book the moment I finished this one.
August 31, 2021
How i rate books:
5- Blew me away
4- Loved it
3- Liked it
2- Disliked it
1- Hated it
Rating: 3.75 / 5
Before we begin, here are some reasons NOT to read this book if you are not into these things:
- Lots and lots of swearing. Very creative swearing, granted. But probably three times more swearing than in other books nonetheless.
- Violence is the solution to everything (due to the attitude of our main PoV).
- Graphic torture scenes.
My two cents:
This book is a lot shorter than the previous installment. It also dispenses with the metaphysical themes. We get a fairly straight forward tale of action, intrigue and betrayal. But, the story is told from two perspectives. One is the 25-year-old Hari Michaelson during his breakthrough mission. The other perspective is the 50-something-year-old Caine (no, not Hari; Caine) being pulled into a hairy situation by one of his acquaintances.
The timeline from the past is well put together and gets resolved satisfyingly. The timeline from the present however feels a bit rushed. We get presented lots and lots of information, which explains the situation that Caine finds himself in. But sadly, the present timeline is somewhat rushed. It could probably have benefitted from around 100 or so more pages. Lots of characters, some of them supposed to be central to the narrative, are briefly introduced only to be never mentioned again or not play a role at all. Maybe this is due to set up for the last book. But still, not elegantly handled here.
Besides the issues of the present timeline, this book is somewhat of a return to form, like in the first installment. However, in terms of the feeling, the first novel was a standalone movie and this book is the third episode of an ongoing show. Much of what happens here is exposition, topped off with a giant cliffhanger. Would this series have ended after this book, it would have left a sour taste in my mouth.
The last point worth mentioning is that this is very much a Caine novel. The distinctive narrative voice is back, and it is great as always. Caine disrespects people, kills people, betrays people, just makes life miserable for people. All while doing it in a highly entertaining way (he is, after all, an actor). Action is always only a few pages away, and it is superbly written, as should be expected from a Caine book.
I hope that the last book is a step up from this novel. All in all this thing could have been longer, but after the last book i can't blame MWS for cutting down on the page numbers. A solid and enjoyable read, but not as good as the first two novels.
5- Blew me away
4- Loved it
3- Liked it
2- Disliked it
1- Hated it
Rating: 3.75 / 5
Before we begin, here are some reasons NOT to read this book if you are not into these things:
- Lots and lots of swearing. Very creative swearing, granted. But probably three times more swearing than in other books nonetheless.
- Violence is the solution to everything (due to the attitude of our main PoV).
- Graphic torture scenes.
My two cents:
This book is a lot shorter than the previous installment. It also dispenses with the metaphysical themes. We get a fairly straight forward tale of action, intrigue and betrayal. But, the story is told from two perspectives. One is the 25-year-old Hari Michaelson during his breakthrough mission. The other perspective is the 50-something-year-old Caine (no, not Hari; Caine) being pulled into a hairy situation by one of his acquaintances.
The timeline from the past is well put together and gets resolved satisfyingly. The timeline from the present however feels a bit rushed. We get presented lots and lots of information, which explains the situation that Caine finds himself in. But sadly, the present timeline is somewhat rushed. It could probably have benefitted from around 100 or so more pages. Lots of characters, some of them supposed to be central to the narrative, are briefly introduced only to be never mentioned again or not play a role at all. Maybe this is due to set up for the last book. But still, not elegantly handled here.
Besides the issues of the present timeline, this book is somewhat of a return to form, like in the first installment. However, in terms of the feeling, the first novel was a standalone movie and this book is the third episode of an ongoing show. Much of what happens here is exposition, topped off with a giant cliffhanger. Would this series have ended after this book, it would have left a sour taste in my mouth.
The last point worth mentioning is that this is very much a Caine novel. The distinctive narrative voice is back, and it is great as always. Caine disrespects people, kills people, betrays people, just makes life miserable for people. All while doing it in a highly entertaining way (he is, after all, an actor). Action is always only a few pages away, and it is superbly written, as should be expected from a Caine book.
I hope that the last book is a step up from this novel. All in all this thing could have been longer, but after the last book i can't blame MWS for cutting down on the page numbers. A solid and enjoyable read, but not as good as the first two novels.
August 18, 2012
Before we get into this book, I'd like to note that I am a huge fan of the second book in this series, Blade of Tyshalle. It took what is my least favorite part of Heroes Die, the dystopian setting, and turned it into the centrepiece of something much more exciting and interesting.
So, about 10% into this novel, I thought this book was going to do something similar to the character of Caine. I've never thought that Caine rose too high above typical anti-hero, so I was excited to see Caine become fleshed out, and have to reconcile the person that he was back in the time he became a star Actor, to the person he became now. And while there were hints of that, it never really developed like I thought it would, and as a result, my interest level in Caine the character stayed about where it was the previous two books. So on that count I was a little disappointed.
Now, I realize it is tremendously unfair to trash a book for not being what you were expecting. And really, the above paragraph isn't why this is a lesser offering in this mostly very good series. The reason is that, except for a few scenes that truly show Stover's skill as an author, (more on those later), the book for me fails to rise above pure pulp like the other books in the series. Worse, the pure pulp is not very well paced. The current day story line goes through 80% of the book before anything actually happens, the first 4/5ths of the book is Caine going around and talking to people trying to get a gauge on the situation. Now, it isn't quite as boring as I just made it sound, but still, not a particularly effective way to write a book. The action-heavy Retreat from the Boedecken part offsets that a bit, but not quite enough to make me ignore it.
That said, the two chapters "The Memory of Day" and "Bad Guy" are some of the best in the series thus far. Both are from the past tense storyline, and especially combined, really show you where Caine was at as a person in the times he became famous. And while the full development he's had since then isn't really shown in the present day line, it can clearly be seen through his actions in the previous two books where Caine has come.
In summary, it is a lesser Overworld offering, as it doesn't quite have the depth Blade of Tyshalle did in particular. However, for those who enjoyed the first two books there is enough in this to make it worth your while for certain, and the action sequences as usual are superb. And for those who haven't read this series, Stover has a lot of talent, and this series (starting with Heroes Die) is highly recommended.
So, about 10% into this novel, I thought this book was going to do something similar to the character of Caine. I've never thought that Caine rose too high above typical anti-hero, so I was excited to see Caine become fleshed out, and have to reconcile the person that he was back in the time he became a star Actor, to the person he became now. And while there were hints of that, it never really developed like I thought it would, and as a result, my interest level in Caine the character stayed about where it was the previous two books. So on that count I was a little disappointed.
Now, I realize it is tremendously unfair to trash a book for not being what you were expecting. And really, the above paragraph isn't why this is a lesser offering in this mostly very good series. The reason is that, except for a few scenes that truly show Stover's skill as an author, (more on those later), the book for me fails to rise above pure pulp like the other books in the series. Worse, the pure pulp is not very well paced. The current day story line goes through 80% of the book before anything actually happens, the first 4/5ths of the book is Caine going around and talking to people trying to get a gauge on the situation. Now, it isn't quite as boring as I just made it sound, but still, not a particularly effective way to write a book. The action-heavy Retreat from the Boedecken part offsets that a bit, but not quite enough to make me ignore it.
That said, the two chapters "The Memory of Day" and "Bad Guy" are some of the best in the series thus far. Both are from the past tense storyline, and especially combined, really show you where Caine was at as a person in the times he became famous. And while the full development he's had since then isn't really shown in the present day line, it can clearly be seen through his actions in the previous two books where Caine has come.
In summary, it is a lesser Overworld offering, as it doesn't quite have the depth Blade of Tyshalle did in particular. However, for those who enjoyed the first two books there is enough in this to make it worth your while for certain, and the action sequences as usual are superb. And for those who haven't read this series, Stover has a lot of talent, and this series (starting with Heroes Die) is highly recommended.
April 3, 2012
Fantastic. The third Act of Caine contains two intertwining narratives: one replays the events from Retreat From the Boedecken, the Adventure that launched Caine's career 25 years ago and made him a star. The other plotline revolves around Caine returning to the Boedecken, three years after events from the previous book. There's a couple of mysteries rolling around, involving Caine's adopted brother Orbek, something called the Smoke Hunt, and a gate back to Earth. Unlike earlier volumes, this book is told entirely from Caine's perspective, which naturally means the language is even cruder than previous books -- or, perhaps, just as crude, but more concentrated. The other consequence of the limited POV is the fact that when Caine doesn't know what's going on, neither does the reader. This makes for some enjoyable segments of 'unreliable narration', but it also makes understanding the mystery plot more difficult -- especially considering the sometimes-unreliable narrator Caine doesn't always announce to the reader when he's made a connection toward solving the case. Having said all that, despite starting out a bit slowly, the book really picks up in the second half, and is altogether a fantastic addition to the Acts. What's really amazing is how seamlessly the additional backstory provided here fits into that given in the earlier books; one becomes convinced that this character and his history, and that of his two worlds, is real; that Stover figured all of this out years ago, is only slowly letting us peek in on the worlds he's created. One last comment, and that's that book is only part one of two. It doesn't really end on a cliffhanger, per se, but it is a definite To Be Continued moment... I can't wait to read the further Acts of Caine.
February 20, 2016
"Caine Black Knife" is the third in the series of books centered on the adventures of actor/unstoppable assassin, Hari Michaelson and is a must read for fans of talented author Matthew Stover. However...
Lacking the "big story" component of the first two books (fate of two worlds hanging in the balance, etc), CBK is also a bit of a jumble -- mixing a present day mini-adventure with a series of flashbacks about how Hari made his bones and became the mega star, Caine.
Personally, I would have preferred it if Mr. Stover had stuck to one story or the other as, for me, this style of back and forth storytelling tends to be more distracting than enjoyable -- just not my thing. And because of these flashbacks CBK has the same sort of mild "oh, that's why" feel that you get from reading the appendixes in LOTR -- enjoyable enough for what they reveal, but not as satisfying as the master's main work.
Overall, Stover's skill as a writer is evident in CBK and while Caine is still the charismatic rogue that made me love the character in the first books, I guess what I really would have liked was one, fully expanded story with much higher stakes.
Lacking the "big story" component of the first two books (fate of two worlds hanging in the balance, etc), CBK is also a bit of a jumble -- mixing a present day mini-adventure with a series of flashbacks about how Hari made his bones and became the mega star, Caine.
Personally, I would have preferred it if Mr. Stover had stuck to one story or the other as, for me, this style of back and forth storytelling tends to be more distracting than enjoyable -- just not my thing. And because of these flashbacks CBK has the same sort of mild "oh, that's why" feel that you get from reading the appendixes in LOTR -- enjoyable enough for what they reveal, but not as satisfying as the master's main work.
Overall, Stover's skill as a writer is evident in CBK and while Caine is still the charismatic rogue that made me love the character in the first books, I guess what I really would have liked was one, fully expanded story with much higher stakes.
September 13, 2010
Stover knows this character and his voice cold. I read this a while ago, so I can't remember too much beyond enjoying it (while being aware of the over-the-top nature of the prose), but I just wandered over to mwstover.com, where the other has occasionally been offering "Caine on Combat" tactical tips.
e.g.,
"The best way to hit someone is by surprise. The best way to surprise someone is to hit him before he knows you’re there. Second best is to hit him before he knows he’s in a fight. As a last resort, hit him while he’s talking."
and
"Knives are not for fighting. Knives are for killing people who don’t know you have knives."
Caine's fun to read about, in a grisly sort of way.
e.g.,
"The best way to hit someone is by surprise. The best way to surprise someone is to hit him before he knows you’re there. Second best is to hit him before he knows he’s in a fight. As a last resort, hit him while he’s talking."
and
"Knives are not for fighting. Knives are for killing people who don’t know you have knives."
Caine's fun to read about, in a grisly sort of way.
January 23, 2012
This book (3rd in the series) was more enjoyable than "Blade of Tyshalle" (book #2) but less enjoyable than "Heroes Die" (book 1). This book is a prequel to the first two, allowing the reader to experience the adventure that made Caine a star. I eagerly look forward to book 4 "Caine's Law" coming out in the near future.
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