‘This cover is not bringing the boys to the yard’ 😂😂😂 I’m going to try and pick this up this year. I’m glad you’re back, Mark! You’ve been missed!

Super awesome book! The sequel is a completely different type of book compared to it, though. I still have to get back to it.

You're alive! And yayyyy he's back BABBBYYY

This is my all time favorite book thing. It's one of the most complex and provoking experiences I've ever had. It's also the only series in the genre I know which actually goes so deep it becomes ridiculously insane. I'm still trying my best to grasp what the fuck is going on in Caine's Law in a reread. Stover, Parker, Mieville and Bakker are the absolute peak of fantasy, but Stover manages to scratch a certain itch that works perfectly for me. Ma'elKoth is the greatest fucking character ever written. CAINE IS THE MOTHERFUCKING MAN, tho, definitely. Also I fucking love the cover, unironically.

Stover has a martial arts background, so that explains your observations about how he writes his fight scenes.

Everyone has told me I would love this book. I need to read this. I really do. The switch from 1st to 3rd person reminds me of blood song 🩸. 3rd person was used for phenomenal character development and 1st person was used to develop the world and plot. 2 different POVs. Best of both worlds. Great one.

Glad you liked it. Acts of Caine has been on my radar for quite a while as well. The premise by itself is so dope sounding, but I'm glad to hear it's more than just a cool premise. Sounds like a well-constructed piece of fiction too.

This is probably my favorite book of all time.

Read that book when it first came out. Read all in the series, but none reached the greatness of 1st. Too bad he doesn't write anymore. Also wrote best Star Wars book.

thanks for the review dude. Would strongly recommend finishing the series - the other books really flesh out Hari... and man - it gets so heavy . messed up - but in a good way. One of my favourite series for sure. Defo its own thing.

I have the four Acts of Caine books waiting in my shelf with the gap cycle. Once i finish the Fecking Broken Empire for 1st time i will devour them asap. Ive read somewhere that every one of the 4 books are different in style and tone, where heroes die is more action and blade of tyshalle is the grimmest of all

Funnily I picked this book up because Stover's novellisation of Revenge of the Sith is fire. Wasn't disapointed.

Hey!!!! I still haven't gotten to this.... someday, someday

Such a great book really need to finish series

Now that I'm done Malazan Book of The Fallen and close to catching up on Dresden Files I can get some more Grimdark back into my veins.

I LOVED this review, you nailed it man. One of my favorites. Well played!

One of the best books nobody's reading!

Massive Turn on - Heroes Die Massive Turn off - Blade of Tyshalle

So glad you finally read it, Mark :) T he series only gets more ambitious. He does something different with every book, but it fits perfectly together as a whole series. The sequels are very polarizing, not because of the quality imo, but because of his ambition. He really makes you work and the payoff huge. Kinda reminds me of Aspect Emperor in that regard. I agree that Heroes Die is Dark Fantasy, but I think you'll have no difficulty at all labeling Blade of Tyshalle Grimdark. So interested hearing your thoughts going forward. The series gets more philosophical and Hari definitely gets put in front of the mirror. He's the overly manly man, especially in the beginning, I agree, but I grew to love that and it's intersting how Stover deals with that over time. Concerning his badassery, it reminds me of Jorg's shenanigans in Broken Empire, where the only question was HOW does he pull his victory off and what will the price be? That also was a turnoff for me initially, but I actually loved it when I finally accepted it. I could go on, but enough for now 😁

I've passed by that book at the store so many times because of that cover. I just don't even give it a 2nd look thinking it's a 1980's cheesey fantasy. I might give it a go but it feels exhausting and not because there are a lot of moving parts...it's just that I'm really thick in the head and need stuff simple jack sometimes. Great review thanks for the suggestion!

I also enjoyed book 2, Blade of Tyshalle. I couldn't get into book 3 and book 4 though.

Glad you loved it, this one's been a favorite for a long time. I liken it to a fantasy Die Hard - it's that older macho 90's action movie yeah, but it's got the perfect script and plot to back it up. And oh man the twist at the end? The sequels aren't quite as good, and take a hard turn away from action into philosophy - BUT - the first half of book 2 has *the* singlemost inventive consequence of a sequel I can think of. I dunno if I can recommend 3 or 4, but definitely at least give 2 a shot, I'd *love* to hear your thoughts on it.

Loved this book but the sequel is terrible and nothing like the first unfortunately