Book Review: The Acts of Caine: Heroes Die by Matthew Woodring Stover

Gritty fantasy. It's not something I have a lot of experience with, but its existence makes several different kinds of sense. Most of the fantasy that I've read in my life follows a group of adventurers that play by the rules, be it their own or those set up by society. They have codes of honor, a strict sense of morality, an oath they must bear for the rest of their lives. The villains are usually just the same, save for the fact that they kill people for selfish gain. So, it's odd to finish a book and not quite know who the villain was, who the hero was, and who really came out on top as the victor.

It was an interesting ride, one that I should've taken a long time ago.

Heroes Die is set on dystopian Earth and Overworld, depending on how you look at it. Earth has been overtaken by a rather harsh caste system, and the main form of entertainment is the exploitation of a parallel dimension (Overworld) where elves, dwarves, dragons, fairies, and magics are very real. Earth trains up people called Actors, who are then transfered to Overworld to seek out bloody fame and fortune through Adventures, which can then be resold as "movies" of sorts. Caine is the best and most popular Actor of that generation, and he wants out of the game. But just when he thinks he's out...

His estranged wife, an Actor herself, is disappears in Overworld and the Studio has no way to bring her back to Earth. What's worse, due to the way she was transfered to Overworld, if she isn't found within the next week, she'll fall out of sync with that dimension, and will subsequently be torn through various parallel dimensions where humans have no right to exist. It's a death sentence of the worst sort. So, Caine goes back in, with the caveat that he must kill Ma'elKoth, the self-appointed Emperor of the human Empire in Overworld.

There's a lot going on in this book.

It has betrayal, gang wars, regicide, torture, incest, human sacrifice, decapitations, disembowelment, rape, mindrape, soulrape, prostitution, necrophilia... and I'm still gonna sit down here and recommend this book to you. Let me tell you why.

Most fantasy stories that you will read will play things very safe. For all intents and purposes, fantasy is a genre that always tries to be dignified. It tries to portray life as something cleaner, funner, happier. It often portrays a place you'd want to escape to. Fantasy has become Utopian fiction, in a way, and it's caused the entire genre to ruthlessly cannibalize itself. Stover pulls a one-eighty on all of that, and just kinda lets you sort it out for yourself.

On the one hand, you have an adventure that I can only compare to those of Conan. It's full of that bloody, primal fury that will have fans of good action almost clapping as they read. It's also written (for the most part) with a voice of eloquence and obvious intelligence (again, much like Conan), which allows for a really immersive trip into Overworld. But beneath all of that, there is quite a bit of social commentary: in that this is a violent book about violence. Caine's actions, good or ill, are all as a direct result of the dreaded "supply and demand" system. He's there because people demand it, and in return, he supplies the blood.

The main conflict Caine faces with this (besides overthrowing the Empire) is to show that the Studio and its executives and their consumers do not own him. He's a worker, he does a job, but he's not a slave.

If Karl Marx could write fantasy, I suspect it would turn out like Heroes Die.

The moral dilemmas are not in short supply here, and the repercussions don't die with Caine's enemies. All of Caine's actions come around to bite him in the ass at some point. This is a book that will make you think if you'd like to, but it's also a book that you can enjoy for the action, the over-the-top scenes of violence, and it'll make you wonder whether or not you should have enjoyed it as much as you did.

He's doing this for you, after all.

Heroes Die lacks the subtle touch of Stover's later works, but that was probably on purpose. Stover can be poetic when he wants to, life-changing if he's bored, and can show you a universe you didn't know existed if you open yourself to what he's really saying. There's a of that here, but it's buried deeper than I would've liked it to be. Overworld itself is the real accomplishment here, as well as the introduction of Caine, a character I am eager to pursue through his next few books.

Read this book if you want to see what fantasy's like when life gets in the way.

Book Review: Old Man's War by John Scalzi

I remember (in the before-time) when I read Ender's Game for the first time. It was everything I had wanted in a book, and it was what got me back into reading as a hobby. Ever since then, I've always recommended it to people. I've given it to my brother as a gift and to my English cohort, Mister Buch. These days, I almost feel bad that I did, not because the book is bad, 'cause it's not, but because Orson Scott Card is...well, I shouldn't say.

What I will say is that I no longer wish to support him or his views, which are so readily available to the world these days.

This was depressing to me, since science fiction is in flux these days. You can't walk down a proper sci-fi/fantasy aisle in a book store without finding:

1) A metric ton of fantasy novels.

2) An entire section dedicated to Star Wars.

3) A small selection dedicated to Robert Heinlein.

4) A slightly larger selection of books from the Honor Harrington series.

It's hard to find good science fiction these days. Really hard. If I wanted to read a modern fantasy book, how many authors are there lined up? Off the top of my head: Salvatore, Weis & Hickman, Rothfuss, Martin, Sanderson, Stover, Donaldson, Brooks, Butcher, Erikson, Weeks. If I do the same thing with science fiction authors I get...ah...Weber? Bear? Most sci-fi authors these days are writing for Star Wars. That's not a bad thing at all, but it sorta makes that aisle a little wanting.

It's a bit telling when I have to choose from a line-up of science fiction works from half a century ago. But I'm glad I don't have to anymore.

I didn't pick up Old Man's War on impulse, I did it out of spite. John Scalzi's name simply popped up everywhere. Amazon would always recommend his books, Borders would always have them sitting out on a table for me to notice, and Stover eventually did an interview on a blog called "Whatever." Whose blog is this, I wonder? Well, it looks like - dammit!

I won't even go into the whole Stargate Universe thing.

So, I bought Old Man's War to quiet the voices. I took it home, got ten pages into it and...well, yeah, I'm finished with it. I couldn't put it down. Just couldn't. Something was just shouting at me the entire way through: I had found my new sci-fi hero.

Hey, we made it to the actual review! Old Man's War is about a seventy-five-year old man named John Perry. He's recently lost his wife and can't quite see how he can get much more out of his life on Earth. So, he signs up to join the mysterious Colonial Defense Forces military on his birthday, not knowing exactly what he's signing up for. What he does know is that he's about to be declared legally dead, and will never be able to return to Earth for as long as he lives.

Tough break. Eventually, he finds himself traveling across the galaxy in a new, younger, battle-ready body to fight a war the likes of which humanity has never experienced. A war where you might be fighting one alien species one week, and a completely different species the next - and that's assuming you even know how to kill them, a possibility that is always up in the air.

John's real battle isn't about the war, really. He's lost his humanity in little ways, and has to discover what it is he's really fighting for. It's a battle worth experiencing.

Mister Scalzi knows how to write damn good sci-fi. He strikes a fine balance between story and science. You won't be reading this book for the brand of hard sci-fi that makes your head asplode; you'll be reading it for the characters first and foremost, then the story, then the science, then the hard science - in that order, and they're all worth following.

What I loved was the romantic view toward the unknowns of the universe. Scalzi can just dazzle you with bits that make you question the scale of the universe and the beauty that surrounds us in the unknown regions of the galaxy. It felt like Scalzi really got what Sagan was trying to say, and attempted to continue it in little ways.

There were only two things that I didn't like. One was the brevity, because it felt like Scalzi only had a certain amount of space to work with, and the ending feels a bit rushed on account of this (regardless of if it's true or not). The other thing was that, you know, I'm no scientist. I've dabbled in astrophysics, but that was a long time ago, and wherever that information is, it's not in my head. Obviously, there's some hard science in this book, and my gripe lies with the way it was presented.

In the real world, scientists can talk about certain concepts without having to explain them, right? Right. But the reader might not know what these scientists are talking about, so the author has to think of a plot device in order to justify these characters explaining the science willy nilly. Enter the dumb guy at the table, who just doesn't know what these scientists are talking about. There is a dumb guy around pretty much every time a science concept is brought up, which then prompts the scientists to lay it all out on the line. This got kind of annoying. Firstly, because it's a cheap plot device. Secondly, because I don't like identifying with the dumb guy!

But these gripes don't make much of a difference either way. This is a fantastic book and one of the best science fiction books I've read in a very, very long time. Authors just can't seem to figure out what the point of sci-fi is these days, but I think Scalzi is very much on the right track.

Book Review: Star Wars: Heir to the Empire (Volume I of the Thrawn Trilogy)

Story Mode Activated. Apologies!

Before giving Heir to the Empire a try, I had read through six books in the Star Wars library. Barely a sliver considering that the SW books usually have their own section at bookstores, but it's decent! I think. I hope.

Four of those six books had been written by Matthew Stover, a legend among SW fans due to his singlehandedly defining the Force in a way that has had an effect on how I watch the SW movies ever since. Another of those six was Path of Destruction by Drew Karpyshyn, Lead Writer of Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic, the best video game to ever come into existence, (I know, I know. Exaggeration is what I do. It's my thing). Path of Destruction, while good, is one of the most okay books I've ever read. It was all talk and no action. All formula and no character. I couldn't love Bane as the main character and I couldn't hate him as the villain. He just sucked.

The sixth was Dark Lord: The Rise of Darth Vader by James Luceno, known for his extensive knowledge of SW lore and his ability to make anything he writes sound boring. I did really like that book, though. A unique take on several different events and characters, and it did its best to characterize Darth Vader as he took his first steps as a Dark Lord, for all his stumbles. It was better than PoD by miles, I'll say that.

After finishing up Luke Skywalker and the Shadows of Mindor, I sort of hit a wall. I couldn't find anything that I wanted to read, and ended up buying half a dozen books that are still sitting pretty on my shelf. Neuromancer turned out to be wildly inventive, but ultimately a chore to read. God of War was a bust and a disappointment. Among other titles, I even tried to reread some of my old favorites just to give me something to read! I was getting desperate, so I turned back to Star Wars.

Not really knowing where to start, I remembered that Matthew Stover had said that his favorite Star Wars book had been Han Solo at Stars' End. So I gave that a try, but couldn't finish it. The story wasn't bad, and he captured Han Solo really well, but for such a short read, there really wasn't a lot in there to keep me interested. Mister Daley (rest in peace, sir) had a talent for drawing things out when it wasn't necessary.

After that, I kept doing my research, looking up fan-favorites of the SW library. Many of them would always point to the Darth Bane Trilogy as their favorite, and I would silently cry myself to sleep. Karpyshyn is a great writer when it comes to games, but the misadventures of Darth Bane could not be lesser in the spirit of Star Wars. Could not be. Luckily, Bane wasn't the only book getting some love. An overwhelming majority would point to Heir to the Empire and the Thrawn Trilogy as the books that made them believe in Star Wars again. A bit more research showed that this was the series the sparked the ENTIRE Expanded Universe. Almost everything you've heard of that takes place after Return of the Jedi had its roots in Timothy Zahn's trilogy: the Solo twins, Mara Jade, Coruscant!, Thrawn, the New Jedi Order, the Skywalker siblings...the list goes on.

Yeah, I'll get it a try.

Of course, the Borders in town was out of it, so I had to order it online. Once I got it though, I came to realize just why this series and its author have garnered such wide acclaim.

The opening scene begins how all three movies of the Original Trilogy opened, with a shot of an Imperial Star Destroyer and the dread plot of an evil tyrant leading the Empire. This tyrant goes by the name of Thrawn, and he is one of the coolest and most calculating villains I've ever read in fiction. The way he goes about bringing down his enemies is extremely creative and a bit scary in a "It Makes You Wonder" kind of way.

The rest of the story is intricately and creatively woven together, to the point where you can almost get a sense of the Force at work throughout. The main characters come into contact with each other through some insanely unforeseen ways that, sometimes, I never saw it coming. A lot of work went into this story to make sure you weren't just getting a novel based on a movie.

As for the characters, all of the main players are here and are as true to their movie counterparts as you can get. If by chance you've read Luke Skywalker and the Shadows of Mindor, then you can expect the same kind of characterization here. Though Zahn, with the vast scope of the story, was given more leeway to take Luke and his characters back to places and memories that correspond with the Original Trilogy, a luxury Stover's story did not have.

To say much about the story will give it away, so let me just say that it's a story certainly worthy of Star Wars. It's not bogged down with action; it lets its characters take up the forefront with everything else coming second. Zahn also, frequently, writes to his strengths, so you are not likely to get bored during these 400 pages, on account of the brisk pace at which the story moves along. You will also be treated to a vast amount of dialogue, more than I've seen in any Star Wars story, and you might just be grateful for it.

One more thing I must point out is that Zahn is a smart writer, and, therefore, his characters are smart. Reading how Luke or Thrawn go about logical problem-solving is amazing to watch. This book felt like one big game of chess, and you could feel the tension when one of the players made a wrong move or a really good one. It made for great emotional rides all through the book.

This Star Wars book is a proper adventure. You won't just visit one world; you'll visit many. You'll learn about new cultures, practices, religions. You'll bear witness to the dark forests of an unknown world, a moving city made entirely from Imperial wreckage, and the overwhelming flora of a familiar Wookiee homeworld.

People sometimes forget that what made Star Wars so successful is that it is fantasy as well as science fiction. Zahn hasn't forgot that. In Heir to the Empire you'll find an adventure that you'll be grateful to tag along with, military science fiction that rivals Ender's Game and echoes Starship Troopers, as well as a fantasy overtone throughout. This book has everything. Sometimes I forgot that I had two books left to read through. =O

Book Review: God of War

I don't think Matthew Stover ever wanted a fan like me. I may not be his biggest, but I am his loudest. I talk about his books all the time, and to people who would regularly have no interest in either Star Wars or fantasy fiction. Shatterpoint and Revenge of the Sith have, to this day, encouraged me to write two novels with 250,000 words between them. I have, literally, every single book he's ever written sitting on my shelf (Have I read all of them? No, but they're there nonetheless...with the exception of Blade of Tyshalle, which is on mah Kindle). I wrote this emotional review on Amazon that actually got his attention, and after that, man, it's been crazy.

So, after reading both Traitor and Luke Skywalker and the Shadows of Mindor within the space of a week, I knew I was buying his next book, God of War, the first day it came out. And I did...again, on my Kindle. Money gets to him faster that way.

I was really excited because, honestly, Stover is just as badass as his characters are. The man knows everything. Why? Because he hates to lose or be inaccurate. He likes to fight, and he likes to use fightin' words. Therefore, he is well-schooled in all that is asskickery, and academic. So hearing he'd be writing a book that pertains to Greek mythology, I knew I'd be getting something here. And I was partially right, but mostly wrong. What we get here isn't a bad book, per se, but it really isn't something that I'd normally read. There's just...no Stover in this book. Aside from the action, it's hard to pick out exactly what he wrote, seeing how he picked up a coauthor for this entry.

And, it does pain me to say this but, Full Disclosure: I couldn't finish the book. Again, not because it was bad, but it just wasn't my thing. And without Stover's "voice" coming through here, it wasn't my thing x2.

The story opens well enough, and I can tell that this is the part that Stover wrote. I know this because it hooked my attention like the Blades of Chaos would a minotaur. Afterward, we get introduced to the Gods (i.e. - the Sky Assholes), and the main conflict afoot, which would be that Aries, the God of War, has been a bit of a douche lately, and due to a clerical fuck-up, not even Zeus can stop him. Athena, the celestial brown nose that she is, decides to solve this problem by not only instigating a power play between the Gods to get Aries killed, but also to send Kratos, the Ghost of Sparta, to put a hitch in Aries' plans...whatever they are.

Admittedly, the action scenes are balls-out crazy. Kratos is a badass of such caliber that my Kindle couldn't display his feats in their entirety, lest the screen explode under the full pressure of their awesomeness. I'm betting that this book is everything that the new Clash of the Titans wishes it was (and it takes several jabs at our friendly neighborhood Perseus in the process). Kratos fights hydras, Gorgons, the undead, minotaurs, ogre-type guys, the gods themselves. You name it, Kratos tries to fuck it over.

And, yes, Kratos always gets the ladies. He's like a Greek Lando.

The problem with this book became inherent to me when: 1) I discovered that I cared exactly nil about Kratos, which was an odd feeling; Stover always manages to make me care about his characters, no matter how insignificant. I honestly didn't care if Kratos lived or died. 2) The writing style would shift around, but eventually the style that became the most prevalent was most certainly not Stover's, for the most part. 3) There wasn't any real plot. 4) Start back at one.

Other problems with the book would be that it read like a literal novelization of a video game. What I mean is, it seems as though whoever was writing played the video game and wrote down what Kratos did. It's not as shallow as I make it out to be, because these writers make a very readable book out of this, but you could almost hear the little "Zelda Jingle" whenever Kratos obtained a new power, or when he managed to complete a puzzle.

See, and this is where I'm torn. If you read this book for yourself, you'll see that it's by no means badly written. It's what would qualify as a good book! But this isn't something that I'd recommend to anyone who has liked Stover's past works. Kratos, to be blunt, is a dick. He spends most of the book flashing back to a terrible time in his past when he lost his family, and then the rest of the book killing innocents along with the monsters. In fact, in one scene, he literally destroys a crowd of fleeing Athenians for walking too slow in front of him.

How can I possibly sympathize with that? Even remotely? My conclusion: I'm not supposed to. This book is meant for fans of the game, and was likely never put out there to draw new crowds. It's all action, pure and simple. And while I can appreciate its existence because of this, like I said, it's just not my thing.

My guess is that Stover did have a hand in this, but with Sony and Mister Vardeman handing some of the workload, his voice probably got lost in the shuffle. And that's okay! He's still my favorite author, and I don't regret buying this book. But it does make me yearn for a true Stover outing, and I'm hoping that I will get just that with Test of Metal and His Father's Fist.

Pick this up if you're a fan of the game, but everyone else should probably sit tight.