Customer Reviews

Caine Black Knife (Acts of Caine)

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Caine Black Knife is the third book in Matthew Stover's exceptional Acts of Caine series, following Heroes Die and Blade of Tyshalle. The premise of the series is that a couple hundred years in the future, earth's primary entertainment is the ultimate in reality programming: people live and experience the exploits of "actors" who are transferred to another dimension that is, essentially, your standard fantasy world. Caine was an immensely popular actor, smart and violent; the first two books dealt with one of his Adventures and its fallout on both worlds.

Caine Black Knife picks up several years later, and treats us to two intertwined stories: Now, Caine is older, maybe a bit wiser, maybe a bit more mellow, but no less intelligent and no less dangerous. As he ends up involved in danger and intrigues in new settings, we flash back to the Adventure that made him a star: we see a younger, more narcissistic, self-absorbed and violent Caine making a name for himself, setting the stage for events to come. Caine runs into some characters we've met before and plenty of new ones, comes up against new threats from two worlds and makes a few new friends along the way. It's fascinating to see this character at two very different stages of his life, unmistakably himself in each, yet incredibly different in outlook, in the choices he makes.

Matthew Stover is a great writer of intelligent, exciting fiction that refuses to be confined to a single genre, stories that engage your imagination and make you think even as they provide nearly non-stop action, and make no mistake: Stover's action sequences are nonpareil, brutal and detailed without losing coherence or energy. Every book in this series is fresh and new; Stover never settles for offering just more of the same, and Caine Black Knife stands proudly by its predecessors as a great novel and part of one of the finest sff series on shelves today.

In Caine Black Knife, Caine's thrown back into the festering mess that is the conflict between his homeworld, Earth, and the mythic-like Overworld. At the same time, we are given snips of the adventure that made him a super-star "Retreat from the Boedeken." The contrast between the young and old versions of Caine are remarkably noticable, and at the same time, they are obviously the same man. It really provides a nice effect.
I'm a longtime fan of Mr. Stover's work, and in all honesty, have absurdly high expectations for the quality of his books. Caine Black Knife meets my expectations 100%. My only question, now is, when's the next one coming out?

Matthew Stover's third book in the "Acts of Caine" series is a good one. Stover does an impressive job of aging Caine and demonstrating the difference in perspective between the character at 25 and the character now in his middle fifties.

Hari/Caine is in Overworld to aid his Ogrillo blood brother (sort of a cross between a gorilla and an Ogre)Orbek. Orbek has been imprisoned and is sentenced to death for defying his "betters" and Caine feels it is his duty to save the life of the young Ogrillo as a younger Caine was responsible for the downfall of the Ogrilloi and the Black Knife clan in particular. There are really two stories going on here: one in "real" time and the other in the form of a recording of "Escape from the Boedecken" (mentioned in "Heroes Die" but never fully explained); this is the adventure that made a young Hari Michaelson (Caine) a star and also the Genesis of the current problems that a mature Hari must now try to fix.

The Caine novels are heavy with extreme violence and gore and liberally peppered with (ahem) very "adult" language. But the novels are also heavy with insightful social commentary on the nature of government, freedom and caste. This is thinking persons Fantasy/science fiction and there is no way to read these books without asking questions about the state of our own freedoms and the world around us. Stover's fiction is eye opening, but it's also great entertainment. The end of "Caine Black Knife" leaves us with a promise of more Caine to come. I hope that it's true.

Buy this one and read it.

This is the best fantasy series being produced now. The Caine stories have not deteriorated into utter nonsense (see Robert Jordan / Terry Goodkind) but advanced with philosophical nuances and bone splitting action scenes. It does get a little graphic at times, so it isn't for my 9 year old nephew. I just finished the 3rd book tonight and I think I might have to reread the series yet again because I'm already missing it.
This is a huge addition to fantasy genre. I can't wait for the next book.

I'm a huge fan of Matt Stover. He's a great guy, and a brilliant person. Above all else, however, he is an unequalled author.

CBK is a bit different than his other works. It is a bit shorter, and stays in the first person pretty much the whole book.

As far as the content, I'm not really going to say much, other than it is a great story. It goes into the adventure that made Caine a superstar, and the past and present intermingle. Its fun seeing Caine at two different periods in his life.

Anyways, GET THIS BOOK!

Caine is back - and this is not really a book to be read unless you have read the previous two titles in the series, HEROES DIE and BLADE OF TYSHALLE as there are a lot of references to past events that won't make sense without those books. This story contrasts the story of how Caine, in his youth, destroyed the Black Knives as a force in the Boedecken - in the present he is drawn back to the site of this greatest of victories (or some would say greatest crime) to help is blood brother Orbek, the last of the free Black Knives who is condemned to death by the Knights of Khryl.

Caine is as foul mouthed and violent as ever. Having said that though, this is a book about consequences and you can see the difference between the young and older Caine easily enough. Be warned though that this is only half a story - it will, according to the back of the book be completed with HIS FATHER'S FIST so once you finish this instalment of the story be prepared to wait a while for the last of the Caine adventures. I've given this book 4 stars simply because its really only half a book, but I have to say I've enjoyed what I did read.

When I found there to be a third book by Stover following the story of Caine I counted the moments until this book was in my had. Having read the other two books and suggested it to every friend I had most of which now own their own copies. I finally picked it up and instantly was returned to the worlds that are Caine.

Not only are we returned. But the story has a fresh new feel to it, a new adventure and not to mention just enough tie ins to make it so that if you hadn't read the other books no big deal. But if you had, it was full of even more surprises.

Not only do we get to see how Caine Became a star and more of the people who were in his life before he was huge. But we also in the current get to see how those decisions have effected his current situations and thought processes.

This book is nothing short of a miracle, and I highly anticipate the release "His Father's Fist"

It's almost ridiculous, how visceral reading an Acts of Caine book feels. Well, Matthew Stover in general, but Caine especially. Without repeating what has already been said just days after the release of this fantastic new book, Caine Black Knife will make you reconsider a lot of views you may hold about not just the classic mythological Hero, or how books should be written, but also about your own life.

I urge anyone who's even a little bit interested to pick up not just Caine Black Knife, but also Heroes Die, which can be found exceedingly cheap here on Amazon. Blade of Tyshalle is a bit rarer and more expensive, so make an initial investment and decide whether or not to pick up the middle book. Caine Black Knife does an adequate job of recapping so that the reader isn't lost, and you won't really feel like you're missing anything without reading the first two books, but once you have, you'll immediately be able to tell the difference.

Having rambled on and provided little substance of note, I offer my sole complaint. The book is too short. That is to say, it's not lacking in size, story, or depth. It's average-length, even a bit longer than average. Reading Caine just makes you crave more, though, and I do. His Father's Fist, which is to complete the Acts of Caine series and this storyline in particular cannot come soon enough.

Buy Caine Black Knife.

This is one of the best damn pieces of fiction I've read. Period. And certainly within the last year. You come to expect that with Stover. If you've read nothing else by him, go and out and do so. Now. Then read this book.

This is Caine at his meanest, and in contrast, more mellow than he's been before (the book is split between Caine's pre-superstar days and events post-Blade of Tyshalle.) However, if you go in expecting a kinder, gentler Caine, as per the book being an 'Act of Atonement,' you're in for a cruel awakening. He is the same as he ever was: a vicious thug that for some reason you can't help but like.

I can't wait for the next installment. Oh, and shame on Del Ray for not reprinting Blade of Tyshalle. E-books aren't the same. Put it back on shelves. And try advertising for it. Jeez.

To say that Matthew is an unparalleled author would be an understatement. While the grand masters of fantasy and fiction through the years have regularly astonished us with elaborate skeins that travel over many, many pages, none have placed such a disturbingly eloquent lens on the nature of what makes us, as readers, enjoy our fantasies.

Brutality abounds in Stover's works - but not as an excuse, rather than as a means to an end. His illustrations of concepts of self, of overcoming the odds and of being a Hero - all while not really being a Hero - are spot on.

For those of us who need a break from the average author, Stover is, perhaps, the best of this new genre. For those of us who want to be entertained, but also invited to think about our entertainment, Stover is *the* author. For those looking for a new sort of fantasy, Stover also provides an excellent adventure story with tons of breath-taking, bold, no-holds-barred action.

My only complaint about this particular novel is its length. With Caine - the reader only wants more. From page one of novel one, we want the bad guy to win. We cheer when he succeeds and feel his frustration when he is unmanned. Having only a few hundred pages with Caine is simply not enough. Stover should man up and write more. Perhaps another trilogy. An epic skein indeed...

I sincerely hope that his continued success will propel him forward. Given his druthers, I suspect that Stover's stories (whether or not they include Caine - hopefully at least one will) will out-man even those established paragons of the genre.

In Caine Black Knife Stover has provided us with a taste. A tease. A temptation. A window into his world. I, for one, am already ready for more.