Michael Seswatha Jordan Posted December 19, 2014 Author Share Posted December 19, 2014 Hmmm... so I'm getting some flack for not having read this series then, and yet I'm a dinosaur who doesn't do ebooks. So I'm pretty much SOL? Will there be a future release much like the omnibus editions of TLPQ? Why don't you do ebooks? Just like the feel of a book in your hands? I'm same way, I usually get both if I truly love the book. But, I get the physical afterwards. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Darth Richard II Posted December 19, 2014 Share Posted December 19, 2014 Hmmm... so I'm getting some flack for not having read this series then, and yet I'm a dinosaur who doesn't do ebooks. So I'm pretty much SOL? Will there be a future release much like the omnibus editions of TLPQ?For some weird reason I don't understand they are all in print except book 2, which as mentioned earlier has come wat down in price. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rhom Posted December 20, 2014 Share Posted December 20, 2014 Why don't you do ebooks? Just like the feel of a book in your hands? I'm same way, I usually get both if I truly love the book. But, I get the physical afterwards.I'd say yes, it's mostly the feel. Just a personal preference I suppose. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Darth Richard II Posted December 20, 2014 Share Posted December 20, 2014 I have issues with my eyes that pretty much prevented me from reading ebooks for the longest time. The stuff they have now I could probably read, but I have 500+ books on by to read pile, I don't need more. :P Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Werthead Posted December 21, 2014 Share Posted December 21, 2014 Many people disagree but I thought the fourth book in TLPQ was the weakest, while the third was the best. I didn't like the way the central conflict was handled in the final book. I thought the fourth book was the weakest, although still very good. I like the way the characters were handled in the third book, but the whole war was handled really blandly. Obviously the series is about the characters rather than the action, but someone like Paul Kearney (or Stover himself, in the third Caine book) handles the requirements of showing a big conflict and making it feel real without skimping on characters or thematic elements, even on a tight pagecount. I found the smaller scale of the first two Long Price books or the much more slow-boiling conflict of the Dagger and the Coin books to be much more suited to Daniel's style. Hmmm... so I'm getting some flack for not having read this series then, and yet I'm a dinosaur who doesn't do ebooks. So I'm pretty much SOL? Will there be a future release much like the omnibus editions of TLPQ? Probably not. Blade of Tyshalle is over 700 pages by itself, so that won't be combined with any of the others, and Heroes Die is about 500 pages in paperback. You could combine Caine Black Knife and Caine's Law (as they were originally intended) as together they're about the same length as Blade, but the finances of that haven't worked out so far. I've found it incredibly easy to get the other three books through Amazon, and you can read Heroes Die by itself if necessary (no massive cliffhangers). The only question is Blade, and you can usually get a good price on it if you check Amazon a few times a week. And by 'paying a good price' I mean paying the same or slightly more than you would for a new book. It's never going to be really cheap until it gets reprinted. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xray the Enforcer Posted December 21, 2014 Share Posted December 21, 2014 The actual writing (you know, the ability to string words together into compelling ideas and sentences) in the Caine series better improve markedly, because what I've read so far is absolute shit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Happy Ent Posted December 21, 2014 Share Posted December 21, 2014 The actual writing (you know, the ability to string words together into compelling ideas and sentences) in the Caine series better improve markedly, because what I've read so far is absolute shit. Good example of Stover’s prose, actually. It would be instructive to see how Daniel Abraham had expressed the same sentiment. Maybe “Xray struck a pose of feeling disappointed with the quality of the prose, tilting her head to add nuance of the rhetorical figure of an empty threat.” Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xray the Enforcer Posted December 21, 2014 Share Posted December 21, 2014 Good example of Stover’s prose, actually. It would be instructive to see how Daniel Abraham had expressed the same sentiment. Maybe “Xray struck a pose of feeling disappointed with the quality of the prose, tilting her head to add nuance of the rhetorical figure of an empty threat.” :lol: I'll see your "empty threat" and raise it to a two-day ban for purple prose. :P (Seriously, though. If the entire Caine series is written in the same style as the first book, then I'm not going to bother with the other books. No matter how awesome the plot, I just cannot abide writing that wretched. I bailed on Jim Butcher and Charlie Huston for the same reason.) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
3CityApache Posted December 21, 2014 Share Posted December 21, 2014 But what exactly is wrong with Stover's writing? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Larry of the Lawn Posted December 22, 2014 Share Posted December 22, 2014 Caine. It will make you think and is more up OP alley from what I can tell from posts in Bakker thread. I predict you will love it.I clicked on this thread to say the exact same thing, though with the caveat that i have not yet read LPQ but am pretty sure im getting iit for Xmas. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peterbound Posted December 22, 2014 Share Posted December 22, 2014 So ya.. that's a tough one. Personally, I'm in the LPQ overrated camp. Good books, and you should read them. However…. Caine is one of my all time favorite series, so, for me, it's got to be the Acts of Caine. Throw some money that guys way. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Darth Richard II Posted December 22, 2014 Share Posted December 22, 2014 I felt every book in TLPQ was better than the last. *shrug* Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wolverine Posted December 22, 2014 Share Posted December 22, 2014 This was my issue with the sequels, or really just the second book in particular. I didn't really like how crazy and "metaphysical" it got, especially since it wasn't really doing anything philosophically that hasn't been done in other works (and done better, in my opinion). Basically once it started to really delve into the various gods and their associated magic and stuff, the world-building started to get...I don't know, too vague? I have no problem with magical solutions to problems in a work of fantasy, but I think it needs to feel internally consistent and not as if the magic can basically do anything. It felt like I was being introduced to the existence of all this stuff at the exact moment it became relevant to the plot, as opposed to feeling as though these things all worked and existed in the world already. Overall, I just didn't like the approach to magic in-general, honestly. To be fair I thought this was somewhat rectified in the third installment, and I've heard a lot of people say the fourth book enhances earlier events in the series. Contrast this with the magic in TLPQ, which I thought was pretty well realized and very unique. That sums up my thoughts perfectly. Certainly better than I could have said myself. I still like Caine better though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wolverine Posted December 22, 2014 Share Posted December 22, 2014 I have issues with my eyes that pretty much prevented me from reading ebooks for the longest time. The stuff they have now I could probably read, but I have 500+ books on by to read pile, I don't need more. :P This sounds like me (not the issue with eyes part). I could finally see myself reading an ebook with a paper version now. Ebooks are really convenient when on the go. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaveSumm Posted December 22, 2014 Share Posted December 22, 2014 That sums up my thoughts perfectly. Certainly better than I could have said myself. I still like Caine better though.Mine too. Thing is, you'd think the set up lent itself perfectly to a more grounded magic system, something along the lines of it only looking like magic to them, but it's actually just us doing such and such on Earth. I dunno. I've come to dread how magic is dealt with in fantasy, if a book is fantastic in all respects but then has unexplained magical abilities thrown in I struggle to continue. Really spoils things, as it did for me with Acts of Caine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rhom Posted December 23, 2014 Share Posted December 23, 2014 Ordered the Acts of Caine today. Got them all in paperback. Got the Blade of Tyshalle for $19.95 used in "acceptable" condition. Said it had a small stain on the front. Suppose I'll try to tell myself its just coke or something and go on. :lol: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MisterOJ Posted December 23, 2014 Share Posted December 23, 2014 Ordered the Acts of Caine today. Got them all in paperback. Got the Blade of Tyshalle for $19.95 used in "acceptable" condition. Said it had a small stain on the front. Suppose I'll try to tell myself its just coke or something and go on. :lol: You'll be happy with the purchase. I think. I just started the third book a couple days ago. It's interesting. The thing about this series is that it doesn't feel like a series. Because the first three books are all so different in the way the story is presented. If that makes sense. Read more or less one after the other (I read one other book in between Heroes Die and Blade of Tyshalle) the stylistic shifts from one book to the next are kinda jarring. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Larry of the Lawn Posted December 24, 2014 Share Posted December 24, 2014 . Suppose I'll try to tell myself its just coke or something and go on. :lol:It's not. It's blood. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rhom Posted December 24, 2014 Share Posted December 24, 2014 It's not. It's blood.Could be worse... Couldne a Bakker book. :leaving: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xray the Enforcer Posted December 24, 2014 Share Posted December 24, 2014 Could be worse... Couldne a Bakker book. :leaving: :ack: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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