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The Acts of Caine by Matt Woodring Stover


Larry.

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Heroes Die is a good, solid opening novel, but it's really not representative of the series at all. Despite the strong premise, it's reasonably straightforward.

Blade of Tyshalle, OTOH, is an extended trip to Planet Whatthefucknuts and is where the series gets most of its praise (along with the genius structural inter-mingling of Books 3 and 4).

Just want to add my voice to the choir that Blade of Tyshalle is fucking awesome and really where the series takes off.

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I'm glad Caine's Law gives a look at some characters that weren't in CBK. I'm praying Deliann will make an apppearance - he's my favorite character. Also, I'd be thrilled to see Faith and especially Avery Shanks again.


Also good to see Stover further explaining some of the events in BoT (and CBK). He's never been big on explanations. (not that he's bad at them, it's more like... like he doesn't give a fuck whether I understand his writing or not).







Just want to add my voice to the choir that Blade of Tyshalle is fucking awesome and really where the series takes off.




Seconded.


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Just finished Caine's Law... fuck me like a virgin goat, my brain has been fried alive. I won't say that I understood everything (some of the how and the why is a still a mystery) but this was a masterfully written book. The 'Now of Always' chapters were amazing. But some things just kinda seem to happen for no reason at all. The ending was reasonably satisfying.
Was a very good book, good ending to the series and makes CBK a better book, but it wasn't as good as BoT. More or less equal with HD.

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  • 6 months later...

If anyone is curious, there are used paperbacks of Blade of Tyshalle on amazon.com for around $12.00. Also, has anyone else noticed that Scott Lynch reviewed BoT back in 2003? May have been an influence on tLoLL.



I just finished BoT and am ready for a break from Overworld. That place is exhausting!



Can anyone help me work out exactly which character was which in the interlude mythic chapters?



The god of dust and ashes = the Blind God/Kollberg


The acolytes of the god of dust and ashes = soapies?


The Dark Angel = Caine? Ma'ElKoth?


The Crooked Knight = Hari?


The spawn of the Dark Angel = ?


The child of the river goddess = Faith


The part time goddess = Pallas Ril


The two brothers that both fought the Blind God = Deliann before dying/Deliann after dying?


The man who had never known defeat/the dead man who came back to life = Caine


Dragoness = Avery Shanks



Am I missing any?




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If anyone is curious, there are used paperbacks of Blade of Tyshalle on amazon.com for around $12.00. Also, has anyone else noticed that Scott Lynch reviewed BoT back in 2003? May have been an influence on tLoLL.

I just finished BoT and am ready for a break from Overworld. That place is exhausting!

Can anyone help me work out exactly which character was which in the interlude mythic chapters?

The god of dust and ashes = the Blind God/Kollberg

The acolytes of the god of dust and ashes = soapies?

The Dark Angel = Caine? Ma'ElKoth?

The Crooked Knight = Hari?

The spawn of the Dark Angel = ?

The child of the river goddess = Faith

The part time goddess = Pallas Ril

The two brothers that both fought the Blind God = Deliann before dying/Deliann after dying?

The man who had never known defeat/the dead man who came back to life = Caine

Dragoness = Avery Shanks

Am I missing any?

Ma'elKoth = the man who had been a god and later, the god who had been a man

The two brothers are Caine and Deliann, I believe

The dark angels spawn is Raithe

The rest of these are correct

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Can anyone help me work out exactly which character was which in the interlude mythic chapters?

The god of dust and ashes = the Blind God/Kollberg

The acolytes of the god of dust and ashes = soapies?

The Dark Angel = Caine? Ma'ElKoth?

The Crooked Knight = Hari?

The spawn of the Dark Angel = ?

The child of the river goddess = Faith

The part time goddess = Pallas Ril

The two brothers that both fought the Blind God = Deliann before dying/Deliann after dying?

The man who had never known defeat/the dead man who came back to life = Caine

Dragoness = Avery Shanks

Am I missing any?

Nvm, something went really wrong here

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Can anyone help me work out exactly which character was which in the interlude mythic chapters?

The god of dust and ashes = the Blind God/Kollberg

The acolytes of the god of dust and ashes = soapies?

The Dark Angel = Caine? Ma'ElKoth?

The Crooked Knight = Hari?

The spawn of the Dark Angel = ?

The child of the river goddess = Faith

The part time goddess = Pallas Ril

The two brothers that both fought the Blind God = Deliann before dying/Deliann after dying?

The man who had never known defeat/the dead man who came back to life = Caine

Dragoness = Avery Shanks

Am I missing any?

Nvm, something went really wrong here

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Can anyone help me work out exactly which character was which in the interlude mythic chapters?

The god of dust and ashes = the Blind God/Kollberg

The acolytes of the god of dust and ashes = soapies?

The Dark Angel = Caine? Ma'ElKoth?

The Crooked Knight = Hari?

The spawn of the Dark Angel = ?

The child of the river goddess = Faith

The part time goddess = Pallas Ril

The two brothers that both fought the Blind God = Deliann before dying/Deliann after dying?

The man who had never known defeat/the dead man who came back to life = Caine

Dragoness = Avery Shanks

Am I missing any?

IMO:

Ma'elKoth is the man who had been a god and later, the god who had been a man.

The two brothers are Caine and Deliann.

The dark angels spawn is Raithe.

The crooked knight is Deliann.

The rest of these are correct, though the acolytes include more people than just the soapies (the Board of Governors, for example).

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If anyone is curious, there are used paperbacks of Blade of Tyshalle on amazon.com for around $12.00. Also, has anyone else noticed that Scott Lynch reviewed BoT back in 2003? May have been an influence on tLoLL.

I just finished BoT and am ready for a break from Overworld. That place is exhausting!

Sci might the only other one here to have participated back then, but I recall around 2002-2003 when I was active at the old Dead Cities forums that Lynch was a regular and that he was working on a novel back then that Stover had read snippets of and praised highly. I feel old now.

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I've started my first reread of BoT. 'Zero' is a great opening to the book, and the the descriptions of Hari's post-Acting life always make me sad.

Does anybody what the cover of the book represents? The man is obviously Caine, but what is that thing he's facing? (It kinda reminds me of an eye, which could be a symbol for the blind god).

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IMO:

Ma'elKoth is the man who had been a god and later, the god who had been a man.

The two brothers are Caine and Deliann.

The dark angels spawn is Raithe.

The crooked knight is Deliann.

The rest of these are correct, though the acolytes include more people than just the soapies (the Board of Governors, for example).

Raithe as the Dark Angel's spawn definitely makes sense. Deliann as the Crooked Knight doesn't as much--the Crooked Knight was the one in the beginning who protected the Part Time Goddess, so that would be Hari/Caine? I forgot about the Man Who Had Been a God and the God Who Had Been a Man, that is definitely Ma'elKoth.

Thanks!

Sci might the only other one here to have participated back then, but I recall around 2002-2003 when I was active at the old Dead Cities forums that Lynch was a regular and that he was working on a novel back then that Stover had read snippets of and praised highly. I feel old now.

Wow, and I feel very young. I would have been age 8 - 11 then :P That is very cool though!
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Raithe as the Dark Angel's spawn definitely makes sense. Deliann as the Crooked Knight doesn't as much--the Crooked Knight was the one in the beginning who protected the Part Time Goddess, so that would be Hari/Caine? I forgot about the Man Who Had Been a God and the God Who Had Been a Man, that is definitely Ma'elKoth.

Thanks!

Wow, and I feel very young. I would have been age 8 - 11 then :P That is very cool though!

Good point about Deliann, but that description fits for him in every other instance.

ETA: I think it has to do with

Deliann doing everything he can to prevent HRVP from spreading, which is the same thing Pallas wants. They're more or less on the same side.

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Just reading BoT now and I know it is pretty weenie like of me, but I keep hoping that Harri somehow gets his physical abilities restored. Thought maybe possessing Kosal could do that or some magic on overworld or something.


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Am I the only one having the impression that

Deliann and Torronell might have been lovers?

ETA: I asked Stover about this on his Facebook page and he said:

'You are correct. In my opinion. But it's only an opinion, and should not be given undue weight due merely to my privileged position as author. You can also be correct in asserting that there is nothing to their relationship beyond what is specified in the text. Whatever you choose to imagine is as correct as any other option.

There are some details of his private life that Deliann prefers remain private.'

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  • 1 month later...

So, I just finished Heroes Die and Blade of Tyshalle and I thought they were freakin' awesome. But Blade of Tyshalle seemed to wrap the series pretty well. Are the books afterwards worth reading? And why are the e-books for the latter two books so expensive? $12?!


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Yes, though they're quite different from what you've read so far, particularly Caine's Law - there's not really an antagonist there, but a host of interconnected moments that take place in various timelines and worlds. (Don't worry, it's still freaking awesome. You might not finish CL with your brain intact though). You might not get the same rush and thrill from books 3 & 4 that you got from boks 1 & 2, but you'll get something else in return.


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