Publishing Information: Kindle Edition; 560 pages
Publisher: Ballentine Books; 9 December 2009
ISBN 10: 0345421450
ISBN 13: 978-0345421456
ASIN: B001MYA38W
Series: Overworld #1
Reviewer: Tyson
Back of the Book: "Renowned throughout the land of Ankhana as the Blade of Tyshalle, Caine has killed his share of monarchs and commoners, villains and heroes. He is relentless, unstoppable, simply the best there is at what he does.
At home on Earth, Caine is Hari Michaelson, a superstar whose adventures in Ankhana command an audience of billions. Yet he is shackled by a rigid caste society, bound to ignore the grim fact that he kills men on a far-off world for the entertainment of his own planet--and bound to keep his rage in check.
But now Michaelson has crossed the line. His estranged wife, Pallas Rill, has mysteriously disappeared in the slums of Ankhana. To save her, he must confront the greatest challenge of his life: a lethal game of cat and mouse with the most treacherous rulers of two worlds . . ."
Heroes Die is a bloody book. Lots of gratuitous violence. It is a hack and slash in the extreme. While some people may like it, others may find it disturbing. That is the point of Heroes Die. Stover has created what some feel is an instant classic and while I did enjoy Heroes Die, I do not think it left me with the same impression that it did with others.
Caine/Hari is an interesting character, he is worshipped by the people of earth and the people of Overworld. Because of his ruthless tendencies he is seen as an unstoppable force. Violence is the way that Caine deals with every situation. Because of this it has caused a rift in his marriage. Hari on the other hand is, for the most part, a timid individual with the occasional flights of fantasy where he calls upon Caine's 'unique' way of handling things. While I cannot speak for Stover, I think that the violence solves everything mentality is on trial here and the end of the book gives you the answer to what is the true champion. There are a myriad of supporting characters all of which play an intricate role in bringing about the resolution of the story. Between the characters of Overworld and Caine's handlers on Earth there are plenty of associates and enemies to keep you and our protagonist on his toes.
The world building is a lot different from what I am use to in most fantasy/science fiction novels. Earth's governments have fallen and corporations hold a lot of power. On top of companies running the world there is also a caste system placed upon humanity. The future that Heroes Die portrays is fairly bleak and while we are not allowed to see behind the curtain we do see a few glimpses here and there. Overworld is also not fully explained. Somehow before things on Earth got bad, we found a parallel Earth that is still in the dark ages and contains various gods and magic. It is a cruel world but minus the technology is not too far away from the Earth Hari comes from. By using a machine that reminded me of the Animus technology from the Assassin Creed video games, man can transport to the other world. Actors are taken to Overworld and given quests which are then broadcast around the world and is the highest form of entertainment in the future. There is a few mentions of drug use and I would think that in the dystopian future Stover has created drugs would not be so prevalent and easy to come by, but that is a very minor gripe.
Heroes Die is very fast paced. With roughly a few days to find and save his wife on Overworld and plenty of sub-plots to reach his ultimate goal you do not have a lot of down time. Even when there is a lag in action there is a surge in intrigue. Heroes Die is a interesting book and I can see why it has a lot of fans. Stover is a great story-teller and I do have the second book in the series, The Blade of Tyshalle, on the Kindle as well. I just have a few more books to get to before I return to this series.
Plot 7
Characters 8
Style 7.5
Overall 7/10
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