REVIEW: Heroes Die by Matthew Stover

Heroes Die by Matthew Stover
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

REVIEW: God of War by Matthew Stover and Robert E. Vardeman

God of War by Matthew Stover and Robert E. Vardeman

Publishing information: Paperback; 301 pages

Publisher: Titan Books LTD.; 28 May 2010

ISBN 10: 1848567189

ISBN 13: 9781848567184

Copy: Out of pocket

Reviewer: Tyson

Back of the Book: "The first official tie-in novel to the hugely successful God of War series of action-adventure video games. This is an epic adventure set in the world of Greek mythology. This novel takes the mega-successful God of War franchise to a new level! Kratos is the new god of war, but the other gods refuse to welcome him as one of their own. Zeus kills him, but he is saved by the goddess of the earth, Gaia. She sends him back to Mount Olympos - where, once again, he will challenge the might of the gods...Written by Matt Stover, the hugely popular, bestselling writer of many Star Wars adventures, gaming fans should not miss this brand-new God of War story!"

As a huge video game player and fan of the God of War series I was really looking forward to the latest adaption of the game by Matthew Stover. However, after a few chapters in I realized that I was not going to get what I was hoping for.

All of the players are accounted for. We have Zeus, Poseidon, Ares, and Athena as well as a few other gods. We also have the Ghost of Sparta, Kratos, our hero. with all of the Dramatis Personae accounted for this should be one rocking adaptation of God of War. However, it falls flat. All of the personalities are as they are represented in mythology (for the most part) and in the game. but they never go beyond what we have seen in the video games. A book is always far better than the movie, or in this case the game and this is the first time that it has not been true. 

The setting is Ancient Greece during the height of the Greek gods rein. Ares is no longer content with the status quo on Mt. Olympus and has started to stir things up and cause trouble for his sister Athena and his father Zeus. This altercation draws in the other gods as each side attempts to garner support for the others downfall. A decree by Zeus that no god may slay another god brings Kratos front and center as he will be Athena's secret weapon and ultimately Ares' downfall.

The story is, as far as I can recall from playing the original game just that, the original God of War. There are no deleted scenes or additional elements to improve the plot. If you have played the game and made it to the end, then you have read God of War. The journey that Vardeman takes you on is boring as we have been there, seen it, and bought the t-shirt. The entire book reads as if someone started playing the game and then just wrote down the dialogue and rehashed what was happening on the screen. The reason I have to say that Vardeman has taken us on the journey is because it reads nothing like all of the Stover novels I have read in the past. Stover always has great characters, narration, and action sequences. This book did not. The opening sequence does draw the reader in which leads me to believe that it may have been written by Stover. But once you get past the opening scene you are bogged down until the last page. By the time I reached the end, it was painful. 

While not a die-hard fan of the God of War franchise, I am a fan. Even with that background behind me the novelization of God of War was unbearable. I was reading what I had already played years ago. With Kratos well-known to gamers they had a lot of ways to take the character and the authors never bothered to do it. Instead we find ourselves reading something we have already seen and experienced. I am not even sure if someone who was not familiar with the series would enjoy this book as the action sequences are sub-par. Kratos is one of the most violent and action worthy video game protagonists and in this book he could not keep my interest. This book is a disgrace to the franchise. Unless you are dying to read a book based on the God of War series I recommend staying far away from this one. This has to be the worst book I have read this year and may even be one for the record books.

Plot  4

Characters  4

Style  2

Overall  1/10