Heroes Die: A Fantasy Novel (The Acts of Caine)

A man shouldn’t die with no understanding of why he’s been murderedRenowned 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 . . .

matthew Woodring Stover (iron Dawn And Jericho Moon) Offers A Remarkable Adventure Of Mystery And Magic With Heroes Die, A Gripping Fantasy Saga Set Partly On Earth And Partly On A Bizarre, Alien World. When Hari Michaelson's Wife Disappears Into The Slums Of Ankhana, He Must Face The Greatest Challenge Of His Life To Save Her. heroes Die, Is An Intense, Exciting, And An Un-put-down-able Read.

carolyn Cushman

despite Being Packaged As Fantasy, This Adventure Has A Plot More Familiar From Virtual-reality Gaming Novels Usually Packaged As Sf. Caine, A Legendary Hero/entertainer, Has To Re-enter The Fantasy World That Made Him Famous In Order To Rescue His Estranged Wife, Whose Own Adventure Entertainment Has Gone Awry. The Real Enemy (no Surprise) Is The Studio That's Willing To Endanger Actors' Lives For Ratings. But Here The Fantasy World Is Actually Another Dimension Where Magic Works, And The Human Actors Are Considered Demons That Cause Chaos And Death Purely For Entertainment's Sake. The Ambiguity Of The Actors' Roles As Good Guys Gives The Adventure A Depth Beyond The Now-routine Vr-ish Plot; It Also Gives Stover A Chance To Look At Different Sides Of The Sort Of Swords-&-sorcery Plot He Handled More Straightforwardly In His First Two Novels. Some Nice Twists Result In This Otherwise Hard-hitting Adventure With Its Inventively Sadistic Villains, Some Heinlein-inspired Libertarian Touches, And Even A Touching Conclusion.
---carolyn Cushman, Locus, July 1998

HEROES DIEBut Caine's no hero. He's an assassin.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. He is free.At home on Earth, Caine is Hari Michaelson, a superstar whose adventures command an audience of billions. Yet he is shackled by a rigid caste society, bound to ignore the grim fact that men die on a far-off world for the entertainment of his own planet--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.Matthew Woodring Stover has created a spectacular, page-turning epic where a Jackal-type assassin maneuvers through a vivid Tolkienesque world. With a plot as driven as its main character and drawn against a setting as vivid as the very best in fantasy, Heroes Die is a brilliant feat of the imagination.From the Trade Paperback edition. 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... Earth has developed a hyper-rigid, occupation-based caste system in which the reading of freedom-based philosophy, from John Locke to Robert A. Heinlein, is punished. For entertainment, people participate vicariously in recorded Adventures from the Overworld, an other-dimensional realm of sword and sorcery with its own repressive government. On Earth, Hari Michaelson is the most popular actor in adventures in Ankhana. He is known as Caine, the Blade of Tyshalle, famous assassin and warrior. Tired of killing, Hari agrees to return to the Overworld, driven to save his estranged wife, Pallas Rill, who has mysteriously disappeared in the slums of Ankhanna. To save her, he must confront a lethal game of cat and mouse with the most treacherous rulers of both worlds Rife with magic and adventure, this extraordinarily ambitious fantasy chronicles the adventures of Hari Michaelson--merely a popular actor on Earth, but a renowned and deadly assassin known as Caine, the Blade of Tyshalle, on the planet Overworld