charlibirb's review
3.0
I really liked the first 2 books, but didn't enjoy books 3-4 due to all the time hopping. I didn't know where the heck I was when reading it, which made it a bit tiring.
thedashdude's review
3.0
A review of the whole series:
1: Heroes Die is great. The dynamic between the two worlds is great, and all the forces on Caine play off each other in great ways, and Caine himself is a great protagonist. Gritty, bloody, and very funny. This is the best book in the series. The ending is very conclusive, and the book works great standalone.
2: Blade of Tyshalle is good. Shockingly introspective, but still a violent action filled book. The competing forces around Caine are just as good as in the first book, if not better. The black goo felt out of place, and didn't sit well with me as a plot device. Not as good as the first book, but still enjoyable. The ending was so conclusive I wasn't sure how the series could continue.
3: Caine Black Knife is just okay. The flashback sections are great, but the main timeline is pretty weak. Caine doesn't have the tension around his actions that made the first two books so good, and the actual main story isn't super engaging. This book has to be read with book 4, as they are sort of two sides of the same story, with book 4 having the real ending.
4: Caine's Law is the weakest book in the series. While it was interesting trying to figure out how the scenes presented tied back into Caine Black Knife, they didn't make for an interesting story. There was no tension around Caine's actions, and even less of an actual goal. Lots of random scenes trying to justify the ending and talking about how neat horses are. The ending it does give you is not noticeably better than the one in Blade of Tyshalle. Caine is still a fun protagonist, and piecing everything together is neat, but the book isn't great.
I'd treat the first book as a standalone, and if you are interested in reading more and seeing a more fitting conclusion, read the first two as a duology. The last two should really just be read if you loved Caine as a protagonist and would read anything about him. I don't regret reading them, but I can't say I really recommend them.
1: Heroes Die is great. The dynamic between the two worlds is great, and all the forces on Caine play off each other in great ways, and Caine himself is a great protagonist. Gritty, bloody, and very funny. This is the best book in the series. The ending is very conclusive, and the book works great standalone.
2: Blade of Tyshalle is good. Shockingly introspective, but still a violent action filled book. The competing forces around Caine are just as good as in the first book, if not better. The black goo felt out of place, and didn't sit well with me as a plot device. Not as good as the first book, but still enjoyable. The ending was so conclusive I wasn't sure how the series could continue.
3: Caine Black Knife is just okay. The flashback sections are great, but the main timeline is pretty weak. Caine doesn't have the tension around his actions that made the first two books so good, and the actual main story isn't super engaging. This book has to be read with book 4, as they are sort of two sides of the same story, with book 4 having the real ending.
4: Caine's Law is the weakest book in the series. While it was interesting trying to figure out how the scenes presented tied back into Caine Black Knife, they didn't make for an interesting story. There was no tension around Caine's actions, and even less of an actual goal. Lots of random scenes trying to justify the ending and talking about how neat horses are. The ending it does give you is not noticeably better than the one in Blade of Tyshalle. Caine is still a fun protagonist, and piecing everything together is neat, but the book isn't great.
I'd treat the first book as a standalone, and if you are interested in reading more and seeing a more fitting conclusion, read the first two as a duology. The last two should really just be read if you loved Caine as a protagonist and would read anything about him. I don't regret reading them, but I can't say I really recommend them.
ganglari's review
4.0
Wow. This was a hard one. At times it was a five, other times a two. It's Caine-goes-metaphysics, as if Stanton read too much Heinlein just before starting this book, and the experiment isn't always successful. Still, it did all come together, somehow, in the end.
ajokli's review
4.0
This book was a difficult read. Time, tense, reality, what is going on is something that is elusive for the majority of the book. I think this would be more easily absorbed the second time around. This said, it's a Caine book, and Caine is most awesome.
kejadlen's review
3.0
3.5/5 - I think I need to re-read this to give it a proper rating. Thoroughly confusing, but very Stover.
beau_kemp's review
4.0
Debated between 3 and 4 stars for this one, but Caine is such a badass I had to go with 4. The time jumps and metaphysical nature in this one made it hard to piece together what was going on at times. Stover's brain obviously works differently than most any other person - and he's amazing. I will greatly miss Caine. I think it would be awesome to have some more stories based on Caine - ones with tales of his badassery on Overworld as an actor but with less mind-bending metaphysical backstory.
vulco1's review
5.0
SO good! Caine and Stover did it again! Super entertaining. Slightly less action than usual, but so good.
pygreg's review
3.0
I think I liked this book? But it was very confusing and slow moving at parts. I recognize that was intentional.