kejadlen's review
4.0
The first book was by far the best, but I enjoyed Caine Black Knife more than Blade of Tyshalle. The plot is simpler, and it's nice to get both more advancing of the present day story while reading about the adventure that made him Caine.
laura_tenfingers's review
adventurous
dark
funny
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
This is 100% Caine and he is 100% badass. Badass as in, bad guy and a complete asshole. And thoroughly grimdark awesome.
This installment of Caine's Adventures is half creation myth and half I'm too old for this shit. We learn about the Adventure that made him a star way back when, alternating with a present where he's back in that same place seeing the aftermath. Lots of people want him dead and he kicks a lot of ass and gets his ass kicked too.
I enjoyed learning about what he did in the past which is often referenced in the first two books but without explanation. The best part for me were his non-stop quips and his I'm a badass asshole running commentary. Solid gold stuff.
The only thing I didn't love was that for too much of the book his past is being referenced before it has been fully unveiled so we'll meet somebody who wants him dead because of that one thing but we don't know who this person is or what that one thing was. As the book progresses this gets sorted out but as first it's rocky. It definitely made me want to reread the series though.
If you're more a fan of Hari than Caine you will be disappointed. We don't get even a whisper from him. I didn't miss him but some people might.
Definitely reading the next one.
This installment of Caine's Adventures is half creation myth and half I'm too old for this shit. We learn about the Adventure that made him a star way back when, alternating with a present where he's back in that same place seeing the aftermath. Lots of people want him dead and he kicks a lot of ass and gets his ass kicked too.
I enjoyed learning about what he did in the past which is often referenced in the first two books but without explanation. The best part for me were his non-stop quips and his I'm a badass asshole running commentary. Solid gold stuff.
The only thing I didn't love was that for too much of the book his past is being referenced before it has been fully unveiled so we'll meet somebody who wants him dead because of that one thing but we don't know who this person is or what that one thing was. As the book progresses this gets sorted out but as first it's rocky. It definitely made me want to reread the series though.
If you're more a fan of Hari than Caine you will be disappointed. We don't get even a whisper from him. I didn't miss him but some people might.
Definitely reading the next one.
iris_sanguinea's review
adventurous
dark
funny
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder, Violence, Gore, and Cursing
Moderate: Torture
Minor: Colonisation, Sexual violence, Misogyny, and Genocide
Caine's origin story is the brutal near-genocide of another species; one wsw female character's magic and strength is tied to her being ~untouched~ by men, and she loses it off-screen via sexual violence;Spoiler
young men pilot stolen bodies to murder people without consequencesmodernwaterrider's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
mlejoy's review
3.0
ugh. I'm conflicted on this one. On one hand, by book three of this series, you know exactly what you're getting into with Caine. On the other hand, this book was far more brutal, unrelenting, vulgar, disgusting and inhuman than the others. At least in the other two books there was a break from Caine being Caine. We had Hari and his relationship with his wife and daughter, we saw him care about people. We saw him have friends and a real life - there were other characters who were in the story.
Caine Black Knife is 99% just Caine being an asshole, killing shit and being tortured. There's pretty much nothing humanizing about him. I'm not one to usually be queasy about violence in books, but this one was just too much for me - which is ironic because I thought Caine was a bit of a cry-baby pussy in book 2. I wish I had just read Heroes Die and stopped there - but I bought all the books, so I'll take a shot at the last one and see how it goes.
Caine Black Knife is 99% just Caine being an asshole, killing shit and being tortured. There's pretty much nothing humanizing about him. I'm not one to usually be queasy about violence in books, but this one was just too much for me - which is ironic because I thought Caine was a bit of a cry-baby pussy in book 2. I wish I had just read Heroes Die and stopped there - but I bought all the books, so I'll take a shot at the last one and see how it goes.
recursivehaiku's review
4.0
How i rate books:
5- Blew me away
4- Loved it
3- Liked it
2- Disliked it
1- Hated it
Rating: 3.75 / 5
Before we begin, here are some reasons NOT to read this book if you are not into these things:
- Lots and lots of swearing. Very creative swearing, granted. But probably three times more swearing than in other books nonetheless.
- Violence is the solution to everything (due to the attitude of our main PoV).
- Graphic torture scenes.
My two cents:
This book is a lot shorter than the previous installment. It also dispenses with the metaphysical themes. We get a fairly straight forward tale of action, intrigue and betrayal. But, the story is told from two perspectives. One is the 25-year-old Hari Michaelson during his breakthrough mission. The other perspective is the 50-something-year-old Caine (no, not Hari; Caine) being pulled into a hairy situation by one of his acquaintances.
The timeline from the past is well put together and gets resolved satisfyingly. The timeline from the present however feels a bit rushed. We get presented lots and lots of information, which explains the situation that Caine finds himself in. But sadly, the present timeline is somewhat rushed. It could probably have benefitted from around 100 or so more pages. Lots of characters, some of them supposed to be central to the narrative, are briefly introduced only to be never mentioned again or not play a role at all. Maybe this is due to set up for the last book. But still, not elegantly handled here.
Besides the issues of the present timeline, this book is somewhat of a return to form, like in the first installment. However, in terms of the feeling, the first novel was a standalone movie and this book is the third episode of an ongoing show. Much of what happens here is exposition, topped off with a giant cliffhanger. Would this series have ended after this book, it would have left a sour taste in my mouth.
The last point worth mentioning is that this is very much a Caine novel. The distinctive narrative voice is back, and it is great as always. Caine disrespects people, kills people, betrays people, just makes life miserable for people. All while doing it in a highly entertaining way (he is, after all, an actor). Action is always only a few pages away, and it is superbly written, as should be expected from a Caine book.
I hope that the last book is a step up from this novel. All in all this thing could have been longer, but after the last book i can't blame MWS for cutting down on the page numbers. A solid and enjoyable read, but not as good as the first two novels.
5- Blew me away
4- Loved it
3- Liked it
2- Disliked it
1- Hated it
Rating: 3.75 / 5
Before we begin, here are some reasons NOT to read this book if you are not into these things:
- Lots and lots of swearing. Very creative swearing, granted. But probably three times more swearing than in other books nonetheless.
- Violence is the solution to everything (due to the attitude of our main PoV).
- Graphic torture scenes.
My two cents:
This book is a lot shorter than the previous installment. It also dispenses with the metaphysical themes. We get a fairly straight forward tale of action, intrigue and betrayal. But, the story is told from two perspectives. One is the 25-year-old Hari Michaelson during his breakthrough mission. The other perspective is the 50-something-year-old Caine (no, not Hari; Caine) being pulled into a hairy situation by one of his acquaintances.
The timeline from the past is well put together and gets resolved satisfyingly. The timeline from the present however feels a bit rushed. We get presented lots and lots of information, which explains the situation that Caine finds himself in. But sadly, the present timeline is somewhat rushed. It could probably have benefitted from around 100 or so more pages. Lots of characters, some of them supposed to be central to the narrative, are briefly introduced only to be never mentioned again or not play a role at all. Maybe this is due to set up for the last book. But still, not elegantly handled here.
Besides the issues of the present timeline, this book is somewhat of a return to form, like in the first installment. However, in terms of the feeling, the first novel was a standalone movie and this book is the third episode of an ongoing show. Much of what happens here is exposition, topped off with a giant cliffhanger. Would this series have ended after this book, it would have left a sour taste in my mouth.
The last point worth mentioning is that this is very much a Caine novel. The distinctive narrative voice is back, and it is great as always. Caine disrespects people, kills people, betrays people, just makes life miserable for people. All while doing it in a highly entertaining way (he is, after all, an actor). Action is always only a few pages away, and it is superbly written, as should be expected from a Caine book.
I hope that the last book is a step up from this novel. All in all this thing could have been longer, but after the last book i can't blame MWS for cutting down on the page numbers. A solid and enjoyable read, but not as good as the first two novels.
vulco1's review
5.0
This is pretty great. It's a good first half of the final act of Caine.
The book still has the same hardcore noir/fantasy feel as the preceding two books. Start fast and keeps ratcheting up the stakes. Gives us a good glimpse into the story that started Caine's legendary career.
The book still has the same hardcore noir/fantasy feel as the preceding two books. Start fast and keeps ratcheting up the stakes. Gives us a good glimpse into the story that started Caine's legendary career.
vailynst's review
4.0
Notes:
Hari/Caine is crazy but the kind that keeps me glued to the pages. This was more disjointed than the other two books but necessary for the last book in line.
Hari/Caine is crazy but the kind that keeps me glued to the pages. This was more disjointed than the other two books but necessary for the last book in line.