Heroes Die by Matthew Stover

[PallonianFire he/him]

Just finished this masterpiece last night. Holy cow.

So, I knew Stover was an excellent writer from his Star Wars EU stuff (anyone who can make Revenge of the Sith into a fascinating character piece is amazing—and Traitor is maybe the single best EU book), but I'd never checked out his original work. Boy, am I glad I did.

Heroes Die gets pretty graphic and intense at points, no doubt, but I wouldn't classify it as grimdark. It's kind of a cool mix of dystopian SF and low portal fantasy. But wow, the characters, the plot, the twists, the action...whoo boy. Loved it, through and through.

Anyone else read this one? What did you think?

[Who Sharded?]

This book is near perfect, and very hard to put down.  Stover is one of my favorite writers.

I love the sequels too, though they are more uneven.

[PallonianFire he/him]

"Near perfect" is a great way to describe it. There really aren't many flaws to any aspect of the writing. Plot, pacing, action, character development, prose...it's all excellent. Even the way he uses POV is cleverly done.

I'm very curious to see how he handles the rest of the series (which I understand is ongoing). We're doing Blade of Tyshalle for my book group, starting next week. I'm pumped.

[Briar King]

Blade is better. Enjoy