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Heroes Die is a science-fiction/fantasy novel by Matthew Stover and the first of his ongoing Acts of Caine novel arc.

The novels are set in a future dystopia Earth where a parallel world called Overworld remniscent of Tolkien-style fantasy worlds has been discovered. The corporations that run Earth send actors into Overworld in order to provide the masses of an overcrowded world with virtual-reality entertainment.

Plot summary

Hari Michaelson is a famous Actor and son of a now-mentally ill libertarian professor. On Overworld he is the assassin Caine. His estranged wife Shanna, another Actor playing the thaumaturge Pallas Ril, is captured by Ma'elKoth, emperor of Ankhana, Overworld's human kingdom. Ma'elKoth's plan to rule Ankhana is blocked by a wizard who uses a spell that causes others to forget members of a resistance group. The remainder of the book plays out the conflict between Ma'elKoth and the resistance. Hari find himself manipulated by both the powers on Overworld and the Studio on Earth, and must defeat them both in order to save Pallas Ril from a fate worse than death.

Themes

As with Stover's other works, Heroes Die contains more moral questions than most fantasy novels. Caine exhibits willingness to sacrifice the citizens of Ankhana and even his friend Majesty in order to save his wife. This behaviour is examined in further detail in Blade of Tyshalle. The government on Earth is strictly caste-based and dystopian. As counterpoint to this world Hari's father is a former libertarian academic. Because Earth is so overcrowded and oppressed the masses turn to the adventures of the Actors, such as Caine. Hence, the violence is often portrayed in graphic (arguably too graphic) detail because that is what the viewers on Earth are seeking. In the author interview in the 1999 Mass Market edition of the novel Stover describes it as follows:

Style

As with its sequel, Heroes Die utilizes multiple point of view; a number of characters including Hari, Shanna, and Berne are used as third-person narrators for various parts of the story. However, for the scenes from Hari's perspective when he is on Overworld as Caine, the sections are portrayed from a first-person viewpoint and are meant to be Caine's interior soliloquies he runs for the benefit of the audiences on Earth; toward the end of the novel he addresses the audience directly. These segments tend to be more in plain speech, more peppered with profanity, shorter paragraphs, and tangents that follow Caine's train of thought.

External links

• Excerpt

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