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Matthew Stover


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Black Zarak
Title: Big Coffin Hunter
Joined: Feb 01 2006
Location: Phyrexia
PostPosted: May 18 2011 10:47 pm Reply with quote Back to top

Anybody read his stuff? He has a few fantasy books written in his own (excellent) fantasy world and has also done a few Star Wars novels (including the novelization of Revenge of the Sith which is FANTASTIC, even if you hated the movie, you'll probably dig the book) and so far (as far as I know) one Magic: The Gathering novel. He's a really awesome writer who puts a lot of detail into his settings and a lot of personality to his characters, there's one Mace Windu book he wrote where it's almost like Sam Jackson himself acting it out.

The main point though I wanted to make though was about his original works, Heroes Die, Blade of Tyshalle and Kain, Black Knife. Those books revolve around a future in which most of the world is an irradiated wasteland and humanity lives in domed cities that are more often than not, poverty stricken and severely divided by class. Scientists have discovered a method of breaching another dimension where magic and fantastical creatures are real and now the main entertainment is to send actors with "memory cubes" in their brains that record everything they see and think into this world to have grand adventures. Upon their return, these adventures are sold to citizens who can afford them and they relive the actors' exploits in virtual reality.

So the hero of the books is Hari Michaelson, a poor slum level child who worked his way up to become the most popular character in the Overworld (the fantasy world) saga, the assassin Kain. Heroes Die deals with him trying to keep his ratings high while avoiding the machinations of the politics of Overworld while he tries to hold together his crumbling life in the real world and the abuse of actors that the studio who makes the adventure shows treats it's employees with while Blade of Tyshalle is more about the studio turning it's sights on exploiting Overworld for it's resources since Earth is largely depleted and Hari/Kain trying to stop them once and for all. Kain, Black Knife I haven't read, but is a prequel about his time among the Ogrillo (ogres) of the Black Knife clan.

I'm really not doing the story justice in my description, you should try to find them and see for yourself. Usually stories that blend sci-fi and fantasy are terrible, but Stover really nails the balance and it never comes across as corny or campy. He also shifts the perspective from third person in the real world to first in Overworld as that part is Kain's monolog that the viewers hear later when replaying the adventures.

I guess he's currently working on another Kain book that deals with Hari's life growing up in the slums and a comic series that is about more of Kain's adventures between the books.

And seriously, his version of Revenge of the Sith is one of my favorite books and I've re-read it multiple times. He fills in so many holes in the movies' plot and spends more time explaining things that are left really vague in the movie. Basically, if there was a moment in the movie that made you think "Why the fuck did that happen?" Stover fills in the blanks and smooths it all out. The page and a half or so of writing that describes Dooku's final thoughts and the realization of just how deeply he'd been betrayed when he was on his knees with two sabers crossed at his throat aboard the Invisible Hand is particularly good.


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Etch
Title: Intermittent Scribbler
Joined: Mar 15 2011
Location: Texas
PostPosted: May 21 2011 04:31 pm Reply with quote Back to top

I thought that name was familiar when I saw the thread title. He wrote the best New Jedi Order book: Traitor. I also liked Greg Keyes' book with Anakin rescuing Tahiri.

The originals sound interesting. Is it like Shadowrun dystopian or more 'Star Trek sci-fi meets high fantasy'?
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Black Zarak
Title: Big Coffin Hunter
Joined: Feb 01 2006
Location: Phyrexia
PostPosted: May 30 2011 11:23 pm Reply with quote Back to top

No, it's definitely not Star Treky. Only the upper class citizens can afford any sort of luxury and political dissidents can be basically lobotomized and sent to do menial labor until they die.


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REVIEWS, LEGOS, NONSENSE Check out Zarak's Barracks!

"Let that be a lesson to you, your family and everyone you've ever known..."

"Thanks to denial, I'm immortal!"
 
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