A&A The Official Matthew Woodring Stover Discussion Thread

My "abbreviated" review of Blade of Tyshalle follows without any spoilers from the book itself . . .



Blade of Tyshalle (BoT)

Rating: 8/10

(For comparison, I gave Heroes Die - HD - a 9.5/10)

Every single character in BoT comes to life and really plucks the reader at the throat, MWS-style . And over the 725 pages of the high-quality paperback, there are quite a few characters who manage to yank readers into some subconscious level of understanding and respect.

Similar to Heroes Die, the crux of BoT outlines a gripping struggle of love. In this case, the protagonist's (Caine's) strife to keep his family safe. Obviously, there is more to it. Much, much more. Phenomenal character development which compels readers to care for the most unlikely of candidates, thematic introspection, philosophy dealing with morality and the nature of Fantasy itself, compelling, grab-you-by-the-throat action, unpredictable storyline developments and a rousing finale. Did I mention the depth of the characterization yet?

This novel takes place 7 years after the events which transpired in Heroes Die. And vaguely follows the protagonist, Caine.

I found many interesting correlations between MWS' work and the NJO. The one aspect I believe I can discuss without giving anything away from the plot of BoT:

"...Everything that happens in your life - every single thing - leaves a scar. A permanent scar. You're not supposed to get over it. To get over something - to erase the mark it left on you - erases part of who you are . . . Scars are the key to power . . . Scars are the map of beauty . . . Each of us is the sum of our scars." -Deliann/Kris Hansen

Consider the Yuuzhan Vong and their scars for a minute. Also consider what bacta tanks do in the GFFA. Amazing how reading this helped me appreciate the Vong's disfigurements & scars in a light I never have thus far in the NJO itself. Their biotechnology? Sure. But their scars? Not yet.

In conclusion, a scintillating read, the least of which because of the characters. I cannot however recommend BoT above HD simply because the events in BoT depend upon events in HD in many ways. HD also gave us a more narrow and focused storyline which I appreciate more than a variegated one.

 

I saw the mass-market paperkback for BoT at B&N yesterday.

Eagerly and anxiously awaiting Traitor...

 

Yeah, they fixed their mistake and put the "Woodring" back in his name for the mass-market edition.

 

Not really a mistake. It was dropped for graphic-design reasons, I believe. Stover preferred to have his middle name on the cover because "MWS" is a more distinctive acronym than "MS".

Got Iron Dawn on Thursday. Only had time to read a few pages, but I'm enjoying it.

 

Finally found a bookstore that sells MWS books. Now I just have to finish Rebel Dream & Return Of The King, then Salvatore's The Demon Apostle, Mortalis and Ascendance (coming out in pb this month!). By then, Rebel Stand should be out, so it'll probably be after that. But I'll get to 'em sooner or later! I swear!

wk

 

Well, I'll have to go pick up the paperback of Blade of Tyshalle now that I'm nearly finished with Heroes Die. I'm definitely interested in seeing what Stover can do with the Star Wars universe.

 

I finally found a copy of "Heroes Die"... really looking forward to reading it...

 

Well, no "Woodring" on Traitor's cover either.

 

Well, we've got an excerpt for Traitor up now, enabling those who (like me) have yet to read any of his other books to finally get to experience his writing style. So what's the general consensus?

Personally, I loved it, and I can see now why he's such a popular author around here. Very cool, very intriguing, very intense. I don't think they could have found a better author for this book.

 

A consensus on his writing style?

I think for myself, I describe it like so: if there ever existed an addictive agent inherent in writing styles, MWS' would prove the strongest.

And I agree, he's the perfect choice for Traitor

 

Balance_point: you said there was an excerpt up somewhere... where is it? I did not see it at the official site.

Also, does anyone know when this book is really coming out? The offical site says October, amazon says late July.

 

I'm holding out hope for a late-July release.

You can find the excerpt here: NJO: Tratior excerpt (spoilers for the excerpt *only*)

 

Is Stover working on another Caine novel? I thought I read something about another one somewhere else on the Lit board but I've seen nothing official. Was this just a rumor or some inside info straight from him?

 

Yes, after his two SW novels are two more Caine novels, the first of which is tentatively titled Caine Black Knife.

 

Alright, cool. Thanks for the info.

 

I'm not sure if anything will come of it, but apparently Daniel Keys Moran is writing a screenplay from Heroes Die, and it apparently kicks a lot of ass.

 

Let's say: *if* Dan ends up writing it, it'll kick a lot of ass. Last I heard, he was still fiddling with the outline . . . He's mostly engaged in the esoteric practice called "having a life." It may not leave him a lot of time to work on spec.

Anybody who hasn't picked up DKM's "Long Run" stuff really should be heading for a bookstore now . . . If you start with EMERALD EYES, you won't stop till you run out of books. He's a terrific writer.

 

He's also written some Star Wars stories:

A Barve Like That
The Last One Standing

Go read them. Now.

 

With Stover's recommendation I'll definitely check them out. Emerald Eyes has been added to "The List".

 

Finally found a copy of "Heroes Die." Why, may I ask, was this book so hard to find? The bookstores I go to usually carry just about anything and everything but had next to nothing from Stover.

~PAd

 

I went to WaldenBooks yesterday, and noticed that there were no copies of either Heroes Die or Blade of Tyshalle on the shelf. So I went up to the register, and here's the resulting conversation:

Me: Do you have any books by Matthew Woodring Stover in stock?
Him: Just a second. . .how do you spell that name?
Me: ::spells it out::
Him: No, sorry. Would you like to order anything?
Me: I already own the books, but could you order a copy each of Heroes Die and Blade of Tyshalle to put on the shelves?
Him: If they're not on the shelves, then they're not selling well.
Me: Obviously, they will not sell well unless there are copies on the shelves. So if you could order a copy of each and put them on the shelf for people to find, perhaps they will sell. Blade of Tyshalle in particular has a very attractive cover; if you put it face out, it will almost definitely sell.
Him: I don't know if I can order a book unless you want to buy it.
Me: I already own these books. I want other people to have an opportunity to buy them.
Him: If you already own them, why do you want to order them?
Me: I've got a question. If I order a copy each of these books, and then don't come in to pick them up, will you put them on the shelves, or will you strip them or send them back to the publisher?
Him: If you ordered the books, why wouldn't you pick them up when they arrived?
Me: ::fantasizes about violently tearing out his throat::

 

LOL. I usually start getting annoyed when I realize they can't spell even simple names. Most of the stores here have Blade of Tyshalle shelved, but not Heroes Die.

 

@ Mastadge ! I love how you've taken it upon yourself to spread the word to unsupecting customers! My friend and I do the exact same thing with Neil Gaiman. We order books whenever possible and if we see someone in the fanstasy section struggling to find something worth while to read, well, let's just say the poor blokes never know what hit them! A bookstore once installed a whole trade paperback section thanks to us.

~PAd

 

I live in Fairfax, VA, and all the franchise stores (Borders, Barnes & Noble) here carry MWS' stuff, although I haven't checked Waldenbooks or b.dalton.

HD was on the shelves a couple months back but they've removed HD to make room for the BoT paperback lately. Personally, I think if you're going to have BoT on the shelf, you should have at least one copy of HD there as well.

 

I recently picked up both Heroes Die and Blade of Tyshalle at my local Borders. I have to read some crappy book for my Euro class first, but I should have them finished soon enough.