The Acts of Caine

A man shouldn't die with no understanding of why he's been murdered.

On the world of Ankhana, Caine is the legendary Blade of Tyshalle, an unstoppable assassin renowned for killing monarchs and commoners, villains and heroes. Back on Earth, Caine is Hari Michaelson, a superstar whose brutal adventures entertain billions. However, Hari is shackled by a rigid caste society, forced to ignore the grim reality of killing men for his planet's amusement, and to keep his intense rage in check.

When his estranged wife, Pallas Rill, mysteriously disappears in Ankhana's dangerous slums, Hari is compelled to act. To save Pallas, he must confront his greatest challenge: a lethal game of cat and mouse with the most treacherous rulers spanning both his worlds.

Blade of Tyshalle is the second book in Matthew Woodring Stover's Acts of Caine series. Six years have passed since Hari Michaelson—the man the world knew as the legendary Actor Caine—sacrificed his career to crush the enemies of Pallas Ril and bring her home from Overworld. That victory came at a price: Hari is no longer Caine. He is half-crippled, stripped of power, and living as an ordinary man in a world controlled by soulless corporate masters who see Overworld as a resource to be harvested.

Now those corporate masters are moving to exploit the doorway between worlds that Caine's earlier triumph inadvertently opened, and the faceless masses of Earth are flooding through—killing everything Hari loves about Overworld in the process. Old enemies and new ones array themselves against him. Without his career, without his body's old capabilities, Hari stands as the only barrier between Earth's appetite and the green hills he cherishes. Identity, sacrifice, and the cost of heroism are tested to their absolute limits in this brutal, ambitious sequel.

Matthew Stover’s unique fantasy introduces Caine, a notorious street thug turned superstar assassin. In a future where extreme reality shows are broadcast from an alternate dimension teeming with magic and gods, Caine is a living legend. Thirty years prior, he single-handedly decimated the fierce Black Knives tribe during a top-rated season, though the shocking truth of that bloody event was never revealed. Now, Caine returns to the scene of his greatest triumph—or crime—summoned by his adopted brother, Orbek, the last true Black Knife. As always, danger immediately engulfs him. Caine soon finds himself battling impossible odds, fighting for his life, with the destiny of two worlds hanging precariously in the balance. It’s exactly the kind of high-stakes conflict Caine lives for.

Known as a civilized actor who embraced savagery, Caine is a legendary force of destruction, feared even by gods. Now, he's a crippled, washed-up husk, exploited and isolated by the studio that profited from his violent life. When dragged back for one last deal, Caine reveals his own agenda.

His perilous journey leads him back to the dangerous Overworld, an alternate reality where powerful gods are real and magic is the ultimate weapon. In a violent odyssey through time and space, Caine must confront the demons of his past, unexpectedly find true love, and potentially unravel the very fabric of the universe itself. It's a terrible job, but someone has to do it.