Dies the Fire: A Novel of the Change

Dies the Fire, the first of S.M. Stirling's books that I have read, is a very good read. Of course, as with most "alternative history" books, the basic premise-- cause: unexplained-- requires the most fundamental tenet of a fictional work: the tremendous acceptance of suspended disbelief. Given that the catalyst, the Change, requires the cessation (apparently world-wide) of all modern electrical amenities and a slight-shift (non-fatal) of Physical properties such that neither Steam compression nor Gun-Powder work as they do "currently", this is no small task. However, if you do accept that cessation, the rest of the book's idiosyncrasies (eg an inexplicable assortment of "well-placed" people with "rare" skills (Farrier's, Swordsmen, Black Smiths, former Black Ops soldiers, Wiccans) is easy to overlook. This, of course, is a good thing. As the two primary protagonists, Juniper McKenzie and Mike Havel, are two thoroughly enjoyable and pre-eminently readable characters. Junipers belief system (Wiccan) embodies her chapters (some would say "nauseatingly so"); however, it provides ample justification for her actions (and corresponding motives) throughout her segments. Additionally, Mike Havel's military background is left (pleasantly) under-stated in thought-process, but not so in/through his courses of action. Finally, the brief interaction between the two protagonists is intriguing. There is definitively a "connection" that would seem to require further interaction in the future sequels (two planned). If there are qualms (and there are few books without them) outside those listed at the outset of this review, they involve, perhaps, the contrasting desolation caused by the massive post-Change die off and the large quantities of armed, warring factions that square off at the end. This is especially disparate given the "short" 9-10month timeframe of the book. I, perhaps, had more issues with this compressed timeframe juxtaposed against the near-immediate mini-rebuildup then the entire premise (aka the Change). Nonetheless, I was enthralled with the read, and hope it portents well for the sequels. Finally, I reviewed the book with a tilt of 4++ stars, hence, an overall rating of 5.

It seems recently that I have taken a turn in my reading habits. I don't know if it was the whole LOTR's hype, or the coming of the end of Stephen King's Dark Tower series, but something rekindled my desire for fantasy. So I went in search of some decent fantasy tales. I made my way through Donaldson's Chronicles of Thomas Covenant series, a series I had started years ago but never finished. That only energized me more. Yet, I wasn't finding what I wanted. Personally, outside of Tolkien, I lose interest in elves and fairies and wizards pretty quick. So, one day I was picking through my old paperbacks and came upon Earth Abides, the classic post apocalyptical tale. That's what I am looking for, I thought. So I began to search out some post apocalyptical stories. In my search I stumbled upon a teaser for the upcoming book, Dies the Fire, by an author names S. M. Stirling. Now, never really being a sci-fi fan or even all that aware of the alternate history genre, I was intrigued. I discovered this book was supposed to be an extension of another series called The Island in the Sea of Time. So I said, what the heck, let's give it a try. And I'm glad I did. The Island Series was brilliant and very enjoyable. It had well developed characters and some of the most intense and visually stimulating battle scenes I have read since The Illearth Wars. So when Dies the Fire came out I snatched it up hoping for more of the same. What surprised me about this book right away is how instantly I started to like the characters. Many post apocalyptical novels tend to focus on the disaster right away, and then worry about the character later. Here we have a group of characters that instantly are appealing. The story starts basically with a bang as suddenly and inexplicably, the world is changed. There is no warning or big build up, just a flash of light and pain and then everything electrical and motorized just stops working. Most people think it's a temporary thing, maybe the result of a nuclear explosion. Things get even weirder when people discover that guns don't work and gun powder won't even burn as before. This isn't something temporary, it as if the natural laws have changed. This change leads to chaos, starvation and disease, wiping out a large number of the people of Oregon. So our main characters, Juniper Mackenzie, a Wiccan musician and Mike Havel, a pilot with a military background, must find a way to survive. Both of these highly realized characters become responsible for small but growing group of people. As the two groups of survivors grow and learn new ways to feed and defend them selves, there are even more mounting dangers, but these wear human faces. Roving marauders, power mad despots and desperate groups that have turned to cannibalism now plague the world. An even more dangerous menace is located in Portland, a man named The Protector, who is organizing strongholds all throughout the Willamette region. As the outside menace grows, the Be

Somehow I get the feeling this came from a late night session of "what if", as in, "What if everything just stopped working." For those of us who've wondered the same thing, but don't have the skill to put it on paper it's a treat. Very well written (as usual for Mr. Stirling) with believable, interesting characters. The only annoyance is the overuse of Wiccan terminology and theology, particularly without an explanation as to its meaning. The previous complaint about the abundance of folks with useful skills isn't a problem. Those without useful trades would be among the hundreds of millions dead in the collapse of civilization. So naturally any story of survivors will center around the exceptional. It's also set in a rural farming area. A similar book on a major metropolitan area like New York or Boston would be about twenty pages long, with no survivors.

Fans of apocalyptic/collapse of civilization/alternative universe science fiction will enjoy S.M.Stirling's new book, Dies the Fire. The book, the first part of a planned trilogy, begins as the Earth is enveloped with a strange phenomenon that changes physical laws so that electricity doesn't work and gunpowder doesn't explode even steam engines won't develop high pressure. The nature of Event, and why it happened, is not revealed in the first book. Instead, the consequences are examined with minute attention to detail. Immediately, all electrical-based technology across the planet stops working. No radio, television, telephones, shortwave,computers. No internal combustion engines, no refrigeration, no air travel. Even steam power doesn't work. At first, people think it is simply a power failure, or an EMP attack (electromagnetic pulse), but then of course violence begins, guns are drawn, and instead of going bang bang, they go fizzle fizzle and bullets fall out the barrel onto the ground. Oops. The premise is presumably highly improbable, yet it serves well as a proxy cautionary tale for the importance of energy in our civilization. The loss of carrying capacity, as electricity and internal combustion is taken away, is immediately, and catastrophically, and violently, evident. The book is thus a chronicle of a rapid die-off of the human species. The story's action is in the northwestern United States, from Idaho to Oregon. The book identifies several groups of survivors, and then chronicles their adventures as they learn to cope with the radically changed circumstances and try to find a place of peace and safety as they are immersed in utter chaos and mass death. One group starts from the crash of a small plane in the mountains en route from Idaho to Montana. They decide to head west across Idaho and Oregon to the Willamette valley. Another flees Corvalis, Oregon the night of the Event. A third leaves Eugene, stopping along the way to liberate conestoga wagons, draft horses, and heritage farm equipment from an abandoned Oregon Living History exhibit.All the groups collect new people as they go along and begin to recreate functioning societies. They fortuitously find people with important skills (among other things, you get a list of useful occupations for recreating civilization). You'll meet people who become the Bearkillers, the Clan MacKenzie, the Lord Protector of Portland (very bad guy), and others equally entertaining (or disgusting)and informative. The "Eaters" (people who revert to cannabilism)are very "Night of the Living Dead-ish" and add suitably creepy vignettes to the cautionary tale. S.M. Stirling is known for his ability to create alternative universes. He is also known for the quality of his research. His readers can learn a lot about survival strategies during a total collapse of civilization. Stirling spins his tale well, and I think it will hold up just fine through two more volumes. The book is situated in a universe

I'm a big fan of novels that take humanity and mix things up by altering the familiar scenario. Say by sending a community back in time with all their technology in tact, but with no access to the resources necessary to sustain that technology. Well, Stirling has taken that premise and twisted it here. What if our modern day society was suddenly bereft of its technology? Anything powered by electricity, batteries, or gasoline suddenly useless? Gunpowder chemically altered to loose its highly explosive tendencies? What would society do, without irrigation and machinery to run the massive farms, without refineries, and trucks, and refrigeration? With six billion people on the planet, the resulting chaos is not at all cheerful. We never actually see the savage toll in a city larger than Portland (and even there not directly), but allusions to what it must be like in New York or Tokyo, and to what happened in St. Louis say plenty. The story unfolds brilliantly, as people slowly begin to band together, and struggle to survive in this new world. They must learn how to farm, ride horses, make weapons, and then use them. And Stirling does an excellent job portraying the difficulty of each, with a particularly inspired source of metal for swords. This book is one part nightmare, one part medievalist's fantasy, which makes its villain all the more fitting. If you're wavering, pick up a copy, it's well worth the read.