The Protector's War (A Novel of the Change)

It's a great follow-up to the first book of the series. The same characters develop and continue their life. Very well-written and I've had difficulties pulling myself away from the book for the night, until I've finished it. I can't wait to read the next one.

You always hear that sequels are never as good as the original... well... Stirling may have actually done it! This second book of the trilogy has made it very difficult to wait the three months before the last book comes out!

When I read "Dies the Fire", I thought Steve Stirling had outdone himself. DtF dealt with the creation of a new society in Oregon and the surrounding area after "the change". This "change" was a sudden flash of light and the destruction of electric power, internal combustion, explosives, and steam power, leaving people to rely on water and muscle power in much the same way as the middle ages and before. "The Protector's War" is set nine years later. From the opening in England, where we meet Sir Nigel Loring,a former SAS Colonel, his son Alleyne and Sergeant John Hordle for the first time, until we see their trip to Oregon and subsequent meeting with the three major groups of people we met in DtF, the story is so gripping that I could not put it down. After the three Englishmen arrive in Oregon, the story continues in flashback as the Bearkillers and Clan Mackenzie work together to fight against the tyrant who rules the Portland area, former professor Arminger. Arminger is living his medieval fantasy, having created a feudal society in which people live in virtual slavery under him and his "Barons". Subsequently the story returns to its usual chronological mode. The book ends just prior to a Meeting at Corvallis (the title of the next book in the trilogy) to discuss war with Aminger. The creation of an entire post change world and the complicated interrelationships between the various groups is nothing short of masterful. Steve Stirling outdid himself again. If you buy only one book in 2005, this is the one.

I found this novel to be very frustrating, because I should have strated reading this trilogy after the third book in the series was published. _The Protector's War_ leaves a lot of balls in the air. An excellent read, but I'm annoyed that I'll have to wait until 2006 to see how it all turns out. In some ways I like Stirling's Nantucket trilogy better. The tension between Bronze-Age cultures and the exiles from the 20th Century made for wonderful plot lines. However, Stirling has stirred up the mundane post-apocalypse world of the Willamette trilogy by adding a touch of the supernatural at the hands of the elder gods. Unlike the previous reviewer, I don't think this is any less believable than the forces that changed physical constants to create "The Change". After all, it's all deus ex machina!

Protector's War kicks off nine years after the Change and the world is settling into it's New Dark Ages period. The cultural changes are beginning to set in place like hardening concrete and one of the joys of this novel is watching the quiet distress of a character like Mike Havel as the world turns increasingly irrational around him. As ever, Stirling's evocation of place and character is first rate. So too his descriptions of combat. We see much more of the world in this novel than the last, finding out what happens in Europe and Australia. The British characters are drawn wonderfully well and Stirling introduces some sly humor and a few surprises with a couple of royal cameos that I'll leave you to imagine for yourself. This is one of the stand out speculative fictions of the year. Your only regret will be finishing it so quickly.