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Title: Dies the Fire: A Novel of the Change
ISBN: 0451460413
Author:
S.M. Stirling
Publicate Date: 2005-09-06
Publish: 2005-09-06
List Price: $7.99
Average Customer Rating: 3.5
Format: Mass Market Paperback
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Amazon Lowest New Price: $4.40
Amazon Lowest Used Price: $3.41
Amazon Merchant Price: $7.99
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| Customer Review: |
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1: Thought Provoking and Filled With Solid Characters
I've only lately come to S. M. Stirling's novels about The Change. I don't know how I missed them, but I'm glad I found them. The good thing about starting late is that there already five books in the series, so I don't have to wait from year to year to dive into those the way most of the fans have had to.
Stirling takes a very basic concept in Dies The Fire and runs with it for nearly 600 pages in paperback. It seems like with everything going on around us these days, more and more people are concerned with the end of the world or big changes in the way that we live. Those are primary concerns that everyone seems to have at one time or another even before this latest setback. Contrarily, some of the best books that have been written have focused on the end of the world as we know it. Somehow that basic premise of humanity surviving against all odds shores up readers and offers a feel-good all its own.
With Stirling's novels about The Change (and that's all it gets called--so far), no one knows why every electrical thing on earth stopped working in an eye blink. Batteries don't work. Combustion engines don't work. And strangest of all, gunpowder--which has nothing in common with the previous two energy sources--no longer works either. Conjectures fly throughout the book regarding the reason for the loss of power.
But in a moment, the world is slammed back to the Dark Ages and the natural predations of men emerge.
A massive electromagnetic pulse is suggested by one character, while another holds out for superior aliens that come to take our toys away. As yet, Stirling hasn't revealed the reason behind The Change. There is a rumor that he's going to tie these books in with his Nantucket novels. That means I have more books to read, but it also gives me the answer for why things are going wrong in this series. I'm not convinced that I really want to know yet. I'm enjoying discovering this new land and all these new problems as I read the series.
The author doesn't just tell stories about people. He also discusses and weaves in theories about culture and legend and heroes. I loved how he braids new threads for the world and graces it with an emerging history that is unique yet plays upon everything I've read in myths and legends ever since I was a kid. Tolkein's fantasies even become a major part in the remaking of this world, in a way that I truly found fascinating.
The book starts out with Mike Havel, a bush pilot with a background in special forces. Havel has been a survivor practically since the day he was born. His military experiences as well as his heritage as an American Indian come into play time and time again. Yet for all his survival skills, Havel is constantly in over his head as he tries to lead a ragtag group to safety. That effort snowballs and it isn't long before Mike finds himself responsible for a group of mercenary horseman.
Mike Havel is one of those iconic heroes that I love to read about. No matter how hard the road is, he tries to do the right thing all the time. And best of all, sometimes doing the best thing brings him the most problems. He handles himself well in a fight, but he still struggles to figure out how to handle other people and get things done. Fortunately, he's got people he picked up along the way that have skills that add to his leadership. I really enjoyed the fact that Mike couldn't do everything by himself as well. The realization that he didn't always have the answer and needed other people made me like him even more.
With Havel, Stirling concentrates on the warrior's role in society. Havel has a specialized skill set, and it's one that people are willing to pay for no matter what the economy does or what kind of world he's in. He's willing to risk his neck to further his goal of taking care of his people, and he's even willing to train others to risk their necks as well because he knows they have no choice and no other skill sets. He can't teach them everything, but he can teach them to survive and to fight.
The other major character in this novel is a Celtic witch named Juniper. She practices Wiccan rituals and maybe manifests some magical power in this novel, but Stirling carefully hides that card. Technology has ended in the world and he doesn't come out and say that magic has returned. Personally I don't know if I really want magic to return. I like this rough-hewn world that the author has created as it is, without throwing in any magic spells.
With Juniper, Stirling concentrates on the necessity of a family and a society. Where Havel becomes a wanderer, Juniper and her people work hard to settle in, to start a farm and raise a crop that they can live off. However, settling down also makes them a target. When other people see that they are successful at taking care of themselves, they come to Juniper and her little group in need. Alternately, Stirling shows the hard side of life, in that not everyone can be taken care of when resources are meager, then he shows how a family or society continues to grow sometimes even when it's not convenient.
That line that Juniper has to walk, between savior and stern-hearted matriarch, is a wonderful dichotomy in the book. Knowing her limitations, knowing her families limitations, is important. I think it shows a lot about the obligations of social responsibility, how to recognize when someone can be socially responsible and when someone can't. It also shows the price people have to pay when they have to turn someone away that they know they cannot save. Choosing to rescue or not rescue someone comes with hardships.
Aside from the social and cultural revelations Stirling offers, he writes some crackerjack action sequences that will fill the mental movie screens of every reader out there to overflowing. The author knows his weapons, and he knows how war is waged.
In this book, Stirling also sets up the villain. The Lord Protector doesn't get much space in this book, but I got the definite feeling that a cataclysmic battle is building. This guy is a definite nemesis for Mike Havel and Juniper because he has a lot of the same skill sets the warlord and the witch possess. But he uses his powers for evil, and that's gonna be a conflict of epic proportions.
I'm really looking forward to reading these first three books because they complete one arc in the series. The second trilogy takes place about twenty years later. Two of those books are already out, and by the time I catch up with those, the third book should be in my hands. Maybe I was late getting to these books, but the timing seems to be most fortunate.
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2: minus 5 on the scale
Writing: competent and good.
Story construction: Certainly not good, nor fair. Neither is the plot poor or even bad- it is awful.
Summary: In 1998 an unknown sapient force [possibly an author?] cancels the laws of thermodynamics and the principles of electromagnetism using the Plot Device(tm), fomenting the collapse of post-modern civilization and a regression to medieval European social structures, with the absence of Christianity [note: the reader wonders what happened to any Buddhist or Roman Catholic monasteries]. A conflict arises in the Pacific Northwest between two factions- one is a communal quasi-Celtic agricultural society and the other a warlike fusion of criminals, police, and soldiers led by a former academic/athlete known as 'The Protector'. [Matriarchy vs Patriarchy- how original] This is a fun read, if you're an MST3K fan; after all, a book doesn't need power [take THAT, hateful electricity!]. The questions pile up enough that they would presumably make a good fuel source: are the kilt-wearers the only ones who remember agriculture? Have the 1930's (and the level of technology that most people could afford) been entirely forgotten? Have the Bad Men(tm) all remembered their "raincoats" whilst raping and pillaging? [syphilis, anyone?] Does the 'Protector' sleep in his armor, or will some relatively bright boy decide on grabbing the 'crown' for himself? Does the name 'Borgia' ring any bells for the communal faction in their conflict with the Bad Men(tm)?
Obviously this will appeal to RenFest twits who say "tis" instead of "it's" and speak with bad Victorian-era accents. They are quite welcome to it, as it is the closest such sorts will ever come to living in the world they dream of. This book is not bad because the author is a hack: this book is bad because the author is NOT a hack, and is & has been capable of far better.
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3: Great Premise - Bad Sales Pitch for Wicca
The author had me hooked for pretty much the first half of the book, even though I was thrown off by slight Wiccan references.
From the middle to the end, he could have wrapped up in what took him 300 pages in maybe 40 pages max!
There were tangents that had nothing to do with the storyline whatsoever.
And as the book progressed I found myself racing through it, skimming over entire chapters like I was in an Evelyn Woods speed-reading class, as I desperately tried to find a safe place to land where the written word would once again hold my interest.
Plus, I'm going to take a wild and crazy guess that the author is a Wiccan. I hold nothing against Wiccans, their beliefs or books about it. However, I take issue with a so-called work of fiction that is bursting with Wiccan references, rituals and ways of living without informing the reader that he is about to take a step into a post-apocalyptic world of mostly Wiccan forest dwellers.
I would love to see a neutral writer take this very creative and intelligent premise and run with it, and keep the storyline within a generic human milieu. There could be some references to whatever the author espouses, whether it's Christianity, Islam, Scientology, Judaism or even Wicca.
But please chill out with trying to write a book to your congretaion/church, mosque, synagogue or coven friends.
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4: Interesting idea with ridiculously unrealistic characters
The idea is an interesting one- in literally a second, the fundamental laws of nature are broken. Gunpowder no longer works, and anything mechanical/electronic also dies forever. Mankind is plunged into another dark ages, with the inevitable death/destruction. The characters, however, mar an otherwise promising story- they are so stereotypical and one-dimesional as to be ludicrous. The leaders of the new world are a Marine (ex-force recon, of course), a Wiccan, and an evil Cosplay Ren-faire actor? Give me a break.
Trust me, by 200 pages into this book, you'll be so sick of hearing cutesy "blessed be" Wiccan sayings and Wiccan blessings from various Gods/Goddesses/Animal Dieties that you'll learn to just skip 3-page sections.
I also highly doubt that mankind would simply accept the Change within 2 weeks and begin living like semi-organized communes. I understand that survival would come first, but I would expect some serious questions about why the hell the Change happened, and how to make it better. Happy-go-lucky acceptance of complete reversal of the order of the world seems rather un-American.
A unique and interesting story, sadly darkened by some truly annoying characters.
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5: Next time a little less Wiccan
I read a lot of apocalyptic books, and this one had a lot of promise, however whenever it shifted over to Juniper and the Wiccan characters, I was about to scream, "ENOUGH!" As characters, they weren't bad, but the constant references to Wiccan, Lord, Lady, making signs, blah, blah, blah. It became as irritating as The Lord of the Rings' constant references to the languages of the Elves, and their songs. Just not necessary. On the other hand, the Bearkillers were very interesting. Not a bad read, but I won't check out the rest of the trilogy.
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