Dies the Fire: A Novel of the Change

S.M. Stirling has written a trilogy of novels about how humanity adapts to the sudden, catastrophic change in potentialities: where, basically, the technologies of medieval times are all that "work"--an artificial imposition on our planet, imposed by an unknown source--labeled "alien space bats" by one wit. The three novels of this series are Dies the Light, The Protector's War, and A Meeting at Corvallis. Stirling's website describes the series in the following manner: A trilogy set in the world that the island of Nantucket left behind when it became an "Island in the Sea of Time". This world is hit by "The Change" causing electricity, high gas pressures, and fast combustion (including explosives and gunpowder) to stop working. The effects of this imposition are anything buy funny, though. Food is the immediate pressure for Change Year 1. How to grow food and keep others from taking it organize CY2. As the years progress and the trilogy plays out the conflicts, Stirling's vision focuses on several groups that survive--some life-supporting, and some life-destroying. The most interesting aspect of the trilogy is who survives. Stirling emphasizes luck as being essential, and also an early-on recognition that the Change wasn't changing back. Those who adapt early make decisions that lead to survival--getting out of big cities and away from the masses of hungry people, finding a protected spot to survive long enough to put some seed into the ground. Interesting characters--including dynamic, strong, and charismatic women characters--make these novels worth reading. Mike Havel, a former Marine, whose small plane conks out while flying over the Bitterroot Mountains, who eventually organizes the "BearKiller Outfit" Juniper Mackenzie, a Celtic musician and Wiccan priestess who says that in order to survive, a clan must be formed--and that's just what happens, kilts and all Norman Arminger, a history professor and medieval re-enactment buff who decides the Change is an opportunity to bring back the Middle Ages--and guess who will be king? Astrid Larsson, who deals with the Change by becoming an elf-like warrior princess right out of J.R.R. Tolkien Eilir Mackenzie, Juniper's daughter, who is deaf and mute, but who finds abilities that allow her to move through the changed world with a grace and power that creates the perfect complement to Astrid Larsson's fantasy Sam Aylward, from British Yorkshire, former Special Forces soldier, who happens to know how to make yew bows in the ancient manner Stirling has chosen an alternative history that begins with a catastrophic upheaval and tumble-down of human society. Out of that, a time filled with fighting for survival ensues. I find his vision an interesting exercise for the imagination--and a thrilling read. I don't agree completely with his vision--I tend to think there would be more cooperation and less head-bashing insanity, for instance, but the basic premise of a return to low-technology existence and how new cultures are formed is developed by Stirling into a stirring story of derring-do and back-to-the-land adventure.

I began this series at The Sunrise Lands because several of the second set were given to me. So, this review includes those books as well. Overall, the story of the people in the Willamette Valley (and elsewhere) after the Change is very good. The connections that each group has with each other and their different ways to handle the hardships brought on by the loss of all technology down to gunpowder and steam is quite good. I was surprised to get to this book and discover that Norman Arminger was more of a background character to begin with as the later books place him as a central figure. I figure he will be fleshed out more in the next two books of this series. Stirling takes a good look and criticism at our technological life, now over 20 years after his Change event. I think much of it is still valid. Can we cope with the loss of technology? What happens when we can't go to the store for food? Will we become the cannibals or the Mackenzies? However, though I know Stirling needed to do this for his plot line, his Change effects going down to gunpowder and steam are a bit ludicrous. He wanted a certain environment that was pre-gunpowder and steam, I get that, but he left holes. Gunpowder doesn't work, but napalm does? Methane gas collection for lighting works, but steam power can't be had? Come on, Mr. Stirling. So, I have to suspend my thoughts and just enjoy the stories he brings out of the Change. Yes, the plots and characters were enough to give it the fifth star. If they weren't there, it would be only three.

Have you ever been on an escalator when the motor shut off? For an instant, you're uncertain what to do; then you realize it's just like being on stairs and you go on your way. Imagine the whole world shutting down instead; coping with such a situation would not be nearly as easy. This is the topic of Dies the Fire. Dies the Fire opens on March 17, 1998. It is early evening on the West Coast when with a flash, all electronic devices shut down. This is nothing as simple as an electromagnetic pulse; even certain chemical reactions no longer work, primarily affecting guns and explosives. Things have gone instantly medieval. Many perish quickly as airplanes crash to the ground, medical devices die and looting kicks in. Soon enough other dangers are realized due to starvation and disease. The story itself focuses on two principal characters: Mike Havel is a pilot who survives his own plane crash to become the leader of a benevolent group of mercenaries; and Juniper, a pragmatic Wiccan who is able to create a small farming community. For the most part, the two characters have their own separate storylines which intersect only occasionally as they try to survive and contend with The Protector, a professor turned dictator who is using the lessons of the past to establish an empire. Given the scale of the story, it is not surprising that not all is resolved in this volume, which covers a period of around nine months after "the Change." The biggest question of all is barely touched in this story, namely what caused the Change. I'm not even sure if this will be covered in future stories, as the characters are focused on more practical issues. The source of the Change, however, does seem to be some sort of superior intelligence; chances are it is so much more advanced that any confrontation with it would be like a battle between a tiger and a mouse, utterly one-sided. Dies the Fire is a good novel - and I will probably read its sequels - but author S.M. Stirling is far from perfect. Gratingly, I found one error in the opening paragraphs, when he refers to the date as being early spring when it is really late winter. Also, I found it strange that none of the characters (including many who are at a bar) fail to note that it's St. Patrick's Day. But after these initial quibbles, the book settles down and has less issues, although at times the situations, dialogue and behavior of the characters sometimes borders on the silly or implausible. In part science fiction (with its speculations of an alternate society), in part fantasy (with all the sword fighting and the possibly supernatural agent that created the Change), Dies the Fire should appeal to fans of both genres, but it should also be enjoyed by mainstream readers. For me, it was a solid four-star read...good entertainment despite some minor flaws.

A great story based on a wild premise. Engaging heroic characters and truly evil bad guys. A novel subtle take on sword and sorcery in a changed modern world.

Excellent sujet pour les amateurs de survivalisme, mais histoire assez pitoyable et mal écrite. On pourrait croire à une attaque EMP qui serait plausible puisqu'elle peut mettre hors d'état de fonctionnement les systèmes électriques et électroniques de vastes zones mais, diable, pourquoi les armes à feu ne fonctionneraient plus non plus, alors la franchement je ne vois aucune explication chimique ou physique plausible, l'auteur non plus d'ailleurs... C'est juste le prétexte d'un retour aux armes blanches et à une ambiance "Antiquité ou Moyen Age sauvage". Les héros, un homme et une femme principalement, sont dignes d'une fantasia et gagnent presque toujours. D'ailleurs, tous les bons dotés de tous les savoirs indispensables à la survie, se rencontrent magiquement par l'opération du Saint Esprit et s'unissent dans 2 clans qui vont s'entraider. Les vilains sont forcément très vilains, se rencontrent également et doivent perdre. Il n'y a aucun profondeur. Je n'ai même pas fini, j'ai lâché un peu avant la fin. 2 étoiles pour le sujet et c'est généreux. Vraiment dommage. "One second after" de William R Forstchen traitant d'une attaque EMP frappant les USA est incomparablement plus crédible sur tous les plans et bien mieux écrit.

First of all, the premise is... silly, but so are most of the apocalypse books and they are not about the premise. There is something which is more important then premise in those books, it is a consequent elaboration on ... well, consequences. And where most books an TV shows (see Revolution, Into the Badlands) fail to take into account everything that would influence the outcome of such catastrophe, S.M.Striling does it nearly to perfection. He writes about survivors, he shows beyond any doubt, that only a small percentage will survive and those who do have to be not only capable but also lucky. You will not found here "ordinary" people doing stupid stuff and not dying. He also shows, that despite the world sliding into the dark ages, the people aren't those from dark ages and will never behave as if they are. Here is a quote from the book which describes it the best: "When the going gets weird, the weird gets going"

Stirling writes a very good "end of civilization as we know it" book but seems too hurried to get to the "now we are a medieval world" bit. The premise of how the apocalypse occurs is weak (flash of light) and the sub-plot on how we go from techno to feudal in a couple of weeks is weak. Ex history professor becomes Lord Protector of all he surveys within a few days of the collapse could have been expanded on a lot more and would have been an interesting novel in itself. Well, now that all the negatives are out of the way I can say that the individual stories of survival are great to read and the author's descriptions of the fights, struggles, cannibalism, forming of bonds, clans, tribes and brotherhoods kept me turning the pages until well into the wee hours. Is the book worth buying? I'll answer that by writing that I just bought the two follow-up books of the initial trilogy "The Protector's War" and "A Meeting At Corvallis" and can't wait to get stuck into them. I give "Dies The Fire" 4 1/2 stars and rank it up there with some of the best post-apocalyptic fiction by Heinlein, Scarrow, Norton et. al.

This is the third time reading this first book. The characters are great and I like how this renewed post-apocalyptic culture combines the practical, social and spiritual. Juniper and her daughter are two of my favourite characters in literature.