Table of Contents
Stirling has his world firmly in hand.... All those who were on board for Dies the Fire, The Protectors War, and A Meeting at Corvallis should jump on this ride as well.
Contra Costa Times
Combines vigorous military adventure with cleverly packaged political idealism... Stirlings narrative deftly balances sharply contrasting ideologies.
Publishers Weekly
A master of speculative fiction and alternate history, Stirling delivers another chapter in an epic of survival and rebirth.
Library Journal
Praise for the Novels of S. M. Stirling
A Meeting at Corvallis
A richly realized story of swordplay and intrigue.
Entertainment Weekly
Stirling concludes his alternative history trilogy in high style.... [The story] resembles one of the cavalry charges the novel describesgorgeous, stirring, and gathering such earth-pounding momentum that its difficult to resist.
Publishers Weekly
A fascinating glimpse into a future transformed by the lack of easy solutions to both human and technological dilemmas.
Library Journal
Grand and resonant... exciting and suspenseful.... Blending elements of Arthurian and Tolkienesque romance with down-in-the-muck details of birth and death, farming and herding, building and politicking, Stirling manages to fashion a narrative that acknowledges that humanity is a creature of both soul and body, heart and mind, lust and sacrifice, much in the manner of Poul Anderson.... Stirling has blazed a clear comet trail across his postapocalyptic landscape that illuminates both the best and the worst of which our species is capable.
Science Fiction Weekly
The ensuing maze of intrigue, diplomacy, and battle (with a wonderful variety of weapons ingeniously exploiting archaic technology) comes up to Stirlings highest standards for pacing, world building, action, and strong characterizations, particularly of women... a major work by an authentic master of alternate history.
Booklist (starred review)
Entertaining and satisfying.
Contra Costa Times
[Stirlings] made his heroes real people about whom we care and with whom we identify, and the way they have risen to heroic stature out of necessity and the instinct to survive and to thrive says something heartening about the potential in all of us.
SF Reviews
An exciting and fitting end to this science fiction thriller trilogy... a rousing finale to a strong trilogy.
Alternate Worlds
The Protectors War
Absorbing.
The San Diego Union-Tribune
[A] vivid portrait of a world gone insane... it also has human warmth and courage.... It is full of bloody action, exposition that expands character, and telling detail that makes it all seem very real.... It is the determination of its major characters to create a safe and loving world that makes the book so affecting.
Statesman Journal (Salem, OR)
Reminds me of Poul Anderson at his best.... Against a colorful, action-filled background, Stirling shows characters whove solved the problems of immediate personal survival and can now focus on their legacies.
David Drake, author of When the Tide Rises
Rousing... Without a doubt [The Protectors War] will raise the bar for alternate universe fiction and shows all of S. M. Stirlings hallmark ability to tell a stirring tale with vivid characters.
John Ringo, New York Times bestselling author of A Deeper Blue
The characters are distinct and clearly drawn with a lovely sense of humor... very readable.
SFRevu
Villains of the darkest hue are matched by average men and women grown into heroes of Arthurian stature and complexity. The action streaks across the page like an avenging blade.... When youre finished reading, youll beg him for more.
John Birmingham, author of Final Impact
Consistent excitement and dramatic tension... a marvelous adventure and a strong entry in an improving trilogy. The new characters and overseas settings are an immense asset, in that we finally see the global scope of the Change. Thus theres even greater depth to the overall story.
SF Reviews
Stirling always does a great job with his novels of uprooted communities building a new world.
Chronicle [Stirlings] ability to imagine a return to quasi-medievalism in the modern world provides a glimpse into the inner strength of men and women under fire. Highly recommended.
Library Journal
An exemplary specimen of the postapocalyptic tale... with panache, insight, and ingenuity. [Stirling] alternates massive, thrilling set pieces that are impeccably crafted.... Readers who relish a battle between the forces of light and darkness, along with many frissons about what civilization means, are in for a rousing good time
Science Fiction Weekly
Dies the Fire
Dies the Fire kept me reading till five in the morning so I could finish at one great gulp. Its an alarmingly large speculation: how would we fare if we suddenly had the past 250 years and more of technological progress taken away from us? No more electricity. No more internal-combustion engines. No more gunpowder or other explosives. All gone, vanished in the blink of an eye.... Dont miss it.
Harry Turtledove
Gritty, realistic, apocalyptic, yet a grim hopefulness pervades it like a fog of light. The characters are multidimensional, unusual, and so very human. Buy Dies the Fire. Sell your house, sell your soul, get the book. You wont be sorry.
John Ringo
A stunning speculative vision of a near-future bereft of modern conveniences but filled with human hope and determination. Highly recommended.
Library Journal
S. M. Stirling gives himself a broad canvas on which to display his talent for action, extrapolation, and depiction of the brutal realities of life in the absence of civilized norms.
David Drake
The Willamette Valley of Oregon and the wilds of Idaho are depicted with loving care, each swale and tree rendered sharply. The smell of burning cities, the aftermath of carnage, the odor and sweat of horsesStirling grounds his action in these realities with the skill of a Poul Anderson.... Postapocalypse novels often veer either too heavily into romantic Rob insonades or nihilistic dead ends. But Stirling has struck the perfect balance between grit and glory.
Science Fiction Weekly
NOVELS OF THE CHANGE
Island in the Sea of Time
Against the Tide of Years
On the Oceans of Eternity
Dies the Fire
The Protectors War
A Meeting at Corvallis
The Scourge of God
OTHER NOVELS BY S. M. STIRLING
The Peshawar Lancers
Conquistador
to Jan, forever and ever
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
These are getting dense and chewy. Trying to create a world, even in words, is good occupational therapy for lunatics who think theyre God, and an excellent argument for polytheism.
Thanks to my first readers:
To Steve Brady, for assistance with dialects and British background, hints on birds, beasts and bugs... and spotting some howlers.
