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Dies the Fire
Prior to writing Dies the Fire, S. M. Stirling, had written a trilogy beginning with the novel Island
in the Sea of Time in which, following the appearance of mysterious lights in the night sky, the island of Nantucket
and its population is mysteriously transported three thousand years into the past. With their knowledge and technology the
residents of Nantucket forge a new society that will clearly change the face of history. I haven't read those books but now
that I have sampled Stirling's writing style I am sure that I soon will.
In Dies the Fire – which also apparently introduces a new trilogy – Stirling tell us what happened
back in the world Nantucket was lifted out of following that amazing event. Following that night with its strange, lightning-like
lights, people discover that none of their technology works. Cars coast to a halt in the roadways and airplanes fall from
the sky. From then on electricity no longer flows; internal combustion engines don’t work; and guns won't fire bullets.
This event comes to be known as “The Change”.
This novel is set on the opposite side of North America, in Oregon, and follows the adjustment to "The Change" of two people
-- Mike Havel and Juniper Mackenzie -- who become instrumental in establishing a new society. Mike is a pilot flying a family
of five up to their wilderness cabin in Idaho when “The Change” occurs. He manages to land his plane after its
engine suddenly ceases to work and soon that they are not alone in their predicament. Mike uses his military training to survive
and soon gathers a group of followers. After a hand to hand fight with an angry bear he becomes known as "Lord Bear" and his
followers as “the Bearkillers”.
Meanwhile, Juniper is a Wiccan who plays music at a local bar in Oregon when "The Change" happens. As society degenerates
to savagery she flees to the relative safety of her family’s cabin with her daughter and a group of friends. She and
her friends join forces with the locals and others refugees from the burning cities in creating a farming community.
Mike and Juniper’s groups eventually meet and agree to be allies against a common enemy -- "the“Lord Protector”.
The Lord Protector is a former professor of medieval history who, finding himself quite at home in a world virtually returned
to the Dark Ages, has set himself up as a king. Not only must they ultimately have a battle with his forces, but they also
have to contend with bandits, White supremacists, and “eaters”-- people who have resorted to cannibalism.
Stirling is an intense and exciting writer who is particularly good at describing military operations and battle scenes. He
creates characters who are memorable and believable. His premise may be utterly absurd, and presented without the slightest
effort at a plausible explanation for this deus ex machina, but if you will practice a little suspension of disbelief
you will soon find your self too caught up in the tale to think about its implausibility. Once you have, this is a book you
won't find easy to put down.
I don't know to what extent the previous trilogy may have presented a contrary perspective, but I get the impression
from this novel that Stirling finds the idea of a return to the Middle Ages very appealing. I know that a lot of people long
for the simpler life of the past. But my observation is that their attraction to that simpler life is firmly rooted in ignorance
of what life in the past was really like. Personally, I much prefer life with potable water, flush toilets, and antibiotics.
Neither America nor the world in general was ever safer, happier, or more moral than it is today, and most often was more
dangerous, unhappier, and more immoral on balance than it is today.
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