Dies the Fire (Emberverse Series #1)

Mr. Preachy

I have to agree with the reviewers that have given this series a negative review. In my opinion too many of Mr. Stirling's books turn into preachy, tedious and very partisan readings of history. He often blatantly inserts his own viewpoints concerning the value and/or relative lack of value of various civilizations using the voices of his characters to make his point. For example in the parallel story of the Nantucket survivors who get thrown into the past; he uses two Black characters to disparage the view that Egypt was an African culture and not some alien group of Euro-Asiatics plopped down on the African continent. While it is obvious that history is a hobby of Mr. Stirling's he is not a historian nor is he an archaeologist, anthropologist and/or ethnologist. And I found the concept that within the continental United States that a religion such as Wicca would draw in the number of converts in such a short period of time and that its then too numerous to count adherents would so easily morph into "so mote it be" clansmen. Again as another reviewer noted...if I wanted to study the Wiccan religion I would pick up a book on it. His overall portrayal of those who ascribe to more or less Christian if not other monotheistic belief systems is laced with scorn and derision. Lastly, both he and Harry Turtledove have an abysmal history (my opinion) of writing believable non-White characters; specifically Black characters. Both present their various Black, Latino, Asian and/or Native American characters as so much fluff and window dressing. They are either perfect long suffering Sidney Poitier/Tonto stereotypes; or they are vicious sadistic Fu Manchu reprisals of evil inscrutable foreigners.

5 out of 9 people found this review helpful.

Great IDEA, poor EXECUTION.

Every now and then a book comes along with such an origional concept that people get cought up in the potential of the book rather than the quality. This is one of those times. I have heard this book recommended freaquently, and everytime I hear about it, the concept of the book is raved about but the execution is passed over in it's criticism. It's too bad. If avid book readers (including those that have reviewed this title) actually cared about plot, character development and pacing, this book may have gotten an honest review. But unfortunately the boring plot, poor pacing, overly descriptive, and flat character writing seems to have been forgotten about, because people are so desparate for a unique and interesting concept. Don't get me wrong, Modern times reverting to midevil times done in a somewhat plausible way is very interesting, and that's why I read this garbage, but a good idea doesn't make a good book.

4 out of 5 people found this review helpful.

First half good, second half...

The first half was enjoyable, it had excitement and creative ideas. However, somewhere around midway, the plot just fell apart. A previous poster said the Wiccans were 'too good.' I agree, they were a bore. Also, S.M. Stirling left out a lot of script. There were many instances where the climax of an event was just being reached, but Stirling would cut it off and enter back in skipping a lot of detail. It was aggravating. I won't be reading it again just because I don't want to waste my time 'and I read it in a day'. There are much better books out there that are worth the money and time.

4 out of 4 people found this review helpful.

Disappointing

I had high hopes for this, based on what others have said, but I was dissappointed. There were some good elements to the book, but a lot of it was tedious and not very interesting. There were parts that I just had to skip as they really had nothing to do with the story. If I wanted to read about the wiccan thing, I'd get a book describing wiccan. I won't be reading the sequel, I just don't care what happens next. The premise of all of the sudden the lights go out for no apparent or explained reason is lame, but, hey it could still be interesting, but it really wasn't.

4 out of 4 people found this review helpful.

Camelot here we come.

The book came heavily recommended to me, and rightly so. It's a great read, and a fast read. It's not often that I find books set in the area that I live. The Pactific Northwest, but most notably Oregon. It was great reading about the town's I've lived in and worked in. My only complaint about the book is the Juniper MacKenzie Clan and the Wicca religion. Just didn't do much for me. However, Mike Havel and the Bearkillers are great and hope to read more about their adventures.

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

Good Read, Intriguing Premise

Stirling's Emberverse series revolves around an earth-changing event that completely rewrites the chemistry books. This event throws all civilization back to the pre-Industrial days of our history.

How well could we adjust without the necessities of our civilization? Stirling's characters must cope with the trials and dangers of humanity's fall back to a time where might often makes right and where only the strong - and those protected by the strong - have any chance of survival.

Stirling raises critical questions that may make some uneasy about our society today. How would people cope without the thin veneer of civilization? To what lengths would we go to survive in a post-apocalyptic world? How much of what we call "civilized behavior" can we lose without descending into barbarism?

I like Stirling's characters. I also enjoyed the historical references as the characters learn to live in conditions more common to Europe during the Viking era than with modern America.

I have only one minor quibble and a major question with Stirling's story.

First, the quibble. It seems that certain characters find themselves either incredibly lucky or extremely blessed, depending on your perspective. Characters stumble across people who can conveniently fill a major hole in their group, or they find the right materials to solve the crisis at hand. I concede the possibility of this happening, especially in the area of the book's setting. After all, the Pacific Northwest would contain an almost limitless supply of many materials even if industry halted today.

As much as I enjoyed the book, I still find myself struggling with the major premise. How can anything change the basic laws of what we call "nature" without the consequences spreading throughout the universe as we know it? In any work, the reader must connect with the basic plot line to really appreciate the artist's endeavor. I had difficulty understanding how the basic chemistry could change so much in some aspects but yet other areas remained unchanged. I suppose this is science fiction, in a way, so I must suspend belief in the "science" and enjoy the "fiction."

I've also read Stirling's "Conquistador." Between the 2, I enjoyed "Conquistador" much more. I plan to read more of Stirling's work later.

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

What if...

Alternate histories can be a lot of fun, but they can also suck horribly. Honestly, I hesitate to buy them because they are so often disappointing. The fun comes from question, "what if this one thing had gone differently?" Actually in this case its, "what if a flash of light (in 1986) changed the laws of physics so that technology no longer worked?" It's a great question for those of us who were alive in 1986. Its a fun world to put yourself in because we all wonder about our resourcefulness.

Where they go wrong is in lack of research, logic and imagination. If, for example, an author doesn't imagine plausible results the story becomes annoying. And a story can be implausibly over or under reacting. Secondly, as with disaster fiction we need likable characters to observe in the situation. There's nothing more boring than a series of scenes about what happened.

So how does Stirling do? Really well. Good characters, good pacing, good detail and description. All around its well written and since its not easy to write this type of novel well this book stands out.

There are some challenges. There are a lot of characters and a lot of pages, which means this isn't a good book for slow readers at all. Also there is a lot of travel back and forth without mention of the path people took. For those of us who gain an extra bit of fun from living in the NW where this series is set, it can get a little ruined by not explaining how some characters hop back and forth over the Cascades when they can't go through Portland or use Hwy 20.

Sterling also shies away from portraying large scale battles though there are at least two in the book. It maintains the balance between pages spent on exploring the "what if" and those spent on action, but I could have used a little more action, and made space for it by cutting some of the detailed depiction of Wiccan rituals.

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

Great until the end

awesome, but ended in strange spot. and worse, the next book doesn't pick up where this one left off. it's 8 YEARS LATER!?

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

Nantucket Trilogy Was Better

First half of the book was gripping, but the second half just bored me. The Wiccans are just too perfect. While I commend the author for including a positive portrayal of the Wiccans, they were just too hippy dippy for my tastes. While the characters are somewhat enjoyable, there was really no one to whom I could relate. His Nantucket trilogy was much better.

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

blah.....

I am a huge fan of post apocalyptic fiction, however, this missed holding my attention. First of all after only barely two weeks into this 'blackout', society just falls apart and people star congregating and forming little self sustaining societies with of course the good versus evil concept. Also , this read more like a sci-fi fantasy rather than post apocalyptic fiction. I do not plan on reading the sequel, because I was unable to finish this book.

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

A very good start to a very good series!

Having two interleaved plot lines kept things interesting!

One of the best books I have read

This book is a great book to read. I would highly reccomend this book

We have the entire series

Book one 'Dies the fire' sets the tone, then you must keep on reading as you find out what happens to the characters you fall in love with. Not a book for the casual reader, complicated and violent at times.

Well written and entertaining

This book has an interesting foundation, with technology gone, how will we survive? The side story of social groups and community structures is very advanced. I recommend both the story and the writer. I will look for more stories by this author.

Good Story

This is a good story and I enjoyed watching the interplay of the characters. It is a well done post-apocalyptic book showing the strength of those who survive and the civilization that develops. My biggest problem is I don't like to be preached at. It is a Wiccan book. I prefer books that are much less blatant in the propagandizing.

I like the story but....

this books plot isnt that bad but it is very slow to start,and for some parts its a cutaway scene like a movie which takes you away from the action of the group that you were following and i didnt like that at all.its supposed to be a book not a movie or it shouldve been a movie period.ive read the emberverse series 1&2 and i love them but the execution of the plot and story needs to actually flow like a story not like watching a movie.

Highly Recommended! If you liked The Stand, read this one!

I loved this book! In fact, I have read this one ( and the subsequent ones ) several times. What would happen if everything just stopped in a moment? No more cars, telephones, planes, guns, etc.... In a flash of bright light the world as we know it is gone. How do people survive without electricity? What would you eat if you could run sown to local store and but food? What would yo have to do just to survive another day? Find out just how savage the world could become in this book of "what if".

another book involving the"CHANGE"

ive yet to read this series but it seems interesting since there are two other books that i know use the change as the setting,im referring to ARIEL&ELEGY BEACH by steven r. boyett.ariel being reprinted since first being published in 1983 is a unique story describing the change through the protagonists pete garey's eyes.but after reading it i wondered what became of the other states in the U.S?the sequel ELEGY BEACH refers to them very seldom as pete recalls his journey.but still heres to another book of the change.hope the swordplay is awesome ill give a poper review after i read it.

0 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

A good read

I like this series and its sister series, Islands in the Sea of Time.

Thought provoking and a great story!

The characters are well defined. You felt like you knew them. The plot was very original and thought provoking. A good topic of conversation. I am reading the second in the series and am just as impressed. Anyone who likes Science Fiction will love this series.