Dies the Fire: A Novel of the Change (Mass Market Paperback)

~ (Author) "Michael Havel pulled his battered four-by-four into the employees' parking lot, locked up and swung his just-in-case gear out of the back, the strap of..." (more)
Key Phrases: cloven air, rabbit stick, ranger cabin, Iron Rod, Ken Larsson, Devil Dogs (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

What is the foundation of our civilization? asks Stirling (Conquistador) in this rousing tale of the aftermath of an uncanny event, "the Change," that renders electronics and explosives (including firearms) inoperative. As American society disintegrates, without either a government able to maintain order or an economy capable of sustaining a large population, most of the world dies off from a combination of famine, plague, brigandage and just plain bad luck. The survivors are those who adapt most quickly, either by making it to the country and growing their own crops—or by taking those crops from others by force. Chief among the latter is a former professor of medieval history with visions of empire, who sends bicycling hordes of street thugs into the countryside. Those opposing him include an ex-Marine bush pilot, who teams up with a Texas horse wrangler and a teenage Tolkien fanatic to create something very much like the Riders of Rohan. Ultimately, Stirling shows that while our technology influences the means by which we live, it is the myths we believe in that determine how we live. The novel's dual themes—myth and technology—should appeal to both fantasy and hard SF readers as well as to techno-thriller fans.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Booklist

For survivors of a mysterious event that caused electricity, internal combustion engines, and gunpowder to fail, the Pacific Northwest furnishes enough land to support subsistence existence in a future that belongs not to today's rifle-toting survivalists but to people who know older ways. Musician Juniper takes refuge on her family's land with a growing group of friends that becomes "Clan MacKenzie." Reenactors know useful things (see Jenny Thompson's War Games [BKL Je 1&15 04]), such as how to build log houses and craft bows for hunting. Meanwhile, Mike Havel, a pilot who was flying when the Change happened, and his passengers, having survived crashing in a frigid lake, gather followers, too. Thanks to a former Society for Creative Anachronism (a real organization of eclectic reenactors) fencer, and after hard work and the accident that gives their group the name "Bearkillers," they have the knowledge to sell their protective services. There are villains, too, such as a medieval history professor who starts a feudal revival, in Stirling's intriguing what-if about modern humans denied their treasured conveniences. Regina Schroeder
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 592 pages
• Publisher: Roc (September 6, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0451460413
• ISBN-13: 978-0451460417
• Product Dimensions: 6.7 x 4.3 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (219 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #20,392 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

96 of 116 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Outstanding!, August 6, 2004

By	Matt McDougall (Austin, TX USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Dies the Fire: A Novel of the Change (Hardcover)

I'm a big fan of novels that take humanity and mix things up by altering the familiar scenario. Say by sending a community back in time with all their technology in tact, but with no access to the resources necessary to sustain that technology.

Well, Stirling has taken that premise and twisted it here. What if our modern day society was suddenly bereft of its technology? Anything powered by electricity, batteries, or gasoline suddenly useless? Gunpowder chemically altered to loose its highly explosive tendencies?

What would society do, without irrigation and machinery to run the massive farms, without refineries, and trucks, and refrigeration?

With six billion people on the planet, the resulting chaos is not at all cheerful. We never actually see the savage toll in a city larger than Portland (and even there not directly), but allusions to what it must be like in New York or Tokyo, and to what happened in St. Louis say plenty.

The story unfolds brilliantly, as people slowly begin to band together, and struggle to survive in this new world. They must learn how to farm, ride horses, make weapons, and then use them. And Stirling does an excellent job portraying the difficulty of each, with a particularly inspired source of metal for swords.

This book is one part nightmare, one part medievalist's fantasy, which makes its villain all the more fitting.

If you're wavering, pick up a copy, it's well worth the read.

25 of 28 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Laughed out loud reading the first few chapters, September 24, 2009

By	Minskeapolis NeoCon (Peoples Republic of Minnesota) - See all my reviews

You have probably read the character synopsis and storyline already, so I will save you that, my little rant focuses on the "Pfffftt" moments in the story which, sadly, are myriad.

This was easily one of the worst post-apocalypse books I have ever read in that the necessities for survival were
made conveniently available, so much so that you have to wonder how the author managed to keep the good guys from discovering alien technology that could render them invisible or something.

Where do I start?

Heroine Juniper and her merry band make it to her mountain hideaway where they discover that their closest neighbors are not only conveniently dead (no difficult problems about sharing their stuff) but left behind a house jammed to the rafters with everything from medicine to food to blankets. The barn is stocked with seed potatoes and hay (because surprise, the seed tater delivery guy was there the day of The Change), there are chickens and cows for meat and milk, and the deceased former owners even managed to make sure the pasture gates were closed so the critters couldn't wander away. Hooray! Bonus: Juniper's own nearby cabin can't be seen from the road and is conveniently located near a clear stream and wonderfully poetic meadows.

As for everything else needed to make make it in this exciting new world, have no fear, wonderful coincidence and a generous author will provide.

The party will need trained horses for transport and armored cavalry: Up walks Bob, the expert horse wrangler. I know I know, this isn't horse country so what am I doing here.

The horses and commune defenders need a blacksmith: Hi there, I'm Jim the real estate guy whose side hobby just happens to be blacksmithing, and yes, I can whip together a full suit of chainmail in about two days and a perfectly balanced morningstar in one.

The brave defenders will require non-gunpowder weaponry: Good morning everyone, I'm Tom, I was an interpretive dancer before The Change but luckily I dabbled in the art of creating professional-grade longbows by hand using all natural materials.

The party needs ammo for Tom's bows? No problem: Hey hey hey, Susan here, I'm a fantastic cook, former stay at
home mom AND I know the arcane art of fletching arrows using the feathers from local blue-breasted sparrows.

All of these historical artists just happened to be wandering around in the remote mountains and by sheer luck they ran into kindly Juniper. Why they didn't starve or freeze to death like everyone else, or get murdered by Christian survivalists found elsewhere in the book is never quite explained, pure good fortune apparently.

It doesn't end there though, because the brave Wiccan commune also has a mobile library complete with tomes on medieval war strategies. Pretty lucky that someone skipped the canned food and candles as they ran from the house to escape catastrophe, and instead grabbed the all-important "Janes Complete Guide to 14th Century Armored Cavalry Tactics". Yeah yeah, I know you kids are hungry, so here, satisfy yourself by reading about how to organize a proper wedge formation.

At this point in the tale I wouldn't have been surprised if Juniper & Co. broke into a neighboring barn and
stumbled upon a working trebuchet that the missing farmer was building just for the heck of it. Seriously, what are the odds that the perfect medieval skill sets are going to be found in a dozen people thrown together at random?

So the stage is set, the survivors have food, skills and shelter; clean water, livestock and a woman wonderfully
prepared to thrive as a combat leader after having lived her entire life as a timid, anonymous, gypsy folk singer.

Opposing them are former RenFair reenactors with stunningly murderous predilections, leading an army of Crips and biker outlaws, as if the Hell's Angels would willingly take orders from self-styled "Sigurd Redhand the Dragon Slayer" aka Howie the dentist. Then again maybe hard core gang-bangers really do have deep seated fears of slightly built weekend warriors wearing homemade leather jerkins and tin helmets too big for their heads.

The laugh out loud quality of the entire book can be summed up by referencing one early exchange between the hero, former Recon Marine Mike, and Eric the teenage boy warrior wanna-be. Mike makes himself a homemade spear using a butcher knife and a long stick, causing Eric to opine that it resembles a Naginata. Mike agrees and innocently asks Eric if he has ever trained with such a weapon, to which Eric replies....wait for it...wait for iiiiiiitt..."Just a few times".

WHAAAAAAATTT? This teenager from Portland just happens to have trained in the use of a Naginata? Not a common spear, not a sharp stick that he found in the woods while camping, a Naginata. Of course Eric doesn't have any other weapons training or martial arts skills, just some background in the use of an ancient Japanese halberd....and he comes from Scandinavian stock. I laughed so hard when I read that part I thought I would choke; I think the author has spent one too many Saturdays flailing around the backyard with a dull-edged, knockoff Katana while yelling "Kiii yaaaaaa!".

So...if you pine for the good ol' days of nerding around in your geek friends basement on Friday night, busy trying to hack your way through the next level of D&D while trying to convince yourself that girls aren't really all that important anyway, this book is for you. It's definitely a goofball's dream world, complete with the former jocks getting one-upped by the vengeful nerds, payback for all those high school wedgies. The only thing missing in this sad fantasy world is an army of orcs and a giant spider. Oh well, maybe in the next series. If you want something that isn't 500 pages of Wiccan propaganda and juvenile ponderings of how awesome things would be if only we could all walk around in chainmail and bearskin capes while carrying a rune inscribed broadsword, then you might want to look elsewhere.

P.S. Want a good read about average people dealing with the collapse of civilization, including characters that don't desire to build their own Helm's Deep one week after the fall? Try "Summer of the Apocalypse", a great book that won't have you saying "Cooooommee Ooooonnnnnne" every few pages.

21 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A darker vision than Nantucket, August 5, 2004

By	W Boudville (Terra, Sol 3) - See all my reviews (TOP 10 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Dies the Fire: A Novel of the Change (Hardcover)

Stirling devised an ingenious "sequel" to his Nantucket trilogy. In the latter, readers must have seethed with frustration at how limited the Americans were in their capabilities. Limited by their small numbers and the sheer complexity of 20th century society, they had to slip back to level of the early Industrial Revolution. But the trilogy shows them clambering back up the ladder of industrial progress. How some readers must have wondered - what if the Nantuckers had several thousand more Americans with them, or many more supplies and equipment. The road back would surely have been easier.

Here this book starts off a new trilogy, in the world left behind. Some 6 billion people on it. He puts a twist here. The modern chemistry is permanently squelched. People have to fall back centuries. So while there is this resemblence to the other trilogy, here the fall seems irredeemable. All the panoply of people and hardware, with most of the latter now junk. Very ironic.

The book is a darker vision than the Nantucket scenario. While the ending might be positive, the overall ambience seems negative. It invokes comparison to the dystopic Draka series, that made Stirling famous amongst science fiction fans.