Dies the Fire

A Novel of the Change

By: S. M. Stirling

Narrated by: Todd McLaren

Length: 22 hrs and 5 mins

Publisher's summary

Michael Havel was flying over Idaho en route to the holiday home of his passengers when the plane's engines inexplicably died, forcing a less than perfect landing in the wilderness. And, as Michael leads his charges to safety, he begins to realize that the engine failure was not an isolated incident.

Juniper Mackenzie was singing and playing guitar in a pub when her small Oregon town was thrust into darkness. Cars refused to start. Phones were silent. And when an airliner crashed, no sirens sounded and no fire trucks arrived. Now, taking refuge in her family's cabin with her daughter and a growing circle of friends, Juniper is determined to create a farming community to benefit the survivors of this crisis.

But even as people band together to help one another, others are building armies for conquest.

©2004 Stirling (P)2008 Tantor

Critic reviews

"The novel's dual themes - myth and technology -should appeal to both fantasy and hard SF readers as well as to techno-thriller fans." ( Publishers Weekly)

Interesting concept one major flaw

The concept of the story is interesting, the characters are unique and varied. Can tell the author did research into the minutiae of the book. Decently executed and well written except for the dialogue. No humans talk like this, every joke is cringe worthy. Every interaction is almost embarrassing to read. Especially the pagan settlements chapters I found myself fast forwarding through until they stop talking. Not enough for me to stop reading until the third book. Also there’s a scene in the second book that’s basically the taming of Bucephalus and I kept waiting for one of the characters to mention it. It read so much like fire from heaven by Mary Renault it felt like a different writer wrote that part of the book.

Enjoyable and thought provoking

Fun, thought provoking book. The narrator is very good. His pronunciation is a little off on the Oregon cities, but otherwise does a great job.

Good but not Great

I downloaded this title in spite of the numerous reviews claiming that it is like Dungeons & Dragons and Renaissance Fairs. Some of the characters are involved with "ren-fairs" (which is a phrase from the author/characters). As far as "D&D lingo" or any other similarity to the game I'm lost. Unless you consider calling weapons by their actual names rather than a dumbed down description to be like D&D. I would say to ignore those reviews citing either of those as a description of this story.

Others have complained about decisions being made too quickly or society breaking down too rapidly as being unrealistic. It is FICTION!! Although the author could have dragged out things and then it would have been called "too slow and not enough happening."

It is a good story and serves the purpose of being entetaining. Although I do get annoyed at the author's repeated use of some words or phrases it doesn't hurt the story. The reader is good but not exceptional.

Ren-fair nerd revenge fantasy

I've been reading/listening to alot of "apocalyptic fiction" lately, and this is one of the best. Solid characters, believable dialogue. Despite the fact that it is clearly a D&D nerd's wet dream, I would recommend it to just about anyone. Hours of fun (23 of them!).

Brilliant!

I can't understand why people believe this to be so "far fetched"? It's a strange world and strange things happen. As to it being Gory, well so is life! The fact people can't believe that the population would degenerate into savagery so quickly just need to open their eyes and look around...I live in Africa and the brutality surrounding me is an every day fact of life. The story is very interesting and I've been absorbed in it right through the trilogy. The Wiccan aspect does tend to get a little bit annoying but in no way detracts from the story. I will definitely putting this range of books in my collectors bookshelf.

Great Premise, too ugly

Well, it's like the title of my review says. I loved the beginning, with everything going back to basics, but then it just got too ugly. Don't get me wrong, I think it would have been great to follow nearly exactly the same path with the story, but just don't be so descriptive of all the horrors that are committed. I finally stopped 5 hours at the scene in the rangers' cabin when Eric and Havel returned. It was just too much to have the thirteen year old girl standing there with bite marks and everything...it was awful.

Didn't care for the pagan aspects, but I didn't mind them much either. I really would like to see where it goes, but I'm sorry, it's just entirely too much.

I do have to say, though, that I loved the Interlude, the whole gang scene with the guards with halberds and everything. I gave it two stars because of that and because I liked the premise..otherwise, awful.

Spot on!

I loved this book! I am a native of the Willamette Valley where the majority of this book takes place and I am amazed at the detail and the flavor that Stirling brings to this work. He brings a depth of knowledge of the landscape and the people of the Northwest that is really surprising. The characters are well rounded and more complex than in many fantasy tales. There is a Wiccan slant, but that is an interesting layer to me. The reader does a very good job with the different characters. I was thoroughly entertained and can't wait to listen to the rest.

Good story

This book was a bit outside of my norm, but I liked it well enough. The story itself was pretty good and I'm interested enough to continue the series. However, I do have a couple of complaints. There were times when I was unsure how much time had passed. It seemed time was progressing at a certain pace and then all of a sudden it was months later. I also had trouble with the skipping back and forth between the characters. I think the narrator could have paused a bit between to let the listener know a change in course is coming. I do wish to note that the narrator did a fabulous job with the different accents.

Superb alternate future history

This book begins an as yet unfinished future history, in which all energy based technology fails and remains unoperable beyond simple combustion and very poor steam power. The world is reduced to a level about like that of the early middle ages. People die off in huge numbers as food storage and food stocks are depleated. The story folllows several bamds of peopel who successfully adapt to this new world by looking back to various historical and even mythical ways of life. The SCA provides a model for some, and there is much chivalry, sword play, and raw survival. I won't write reviews of subsequent volumes, allthough I have rated all with five stars. I am anxiously awaiting the next titles! Highly recommended.

Great story, rough narration

I love this series. I have read it before and thought it would be a great listen too, but the narrator unfortunately keeps mispronouncing local place names and words (I am a PNW native). This takes me out of the story every time while I try to piece together what he is talking about. Do your research!