The Scourge of God

A Novel of the Change

By: S. M. Stirling

Narrated by: Todd McLaren

Length: 18 hrs and 12 mins

Publisher's summary

Rudi MacKenzie continues his trek across the land that was once the United States of America. His destination: Nantucket, where he hopes to learn the truth behind the Change that rendered technology across the globe inoperable.

During his travels, Rudi forges ties with new allies in the continuing war against the Prophet, who teaches his followers that God has punished humanity by destroying technological civilization. And one fanatical officer in the Sword of the Prophet has been dispatched on a mission: to stop Rudi from reaching his destination by any means necessary.

©2008 S.M. Stirling (P)2008 Tantor

Critic reviews

"Stirling...eloquently describes a devastated, mystical world that will appeal to fans of traditional fantasy as well as post-apocalyptic SF." ( Pubilshers Weekly)

visions for err'body round here

worthy addition to the series. action packed, new characters, and even the nonpagans get religious-foreshadowing-visions.

A bit better than The Sunrise Lands

but still jolted by Mr. McLaren's mispronounciations. How about sluff for slough and rimpoch for rimpoche? Oh, and folks are still barring their teeth.

Good, but not great

Would you recommend this book to a friend? Why or why not?

As a necessary bridge in the series, yes.

Would you be willing to try another book from S. M. Stirling? Why or why not?

Yes, the series has been well worth the money and more importantly the investment of my time.

Which character – as performed by Todd McLaren – was your favorite?

Mike Havel

Was The Scourge of God worth the listening time?

Mostly - it dragged in some areas.

A superb story by a superb author

I read the Island in the Sea of Time trilogy and loved it. I was delighted when my son found Dies the Fire (first in this series) and gave it to me as a surprise birthday present. If anything the Dies the Fire series is even better than the Island series. Both have superbly developed characters, strong story lines, and are very captivating. Each year since the first I've devoured each new book in the series in a day or three, and then wait impatiently for the next one to come along.

The Audible treatment is, IMHO, also superb. I found the narrator to be better than most others on most audio books, and he does a very good job with voice changes, inflection, and accents - even doing a creditable job for the women.

I would highly recommend the series - both hard copy and Audible version to anyone who has imagination, enjoys strong characters, the struggle between good and evil (there are a few VERY evil ones in here!), and an epic adventure that stands with the very best in modern storytelling.

Outstanding!!

dull

I really liked the premise of the modern quest with these great characters but I just can't help feeling like this book is dull. Maybe it's the authors obsessive need to name everything accurately. Do I really need a complete breakdown of their meals? Do I really need to know the names of all the local flora and fauna? This whole book just felt like a drag on the overall plot.

I did get a kick out of how he used madam blavatsky's religion as the religion of the evil doers though. He had to do a little research into that craziness, which is comendable.

Love the story - not for audio

I really love this series. For some reason, the pacing of this did not keep my attention for audio.

scourge of god

great story. gets better and better. this one had an abrupt turn of events, hopefully it's just a side quest. and doesn't take the whole next book.

Well Done!

I just finished listening to this book today. For the past month or so I have been listening to the series and, as usual, was disappointed to reach the end. The characters are easy to like or hate. There is plenty of action in all the books and this is no exception. I recommend that you not read the books out of sequence.
I don't want to write more because I might give hints about the plot and how it develops. So I will end by saying If you enjoy RR Martin's and Robert Jordan's books you cannot go wrong with this series.

Not a Stand Alone Book

My fault, I did not notice that this was part of a series. IMHO, this book can't stand alone as there is really no rhyme or reason for where it starts or leaves off except, of course, length. I give the author some credit for weaving in enough of the back story that it makes sense (although I can sympathize with those listeners who found it dull and boring) but I feel miffed that the book doesn't make sense as a book. Should be marketed as "must buy the next if you want any plot sense". Maybe even "you will have a better time if you have read the lead up books". Sometimes the amount of detail was overwhelming. A bit too graphic for me from the violence point of view. And I "barred" my teeth when I realized that there was going to be a buffalo hunt as I anticipated (correctly) that the level of gory detail was going to be close to unbearable. So much detail and yet it was missing the crux of the matter (what the heck was the Change?). I docked stars for that and for the fact that without more knowledge of that, I found the state of people quite advanced and orderly after such few short years post apocalypse. Summary: good characters, good world building up to a point, burdened by detail at the expense of plot.

Extremely captivating

Open reading this series for a couple years now at this point I'm Re listening to books I've already read And they're even better the 2nd time around.