I just finished reading The Protector’s War by S.M. Stirling. It’s the sequel to Dies the Fire, where the entire world’s technology is rendered useless, along with all explosives. As a result the world is tumbled into chaos as governments fall, leaving a handful to rise out of the ashes of civilization to build new tribes to fight for survival.
It’s a very interesting concept, that some sort of extraterrestrial technology – for reasons of their own – would take away the technology of our world, leaving humans to fall back to the days of bows and swords where living every day is a struggle for survival. I stumbled upon Dies the Fire a couple of years ago and was pleasantly surprised it discover its sequel not too long after that. And then today, just a handful of pages from the end of The Protector’s War, I discover again that there yet another sequel, A Meeting at Corvallis. For some reason, I was under the impression that this was a two-book series, but I’m both pleasantly surprised and annoyed to find that this is not so. I’m pleased to be able to follow some of my favorite characters yet a little further but annoyed by the fact that I thought resolution was at hand.
And purusing Amazon.com a bit further, I see that there is yet another upcoming novel called The Sunrise Lands, set in the same universe but starting a new series, where survivors of the Change (the thing that caused the loss of technology) send out a mission to try to determine the cause and find Those responsible for it. This is a fascinating series, and while some folks may find it a bit dry and slow at times, I think anyone who likes both fantasy and alternative history will enjoy this series a great deal.
Tags: a-meeting-at-corvallis, alternative-history, books, dies-the-fire, emberverse, fantasy, fiction, s.m.-stirling, Speculative Fiction, the-protectors-war, the-sunrise-lands
I’ve got a rather well-rounded speculative fiction reading list to start off the new year, courtesy of my wife and sister. Wanna see it?
- Forever Odd – I’ve been a fan of Dean Koontz’s work for years. I’ve always enjoyed his ability to cross genres in nearly every single book. In high school and college, I’d collected a number of his titles. My interest scaled back in recent years, however, as some of his more recent books seemed, well, a little boring (i.e. Ticktock, Intensity, etc.). And I was disappointed that (to my knowledge) he never completed the Fear Nothing trilogy – he left far too many questions unanswered at the end of the second book. His Odd Thomas trilogy, however, is fascinating and has drawn me back to his work. My wife bought me the second book in the trilogy, and it’s high on my priority list of books to read.
- By the Light of the Moon – Continuing with the Dean Koontz theme, this book again adds to my Koontz collection. (I really need to take stock of my Koontz books again and figure out which ones I still need to get copies of.)
- Eldest – My sister thrilled me by giving me a Limited Edition copy of Christopher Paolini’s second novel. Now, there are folks who think it’s ridiculous that adults have been so captivated by YA fiction like the Harry Potter and Eragon series. Critics further complain that both series read like a junior high writing assignment. In Paolini’s case, it should be noted that he wrote Eragon while still in high school and self-published it. Later, it was discovered by an editor of a major publishing house and reprinted on a large market. As such, I don’t mind the writing style of the first book. It’s a fun and interesting story, and I’m looking forward to digging into Eldest and seeing how Paolini continues the story. I will, of course, have to re-read Eragon, though, since I need a refresher on events that have happened there.
- The Protector’s War – This one is the sequel to S.M. Stirling’s Dies the Fire. An unknown extraterrestrial force has rendered all technology on Earth useless, forcing people to fall back to more primitive ways of living. Dies the Fire tells how people come together in tribes in order to survive. The Protector’s War takes place eight years later, as one particular warlord seeks to destroy two tribes and take their lands. It’s an interesting and fascinating story, and I’m looking forward to checking in with some familiar characters again.
- Old Man’s War – I’ve been eager to get my hands on some of Scalzi’s books since I stumbled across his blogs this past year. OMW is the first in a trilogy and is Scalzi’s debut novel. It is followed by The Ghost Brigades and The Last Colony (forthcoming), both of which I’ll be looking to lay hands on later this year. He’s also written a rather tongue-in-cheek novel titled The Android’s Dream that’s just hit bookshelves in the last couple of months.
- Elantris – I first heard about Brandon Sanderson’s debut novel through Orson Scott Card’s writings. He had talked about it in one of his semi-frequent reviews, and being the OSC fanboy that I am, if he endorsed with such high praise, then it was something I definitely wanted for my own library. I was finally able to land a copy of Elantris, and I’m eager to tear into it.
I’ll be writing reviews for all these books as I complete them, so stay tuned here. Currently, I’m in the midst of Peter F. Hamilton’s 6-volume Night’s Dawn Trilogy, so once I complete that, I’ll begin working my way through the rest of these.
Tags: brandon-sanderson, by-the-light-of-the-moon, christopher-paolini, dean-koontz, dies-the-fire, elantris, eldest, eragon, forever-odd, john-scalzi, nights-dawn-trilogy, odd-thomas, old-mans-war, orson-scott-card, peter-f.-hamilton, reading, s.m.-stirling, the-protectors-war
