I Love this book! I have read it almost 20 times now, and I still enjoy re-reading certain parts all over again. It really emphasizes how much we take for granted in our lives - and I don't necessarily mean simple things like enough food and clean water, but many other things that we usually don't consider. Suddenly, I find myself wondering exactly how that bottle of soda-pop was made, and whether or not it could have been made without electricity! And I find myself mentally cataloging the food and resources in my house, wondering how I might survive in the Dies the Fire 'Verse. Part of my enjoyment comes from the careful thought that S.M. Stirling clearly put into the details - such as learning to ride or use a sword. While I'm certainly not an expert in blacksmithing, farming, or any of the other trades that Stirling mentions in this book, the details that he offers feel accurate and correct. There is no I picked up a Sword for the first time in my life yesterday & today I'm a Master Swordsman nonsense. His portrayal of what life might be like in such a situation is extremely plausible.
As a fan fiction writer and reader, I can see the wonderful potential in this 'Verse - there is plenty of room for developing existing characters and situations, for writing in your own characters, or for adding characters from modern books & TV Shows. Plenty of ways to ask, What if? I can hardly wait until the newest book is available. By the way, if you're not sure whether or not you would like this book, S.M. Stirling offers sample chapters (the first 4 -6 chapters of each book) on his official website.

Share/Like this Review?

Not a good book. The premise was decent, but all he wanted to talk about was Wicca and fighting. Throw in a crazy *love* story of young girl/older man and that's the book. I mean, that whole line of the story was incredibly unbelievable. Also, how many times can you have a Wiccan festival described in minute detail before tuning out? My mom calls this a "skip book"- you read a page, skip 10 and still get exactly what's going on.
I really didn't like this book. Ugh.

Share/Like this Review?

I really wanted to like this book because I adore post-apocalyptic fiction and I was so glad I'd found a new title to read, but, OH!, the main characters were so annoying. The author made the main characters too perfect to be believable. Strangers fall at their feet to work for them, they are eager to serve them and call them "boss" and "lady", and everything seems to be working out well for them as the rest of the country dies and suffers mainly because they aren't as clever and good as our characters. Then, we have the Wicca stuff... I found the description of Wiccan ritual to be interesting until it began to feel as if I was reading bits and pieces of a "Wicca for Dummies" book. Do you enjoy reading the same cutesy sayings over and over? I hope so because you'll be seeing the phrase "Blessed Be!" 68,548 times throughout the book.

This author took an interesting premise and then completely ruined it with unrealistic characters that most normal people will end up hating within the first 150 pages. Seriously, I was hoping that the cannibals would eat them.

Share/Like this Review?

Great action, suspense, characterization, and colorful writing. These books are as fine as any others written by Stirling. They could be even better if he would leave off with the ridiculous witches subplot or, in the case of some of his other works (The Draka Series), the exaggerated homosexual subplots. I am all for the diversity of characters which makes them more human but Stirling spends so much time describing Western America's conversion to Wicca that he loses a lot, makes it harder to follow, and should have stuck to the story. I mean, c'mon, gimme a break! Several thousand people are not gonna convert to some polytheistic pagan theology that cannot possibly make up even 1% of the current population based largely on the choices of a group of 20 people or less . . . not in any crisis. Thanx for letting me rant! Otherwise, I thoroughly enjoyed the book.

Share/Like this Review?

very enjoyable read. I enjoyed the SCA slant to it.

Share/Like this Review?

Very good book, compelling enough to have me sign up for the 2nd and 3rd books of the series. The story line is a disturbing/fascinating vision of what would happen if our lives were turned upside down without technology to rely on.

Of Note: This book is focused on the practice of Wicca, I was a little turned off by it but it's not overwhelming enough or condemning of Christianity in general so taken with a grain as part of a story.....

Share/Like this Review?

I really liked this book, though as a previous reviewer I read somewhere said, the characters are little 'too likable' in that everyone wants to follow them and they 'know' exactly what to do.

That said, I enjoyed the story, even while it scared the crap out of me. It was written in a very realistic style for how our world would fall apart should such an event happen. There would probably be people who thrived, people who died right away (or more slowly and terribly) there would be people who would lose what we would call 'civilized humanity' and others who would become purely animalistic as well as cannibalistic.

I found the story (and the future books as well) fun, scary, intriguing and practically 'unputdownable' They do throw in a bit of paranormal 'woo-woo' (lol) with the witch/wicca side that caused me to pause a bit,

but if I could suspend my disbelief for something that knocks out all technology (including gunpowder) in a single instance, it isn't far to suspend that suspension into the fact that other (and more physical) manifestations of 'powers' might grow...thankfully nobody every threw a fireball with their hands or anything.

Stirling kept it very much in the realm of possibility even if not probability and that is what made for a very scary read.

--Aileene

Share/Like this Review?