Dies the Fire

Dies the Fire

S. M. Stirling

     This book is absolutely brilliant. It’s the first of a series set in the Emberverse. While it is a series, the first three books are a few years apart but the author does a good job of re-capping the previous ones. After that, the books follow exactly where the others left off. This book is about various groups of people living in the Washington/Oregon area dealing with the mysterious ending of technology as we know it. Yes, I’m sure everyone has seen the ads for the TV show called “Revolution.” I assure you aside from the technology does not work aspect, it is completely different.

     Dies the Fire follows three and sometimes four groups of people surviving and coping with the sudden loss of technology and rebuilding civilization. It’s a little chaotic and hard to follow at times as it has a large cast of characters and tends to jump back and forth between them especially during action scenes. There is also a heavy religious overtone. There’s several forms of Christianity and more nature-based religions and even a few cults thrown in for good measure. There’s not much more I can say without spoilers but if you are uncomfortable with any kind of spiritual talk other than your own, this may not be the book for you.

     Now that being said, why do I love this book? Mr. Stirling takes several hugely diverse groups of people and sets them to deal with the worst possible circumstances. The story of how they survive is powerful enough, but when you add in the religious tolerance and how they become a community and forge alliances with other forming governments in the area, it becomes a story that is easy to quickly become engrossed in. His characters are so life-like and his scenery so vivid and his solutions so ingenious that I found myself laughing or crying along with characters. It also made me stop and think “what if I was there?” and “what if this really happened?” and “what happens next?” In my opinion, that is the mark of a great book.