Microreview: Dies the Fire

[Diggler]

I am terrible at writing commentary or reviews for pretty much everything. So I thought I'd just do a quick ramble about this book I just finished.

Dies the Fire by S.M. Stirling is the first in his Emberverse series. The novel starts just before some unknown event causes all electrical items, gunpowder and most machinery to just stop altogether. Mass hysteria erupts and there is mass exodus from all major cities as people flee the death, carnage and starvation. The book follows Juniper McKenzie, a latter day Witch, and her clan. And Mike Havel, a pilot and former Marine.

The "Change", as it is described in the book, has forced people to revert to medieval style living, and also medieval style fighting as well. The book, while PA in genre plays out like a medieval fantasy. There are many references to Lord of The Rings, The Wiccan faith, medieval armory and the such.

While I enjoyed the book, I found there to be many boring lulls throughout and the whole fantasy thing really grated on me.

Overall I give it a 3.5/5