Dies the Fire
Encyclopedia
Dies the Fire is an alternate history, post-apocalyptic
novel by S. M. Stirling
and the first installment of the Emberverse series
. The book is a spin-off
from the Stirling's Nantucket series
. In that series, modern-day Nantucket is thrown back in time to the Bronze Age
. Dies the Fire chronicles the struggle of two groups who try to survive "The Change," a sudden worldwide event that alters physical laws so that electricity
, gunpowder
, and most other forms of high-energy-density technology
no longer work. As a result, modern civilization comes crashing down.
in Idaho
when The Change occurs on March 17, 1998. His passengers are wealthy industrialist Kenneth Larsson, Larsson's wife Mary, and their three teenage children, twins Eric and Signe, and Astrid. When the plane's engine and electronics are knocked out, Mike makes an emergency crash landing. Everyone survives, though Mary is seriously injured.
The party makes its way through rough terrain to a ranger cabin in the woods. Mike and Eric hike out to the highway, and encounter a trio of racist survivalists on horseback who have taken prisoner a black man named Will Hutton and his family. Mike and Eric rescue the family, but the survivalists escape. Mike and Eric pursue them to the cabin where the rest of the Larssons are waiting. By the time Mike and Eric catch up, they have murdered Mary, and are attempting to rape Signe and Astrid. All three survivalists are killed.
The Huttons, who breed and train horses, join Mike's band. The group elects Mike as their leader and decide to head for Larsdalen, the Larsson family estate in the western Willamette Valley
in Oregon. Along the way, Astrid shoots a black bear with her bow, which only provokes it into attacking. It seriously wounds Mike before they manage to kill it. The event gives the group its name: the Bearkillers.
On the journey, the Bearkillers begin recruiting other survivors. The Bearkillers are hired by a group near a Nez Perce Indian Reservation to find and wipe out a nest of cannibals; in accomplishing their mission, they rescue a number of captives. Mike and Signe become attracted to each other, though she keeps him at arms length, still horrified by the memory of her near-rape.
Later, when the group has grown larger, Mike takes two companions to scout the way ahead. In Portland, Mike meets Norman Arminger, leader of the Portland
Protective Association. Arminger, a former professor of medieval history and member of the Society for Creative Anachronism
(SCA), is reinstating feudalism
by recruiting gang members and former SCA members, and driving those he does not want or need out of the city. Arminger offers the Bearkillers positions as Protectorate nobles, but Mike declines.
On the way back, Mike and his men save Juniper Mackenzie and her friends, who are on their own reconnaissance mission. Mike and Juniper are attracted to each other and have sex before the two groups go their separate ways. The encounter leaves Juniper pregnant.
The Bearkillers hire themselves out to a local sheriff
to fight "Duke
Iron Rod", who is raiding the Camas Prairie
region. The Bearkillers trap and wipe out a raiding party, but while they are away, a traitor helps a second group enter and attack the Bearkillers' camp. In the fighting, Ken Larsson loses his left hand and eye, but Mike and his men return in time to rout the attackers and capture Iron Rod for later hanging. The Bearkillers also take part in a raid on a Protectorate castle, which Arminger had constructed to control an important route (I20) over the Cascades.
After the Bearkillers reach Larsdalen, Mike and Signe become engaged.
n priestess. Juniper is performing in a restaurant in Corvallis
when The Change occurs. She, along with her deaf teenage daughter Eilir, and their friend Dennis Martin, try to aid victims of an airliner crash in the city. When a bunch of looters
realize that guns no longer work, they attack a policeman. Dennis and Juniper go to help him. Juniper kills one of the attackers and his companions flee, but one of them, Eddie Liu vows to avenge his dead friend. Liu later becomes one of Arminger's barons.
Juniper, Dennis and Eilir gather supplies, collect Juniper's horses and wagon from a friend's farm, and head for Juniper's cabin in central Oregon. On the way, refugees attack them for their food. Eilir is forced to shoot a woman with her bow; the woman's companions flee, but Juniper and Dennis take pity on the wounded woman and her young son, allowing them to join the group. Some of Juniper's coven
members also make their way separately to Juniper's cabin, after rescuing a dozen school children abandoned on a school bus.
The nascent Clan starts to farm the land. To supplement their food reserves, Juniper and Dennis go hunting. They stumble upon and rescue Sam Aylward, a former member of the elite British Special Air Service
and a superb archer and bowyer
as well. He had been injured after falling into a steep ravine and had become trapped.
Later, Juniper takes a few companions to scout the surrounding area. They arrive in Corvallis, Oregon
, where they discover that the faculty of Oregon State University
has taken over the governing of the town. On their way home, they are ambushed by a group of cannibals, but are saved by Mike and his Bearkillers. A night or two later, she and Mike have sex, conceiving a child.
The Clan has a successful first harvest, but problems elsewhere dampen this happy occasion.
The nearby town of Sutterdown is attacked and occupied by Protectorate troops. Juniper agrees to lead the Clan against the occupiers and drives them out of the town.
Later in the year Sam Aylward is sent to lead a group of Mackenzie archers to aid the Bearkillers' raid against a Protectorate castle. They are successful and even manage to force the surrender of a second castle.
Juniper gives birth to a son, whom she names Rudi in memory of her dead husband. During Rudi's wiccaning
, Juniper is overcome by inspiration which causes her to give him the craft name of Artos and to pronounce a prophecy
declaring him "the Sword of the Lady."
praised the novel saying: "Post-apocalypse novels often veer either too heavily into romantic Robinsonades or nihilistic dead ends. But Stirling has struck the perfect balance between grit and glory." Filippo also complimented Stirling on his characterization and being able to "make all his retro-tech plausible, easily visualizable and interesting." The review on Scifidimensions
called the novel "highly entertaining" and complimented Stirling on being able to make coming up with "novel premises, memorable characters, and hard to put down storytelling." Mel Odom also gave a good review of the novel and said the fact that Mike and Juniper were not perfect heroes made them even more likable as characters. He also was pleased at how Stirling worked in various themes from myths and legends into the story. Kel Munger from the Sacramento News and Review
called the novel the "Best. Apocalyptic. Novel. Ever."
Some reviewers commented on the large amount of research that went into the novel. Thomas M. Wagner of SF Reviews.Net said Dies the Fire is "intelligent, meticulously crafted, but overlong and sometimes pokey end-of-the-world epic." He also complimented Stirling on his research and said he was the one "the government needed to send to New Orleans to singlehandedly feed and rescue hurricane survivors." Though he also found the large amount of the detail to be a bit dragging but stated that it was still a good read for those fans of "character-driven SF and fantasy epics." Wagner though did feel that the novel would have been stronger had Arminger a more prominent role in the novel. Raymond Camden, though he recommended the novel, found that it had too much detail which detracted from the story.
SFReader.com claimed the novel was repetitive and had rather weak story-telling, but complimented it for a good plot-line, astonishing depth of the ideas, and colorful characters. SF Reviews called it a brilliantly done post disaster novel that is more fantasy than science fiction. The review on SF Crowsnest called the opening of the book exciting as the reader followed how Clan Mackenzie and the Bearkillers attempt to survive in the world after the Change, though it judged that the book dragged at the end.
There were negative reviews on the book. Danny Sullivan
called the novel "grating" and "too forced to be that enjoyable." He also found it implausible for the main characters to be so lucky in a disaster on the scale of the Change. Dan Rahmel
described the characters as being unrealistic and said the novel had too many improbabilities.
Apocalyptic and post-apocalyptic fiction
Apocalyptic fiction is a sub-genre of science fiction that is concerned with the end of civilization due to a potentially existential catastrophe such as nuclear warfare, pandemic, extraterrestrial attack, impact event, cybernetic revolt, technological singularity, dysgenics, supernatural...
novel by S. M. Stirling
S. M. Stirling
Stephen Michael Stirling is a French-born Canadian-American science fiction and fantasy author. Stirling is probably best known for his Draka series of alternate history novels and the more recent time travel/alternate history Nantucket series and Emberverse series.-Personal:Stirling was born on...
and the first installment of the Emberverse series
The Emberverse series
Emberverse, or Change World, is a series of post-apocalyptic alternate history novels written by S. M. Stirling. The novels depict the events following "The Change", which caused electricity, guns, explosives, internal combustion engines, and steam power to stop working...
. The book is a spin-off
Spin-off (media)
In media, a spin-off is a radio program, television program, video game, or any narrative work, derived from one or more already existing works, that focuses, in particular, in more detail on one aspect of that original work...
from the Stirling's Nantucket series
Nantucket series
The Nantucket series is a set of alternate history novels written by S. M. Stirling. The novels focus on the island of Nantucket which was transported back in time to 1250 BC due to something called "The Event"...
. In that series, modern-day Nantucket is thrown back in time to the Bronze Age
Bronze Age
The Bronze Age is a period characterized by the use of copper and its alloy bronze as the chief hard materials in the manufacture of some implements and weapons. Chronologically, it stands between the Stone Age and Iron Age...
. Dies the Fire chronicles the struggle of two groups who try to survive "The Change," a sudden worldwide event that alters physical laws so that electricity
Electricity
Electricity is a general term encompassing a variety of phenomena resulting from the presence and flow of electric charge. These include many easily recognizable phenomena, such as lightning, static electricity, and the flow of electrical current in an electrical wire...
, gunpowder
Gunpowder
Gunpowder, also known since in the late 19th century as black powder, was the first chemical explosive and the only one known until the mid 1800s. It is a mixture of sulfur, charcoal, and potassium nitrate - with the sulfur and charcoal acting as fuels, while the saltpeter works as an oxidizer...
, and most other forms of high-energy-density technology
Technology
Technology is the making, usage, and knowledge of tools, machines, techniques, crafts, systems or methods of organization in order to solve a problem or perform a specific function. It can also refer to the collection of such tools, machinery, and procedures. The word technology comes ;...
no longer work. As a result, modern civilization comes crashing down.
The Bearkillers
Mike Havel, a Marine Corps 1991 Iraq War veteran turned bush pilot, is flying over the Bitterroot mountainsBitterroot Range
The Bitterroot Range runs along the border of Montana and Idaho in the northwestern United States. The range spans an area of 62,736 square kilometers and is named after the bitterroot , a small pink flower that is the state flower of Montana.- History :In 1805, the Corps of Discovery,...
in Idaho
Idaho
Idaho is a state in the Rocky Mountain area of the United States. The state's largest city and capital is Boise. Residents are called "Idahoans". Idaho was admitted to the Union on July 3, 1890, as the 43rd state....
when The Change occurs on March 17, 1998. His passengers are wealthy industrialist Kenneth Larsson, Larsson's wife Mary, and their three teenage children, twins Eric and Signe, and Astrid. When the plane's engine and electronics are knocked out, Mike makes an emergency crash landing. Everyone survives, though Mary is seriously injured.
The party makes its way through rough terrain to a ranger cabin in the woods. Mike and Eric hike out to the highway, and encounter a trio of racist survivalists on horseback who have taken prisoner a black man named Will Hutton and his family. Mike and Eric rescue the family, but the survivalists escape. Mike and Eric pursue them to the cabin where the rest of the Larssons are waiting. By the time Mike and Eric catch up, they have murdered Mary, and are attempting to rape Signe and Astrid. All three survivalists are killed.
The Huttons, who breed and train horses, join Mike's band. The group elects Mike as their leader and decide to head for Larsdalen, the Larsson family estate in the western Willamette Valley
Willamette Valley
The Willamette Valley is the most populated region in the state of Oregon of the United States. Located in the state's northwest, the region is surrounded by tall mountain ranges to the east, west and south and the valley's floor is broad, flat and fertile because of Ice Age conditions...
in Oregon. Along the way, Astrid shoots a black bear with her bow, which only provokes it into attacking. It seriously wounds Mike before they manage to kill it. The event gives the group its name: the Bearkillers.
On the journey, the Bearkillers begin recruiting other survivors. The Bearkillers are hired by a group near a Nez Perce Indian Reservation to find and wipe out a nest of cannibals; in accomplishing their mission, they rescue a number of captives. Mike and Signe become attracted to each other, though she keeps him at arms length, still horrified by the memory of her near-rape.
Later, when the group has grown larger, Mike takes two companions to scout the way ahead. In Portland, Mike meets Norman Arminger, leader of the Portland
Portland, Oregon
Portland is a city located in the Pacific Northwest, near the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers in the U.S. state of Oregon. As of the 2010 Census, it had a population of 583,776, making it the 29th most populous city in the United States...
Protective Association. Arminger, a former professor of medieval history and member of the Society for Creative Anachronism
Society for Creative Anachronism
The Society for Creative Anachronism is an international living history group with the aim of studying and recreating mainly Medieval European cultures and their histories before the 17th century...
(SCA), is reinstating feudalism
Feudalism
Feudalism was a set of legal and military customs in medieval Europe that flourished between the 9th and 15th centuries, which, broadly defined, was a system for ordering society around relationships derived from the holding of land in exchange for service or labour.Although derived from the...
by recruiting gang members and former SCA members, and driving those he does not want or need out of the city. Arminger offers the Bearkillers positions as Protectorate nobles, but Mike declines.
On the way back, Mike and his men save Juniper Mackenzie and her friends, who are on their own reconnaissance mission. Mike and Juniper are attracted to each other and have sex before the two groups go their separate ways. The encounter leaves Juniper pregnant.
The Bearkillers hire themselves out to a local sheriff
Sheriff
A sheriff is in principle a legal official with responsibility for a county. In practice, the specific combination of legal, political, and ceremonial duties of a sheriff varies greatly from country to country....
to fight "Duke
Duke
A duke or duchess is a member of the nobility, historically of highest rank below the monarch, and historically controlling a duchy...
Iron Rod", who is raiding the Camas Prairie
Camas prairie
The name camas prairie refers to several distinct geographical areas in the western United States which were named for the native perennial camassia or camas, including regions in the states of Idaho, Montana, Oregon and Washington...
region. The Bearkillers trap and wipe out a raiding party, but while they are away, a traitor helps a second group enter and attack the Bearkillers' camp. In the fighting, Ken Larsson loses his left hand and eye, but Mike and his men return in time to rout the attackers and capture Iron Rod for later hanging. The Bearkillers also take part in a raid on a Protectorate castle, which Arminger had constructed to control an important route (I20) over the Cascades.
After the Bearkillers reach Larsdalen, Mike and Signe become engaged.
Clan Mackenzie
The parallel story of the formation of Clan Mackenzie begins with Juniper Mackenzie, a folksinger and WiccaWicca
Wicca , is a modern Pagan religious movement. Developing in England in the first half of the 20th century, Wicca was popularised in the 1950s and early 1960s by a Wiccan High Priest named Gerald Gardner, who at the time called it the "witch cult" and "witchcraft," and its adherents "the Wica."...
n priestess. Juniper is performing in a restaurant in Corvallis
Corvallis, Oregon
Corvallis is a city located in central western Oregon, United States. It is the county seat of Benton County and the principal city of the Corvallis, Oregon Metropolitan Statistical Area, which encompasses all of Benton County. As of the 2010 United States Census, the population was 54,462....
when The Change occurs. She, along with her deaf teenage daughter Eilir, and their friend Dennis Martin, try to aid victims of an airliner crash in the city. When a bunch of looters
Looting
Looting —also referred to as sacking, plundering, despoiling, despoliation, and pillaging—is the indiscriminate taking of goods by force as part of a military or political victory, or during a catastrophe, such as during war, natural disaster, or rioting...
realize that guns no longer work, they attack a policeman. Dennis and Juniper go to help him. Juniper kills one of the attackers and his companions flee, but one of them, Eddie Liu vows to avenge his dead friend. Liu later becomes one of Arminger's barons.
Juniper, Dennis and Eilir gather supplies, collect Juniper's horses and wagon from a friend's farm, and head for Juniper's cabin in central Oregon. On the way, refugees attack them for their food. Eilir is forced to shoot a woman with her bow; the woman's companions flee, but Juniper and Dennis take pity on the wounded woman and her young son, allowing them to join the group. Some of Juniper's coven
Coven
A coven or covan is a name used to describe a gathering of witches or in some cases vampires. Due to the word's association with witches, a gathering of Wiccans, followers of the witchcraft-based neopagan religion of Wicca, is also described as a coven....
members also make their way separately to Juniper's cabin, after rescuing a dozen school children abandoned on a school bus.
The nascent Clan starts to farm the land. To supplement their food reserves, Juniper and Dennis go hunting. They stumble upon and rescue Sam Aylward, a former member of the elite British Special Air Service
Special Air Service
Special Air Service or SAS is a corps of the British Army constituted on 31 May 1950. They are part of the United Kingdom Special Forces and have served as a model for the special forces of many other countries all over the world...
and a superb archer and bowyer
Bowyer
A bowyer is someone who makes or sells bows. Bows are used for hunting and for archery. The development of gunpowder and muskets slowly led to the replacement of bows as weapons of war which decreased the importance of bowyers. Someone who makes arrows is a fletcher.-History:Historically, a huge...
as well. He had been injured after falling into a steep ravine and had become trapped.
Later, Juniper takes a few companions to scout the surrounding area. They arrive in Corvallis, Oregon
Corvallis, Oregon
Corvallis is a city located in central western Oregon, United States. It is the county seat of Benton County and the principal city of the Corvallis, Oregon Metropolitan Statistical Area, which encompasses all of Benton County. As of the 2010 United States Census, the population was 54,462....
, where they discover that the faculty of Oregon State University
Oregon State University
Oregon State University is a coeducational, public research university located in Corvallis, Oregon, United States. The university offers undergraduate, graduate and doctoral degrees and a multitude of research opportunities. There are more than 200 academic degree programs offered through the...
has taken over the governing of the town. On their way home, they are ambushed by a group of cannibals, but are saved by Mike and his Bearkillers. A night or two later, she and Mike have sex, conceiving a child.
The Clan has a successful first harvest, but problems elsewhere dampen this happy occasion.
The nearby town of Sutterdown is attacked and occupied by Protectorate troops. Juniper agrees to lead the Clan against the occupiers and drives them out of the town.
Later in the year Sam Aylward is sent to lead a group of Mackenzie archers to aid the Bearkillers' raid against a Protectorate castle. They are successful and even manage to force the surrender of a second castle.
Juniper gives birth to a son, whom she names Rudi in memory of her dead husband. During Rudi's wiccaning
Wiccaning
A wiccaning is a Wiccan ceremony or ritual analogous to a christening or baptism for an infant which centers on the presentation of the infant to the God and Goddess for protection.-Application:...
, Juniper is overcome by inspiration which causes her to give him the craft name of Artos and to pronounce a prophecy
Prophecy
Prophecy is a process in which one or more messages that have been communicated to a prophet are then communicated to others. Such messages typically involve divine inspiration, interpretation, or revelation of conditioned events to come as well as testimonies or repeated revelations that the...
declaring him "the Sword of the Lady."
Literary significance and reception
There were many positive reviews on the novel. Fellow science fiction writer Paul Di FilippoPaul Di Filippo
Paul Di Filippo is an American science fiction writer. He has been published in Postscripts...
praised the novel saying: "Post-apocalypse novels often veer either too heavily into romantic Robinsonades or nihilistic dead ends. But Stirling has struck the perfect balance between grit and glory." Filippo also complimented Stirling on his characterization and being able to "make all his retro-tech plausible, easily visualizable and interesting." The review on Scifidimensions
Scifidimensions
SciFiDimensions was an online science fiction magazine published monthly between February 2000 and February 2010, when it went on hiatus. It was edited and published by John C. Snider, a long-time genre fan who lives in Roswell, Georgia. SciFiDimensions included interviews, articles and reviews...
called the novel "highly entertaining" and complimented Stirling on being able to make coming up with "novel premises, memorable characters, and hard to put down storytelling." Mel Odom also gave a good review of the novel and said the fact that Mike and Juniper were not perfect heroes made them even more likable as characters. He also was pleased at how Stirling worked in various themes from myths and legends into the story. Kel Munger from the Sacramento News and Review
Sacramento News and Review
Sacramento News & Review is an alternative weekly newspaper in Sacramento, California. It is one of three papers published by Chico Community Publishing. Noted as the last place of employment of investigative journalist Gary Webb. Webb allegedly committed suicide while working for the...
called the novel the "Best. Apocalyptic. Novel. Ever."
Some reviewers commented on the large amount of research that went into the novel. Thomas M. Wagner of SF Reviews.Net said Dies the Fire is "intelligent, meticulously crafted, but overlong and sometimes pokey end-of-the-world epic." He also complimented Stirling on his research and said he was the one "the government needed to send to New Orleans to singlehandedly feed and rescue hurricane survivors." Though he also found the large amount of the detail to be a bit dragging but stated that it was still a good read for those fans of "character-driven SF and fantasy epics." Wagner though did feel that the novel would have been stronger had Arminger a more prominent role in the novel. Raymond Camden, though he recommended the novel, found that it had too much detail which detracted from the story.
SFReader.com claimed the novel was repetitive and had rather weak story-telling, but complimented it for a good plot-line, astonishing depth of the ideas, and colorful characters. SF Reviews called it a brilliantly done post disaster novel that is more fantasy than science fiction. The review on SF Crowsnest called the opening of the book exciting as the reader followed how Clan Mackenzie and the Bearkillers attempt to survive in the world after the Change, though it judged that the book dragged at the end.
There were negative reviews on the book. Danny Sullivan
Danny Sullivan (technologist)
Danny Sullivan is the editor-in-chief of Search Engine Land, a blog that covers news and information about search engines, and search marketing.Search Engine Land is owned by Third Door Media, of which Danny Sullivan is partner and chief content officer...
called the novel "grating" and "too forced to be that enjoyable." He also found it implausible for the main characters to be so lucky in a disaster on the scale of the Change. Dan Rahmel
Dan Rahmel
Dan Rahmel is an American author best known for his work relating to Visual Basic and database servers. Rahmel first began work as a writer for various magazines including DBMS, American Programmer, and Internet Advisor...
described the characters as being unrealistic and said the novel had too many improbabilities.