Michael Havel was flying over Idaho en route to the holiday home of his passengers when the plane's engines inexplicably died, forcing a less than perfect landing in the wilderness. And, as Michael leads his charges to safety, he begins to realize that the engine failure was not an isolated incident.
Juniper Mackenzie was singing and playing guitar in a pub when her small Oregon town was thrust into darkness. Cars refused to start. Phones were silent. And when an airliner crashed, no sirens sounded and no fire trucks arrived. Now, taking refuge in her family's cabin with her daughter and a growing circle of friends, Juniper is determined to create a farming community to benefit the survivors of this crisis.
But even as people band together to help one another, others are building armies for conquest…
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"I really like the premise of this series - what would you do if suddenly all technological devices - anything that runs on electricity, guns, machines - stopped working? I glaze over all the swordfights, but the characters are well drawn and interesting. Stirling has a fascinating world view!"
— Penny (5 out of 5 stars)
A powerful, convincing adventure with a large cast of ordinary and extraordinary people. Don't miss it.
— Harry Turtledove, New York Times bestselling author" very much a science fiction space opera - only instead of Space this is time travel, one of a series - the only one I have so far read - This series seems to be vaguely connected to another series that begins with "An Island in the Sea of Time" and continues with "Against the Tide of Years". I have read those two and found them interesting. The author merits the read if you like light reading and don't except too much of the plot. "
— Rcw70, 2/15/2014" This book carried me back to Washington state with a lure of regular events and then twisted them with gangs and good witches. Survival without gasoline and lights is a change for the worse. But then I wanted to know what happened to the survivors. "
— Carol, 1/25/2014" Interesting premise, but the author goes on and on about the witch-crafty religion. "
— Eric, 1/21/2014" stooopid "
— Sean, 1/20/2014" A Wiccan/SCA fantasy that doesn't really go anywhere (maybe the rest of the series does..?) "
— Morgan, 1/16/2014" Just read through again, still great "
— Thom, 1/4/2014" This was the start of a run through S.M. Sterling's catalog. Alternative history made addicitve. "
— Stephanie, 11/21/2013" I liked the storyline but was put off by the constant talk of witchcraft. "
— Julie, 10/19/2013" This is a book that keep had me wondering just what I would do if electricity, gunpowder and everything else that requires an explosion to work suddenly didn't work. Any book that makes me think and yes even make plans just in case is a book that will stick with me and will be reread. "
— Shay, 3/3/2013" Strong start, good premise, but it went on a little too long and the ending felt like it was less an ending and more a segue to a sequl. Pretty good though. "
— Ellen, 12/18/2012" A great start to a series that I have already read once. Shame the series really starts to lose steam in the later books. Still, the first few books are worth a read. "
— Dominic, 12/4/2012" end of the world, but not like any other end of the world story. you follow a few different groups all with their own perspectives. very well written. most of the stories are on-line on his site at this point. you can just read the first book, but they are all great, the story really grows. "
— Tc, 11/20/2012" All of a sudden all the electrical motors, watches, airplanes, and a ton of other stuff stops working, leaving the world in a more primitive state. Fascinating to see how people adapt to the change and simply live. "
— Renee, 9/13/2012" Figuring Things Out in the face of suddenly minimal resources is like crack to me, as are Vikings. Loved it, obviously. "
— Chris, 8/29/2012" Very few write alternate history fiction like Mr. Stirling. For me a book that teaches while it entertains; I should have to pay more for it. "
— Leon, 1/3/2012" I love post apocalyptic books, and this one has such a weird edge to it that I love it. A series that I will hate to see an end of. "
— Pete, 12/6/2011" Hyped up too much. "
— Britt, 11/21/2011" Very entertaining. The world-building is good but the plot kind of wanders and the internal timeline is a bit jumbled. "
— Stacie, 5/7/2011" An enjoyable post apocalyptic romp with mysterious science fiction overtones. "
— Jim, 4/12/2011" An adventure as always. Fun read. I learned quite a bit about archery! "
— Leorah, 4/11/2011" Good book. I'd be on to the next book in the series, but for some reason B&N doesn't have it available in e-book format.They have EVERY other book in the series available for nook except #2. "
— Tony, 4/7/2011" I've read lots of post-apocalyptic books, and this is one of the most original and well thought out. The rest of the series grows the societies that were born in Dies the Fire in interesting ways. "
— Jeff, 4/6/2011" This is a great book. I am re-reading it right now. Its an "end of the world as we know it" style book, but very well written and interesting. "
— Selena, 3/28/2011" This book starts off with a bang, and just keeps getting better and more complex. "
— Lafcadio, 3/23/2011S. M. Stirling is the author of science fiction and fantasy fiction, including three stand-alone novels and many novels in eight series, as well as novels in five more series in which he collaborated with Anne McCaffrey, Jerry Pournell, and David Drake, among others.
Todd McLaren, an Earphones Award–winning narrator, was involved in radio for more than twenty years in cities on both coasts, including Philadelphia, San Francisco, and Los Angeles. He left broadcasting for a full-time career in voice acting, where he has been heard on more than five thousand television and radio commercials, as well as television promos; narrations for documentaries on such networks as A&E, Discovery, and the History Channel; and films, including Who Framed Roger Rabbit?