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23rd out of 24 books
—
1 voter
The Sunrise Lands (Emberverse #4)
A generation has passed since The Change that rendered technology inoperable around the world, and western Oregon has finally achieved a degree of peace. But a new threat has risen in Paradise Valley, Wyoming. A man known as The Prophet presides over the Church Universal and Triumphant, teaching his followers to continue God's work by destroying the remnants of technologic...more
Hardcover, 464 pages
Published
September 4th 2007
by Roc Hardcover
(first published 2007)
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I loved the idea of a follow up to the Dies the Fire books that centers around the younger generation. Most of the characters were either born after the Change or were very young when it happened, so to them, the post-Change traditions and factions seem normal. But at the same time they have a direct connection to the earlier world in the stories of their parents, even if they don't always understand some of the concepts or references.
The book is about the start of a quest. A stranger has a myst...more
The book is about the start of a quest. A stranger has a myst...more
I like SF/Disaster-type novels. Rebuilding civilization even. Heck, I liked the tv series Jericho.
I don't care for fantasy. This series is rapidly becoming fantasy. I feel kind of cheated. I thought in this part of the series we were going to find out why the Change happened. While it's interesting to see what went on east of Oregon, it's getting more and more like fantasy. While no one seems to have developed magical powers yet and little fairies and elves have not cropped up, I had to just ski...more
I don't care for fantasy. This series is rapidly becoming fantasy. I feel kind of cheated. I thought in this part of the series we were going to find out why the Change happened. While it's interesting to see what went on east of Oregon, it's getting more and more like fantasy. While no one seems to have developed magical powers yet and little fairies and elves have not cropped up, I had to just ski...more
I love the Change Novels, the setting is very interesting to me and Dies the Fire was a great, startling, thought provoking book; and its sequels all lived up to its example while takeing the story in slightly different directions.
However I can't help but feel that Mr. Stirling was reaching for a second series for some reason, and he just didnt pull it off with this book. He steps away from the harsh realities shown in Dies the Fire, and into a more mystical realm here, and it didnt sit well.
Re...more
However I can't help but feel that Mr. Stirling was reaching for a second series for some reason, and he just didnt pull it off with this book. He steps away from the harsh realities shown in Dies the Fire, and into a more mystical realm here, and it didnt sit well.
Re...more
In this book, Stirling fast forwards from Rudi at age 10 to Rudi in his early 20's. A new character from the East, Ingolf shows up--the classic mysterious stranger and Rudi finds out that he must go on a quest. He is supposed to go and find the sword of the lady (King Arthur, anyone?). A major antagonist is introduced, The Church Universal and Triumphant aka CUT (their war cry as well).
The plot distilled is great, and I like the characters especially the supporting characters like Tiphaine (woul...more
The plot distilled is great, and I like the characters especially the supporting characters like Tiphaine (woul...more
** "The Sunrise Lands" (Emberverse #4, but my first) by S.M. Stirling explains enough alternate western/ medieval technology-less future U.S. background to incorporatet earlier "Change" books. But I have divided the star rating for demanding I read a sequel. After major bloody fights, the ending leaves the questers heading east to Nantucket for answers in a big pickle. Ingol gets to Oregon and finds the Clan Mackenzie Chief's successor to be called "The Sword of the Lady" from old prophecy. The...more
S.M. Stirling is an expert at creating worlds. In this book, we are given a glimpse at what the future might be like after “The Change” – a time when all technology has been taken from us, supposedly by aliens. Society has devolved into clans, sects, small democracies, or whatever form of government the locals deem worthy. In this book, we are focused mainly on the Mackenzie clan from Oregon and Rudi, the son of the High Priestess.
The basic plot is a quest. A stranger, Ingolf, from the east arr...more
I was really excited to start on this next chapter of the Emberverse series and it doesn't disappoint! Rudy MacKenzie is finally all grown up and having his own adventures in pursuit of peace. Now that the Protectorate is essentially neutered, a new menace sets in to fill the vaccuum. Enter The Prophet, a faceless entity who rules the downtrodden and helpless by making them his slaves and imposing a bizarre religion with himself as the word of God. As the Prophets army spreads itself like a plag...more
Twenty-two years before this book begins, "The Change" occurred, leaving the world without technology of any sort or the ability to develop it again. In the aftermath, small communities have developed based on disparate ideas - a group in Oregon has embraced Scots/Celtic ideals and religion; another mimics "The Lord of the Rings", down to formation of The Rangers. A former member of the US Army has established the provisional US government in Boise Idaho. The Church Universal and Triumphant, led...more
Fantastic. Anytime that a writer decides to end a trilogy or a series, skip a decade or two and then pick up with the previous character's children you have to wonder if something is going to be lost in the transition. In this case I was really worried because I really liked the older characters and it didn't help that one of my favorites (Mike Havel) died at the end of the last book.
All that aside, this was a great book and I'll definitely continue the series from here as I can happen to find t...more
All that aside, this was a great book and I'll definitely continue the series from here as I can happen to find t...more
We're now 20+ years after "the change" (as the characters name the event in 1999 when the laws of physics changed out of nowhere and prevented electricity and internal combustion) and the first generation of "changlings" has grown up. Rudi, son of Juniper McKenzie finds himself on an unanticipated and not quite desired quest which takes him to parts east, thus letting us see how other parts of the former US have fared. The various societies that have formed and shaken out are fairly believable,...more
The Sunrise Lands is the first book in Stirling's 3rd set of 3 interconnected series. I love the idea behind the sets of series, so I thought I'd jump in. In the "Island in the Sea of Time" trilogy, the island of Nantucket is flung backwards in time to 1250 BC. In the "Dies the Fire" trilogy, Stirling tells what happened to the world left behind: The Change has caused electricity, high gas pressures, and fast combustion (including explosives and gunpowder) to stop working in the rest of the worl...more
Dec 16, 2012
Donald
rated it
2 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
fans of the setting
Shelves:
fantasy,
post-apocalyptic
This book follows the adventures of the children from the first trilogy set after The Change. That's also the reason it took me so long to read this, and why I checked it out from the library, rather than buying it.
The pace of this book feels slower than the previous three, and not in a good way. At times, it felt ponderous and difficult to continue through, especially coming at it straight after the fast-reading books by John Scalzi I was reading previously.
In this book, a man from the eastern...more
The pace of this book feels slower than the previous three, and not in a good way. At times, it felt ponderous and difficult to continue through, especially coming at it straight after the fast-reading books by John Scalzi I was reading previously.
In this book, a man from the eastern...more
I really enjoyed this addition to the series, which is the start of yet another trilogy in the Emberverse. Not only is it kind of awesome seeing all the characters grown up, we start seeing a bit more insight into how the Change happened, and it's all crazy mystical and shit. I really enjoyed reading that clothes like jeans and t-shirts were considered "old-fashioned" and how vague the younger generation is about things like electricity and motors. I also really liked traveling through a wide va...more
This is book one of Stirling's Emberverse Series II. The conceit of the novel is that high-energy technology on Earth no longer functions. Nobody knows why, it just doesn't. So long as you accept that, you're basically okay.
The prose is good. Stirling has a knack for politics and world-building. He's clearly quite enamored of the Pacific Northwest, and of all things medieval. Which is fine as far as it goes, but he does have a bit of a tendency to go full-metal Clancy when describing arms and ar...more
The prose is good. Stirling has a knack for politics and world-building. He's clearly quite enamored of the Pacific Northwest, and of all things medieval. Which is fine as far as it goes, but he does have a bit of a tendency to go full-metal Clancy when describing arms and ar...more
The Sunrise Lands by S. M. Stirling
This book can be considered a sequel to Meeting at Corvallis or the beginning of a new Change trilogy. Whatever the category, the book is excellent. Set in a post Apocalyptic world where technology has been truncated by some unknown source. This story focuses on the children of the initial survivors featured in the Dies the Fire, the first three books. The kids or young adults are on a quest demanded by the powers speaking through Juniper who is the Chief of th...more
This book can be considered a sequel to Meeting at Corvallis or the beginning of a new Change trilogy. Whatever the category, the book is excellent. Set in a post Apocalyptic world where technology has been truncated by some unknown source. This story focuses on the children of the initial survivors featured in the Dies the Fire, the first three books. The kids or young adults are on a quest demanded by the powers speaking through Juniper who is the Chief of th...more
Stirling is so hit or miss I had forgotten how much I loved the Dies The Fire series. I picked this one up, and, oh yeah, remembered. Now, I love my post-apocalyptic books, but this is The Next Generation. Stirling's description of the varied cultures that have arisen since the Change are vivid and engrossing, even when they're not nearly as much fun as the MacKenzies or the Dunedain.
Minor complaints: I *cannot* believe that they have enough extra time to fight each other as much as they do - I...more
Minor complaints: I *cannot* believe that they have enough extra time to fight each other as much as they do - I...more
This book was good, but not a page-turner. Unfortunately, it's the first book of a trilogy, and the trilogy is an extension of another trilogy! I was able to follow the story without having read the first trilogy, but of course, the ending left me hanging. I'm just not sure if I care to read the rest of it or not!
It does fascinate me that a lot of the apocalyptic fantasy novels are based on some type of event where all technology just quits one day. There apparently was a painful flash of some t...more
It does fascinate me that a lot of the apocalyptic fantasy novels are based on some type of event where all technology just quits one day. There apparently was a painful flash of some t...more
I very much enjoyed the "Dies the Fire"series and this picks up 15 or so years later in the next generation. He has developed some very interesting cultures out of the fragments of what is left of america. I wish more had happened in the book it felt more like an introduction with limited action. I'm not at all disappointed because it was good character development and cultural development.
It makes me very curious to get to the next book. It is interesting how the supernatural and mythological...more
It makes me very curious to get to the next book. It is interesting how the supernatural and mythological...more
I seem to have started in the middle of this series by accident, though I liked the novel well-enough anyhow. Apparently it is one of many set in a semi-post-apocalyptic world where technology has been mysteriously and oddly curtailed. I enjoyed this story, which seems to be the beginning of a multi-book quest tale, and the world in which is was set. I'd have given it another star except that it felt like a late novel in a series of novels that had already seen the peak of creativity. I managed...more
Taking place 22 years after the original Change, the story continues as the new generation lives in the new old world. It's as engaging as the original trilogy, but a bit darker, due to a phenomena that occurred on Nantucket and appears to have deep implications for the lives of several of the new regional leaders. From what appears to be the source of the change, certain characters are given dreams while others are called to it. It's not the simple struggle of man vs. man that we saw before. An...more
Disappointed. It doesn't end - to find out what happens one, presumably needs to read the subsequent 3,4,5,6, however many sequels and I just can't be bothered.
Its just a complete mish-mash. The evil prophet and his equally wicked followers (the Cutters) - the clean cut invincible all American hero (who just happens to wear a kilt and has a mother who is a witch and has been sent on a crazy quest) - cowboys wearing armour - add some crackpots who think they are elves from the Lord of the Rings a...more
Its just a complete mish-mash. The evil prophet and his equally wicked followers (the Cutters) - the clean cut invincible all American hero (who just happens to wear a kilt and has a mother who is a witch and has been sent on a crazy quest) - cowboys wearing armour - add some crackpots who think they are elves from the Lord of the Rings a...more
Okay, first and foremost, WHY keep going with the 1through 9 even though Emberverse 1 through 3 is it’s own thing and 4→to-be-determined is another? Emberverse series, then just name it a freakin’ “Change” series. Muh, I’m done now.
See I was fortunate that I didn’t have to wait a year in-between each book. I was able to read them all, well I’m almost through them all at once, with book 9 coming out days ago. I really didn’t have to wait. SO with that in mind I think you really have to love thes...more
See I was fortunate that I didn’t have to wait a year in-between each book. I was able to read them all, well I’m almost through them all at once, with book 9 coming out days ago. I really didn’t have to wait. SO with that in mind I think you really have to love thes...more
I am totally addicted to this story, so I enjoyed reading this, but it was some of Stirling's sloppiest writing work yet. Everything about the Dies the Fire trilogy that was annoying (writing style wise) was all over the place here. For example, there was a whole lot of skipping over important scenes entirely (we watch the characters prepare and then suddenly they are talking about how it is over). As the characters are traveling cross country, however, you get a glimpse of what is going on in t...more
Mar 11, 2009
Chris
rated it
4 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
fantasy,
alternate-history
I like the Change Series by this author. This book picks up a second series 15-20 years after the first three.
It is pretty solid and interesting; I would have given it 3 1/2 stars if I could have. The one major problem I have with it if the fantasy element of what is mostly a post-apocalyptic / alternate-history world is increasing.
As always, SM Stirling is very strong and detailed with the details of the extrapolated technology, combat, and societies. If you aren't interested in his level of de...more
It is pretty solid and interesting; I would have given it 3 1/2 stars if I could have. The one major problem I have with it if the fantasy element of what is mostly a post-apocalyptic / alternate-history world is increasing.
As always, SM Stirling is very strong and detailed with the details of the extrapolated technology, combat, and societies. If you aren't interested in his level of de...more
This second trilogy follows the younger generation, the changelings, as they proceed to master their world. Rudy MacKenzie has been given a quest and he and eight others head to the east to fufill it.
The changelings have an entirely different view of the world then their elders and one that I have enjoyed listening too. The God/desses are much more active in book giving a slightly different flavor than the previous books though major players from the earlier are also present for a sense of conti...more
The changelings have an entirely different view of the world then their elders and one that I have enjoyed listening too. The God/desses are much more active in book giving a slightly different flavor than the previous books though major players from the earlier are also present for a sense of conti...more
I really wanted to like this book/series as "Dies the Fire" is one of my top favorites and I had been looking forward to the story about the next generation.
Liked the first part of the book very well, but kept going 'downhill' for me. Too many people, too many violent battles with too many 'bad guys' and too many political plots.
Then it ended with one of my 'pet peeves' ... a cliffhanger ending. I'd like to know how this ends but not enough to read through 5 more in the series and I don't think...more
Liked the first part of the book very well, but kept going 'downhill' for me. Too many people, too many violent battles with too many 'bad guys' and too many political plots.
Then it ended with one of my 'pet peeves' ... a cliffhanger ending. I'd like to know how this ends but not enough to read through 5 more in the series and I don't think...more
This book is the beginning of a new story arc set in the same world as the first three books of the Emberverse but the main characters are the children of the ones in the first story arc. It starts out 12 years later and we quickly find out that Rudi Mackenzie, Mathilda, Mary, and Ritva are all going to take center stage with a couple of new characters and a scary new group as villans. This story is going to let Stirling explore more of the country and is set up as a quest early on. The action i...more
It's been 22 year since The Change that set civilization back hundreds of years and life has fallen into a steady rhythm the Willamette Valley in what was once Oregon That is about to change when a stranger from the East arrives and tells them of what's been going on in the rest of the former United States.
There are strange events taking place on Nantucket Island, long though to be the source of everything that's happened. Added to the mix is a brewing war between The United States of Boise and...more
There are strange events taking place on Nantucket Island, long though to be the source of everything that's happened. Added to the mix is a brewing war between The United States of Boise and...more
My biggest complaint about this book is the same one I've had about every book in this series after Dies the Fire: it's not as good as the 1st book. However, Dies the Fire is in my list of top 10 favorite books, so not living up to it isn't quite a surprise.
S.M. Stirling develops a cast of well-developed and interesting characters who are going on a (long, drawn-out and possibly pointlessly sci-fi) adventure across the continental U.S. on foot after the fall of civilization as we know it. The S...more
S.M. Stirling develops a cast of well-developed and interesting characters who are going on a (long, drawn-out and possibly pointlessly sci-fi) adventure across the continental U.S. on foot after the fall of civilization as we know it. The S...more
I thoroughly enjoyed this continuing saga of the human race after the great "Change". Stirling does a fine job of transitioning the focus of the novel from the old generation who had lived through the tumultuous times immediately following the Change to the younger generation who have never known things like electricity and gunpowder. He continues to explore other nations that were established after the Change in the old USA.
His descriptions of combats, battles and weapons are interesting althou...more
His descriptions of combats, battles and weapons are interesting althou...more
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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.
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“But then they were males, and therefore idiots about some things.”
—
3 people liked it
“Likes to fight, does he?" Sandra said thoughtfully.
"Oh, yeah. He says there are only two reasons to fight."
"Which are?"
"Joy and death."
Her mother's brows went up. "Joy in death?"
"No, no... For joy, to stretch yourself with a friend; or death, to kill as quickly as you can. Nothing in between.”
—
3 people liked it
More quotes…
"Oh, yeah. He says there are only two reasons to fight."
"Which are?"
"Joy and death."
Her mother's brows went up. "Joy in death?"
"No, no... For joy, to stretch yourself with a friend; or death, to kill as quickly as you can. Nothing in between.”
