I’m doing these two books together because I read them back to back and it really just seemed like one long book for me. The Protector’s War is the sequel to Dies the Fire, and takes place about nine years after the events of the first book.
I still enjoy the concept of these books–an Earth with no electricity, no gunpowder, no internal combustion engines, and, it turns out, not steam power either. The characters–and consequently the readers–are no closer to figuring out what happened apart from a half-joking Theory of Alien Space Bats. Still, fun concept even if it does stretch the limits of credulity.
I really liked Dies the Fire. Well written, great characters, fast plot. I was really looking forward to The Protector’s War, but as I read it, I started to feel more and more disappointed. The first thing I took issue with was the whiplash-inducing time changes. One the one hand, it was great to see what was happening in other parts of the world, and Stirling did mark the changes well, but it kept throwing me out of the narrative to have to keep readjusting to another time. Maybe it was just me, but it distracted me. Also, the narrative the was behind in time got pushed forward to catch up and I was disappointed to miss what would have been really interesting material. The characters in the behind plot were doing a kind of survey of the post-electric world. That could have been a whole book in itself–a really fun book.
Problem number 2: the title. The title of The Protector’s War lead me–and I doubt I’m the only one–to think that this book would detail a war between the two factions that have set up shop in Oregon. But there was no war. There was skirmishing and some guerilla action and a very important kidnapping, but there was no official, declared war. This book is really a prelude to war. I kept waiting for it to happen, but nothing. The end of the book makes me think that the war is going to happen in the next book, if Stirling writes it.
So, in the final analysis, I am torn about how I feel abotu the series as a whole. Great concept, great character…but things haven’t be executed as well as I think they could have been. But this book still gets major bonus points for making me think about it when I’m not reading it.