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  • Dies the Fire

  • A Novel of the Change
  • By: S. M. Stirling
  • Narrated by: Todd McLaren
  • Length: 22 hrs and 5 mins
  • 4.0 out of 5 stars (91 ratings)
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Dies the Fire cover art

Dies the Fire

By: S. M. Stirling
Narrated by: Todd McLaren
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Summary

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.

©2004 Stirling (P)2008 Tantor

Critic reviews

"The novel's dual themes - myth and technology -should appeal to both fantasy and hard SF readers as well as to techno-thriller fans." ( Publishers Weekly)

What listeners say about Dies the Fire

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars

Good but jumpy

I enjoyed the story and the narrator is very good however there are quiet a few times that it suddenly jumps forward or to another part of the story line with no particular pause or change of chapter. I'm not sure if it is the way it is written or the way it has been edited but for a few moments you are left wondering what has happened. Apart for that it was very good and if it hadn't been for that I would have given it 5 stars.

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2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

Narration....

Narration is ok but the accents are terrible. I'm Irish. That Irish accent and turn of phrase is shocking, even though it is supposed to be an exaggerated one. It is also the same accent as the Vietnamese character's😂. The narrator reads the bizarre version of Irish/ gealic penned by the author but never researched how to say any of the words. Not such a big deal as it was non-sensical to me as a native speaker.

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    1 out of 5 stars
  • CM
  • 03-04-15

Dreadful

Self-indulgent fantasy for middle-aged male Renaissance Faire enthusiasts who enjoy dabbling in racism and misogyny. None of the characters were believable--not one. There is too much luck bestowed upon the protagonists for it to be even marginally believable. Need to make some bows? Oh, how convenient. Here's a random person who knows how to do so, and he wants to join up with you!

Sometimes, a bad book can be made less painful for me with a good narrator. This one was horrible. Not only did he butcher every accent he attempted, he didn't even pronounce several place names in Oregon correctly. "Corvallis" was repeated again and again, and every time he said it wrong. Not content with butchering place names on one continent, he also made me cringe with his attempt at saying "Edinburgh."

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Gripping

Didn’t want to stop listening very engaging story looking forward to the rest of the series

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  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    1 out of 5 stars

Oh dear…

Terrible accents, misogyny, ‘prepper’ new age witches and a narrator who can’t pronounce ‘rations’ - this is a truly awful book.

I listened for a couple of hours to see if it would improve- it didn’t.

I am at a loss to explain the good reviews- avoid!

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Interesting premise Shows good and bad in people

Shows how different educated people can solve problems and think ahead against little or well organised despots Severe savagery is pre elect for those who glorify in it to necessity to survive

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

An excellent alternative apocalypse fiction.

I thought this was a really clever idea for a different kind of apocalypse story. The survival elements are entertaining,
fit the story and are carried out by someone who I can believe would have that knowledge. All the characters are interesting and the story starts strong and gets stronger. It was also well read with the characters consistently voiced. It was read well enough that I can forgive the pronouncing of the hard A in the word “rations” unless I’m the one who’s been saying it wrong.

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

Interesting premise

Overpowered protagonists, and at times insufferable especially Juniper. Besides that an interesting premise. In theory it's the kind of post apocalypse I enjoy (no zombies etc) but the lead characters were just too much.

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  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    1 out of 5 stars

Feeble

Drivel, written by somebody far more obsessed with his survivalist knowledge than by the quality of his writing. Terrible dialogue, ridiculous two-dimensional characters and far too much description (excessive use of adjectives is the ultimate crime against good writing). A perfect example of all the worst tropes of post-apocalyptic fiction and definitely one for people who hate literature. The narration is suitably bad as well.. asides delivered in a daft breathy voice and a general lack of gravitas. Even taking into account the differences of American and British pronunciation, this man really struggles with some words. By the way, the Audible text differs considerably from the Penguin edition I bought, so if you are planning to listen and read a hard copy, you might find it not worth the effort.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Great alternative to Zombies

A ripping yarn of new gone old. Enjoying it immensely and looking for more.

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