Lord of Mountains (Emberverse Book 9)

This one seems to come across as "filler", it details some key events but they really didn't require a full book to cover them, in my opinion. The real "meat" remains to come. The book needed to either justify itself better or just be shortened massively and subsumed into the next book.

While it wraps the series up, it seems something got skipped over between Rudi and party getting to Nantucket and back, POOF Montival is a Kingdom, not much on how THAT happened. And far too much of the songs and such. They get a bit boring.

The "Change" novels (as opposed to the "Islands" novels) have always been a little questionable to me. At times, they are incredibly enjoyable (the first couple especially), but the last few haven't impressed me as much. The impending building of a sense of magic hasn't really sat well with me. It's an interesting transition from science fiction (with a funky premise) to ever more high fantasy. I've seen books go the other way, but never really this direction. It just hasn't worked for me.

With that said, the writing in Lord of Mountains continues to be very tight and on point (as all of Stirling's work), but I just didn't get the goal of the story in this one. We start right in the middle of the great battle, but there isn't really a sense of concern. There's not the slightest bit of worry here that Rudi and his team (basically every culture we've seen in the course of this series except three) might lose. There's no tension and a lack of tension means a lack of drama.

This book almost felt like an epilogue or coda, rather than a complete story. The climax of the great battle occurs and then things start wrapping up and I had to look at the page count. I couldn't believe we were on the downhill slope of the story. The book hadn't felt like it had gotten a plot going.

I wonder if the last book was too long and this is where they decided to chop it? Because Lord of Mountains really didn't feel like a stand-alone book to me. It felt like wrapping up loose ends to the series without a real plot in place.

We met several new characters in the book, and yet, nothing is done with them! Two young squires are developed as characters, but they don't have any kind of actual arc. We meet them. They bond. They have a small adventure, and then they provide some color commentary on the big battle.

Stirling himself even comments in this book about the difficulty of writing the book. One of the characters thinks, "She tried to imagine an epic about being High King rather than becoming High King...You'd have to concentrate on his companions or something. And skip a lot of the meetings and reports."

I think Stirling discovered that the end of the story of Rudi and his band just wasn't that interesting, but he had to put out something. This is that something and I wasn't impressed.

I'm sure that anyone who's been reading the series is going to get this book anyways, but if you are on the fence, then don't really bother. You aren't missing much.

Another in the continuing saga. It has stretched out so long that I begin to hope the next one is the last one. The writing is great, the political and physical battles are well written and a good read. But I am getting older to the point that I hope I live to see the end of many of the sci-fi, fantasy, and adventure series I am following. Please Mr. Stirling - write faster.

I was excited to download the latest installment of the Change saga. As I read I could not escape the feeling that this was not up to Stirling's usual standards. The book was more summary and overview than his usual compelling narrative. I hope that he returns to form in the next novel - or if he is burned out on this topic he should move to another. I will wait to read the reviews before buying the next novel in this series.

I love the change series however the last few books have slowed down quite a bit, not sure why but the characters don't seem as personable either, still a great book just liked the early books better.

Very disappointed, for one thing it is very short and as has been already said contained previously used scenes and exact phrases. I enjoyed all the others in the series, although the battle scenes can become tedious.

"Lord of Mountains" was a boring read. I decided to give it a chance, even though Stirling's last book, "The Tears of the Sun" was also boring. I enjoyed the first few books in the series because they had a decent amount of action. The last two stories consisted of lots of descriptions of the scenery, what people were wearing, and lots of dialogue.This was a real snoozefest. I will not be purchasing any more books in this series.

At this stage of his Change series, it seems like Stirling is running out of new ideas for this series. There is only so much of interest that can be written about Wicca, post Change Catholic Church, the new feudalism, etc. without getting repetitive and somewhat boring. I was willing to give this book three stars, but I doubt that I will bother with the next one in the series.

When you love the premise and the characterizations of the "Change" saga as much as I do, It's hard to be critical. Ultimately, the Lord of Mountains appears to be an interim. That is, there is better and more to come from S. M. Stirling. What I anticipated as an apocolyptic battle with the evil CUT, left me feeling a bit bewildered.

I'm still sticking with S.M. Even if I'm a bit let down. This series is more than worth the price of admission!

At this stage of his Change series, it seems like Stirling is running out of new ideas for this series. There is only so much of interest that can be written about Wicca, post Change Catholic Church, the new feudalism, etc. without getting repetitive and somewhat boring. I was willing to give this book three stars, but I doubt that I will bother with the next one in the series.

When you love the premise and the characterizations of the "Change" saga as much as I do, It's hard to be critical. Ultimately, the Lord of Mountains appears to be an interim. That is, there is better and more to come from S. M. Stirling. What I anticipated as an apocolyptic battle with the evil CUT, left me feeling a bit bewildered.

I'm still sticking with S.M. Even if I'm a bit let down. This series is more than worth the price of admission!

I have enjoyed the entire "Change" series (both timelines) immensely and look forward to each new installment. The newest book tracks right along with the rest of the series. The characters are well-developed and easy to identify with. The storyline is complex and entertaining; very well written. The original concept is far-fetched but then most sci-fi is! Well worth reading, but do start at the beginning so you can develop the characters as you progress. One of the best series out there.

This novel is a very fast, enjoyable read. The story arc was better than the previous novel, as there is none of the frequent backstory installments. The story revolves around the great battle of the Horse Heaven Hills, the largest single conflict since the Change. Artos and his forces prevail. Good drama and very good character development. It was especially gratifying to see how the United States of Boise was handled. A few days after the battle Rudy and Mathilda went on what is best described as a vision quest, in which they saw aspects of past, present and future. Mathilda meeting her mother at a pre-Change SCA gathering was most entertaining. Also there is a very realistic scene of Rudy having to deal with all these various political types.

My biggest disappointment was that, unlike earlier installments, there were no chapters dealing with the Prophet Sethaz. He was mentioned at having been at this battle and that was it.

I enjoy Stirling's work and I look forward to the next installment of this story.

This is the latest installment in this really excellent series of books by S.M.Stirling. The writing is superb and Mr Stirling has become his most lyrical yet in this work. His characters have depth, interest and are exceedingly well drawn. This is a story that began a generation ago in post change America when the intersession of a very powerful something stole the fire of high energy physics from our planet and plunged society back into a pre-industrial existence. The Power and Command and Magic learned and gained in the previous books passes from equally well drawn mothers and fathers to their children who are fighting against a Demonic enemy in post change America. The battle is fought on many levels and the intervention of the old Gods in Male and Female form is making itself known in the lives of the Heroes and Heroines. As the story's Wiccan Cultist's say "As above, so below". A Kingdom is founded and the High King learns what it means to be One with the Land. Of course, a magic sword is a really good thing to have. One must ask if magic is come again into the affairs of men and women who are the children and grand children of our 21st century society what else can come to pass? It is an intresting look at the power of concepts like Honor and Duty. I look forward to the continuation of this thought provoking series.

Don't understand all the negative reviews; this book follows Stirling's unique writing & is well read. So what if a few characters didn't get enough coverage; there's at least 3 more books in the Change series. The in-depth descriptions of events are necessary & will tie in with the earlier novels as characters. Can only wait to see (please, hurry!).

The next Emberverse book finally gets us to the battle we have been building towards. The battle is the core of the novel and well worth waiting for. Operational detail, tactical snippets, star scenes for our favorite characters, even a pair of very well done death scenes [no spoilers, read the book]. However what makes the series so wonderful is the world the author builds. The vignette of the two squires and the farm girls gives a view of a high fantasy universe that is seldom seen. The entire Emberverse is a wonderful brew of high medieval, 19th century frontier Anglosphere and some very modern concepts of staff work and state craft. Even more fun for the reader is the Changelings-eye-view of the world we live in. This is also the book where the magical and mystical come fully into their own. Add in the usual Stirling travel description and food porn plus the layering of ground work for future books [the world goes on and the players will plot for advantage and power]. The pity is the system does not allow a sixth star.

Approaching this novel, I was worried that this novel was going to be like going to church. "I've read the previous ten books in the series, I'm d*mn well going to read the last three." I'd say Stirling avoided that feeling this time. It had good energy and made significant progress on the ASBs. It also seemed a reward to the curt way the last one ended. But I'm sensing that Stirling is having trouble determining the endings in this series, to keep it in line with whatever schedule he's got. This one too felt 'Gump-ian.' "That's all I'm gonna say about that."

I picked up the story @ Nantucket with a cheap copy of high king from Biglot. I like the explanations that obviously there for my benefit.
No heavy message in a well crafted story that blends scifi with heroic fantasy.

If I thought I was disappointed be the previous novel, my thoughts have now been reversed. At least in Tears of The Sun, the plot line made sense. In this book, the climax happens at the very beginning (and goes on, and on, and on, ad nauseum). So by the time you finish the "great mutherin' battle", you are both exhausted and left wondering what could be left? While I agree that this book is very well-written, it's structure leaves much to be desired. I felt that the "Kingmaking" would've been the perfect ending to the book (the suspense, and all), the last few chapters seemed tacked on as if the publishers realized the book needed to be longer in order to be considered a novel instead of a novella.

Honestly, if I wasn't already so invested in this series, I'd abandon the whole effort.

This book fills in what happened in the kingdom while our hero was away. As usual well written and absorbing. S. M. Sterling's series on the CHANGE is a great read. Get the series and then look for what happened on the other side - ISLAND in the SEA OF TIME series. HIGHLY recommended series!!!!!

Being from the Northwest and living so close to the areas that he talks about for me has made this series very enjoyable. Sometimes I want it to end but then other times I want it to go on. I really enjoy reading SM, he does what (for me) every writer wants to achieve, takes you to another time and place, with rich 3 dimensional characters and lots of indepth action and adventure.

Sterling is a master at conveying the visceral quality of a battle or the exquisite motion of a characters garb. The need for this level of description on every page with every character makes many pages a slog. Overall I like Mr. Sterlings story telling and look forward to his final (?) book in this series.

This particular book reminds me of the "Left Behind" series. Lots of fluff, but not much meat on the bone.
Way too much descriptive, no real storyline or plot here. Maybe he was getting tired. I used to love this series, maybe time to put it to bed!

This is pretty obviously written simply to make a buck. Author spent most of the book, describing outfits and places that anyone following the series should already have been familiar with. Ant new fans, should have been completely put off by the .... complete lack of ... interesting.

What a fabulous series! I enjoyed everything from the detailed descriptions of the battles to the personal experiences shared by Juniper, Rudi, and their neighbors. This was a series I'll read time and again.

Stirling is welcome to his pre-occupation/fixation/fetishes regarding Medieval dress/manners/coats of arms & some screwy paganism chanting/singing. This whole story arc has degenerated into how many books can he write about nothing and still make money.
A tight trilogy like the previous two change stories would've worked. Here we are at number five in this arc and the first 100 pages consist mostly of fashion/dancing/pagan chanting and characters emotionally remembering scenes from previous books. Bleh! Meh!

I enjoyed this but thought the ending was just chopped off. Obviously it was setup for the next book in the series but it didn't seem to be a natural stopping point. If you've read all the books in the series to date it's probably a must read. That being said I almost wish I had waited until the next book is out and bought both at the same time.

I've completed my kindle edition of "Lord Of Mountains...A Book Of the Change" and just purchased a hardcover edition for my daughter for Christmas. Excellent read! This is some 25 years past the events in the first book, "Dies The Fire."

I was anxiously looking forward to this novel, but was generally underwhelmed. While there is a lot of action (one large battle), there seems to be very little occurring other than a lot of characters thinking and reminiscing to themselves. The novel seemed like a short story with lots and lots of filler.

This latest book of The Change seemed very similar to what I enjoyed from the early books in this series; great battle scenes and characters fleshed out to see what really motivates them and their relationships with the people in their lives. I never really felt connected to the mystical aspects of the story, but this one brought me the closest. I'll be very disappointed if this is the last of this series. I recommend this series any time literature comes up in conversation. Love it!!

Lord of Mountains is a book about the Changlings -- the people who aren't old enough to remember a world in which there was electricity, gunpowder and internal combustion. The characters we've "grown up with" are largely absent or play secondary roles. It's a good progression. Stirling handles the transition smoothly. An old warrior is wounded and taken from the battlefield to heal but probably to never fight again. Two who are younger die as well: buy and read to get the names! The High Kingdom of Montival fights the not-quite-final battle against the Church Universal and Triumphant. Rudy and his bride Mathilda have stunning mystical experiences. The last chapter contains a conversation about a condition that many probably think originated in the twentieth century. Finishing the tale brings yearning; I want more and have to wait a year.

Excellent, Stirling continues to dazzle and amaze his readers with this latest installmenet of Dies the Fire series - a novel of the change. Rudi is a as great as ever and the book keeps you turning the pages.

It is a continuation of the change series, finally the battle with the CUT. Well written like the others in the series, a couple of shockers that I never thought about. If you like the series you need to read this one. I just finished it today.

Good episode in the saga. Author too distanced from battle scene. Great supernatural communication scene. Fine bridge to final episode. Story must end with next episode before it and I die of old age. I purchased the book through the store.

This was a continuation of the series - nothing more, nothing less. If someone was to pick this up 'cold', they would think it wasn't a very good stand-alone novel. For someone who's been (eagerly in my case) reading the series, it was a good read. Chief complaint - way too short in length. I typically expect more content from one of Mr. Stirling's novels.

I have enjoyed reading every word of the Change Series from the Nantucket episodes through Lord of the Mountains. The descriptions of flora and fauna, as well as the sumptuous feasts described, paint very real visual images...its almost like watching a movie as we follow the characters through their fascinating travels and exploits. Please encourage S.M. Stirling to write more
about Rudi and Mathilda, et.al. as they continue their lives' journeys through time, real or envisioned!.Thank you.
M. V.

Spoiler alert!!!!

I am really enjoying the series but why is that in the chapter "A time out of time" that Rudi could not have seen Mike Havel? I would have loved seeing him in the books for a cameo.

The books rock, waiting for the next one coming out in September!

Particularly for those of us who live in the Western United States, the S.M. Stirling saga of the Change and what happens after it is not only fascinating but also somewhat personal. We can relate to both the geography and the story. Being a fan of Edwardian England and a Scotsman to boot, I can also identify with the feudal society and the clans. It is all quite enjoyable, intense and intriguing. I am about 50% through the book now (having read all the others), and looking forward tremendously, and with some trepidation, to what happens next. I thoroughly recommend it!

Ok, here's the thing: the world pretty much ended in the first book of this series. By odd coincidence, different groups of survivors clustered together and formed ersatz cultures based on remembered and mythologized history and custom with one exception, the CUT. The CUT is the demon wild card let loose on the world. So, we have 'the good' (for the most part) vs the 'really bad', and the really bad, the CUT, is hell bent on domination. It cannot tolerate any but its own. So the Mostly Good have no choice but to resist the Really Bad. They have seen what happens to those the CUT overcome, and no one wants any part of that. The process of societal formation, of protracted war and all that attends these phenomena takes time. Stirling prizes internal logic and consistency. He isn't going to be rushed any more that his publishing schedule and editor require. Wars are seldom won in a single battle and the CUT is a formidable adversary. A protracted struggle is just that--protracted.

If you want a sustained, well thought out, highly entertaining story of what-could-be, this is your series and Lord of the Mountains is yet another outstanding installment. If you want a story that wraps everything up in a trilogy, this may not be your cup of tea. If you are wondering if this is ever going to end, the answer is 'YES', in the next book. Go to Stirling's website (smstirling.com) and you'll see that this series ends with a finale called The Given Sacrifice. Stirling has also announced a new trilogy in this universe, set twenty years after the conclusion of the Montival series. My only complaint about Steve Stirling is that too much time passes between books.