The Tears of the Sun (Emberverse Book 8)

I thoroughly enjoy reading Stirling and, for the most part, he is a favorite author. Tears of the Sun, however, is an awkward placeholder that spins and spins, but to no resolution. Instead, it merely sets up the next book to come.

This is a trend too often repeated and it seems that a fair number of authors have forgotten that a good tale has a beginning, a middle and an END! Unfortunately, Stirling has joined those ranks with this book and I'm genuinely sorry to see it. Am I up for two more books in this series each spaced a year apart? Hmmmmm......not sure about that.

I have really enjoyed this series, but found this volume very unfocused. The flash backs really made things hard to follow and did not move the series very much at all. I hope the next installment is worth the wait.

At the end of the last book, Montival prepares for the final battle. Now at the end of this installment, Montival really, really prepares for that final battle, really soon! In between are many pages of flashbacks - some interesting but most not so much if you've been reading the series - and the plot advances by mere inches. Wish I'd waited for this to be paperback priced.

I have read this book 4 times, already. It continues the complex texture of character development and action. At first I was hesitant, but after re-reading it, I appreciated the astonishing development of a former Back Story character and villain. I also got much more of a flavor of the Portland Protective Association and the development of the Art of Chivalry. This tale weaves the basis for the new uber-kingdom of Montival, and does so with delicious detail and some wonderment. The bad guys are BAD and the good guys are Good. I have enjoyed each and every book since Dies the Fire and I am looking forward to the next two in the series. With so many threads and characters, I am delighted that the author will be taking the time to resolve the many story lines.

Whether or not you love this book depends on what you want and what you're looking for. If you want non-stop action, blood and gore this isn't the book for you. In fact this isn't the series for you. Go read the Draka series ( or reread it )! Or buy a comic book ( sorry graphic novel to be politically correct ). If you want to have a solidly constructed, completely envisioned world to experience with all your senses with action, adventure, science and fantasy mixed in roughly equal parts, you want this book.
All of the above being said, this book and much of the later parts of the Change series could stand pruning by a competent editor. It is wordy, repetitive and needs focus in many places. But, with the state of the publishing being what it is, publishers can't afford competent editors. Their margins are too thin. And, I don't see many editors in action today. Lester Del Rey and Jim Baen are both gone. the store wants to push self-publishing which would eliminate what little editing we have today. Let the hordes of schlockmeisters overwhelm anyone wanting to read with tons of trash! It is a disheartening trend and one that I only see getting worse not better. So, enjoy what ye may while ye may.

Have read many SM Stirling books and have all been great. This was long awaited and very disappointing. I buy most of my books at webscription.net where they are half the price. I probably wouldn't be this disappointed if I'd paid six dollars instead of thirteen dollars.

I would definitely recommend waiting for this to come out as a mass market paperback or buy used, definitely NOT worth thirteen dollard

I wrote a less than 100% complimentary review of Stirling's Dies the Fire. I was wrong. By the time I finished A Meeting in Corvallis, it was clear to me that Stirling had thought through, in really exquisite detail, the world he was building and the story he wanted to tell. I was bummed when the series ended and when he began the Change series, I was delighted. It was even better news when his website announced two additional novels in the series. There are not nearly enough good series written by really excellent writers, and of those few there are, the books don't come out often enough.

The main problem with great series is that they end. Which is too bad. I am confident that when this series ends, the back story, the filled-in-blanks, will make a great deal of sense. That has been Stirling's MO since he wrote the Draka series, one of Sci-Fi's best ever.

Tears is as well written as any of Stirling's other books. If the heavy emphasis on House Liu's treachery is troubling, given that this is a series, it well might be that an alternative hypothesis would be foreshadowing. Maybe those two Liu kids have a roll to play on down the road. Maybe their background is relevant to that role.

A crappy series is just that, crappy. A great series, like this one, can't be long enough. Tears fits well with what has gone before and tells us some of what lies ahead. Well worth the price and the time. A very good read.

I read this book shortly after receiving it in the mail (which, by the way, I got way before the estimated delivery date) and found it to be thoroughly entertaining. In it, I found four distinct story-lines that were assembled so that the reader could keep track of all of them without getting confused.

1) Rudi Mackenzie's efforts to assemble the armies of Montival for the war against the United states of Boise and the Church Universal And Triumphant

2) Grand Constable Tiphane D'ath's efforts to hold off the armies of Corwin & Boise long enough for Rudi to stop them.

3) Lady Mary Liu's betrayal of the Portland Protective Association to the CUT and the consequences of that betrayal for both Mary and her family.

4) The story of Operation Luthulien, a covert operation to rescue the family of Frederick Thurston from his dictator brother, who murdered their father in order to seize power, from deep within Boise.

Coupled with the cliffhanger ending, this is an excellent book in a long series that has yet to end anytime soon. I simply can't wait for the next one!

The story line advances a little further, but this book concentrates more on filling in the gaps from situations mentioned while Rudi and crew are on their long quest. Sterling does an excellent job tying up a lot of loose ends, and fitting many of the pieces together from the last three books. I'm hoping that the in the next book he moves the story forwards a lot more than here, but absolutely no complaints. If you like this series, this book is worth reading.

I had been awaiting this most recent addition to SM Stirling's "Children of the Change" novel series for quite some time and so glad to have been able to make the purchase on the store. Received the book at a great price and the shipping was faster than average. Excellent condition and quality. Now hopefully I can find some time to actually read it. Cheers

I have totally enjoyed this series for many years. I have been waiting all year for this entry to come out. Wow.....am I disappointed. Where did all the action go? If I have to read one more flashback chapter to fill in details when Rudy and Company were off to the East, I think I may puke. I guess it is necessary to get those details across.....but I could have lived without knowing everything that happened. I thought this book would be about the war with the CUT........nope.

S.M. Stirling plays catch up in this novel, "Tears of The Sun". Rudi's triumphant return home with some new friends, a magic sword and, the title "High King of Montival". This time Mr. Stirling gets us all caught up on the happenings of everyone left at home during the quest for the sword, and the current preparations and strategies for the inevitable war that is coming between Montival and the combined forces of the "Church Universal and Triumphant" and the "United States of Boise". Old enemies and new allies will join forces under the new High King. Wil we see the "Sword of the Lady" unleashed finally?

Tears of the Sun

This novel continues the saga of Rudi the fated King as he finally marries his beloved Princess and comes into his Kingdom. However in classic Stirling fashion, there are multiple story lines to follow with his usual top of the line powerful female characters - Lady Death, Sandra the Spider Queen and the twin Havel Rangers are as ever worth even more pages than the author spends on them. You have everything from commando raids to great battles to palace politics all at once and all interacting as the various polities and societies of this infinitely complex baroque construct of a world have to interact to hold off the ravening hordes of the demonic CUT and the traitors running Boise. As ever we have elaborate world building, sumptuous meals described in loving detail and exquisitely detailed travelogue descriptions of changed yet familiar landscapes. Having heroes avoid a probable tiger's lair off a still functional highway is a joy to read for its mix of the familiar and strange. In a series this long it is hard to avoid middle volume syndrome but Stirling's talent for description and detail make even retellings so fresh and wonderful that the reader does not mind. In the end the only complaint is that the book is too short. However much he writes of this wonderful world, it always leaves me wanting more.

Following on three volumes of displaced Americans, shunted with the island of Nantucket into pre-history, we are with this volume into the eighth book exploring what happened in Oregon when the displacement event occurred. Stirling has created the most detailed and most successful series of books ever on the subject of total societal collapse. In The Tears of the Sun we are well into the second generation of survivors.
Rudy Mackenzie has become High King of Montival, a patchwork of survivor societies in the Great Northwest. He must lead his people in a climatic struggle against the Church Universal and Triumphant. We have lots of characters, most of whom we know well from previous books.
We have valiant combat, deep courage, very well thought thorough survivor societies and a huge dollop of mystic, other worldly input. The CUT may very well be directly controlled by a malignant entity that most of us would recognize as Satan himself. If not him, something very wicked this way comes, so watch out for your life and your soul.
Even if this edition ranks near the bottom of the series, Stirling as a writer and his creation is so good that a lower level Change book ranks head and shoulders over most of what is out there. You will enjoy this one a lot.

There are a couple of wonderfully good things about 'The Tears of the Sun', the eighth book (!) in the Change series - One of them is whimsy; the other poignant -

One:

Ingolf Vogeler, while riding out on the ranger trail, thumbs through a copy of The Silmarillion, and has an inner-dialogue theological debate with himself which begins thus-

'OK, hold that thought. According to Astrid Loring, the Hiril Dunedain, those aren't stories, they're the Histories and the Englishman was The Historian, inspired by the Valar demigods even if he didn't know it and every word is (gosh darnded) gospel true..."

Two:

The fate of The Dunadan-

In 'Tears', Astrid Larsson finally gets a doom worthy of her most heroic self, blasting off to Starkindler's Valhalla in a dirigible no less - Going Out In A Blaze Of Glory, mission accomplished - just like Conan's Valeria - well before old age settles in 'and all chance of valor has gone beyond recall or desire'.

As for the rest...

...many of the criticisms penned on these pages by other reviewers are correct - the storyline wanders, the focus is blurred, and the thoughtful reader cannot help but think that he or she is being strung along for the purchase of an unnecessary extra two or three books before finally getting to the long-awaited denouement, which does not arrive in this volume. I'm still a of fan of Stirling but I'd like to see a tighter storyline and a more succinct conclusion.

What happened in Oregon while Rudi, Matti and the rest of the questers were on their trip to/from Nantucket to capture the "Sword of the Lady". This will only be interesting to those who will write essays and doctoral discertations on the "Change" series in future years. But it does prevent someone having to write a 'fill-in' book like the "Silmarillion" sometime after Steve stops writing. Except for that and to give background to the next book "Lord of Mountains" to be published in September 2012 and the final (hopefully) book "The Given Sacrifice" to be published in late 2013.

In this book we find out about the first "treason" committed by a noble family in the PPA (Portland Protective Association) and how the different parts of the Montivale Kingdom are settling their differences and planning for the attack of the "CUT" and United States of Boise. We also learn that Artos is able to tell the present and the future through help of the "Sword" and the beginning of the first legends of his "Quest" and brotherhood that helped him find the sword.

There is too much time spent relating the flags and sigals of many of the nobles of the PPA and descriptions of the type of armor they wear. Too many detailed descriptions of the functioning of medieval style arms, siege gear and trebuckets and caltrops. Don't care. Put them in an Appendix.

Let's get on with Artos v. Prophet and have done with it.

Zeb Kantrowitz

Twenty-five years ago and event occurred which changed life on Earth forever. The people living on or near the island of Nantucket were transported thousands of years into the past. Their struggles to survive formed the first three novels of Stirling's Change series.

For the rest of the planet, the laws of physics were drastically changed. Almost all technology created after the Industrial Revolution were rendered useless. The struggles of humans to survive and adapt to a new reality form the plot of the next three novels in the series.

In the ensuing four novels, the plot follows characters born after the change event. They trek across the North American continent to the island of Nantucket. There they encounter powerful supernatural forces. And Rudi acquires the magical Sword of the Lady. In these novels we learn that there is an evil which wishes to destroy the powers of good. As Rudi Mackenzie and his band return to Montival they gather warriors to join them in the fight.

In this novel, the focus of the plot has returned to the Kingdom of Montival. Rudi is now recognized as the High King. He possesses the powerful Sword of the Lady. It is believed that the sword will give Rudi and his followers an advantage in the decisive battle against the evil Church United and Triumphant (CUT) and its evil prophet. Montival is marshaling all of its forces to fight against the evil CUT. And even the most skeptical leaders of Montival have come to realize how truly evil and supernatural the CUT and its prophet are.

The first half of this novel was a struggle for me to get through. The novel is heavy on exposition as the author reintroduces us to a host of characters who have been waiting in the wings for the last four novels of the series. In the last half of the story, the action picks up, and the book becomes more enjoyable to read.

Stirling uses a third person omniscient point of view to relate the story. One of his devices is to reveal not only the thoughts of his characters but their inner self-talk. He uses this device to deliver much of the exposition. I found this device to be somewhat distracting.

The author moves back and forth between characters. He also has his characters relate in flashbacks action that occurred when the focus of the plot was on the quest for the sword. For me, the large cast of characters and the number of flashbacks made the plot a bit confusing at times.

Stirling can be heavy on detailed description. I found the detailed descriptions of entrees and side dishes at every meal, of each character's apparel, of the many heraldic coats of arms, and of the swept out and beflowered fireplaces (including a list of every bloom on display) in each baron's solar to be unnecessary.

I didn't dislike this book. For me this novel felt like a set up for the finale. The author is putting all his characters in place for the final battle. And, I will be reading the next book to find out what happens next.

If you are interested in this book, I suggest you go back to "Dies the Fire" and read the books in order.

Let me start by saying I really enjoyed this book, and I am a avid reader S. M. Stirling and his Change series. I have read and throughly enjoyed the entire series to date. I looked forward to the release of this book as I would the return of a long absent friend. Sadly, "The Tears of the Sun" does not measure up to the rest of the series. This is a well written, richly detailed book, with characters that are (as always) vibrant and full of life. I have come to expect vivid, richly detailed and exciting battle/action scenes from Mr. Stirling; this book was lacking in these. There is a battle scene or two; they were not treated as past battle scenes have beeen by this author. I do not need or expect excessive gore; rich vibrant detail is something else entirely. Ths is an excellent book by a wonderful writer. It is well worth the price, and is a good read. It is not the crowning work of the series.

Yes a waste of time. Tedious and uninspiring. Did a lot of speed reading.

The only good thing about this book is I took it out at the library so not financially invested in it but still lost part of my life.

There are 2 more books scheduled for this series hopefully not any more than that.

I am actually dreading reading them but must to hopefully get to the end.

I am preparing myself to be bored again with the next 2 with the hope of being surprised with a better tales.

I've enjoyed all of Stirlings' novels, albeit they are difficult to follow sometimes because he weaves multiple, complex storylines and multiple character points of view through all his stories and (if you've ever tried to do so) it's no easy task. It's helpful to appreciate the highly detailed historical/sociological facts he weaves throughout all his storytelling (he is, after all, a historian). Mr. Stirling seeks to educate us about a subject he loves, not merely provide banal entertainment. Or, to put it in plain English, his writing isn't geared for the young adult crowd many other such series are written for.

That being said, I found this book unusually difficult to get through. I got the impression he was trying to backfill what had been going on back home during Rudi and Mattie's quest to Nantucket because he needs it to explain what happens when the Prophet Sethaz comes for them. Perhaps these were even scenes written at the same time as the Sword of the Lady and High King of Montival and edited out because it bogged down the story too much? Its' hard as a writer when you start a whole new cycle based on newer characters in your existing 'universe' to cross paths with characters you love, but not bog down the story too much with the -old- story. I'm betting the young Liu characters are going to feature heavily in the next two books and I just love Tiphaine D'Ath and Ritva. However, I twould have liked this story better if it had either been tightly edited as far as accurate historical detail and the thought-processes of other minor characters in the story, or had been published as two separate, smaller books highlighting each sub-story (the Mary Liu/children/D'Ath plotline and the raid on Boise), taking the time to relish the 'universe' each sub-story was set in. The entire present-tense, past-tense thing just totally killed the flow.

Also, Mr. Stirling killed off a long-running, major character at the end of a chapter in a way that, when the book finally returned to that sub-story pages and pages later, I had to go back and re-read the earlier chapter to even figure out that character had died. Worse ... they skipped ahead to the funeral and the characters death was written as a past-tense scene. I felt ... cheated. The character died a heroic death and it was barely a footnote ... an inconvenient former-major character killed off for no apparant reason with no emotion or real chance to mourn. And then the selfish woman the character had died for ... ridden with guilt ... and the buddhist monk's advice to that woman and the group? Lost opportunities! You could have had your readers in tears!

And then there were all the overly-detailed descriptions of how people dressed and what they ate for every single scene. And all the interruptions of dialogue where the character veered off on self-indulgent trains-of-thought. It broke the flow of dialogue and, honestly, if I never read the word 'cote-hardie' or 'parti-colored' ever ever ever again it will be too soon.

Last but not least ... all of a sudden in the final chapter we're cut back to Rudi and Mattie and the battle we've been gearing up for the entire book and it's like, what? Six-pages long and totally skipped all the bloody, gory, historically accurate fight scenes and military tactics we love to read and is OVER? It felt as though some publisher said ... 'we need this story now' so it was just churned out to end the book quick and hand it in.

On the other hand, the descriptions of why one particular minor landholding was chosen for its future defendability was fascinating. I could picture the people taking to the hills and harassing the CUT like the ancient Highland Scots harassing the British. Now THAT was a little side-trip that was interesting enough to include and I suspect the entire reason for a minor characters prominance. The reason educated readers ENJOY fiction such as Mr. Stirlings. But how we got there to learn that piece of information was choppy. Either fully develop Ingolf and Mary and their relationship in its own right. Or send a major character to that kingdom.

As my caption says ... there's nothing wrong with this story a good editor couldn't have fixed. But the editor -didn't- fix it. Shame on Roc publishing for focusing on the dollar signs and pushing out what I would consider to be a fairly rough draft and not taking the time to hammer the rough steel into a fine sword! I hope the next book is more polished.

This book is an obvious example of what happens when an author starts a series of books and then runs out of story ideas. I have never been so disappointed in a book and an author as with this book. Frankly, the publishing house should have thrown the book draft out with the other garbage.
A good book should have the main character facing obstacles/problems and then the reader follows that character through the struggles as they triumph in the end. This book rarely includes the main character. Instead we are treated to a never ending series of little short stories about minor characters in the book. I could have accepted this being a collection of short stories if they had been entertaining. Unfortunately they were not. The author spent page after boring page describing how one minor character felt and wallowed endlessly in their feelings and desires. I am embarrassed for the author as I know he has talent. This is not an example of talent. It is an author grinding out a book for money in order to sell it to unsuspecting fans.
Full disclosure: I got this book from my local library. I am so happy not to have wasted my money.

Often authors of very successful franchises subcontract their work out. It feels as though Mr. Stirling did this and employed the biggest nerd he could find with minimal writing skills but a great appetite for the mundane. Gone is the great dialogue and perceptive observations that often showed up in the middle of paragraphs and made you read every word. Completely absent is any passion or suspense. Storytelling has been sacrificed for uninteresting detail. Adventure has been replaced by the dullest routine events imaginable. I am embarrassed for Rudi, Matilda and most of all the author who has so expanded our imaginations.

Please, Mr. Stirling, write the next book yourself and restore the sweeping vistas, relationships fostered by trial and the characters that were so well developed and so much a part of each of our lives.

...but not really all that compelling. The plot advanced some. I'm not sure I like that almost everyone has accepted the "woo-woo" by now; it was more interesting when there were some hard-core skeptics.

More practically, a lot of the novel is back-fill- more detailed accounts of things that happened previously and were not explicitly depicted; well, now they are, even though it wasn't really necessary.

If you're reading the series, it's certainly acceptable and does widen the perspective some, unlike the previous episode. If you're not reading it... well, I'm not at all sure I'd recommend it; it's getting excessively drawn-out in my opinion.

I had wondered how Stirling would fill 500 pages with The Final Battle...a challenge surmountable by only the greatest of writers. The answer? HE DIDN'T!

In a masterpiece of literary manuever worthy of the greatest masters of the pen, Stirling didn't use 500 pages to tell the story of The Final Battle. He used it to tell the story of everything that should've been included in the previous books rather than endless descriptions of banquests, equipment, post-change economy and bit characters which added little to the overall story.

I won't do the usual cliff notes or spoilers routine. I'll simply note that anyone who used their imagination about what was going on back home while Rudy was doing his cross-country thing probably didn't do any worse than Stirling just did. This was like George Lucas making a Star Wars Episode 3.5, in which he tells the stories of all the Jedis who were barely included in Episodes 1-3, ending with the final duel.

My recommendation: buy it secondhand and skip to the last couple of chapters. I've bought my last Stirling hardback.

The Tears of the Sun effectively kills any momentum created by Stirling's previous novel - The High King Of Montival. Let me preface this by saying that I'm a big fan of the Change novels. I even went out and bought the hardcover of "Tears" because I was so caught up in the series that I couldn't wait for the paperback to come out. I was all set for a showdown between Rudi and the CUT. I eagerly began reading. And kept waiting for something to happen. And waiting. But it's a bunch of minor characters that take center stage, with Rudi relegated to a cameo appearance. 300 hundred pages in I'm getting weary. There's no action and I'm drowning in details. A three page description of two characters getting dressed? Please shoot me. Overall I was very disappointed. I'll still probably finish the series but I kinda want my money back on this particular entry.

Stirling's Change books have really outworn their welcome. I find myself skipping whole chapters. They are a weird mixture of sword and sorcery, syncretic religious babble, descriptions of nature, descriptions of meals that could be restaurant reviews (this guy must be a real foodie), descriptions of dress, descriptions of architecture, descriptions of people (Do we really need to know everything about every minor character's appearance, and even references to their parents' appearances? Do we really need to be reminded of what the major characters look like every time they are reintroduced?), descriptions, descriptions, descriptions, all too too long. I should really have hated this book, but I didn't. I really should have put it down, but I couldn't. I didn't like it exactly, but the author is so obviously enjoying telling his story I found myself turning the pages, hoping that finally, finally, he will end the saga with the last Big Battle with the Bad Guys but nah, fooled me again, there's at least one more book in the series, and fool that I am, I will read it.

Having re-read these books from the beginning of the series to this last book, I can say with certainty that I'm going to go to the bookstore when the last one comes out and read the end just to get some closure. I speed-read through most of this book. Paper characters, absolutely lousy character development, boring, boring, boring. It hurt to try to read the narration through characters I had come to enjoy, such as Mary, Ritva, Mattie (who, by the way, plays the part of a 2x4 supporting a very wooden Rudy/Artos in this and the last book), Juniper...pretty much everyone. I really haven't liked any of the characters since the third or fourth book. His pairings of the characters is also abysmal; one minute they're expressing interest in each other, the next minute they're acting like couples who have been married for 20 years. And what is it with the characters from the first books? Even at 40-60 years old there's no discernible change in their characters - it's always a surprise to remember they have kids in their teens and 20s when the original characters are acting and thinking like they're in their teens and 20s! Epic Suck, Mr. Stirling. Epic Suck.

I can't even put into words how frustrating trying to read Tears of the Sun was. I'm so invested in this series, and these characters and their world, and yet it was a struggle to finish this book.

Firstly, a message for you, dear Stirling: I GET IT ALREADY. I get that Lady Sandra is 'the spider of the Silver Tower'. I get that Tiphanie d'Ath is a fearsome, cold-hearted bitch and everybody is scared of her. I get that everybody thinks Astrid Loring is 'weird'. I get that the Mackenzies are all pagan-y! I get that everybody is glad that Norman Arminger is dead, the evil bastard, despite the possible good things that came from his bad deeds! I get it already!!

I FULLY UNDERSTAND ALL OF THESE THINGS, AND MORE. I was aware of them three books ago, as you continued to shove the same tired metaphors down my throat in chapter after chapter and book after book. You don't need to remind me over and over and in this, the EIGHTH BOOK OF THE SERIES. If I have to hear you repeat these descriptions ad nauseum in the 9th, I may just about throw up. There is more to this world you have created than this repetitive tripe, and you are doing both your readers and your characters a disservice by taking the easy road and padding your storyline with old content.

It feels almost as if Stirling has run out of imagination, but has to finish the series somehow. Or perhaps he's pointed this series in a direction that he's ill equipped to finish. In either case, instead of writing new, imaginative content, the readers are treated to a smattering of plot development surrounded by piles of rehashed material. If you took out all the stuff he's already used in one of the previous books, Tears of the Sun would be cut in half.

I can't even say if I'm interested enough in this world anymore to continue the series whenever the next book comes out. I really can't hear about Ogma the Honey-tongued again, or being forcibly and clumsily reminded once more that Tiphanie is a super-scary dyke and Lady Sandra is a calculating tower-dweller. This series really needs some new life.

I started out reading the Island series and got hooked instantly and then quickly delved into the first trilogy of the Change series. I generally read most books fairly quickly and those 6 books I tore through in a couple of weeks. I literally couldn't put them down. Then fast forward to the latest part of this series. I didn't enjoy them quite as much, but the still held my interest at first despite the beyond ridiculous stuff like Rudi surfing through a stampeding herd of buffalo, etc.

Then came this book. I figured this would be the conclusion of this series finally. The big war between Montival and the CUT will finally happen. Lots of people get dismembered, Rudi uses his magical sword and chops Sethaz into tiny pieces, etc. Instead it's essentially a collection of broken up flash back short stories about the Lui family and the raid on Bend. It just dragged on and on and I found myself repeatedly checking to see how many pages I had left because I was looking forward to it just ending.

Seriously? Who cares what happened to the Lui clan. It was already obvious that the mother was an agent for the CUT and probably possessed. Why bother taking half a book explaining this backstory in excruciating detail to Odard's younger siblings? Are they going to suddenly have some major role in the outcome of this series? If not, then why bother. If so, then what the hell? There already is a well established core of heroes in this story. Why clutter it?

The raid on Bend was pretty good, or would've been had it just told as a regular part of the story instead of being told in flashback as a conversation between a couple PPA nobles.

Most of the major characters from every previous book in the series barely show up in this one or only get a passing mention, but there are plenty of detailed descriptions of food, clothing, armor, calluses, and heraldic devices.

At this point, I'm looking at this series in the same way I eventually looked at Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time series, except that WoT at least had multiple main characters that as the course of the series went on, went on increasingly divergent paths that eventually were tied back together in the last couple novels when Sanderson took over after Jordan died. I'm hoping that something similar happens with this series (not Stirling dying and someone else taking over, of course) in that all the fluff and garbage gets dumped in the next book or two and that the story actually goes someplace and comes to a satisfying conclusion. Regardless, I will do with this series exactly what I did with WoT after book 9...not buy another book in it until it is completed and even then only if it looks like it actually gets back to the roots when I enjoyed reading Stirling's work. Until that point (if it comes) I will not buy another book with Stirling's name on it.

I guess we readers can sleep soundly at night knowing the S.M. Stirling has indeed arrived! Two salient facts bolster this theory. One is that when you arrive publishers will simply pass your script to the printers offhand so that another hard bound book can begin to make the money roll into their publishing bank accounts. The other is that readers can finally break with an old friend that no longer has to try to win their favour or even, well, try! S.M. Stirling has done just that. The old switch-a-roo. I'll make every effort to tell stores that are interesting and creative and possibly gather a following of my work until .......$$$$$

Wow, that other author, the one with the extremely thick books that is now an HBO miniseries; maybe he still has to be creative to make his living? Hopefully.....

Contrary to the title of my review I realize that the series will go on, if on is what this could be called.

Oh ya did you ever wonder what happened to the Liu's .... I didn't think so, but stand firm Steve will bash you over the head with it if you read this one.

I started reading this book back in October. I still have about 25 pages to go. I have read 4 other books during the time I started Tears of the Sun up to this point. One was the new Stephen King novel 11/23/63 at 849 pages. Finished that in about 2 weeks. Tears of the Sun is not a page turner. It's a great book to read before you go to bed at night. After about 10 pages it's sleepy time. Then you can dream about it.

Still like the series as a whole and I'm sure the next book, excuse me books, in the series will be better. I mean they have to be! If they aren't? Stirling will be ruined.

I think this story could have been turned into a movie, but after dragging it out for so long he ruined his chances. Unless we are talking a mini-series format.

Hopefully I'll finish it tonight if I don't nod off first.

My reference to dentistry sans a painkiller aside. What the hey? I was looking so forward to this book. It was almost as if the Author had some extra material lying around and figured "why not", "I can use the payday!" If I am allowed to use a TV series for comparison purposes, it is like not only Charlie Sheen left 2 1/2 Men, but also John Cryer and the "Kid", only to be replaced by Cryer's ex-wife, ex-wife's new husband and the guy that runs the local pharmacy! Yea, these are all characters with recurring roles in the show, though most definitely not why anyone tunes into the show!

It took me so, so, so much longer to get through this. The closing had just enough of a kick to keep me interested in the next one. Here is to hoping that the Author gets the series back on track!

I can't even put into words how frustrating trying to read Tears of the Sun was. I'm so invested in this series, and these characters and their world, and yet it was a struggle to finish this book.

Firstly, a message for you, dear Stirling: I GET IT ALREADY. I get that Lady Sandra is 'the spider of the Silver Tower'. I get that Tiphanie d'Ath is a fearsome, cold-hearted bitch and everybody is scared of her. I get that everybody thinks Astrid Loring is 'weird'. I get that the Mackenzies are all pagan-y! I get that everybody is glad that Norman Arminger is dead, the evil bastard, despite the possible good things that came from his bad deeds! I get it already!!

I FULLY UNDERSTAND ALL OF THESE THINGS, AND MORE. I was aware of them three books ago, as you continued to shove the same tired metaphors down my throat in chapter after chapter and book after book. You don't need to remind me over and over and in this, the EIGHTH BOOK OF THE SERIES. If I have to hear you repeat these descriptions ad nauseum in the 9th, I may just about throw up. There is more to this world you have created than this repetitive tripe, and you are doing both your readers and your characters a disservice by taking the easy road and padding your storyline with old content.

It feels almost as if Stirling has run out of imagination, but has to finish the series somehow. Or perhaps he's pointed this series in a direction that he's ill equipped to finish. In either case, instead of writing new, imaginative content, the readers are treated to a smattering of plot development surrounded by piles of rehashed material. If you took out all the stuff he's already used in one of the previous books, Tears of the Sun would be cut in half.

I can't even say if I'm interested enough in this world anymore to continue the series whenever the next book comes out. I really can't hear about Ogma the Honey-tongued again, or being forcibly and clumsily reminded once more that Tiphanie is a super-scary dyke and Lady Sandra is a calculating tower-dweller. This series really needs some new life.

This series has been going downhill for the last couple of books. I barely finished The High King of Montival, and I put this book down after 100 pages. Here is a summation of the opening of the book: "Yup we're going to have some kids, here are their names, we'll be King & Queen." said Rudi, "Or maybe not" he followed up hoping that people would still want to buy and read novels of the change. The rest was just as boring. Don't waste your time, or money on this book.

This book does not conclude the series. That is bad enough. The story does not really focus on any character previously important to the story. You get random snapshots of events. I think he just wrote a whole bunch of short stories and threw them into one book. I was expecting a really big epic battle and a really great story. I feel like I am reading the Silmarillian (SP?). Meaning, I have to make myself read it because I want to finish out a series. This will be the last SM Stirling book I buy when its first released.

This is the 8th book in Stirling's "Changed World" alternate-history series, and a good short description would be "the calm before the storm". Not that there isn't plenty of action, but some of it is in flashback and the rest is describing the ongoing preparations and pre-skirmishes of the Great War that everyone knows is coming. Also, you can see yet more of the strands of plot from the earlier books coming together in preparation for the grand finale.

There's also a lot of character-development work; Stirling introduces some new characters who (one presumes) will be of some importance in the rest of the story, and spends considerable time fleshing out some characters who had previously been mentioned only in passing. If you haven't read any of these books, this is NOT the one to start with; if you're a plot-driven reader who skims over characterization stuff, you may find it rather thin and unsatisfying. But for people like me, who already know the story and love the characters... all I can say is WOW.

Oh. My. God. What a waste of a book. Absolutely nothing happens to advance the story to its conclusion. The book is written at about the quality level of the others but it is stuffed with filler. Basically the entire book is filler. By the time I got to 3/4 of the book it dawned on me that nothing was going to happen. There are endless descriptions of food and banquets and clothing and the post Change economy and agriculture and the climate in Western Oregon and Eastern Oregon etc. etc. etc. Going on and on about how awesome the gay characters in the story are while needing to keep off the official Church's radar screen. Arrrg. I found myself just flipping pages to get past the blocks of endless dialog about nothing - which I never do.

There are stories about minor characters like the Rangers and d'Ath the female super-warrior and huge long flashbacks about a possessed Lady who is part of the CUT plan to invade. Oh yes one of the secondary characters does die.

All in all you can 100% skip this book and miss absolutely nothing regarding the main story of the Montival allies' war against the CUT/Boise.

I feel the last THREE entire books should should have been condensed into 1/2 of one book with the last 1/2 devoted to concluding the story. This is the most blatant and bloated milking of the sales cow I've yet experienced in any series I've followed.

The book is probably about a 2-star level but I'm giving it one star for wasting my time for the last three books.

First - I like Stirling's earlier stuff. This, however, was Boooring. Possibly the worst 27 bucks I ever spent, well, no. It does seem like he's trying to draw the series out as long as possible. A lot of new characters described in excruciating detail that will probably never be seen or heard from again. Want to build a wall out of dirt? This has a how-to section. Not really, but almost. If were the editor, this book might have made it to 100 pages. The story hardly moves at all, and its mostly back and forth with overlapping parts. Most of this book should have been the authors notes, published later for die-hards. I would bet that one could skip this book in the series and the next book will have enough rehash to fill you in as to what happened, since the high points are few and far between.

I love the series, but this novel is rather weak. Two major flaws: 1) A rescue in Boise is an important action element, but it's never explained how it could have been done. Where did the dirigible come from, and how did 40-some rescuers get on it under fire? 2) The whole book is a build-up to the final battle, but that battle is skimmed over like an afterthought.

The penultimate installment of this series set in a cleverly constructed post-holocaust future history in which only preindustrial technology is possible and forms of the supernatural have returned to the world. The basic structure is quite clever. This is essentially a series of fantasy novels set in an imaginatively constructed near future. Stirling uses a lot of traditional elements, such the fantasy quest, in pretty creative ways. This book overlaps considerably in time with the last volume in the series. The last book was the conclusion of the quest narrative and this book deals partly with events that occurred in the heros' homes during their quest. The rather broad canvas provides Stirling the opportunity to flesh out this future history in interesting ways. Written competently, like almost all of Stirling's books, this is an enjoyable read. The book ends with on the apparent brink of the climactic battle between good and evil.