A Meeting at Corvallis (Emberverse Book 3)

The third and best of the initial trilogy of "The Change" series, "A Meeting at Corvallis" is a great ending to a hack-n-slash adventure trilogy. If you have been disapointed by a book that isn't apocalyptic enough to sit well with fans of "The Postman" by David Brin or "Lucifer's Hammer", please note the top reviews of this book specify that it contains "a group of Tolkenesque Rangers who speak elfish and treat the change as if it was the fifth age of Middle Earth."

Statements like these strongly indicate that this trilogy does not belong to the apocalypse sub-genre of sf. The entire trilogy is strongly hack-and-slash, especially when one considers the end of "A Meeting at Corvallis". The constant references to individual, battlefield, and small unit tactics with medieval era weaponry strongly influence a narrative full of nearly last stands and David and Goliath moments.

Even the blatantly obvious imagery of the Portland Protective Association adopting the "eye of Sauron" (See "J.R.R. Tolkien Boxed Set (The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings)") as their battle-standard contribute to the fantastic nature of this narrative.

The excellent battle-scenes and well-narrated combat in this book make it a strong finish to a trilogy that struggled at times. Stirling's success makes this book a safe bet for any adventure sf fans that feel like reading a well-executed hack-n-slash.

This third book in S.M. Stirling's original "Change" series, commencing immediately after the events of "The Protector's War", is the strongest entry in the series and an excellent conclusion to the trilogy.

Nearly ten years after the Change, Mike Havel's Bearkillers and Juniper McKenzie's Wiccan Clan McKenzie stand opposed to the Portland Protective Association, the medieval kingdom ruled by former professor Norman Arminger - "the Lord Protector". With Arminger's daughter Mathilda captured by Clan McKenzie, and friends with Havel and Juniper's son Rudi, the long-coming war simmering in the first two novels finally bursts into flame.

This book is easily the strongest in the trilogy because Stirling here takes the time to provide convincing, realistic detail to his depictions of a world built on the bones of industrial civilization. His inclusion of a smaller group referred to in the second novel, the Catholic monks of Mt. Angel, provides a counterbalance to both the pagan viewpoints of the Clan McKenzie and the dictatorial Christianity of the Protector's dominions, and his detailed depictions of life within both the Protector's realm and the smaller kingdoms of his allies and opponents are richer and more convincing than those in the second novel. And, as always, Stirling's depictions of combat - particularly the final combat between Mike Havel and Norman Arminger - are stirring and immediately real.

Buy and read this book - you won't be disappointed, and it will leave you ready for the next series set within the Changed world.

The first book in this trilogy, Dies the Fire, was wonderfully written and chock full of inventive approaches to social organization and technology. Unfortunately the author seems to have run out of the novel ideas that drove the initial entry into the series by this point, and the characters, though still compelling, developed little. That said, though, the plot does move along at a decent pace, and I chewed through the book quite quickly - The action and the ending were reasonably satisfying.

If you read The Protector's War (which featured no war), then The Meeting at Corvallis (which features no meeting at Corvallis, but does feature a war) is certainly worth the read. If you're considering whether or not to finish the series after reading the stellar Dies the Fire, you might be better off investing your money in the other side of this story as well. The entire Island in the Sea of Time trilogy is very well written, and the characters and technologies in the series develop at a much more even and compelling pace.

This was a decent book. Given the ability, I'd have given it another half-star, but it doesn't warrant a full four-star rating.

I first encountered this author when I picked up book 1 of this series, "Dies the Fire" and enjoyed that book immensely. I was dumbstruck however, but the precipitous plunge in quality of the second book. I also picked up Conquistador, and found that book wanting. But I did not give up, and I am glad I did not. I bought this third book and was very pleased.

It takes a good author to take an antagonist and make you understand them and like them. The battles were riveting, the strategy wonderful! He did fall back into old habits of buzzwording and descriptive-tangents occasionally, but he definitely reined it it this time, and stuck to creating a very good book.

Again, the ending to this book, like the first, tended towards the cheese factor with the whole Rudi thing... but I suppose it cannot be avoided.

I look forward to the new trilogy announced on the website--continuing the saga of the characters we have grown to love.

I recommend this book enthusiastically; especially if you enjoyed the first one of the trilogy.

While I enjoyed the thought of a post-Apocalyptic Northwest, I found this story to contain too many flaws to make the world believable.

First, the writer states that SCA members and old Rennies are the survivors most adapted to live in a technologically defunct world. Amusing as this is, I could not help but wonder where the heck all the Native Americans were. Wouldn't they be far more adapted?

Secondly, where on earth are the characters getting fuel hot enough to make armor and weapons? Did they raid coal reserves from defunct freighters?

Thirdly, textiles. Lots of time spent on clothes and textiles. I had a very hard time believing that the labor-intensive craft of the textiles of the middle ages were suddenly re-developed in 9 years. Where were the raw ingredients coming from? Could people really make metal thread?

And a host of other problems that kept killing my willingness to suspend disbelief. Oh well.

This is final volume of the post-apocalypse future history trilogy that Stirling began in Dies The Fire. This book brings to final form the two main strands of the trilogy. The first and in many ways most interesting strand in Stirling's articulation of the neo-medieval society that arises in the post-apocalypse Pacific Northwest. Stirling has done a creditable job is this respect. The second strand is the conventional good guys versus bad guys plot line. As remarked by another reviewer, this book is the best of the trilogy and notably better than second volume, The Protector's War, which was somewhat weakly plotted. As is usual for Stirling's books, this one is written competently though it contains a weak ending, which has occurred in some other of his books. As is also usual, there are some private jokes and clever historical references. Readers interested in this alternative world line should take a look at his official website, which offers some additional pseudohistorical background.

Love the Change series, but am tired of re-reading how it began, rehashing of each character's past, etc., in each successive book!!! Let each book have a little mystery or explore other characters in depth. If you want to know how it began, then read Dies the Fire. Dies the Fire is my favorite book of this series. I was very fascinated by how Mr. Stirling knew what to do in a situation without technology (and that's how I fell in love with the characters). His research (or knowledge) of bows, arrows, axes, etc. got me thinking how things are made. I like this author very much. I think he writes well and I will check out other books by him. But Mr. Stirling, if you read these reviews, please please quit rehashing your characters history, etc in each book! ach.... !!!

This has been quite a trilogy. The middle book did become a little bogged down, but added a great deal of background to the story. I am really glad I found these books. They have provided a lot of entertainment.

This final book was as good as the first. Others have well-stated the plot points. I still don't understand why reenactors are so fond of the middle-ages. It sounds like a really uncomfortable time to me. Being so dependent upon the will of those in a superior position must have been quite stressful. It was probably one of the reasons, along with poor nutrition, and medical care that they died young. Oh well, to each his own brand of reality.

My brand of reality wants all books to end with happily ever after. This one mostly did, but I had hoped for a little bit more. I recommend this book and the trilogy to anyone who enjoys a well-written story with lots of historic detail.

This book brings Stirling's Protector series to a respectable close. It is difficult to bring these alternate universe stories to a decent close because of the creativity invested and affection the author has for them. Stirling, who is particulary creative, and has several of these sagas, does a good and eminiently satisfactory job with this one -- for which those of us who have enjoyed his work are grateful (witness the shocking disasters that befell fans of Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time!!)

Dies the Fire is the first in the series (and should be read first) Dies the Fire postulates a world without electricity and where gunpowder and other chemical forces do not act with the same energy. (Stirling is clearly setting something up here, but one does have to wonder why the sun still works in this universe.) It is a "post Apocolypse" type novel (like Lucifer's hammer) which allows Stirling to play to his great strength -- fresh and plausible battle scenarios involving mixed arm tactics.

Stirling has matured greatly as a writer over the years, and in many sections, this book reflects his best work. Sadly, the ending is somewhat cliched, and the book is best read by skipping the over wrought paens to Juniper McKenzie and her creed (I will not reveal the details, because then you won't read, much less buy the book.) It is well worth both the buying and the reading.

Many reviewers of this series noted that "The Protector's War", the previous volume in this trilogy, was not up to the author's usual high standards.

When S.M. Stirling is at the top of his form, this Newfie-turned-New Mexican is the finest writer of alternate history, bar none. One of the sterling qualities of Stirling is that he apparently values reader feedback. Many complained that PROTECTOR'S WAR dragged, had hashed-up timelines, and was rather pandering to Wicca, SCA, LOTR, and Dungeons and Dragons fans.

In MEETING, Stirling tones down these flaws and returns to wonderfully descriptive, well-paced prose with fascinating plot twists. As ever, his attention to detail shines through. MEETING is a worthy and worthwhile wind-up to the series (although a new trilogy, set a dozen years later, is apparently in the offing--hurrah!)

In MEETING, our old nemesis, the Lord Protector Arminger is back and waging an all- fronts war to try and do in Lord Bear, Lady Juniper, Mount Angel and Corvallis. Will he succeed? Will Lady Sandra's schemes rescue her daughter or split the Faculty Senate from its natural allies?

Better buy this page-turner and find out!

Way back when the earth was younger I came across S. M. Stirling's working in collaboration with Jerry Pournelle in the Falkenberg's Legion series. I liked it then, and I like it still. Over the years he has matured so that his characters are more real, his stories more complete, his plot lines more believable -- as much as any science fiction can be believable. His books are books are characterized by good military action, and this seies is no exception.

He has an uncommon way of creating a new universe out of the present by simply having an event occur. In the Island in the Sea of Time series it was simply called 'The Event.' In this series, The Emberverse series, it was 'The Change.'

This universe, the Emberverse, is the remainder of the world after the Island in the Sea of Time series people left. In The Change, technology as we know it went away, the basic laws of the universe changed. The people remained. But they also changed. The civilization that was America went away. Set in the Pacific North West, a local despot has taken over and the struggle is underway by the free peoples from outside his control.

This is a good series of books. But you might want to start with Dies the Fire, then The Protector's War, and then go to A Meeting at Corvallis. Or, you might want to start even earlier with Island in the Sea of Time, then Against the Tide of Years, on to On the Oceans of Eternity then go to this series. Oh well, anything you do of Stirling's will go down well.

Wow. I first read Stirling's trilogy, "Island on the Sea of Time" and its subsequent sequels and was impressed. This guy was awesome. Having loved Harry Turtledove, Eric Flint, David Weber, I knew I had to read more Stirling novels. I was so excited there was many things I had forgotten about the first 2 books. I stopped after the 1st chapter, then went back and Re-read the 1st 2 books "Dies the Fire" and "the Protector's War" to refresh my memory and then Read "Meeting at Corvallis" again in just 3 days.

There have been many alt-history/sci-fi books I've read and Stirling is simply one of the best authors out there. I look forward to reading the next trilogy that apparently ties these 3 books to the universe he created.

Overall, great read, lots of good characters, very vivid details.

I'd be very surprised if part of this trilogy doesn't get turned into a movie someday.

They called it "The Change" and for good reason. Now, nine years (and two books) after the white flash and blinding pain that brought in a new age where electricity doesn't electrify and explosives don't go boom, we see a new world so different from the one we currently occupy that we wouldn't recognize it if we tried. At one point in A Meeting at Corvallis, a character postulates about the possibility that the change did not just change the physics of the natural world, but also changed the people in some fundamental way. Perhaps, but the mysteries of the why take a backseat to the here and now in this book.

The here and now is a grim look at the changed world concentrating on the free lands of the Willamette Valley against the Dictatorial Portland Protective Association, under the brutal control of the Lord Protector, Norman Arminger. The free societies consist mainly of Mike Navel's Bearkillers, Juniper MacKenzie's Dun MacKenzie, a Wicca collective, and Mount Angel, a pre-change Monastery, which is an oasis for the escapee's of the Protectorate. Along with theses three main groups are the Dunedain Rangers, and group of Tolkenesque Rangers who speak elfish and treat the change as if it was the fifth age of Middle Earth. These Groups meet at the former Oregon State University, at the city of Corvallis to try to persuade the group to form a treaty to stand against any aggression by any party.

OK, I know, it sounds a bit complex, and maybe a bit bizarre, but if you made it through the first two of this Post-Apocalyptic trilogy, you should have some idea of what I am talking about here. The Meeting at Corvallis indicated in the title, is just the prelim to what truly becomes the war between the Protector, and the combined forces that oppose him. This book starts with the political intrigue and maneuvering and moves into an all out Military tale with some of Stirling's strongest battle scenes since The General series.

For fans of the series, and writer, which I am, this is easily the strongest of the three books. With the characters developed and the conflict set up, it was time for action. Yet, Stirling takes it a bit further, giving us the best look at the "hated enemy" he has in either of the previous books. While the political and military details were detailed and intricate as you would expect, the sub plots dealing with the Tiphaine, Lady Arminger's bodyguard, give us a great insight into the complicated world of the PPA, and the complications of War. Here, Stirling really surprised me, giving greater depth, and providing a large chunk of the point of view to what seemed like a minor character in the earlier editions. Like with the Draka series, the first hand glimpse at the "evil" enemy doesn't really muddy the waters as much as make you step back and look at the conflict from new angles. Although, your gut reactions may not change much, the knee jerks become less jerky.

A Meeting at Corvallis was an exciting and excellent ending for a strong trilogy. The Change worked at an excellent devise, yet, by the third book, The Change becomes back story, and almost an annoyance to many of the characters. Unlike most Post-Apocalyptic books, the series quickly changes from looking to the past to living in the present. Many of the characters who were adults before the Change, may seem to be play-acting in their new psuedo-medieval roles, but those who came to age post-change, this is the real world. This change in philosophy does well to end this trilogy while setting up the next series well.

Nuts and bolts times. If you liked the first two books, you will love A Meeting at Corvallis. If you were one of those who groaned over all the 'Blessed Be's' and called The Protector's War the Wicca Left Behind, then you are entering safe territory. The beautiful old religion (or as one of the Father's in Mount Angel called it, the very young old religion) is still a significant aspect of the story, but doesn't dominate the pages to the degree it did in the first two books. Overall, this was easily one of my favorite reads of the year.

First, I found the first book great, the entire idea of a world stripped of its technology was extremely interesting. The second was terrible, a waste of a book. This last one redeemed the series but not to the point to make it excellent again.

The first half of the book has the good guys trying to make an alliance to stop the bad guys, something that probably should have happened in the last book. The second half is the actual fight, where the good guys effortlessly win all the fights, do everything right, and send the bad guys home to mama. I actually found myself rooting for the underdogs of the story, no not the good guys, the bad guys. The story ends with a deus ex machina to end the war, sort of anticlimactic.

The biggest problem, just like in the last book is that too much is told from the viewpoint of the Wiccan Mackenzie clan, a bunch of neo-Pagan Braveheart wannabes. There should have been more descriptions of the other societies showing up rather than the very brief glimpses given before jumping back to the Wiccans. Also, the endless Tolkien references, the Dunedain Rangers using Elvish as a secret language, the emblem of the cliched supervillain being the "lidless eye," come on! But at least Stirling kept his lesbian warrior women down to a minimum for this series, only one shows up in this last book, though she gets a lot of screen time.

Still, it's more or less well written and well researched. So this book(paperback version) and the first book are probably the only ones you need to read, go ahead and skip the second, your not missing much.

I was terribly disappointed by it. The first book was so incredibly entertaining, then the Brits that showed up in the second book made an otherwise boring sequel pretty decent. But this one just sucked. The characters cease to be believable. The author is constantly saying how difficult it is to become an expert at swordsmanship or archery or riding, but then the main characters are just magically the best at everything. It gets old pretty fast. And then he beats you over the head with the homesexual themes i.e. Good guys are completely tolerant of everything and bad guys= evil, gay-bashing nazis. I wouldn't mind, except the first 2 books gays are never mentioned and then in this one there are like 6 out of nowhere. It was difficult to finish, should've been sooooo much better.

This third in the initial series is a good concluding volume, and I thought it was the best of the three. The plot and character development made the book difficult to put down. The attention to detail was significant, sometimes bordering on being self indulgent, but not enough to lose a star. Definitely readable.

I started this series because I thought the first one was an interesting idea, but I was NOT too crazy about all of the Wiccan speak going on. In fact, I was hoping he would kill off Juniper, because her part of the story annoyed me, but Mike Havel's part intrigued me. That ended fine, but obviously it was a 'to be continued'. 'Protector's War' updated you on what was going on in the character's lives, how they had progressed, and generally stirred the pot for book 3, but it wasn't bad, especially if you love Tolkien, and I no longer wished for Juniper to die. 'A Meeting at Corvallis', was the book I had hoped it would be, delivering ALOT of battle scenes bent on strategy, and digging deep into the lives of the interesting characters, and what they stand for. It's a good book when the characters MUST fight if they want any hope for their families lives. Of course there was alot of death, and some very sad moments, but I felt they were all very fitting. Not everyone survives such hard times. I felt closure for 'this chapter' of the the story, though the book implies that there will be more to come involving Rudi and the upcoming generations, because in life, the story always continues, especially when you have upcoming generations to factor in. So, I will be reading Stirling's next series, which picks up a little over a decade later, when Rudi should be about a good fighting age....

These books have a great concept, all power sources have failed and guns, bombs, and explosives are now useless. Most people die of starvation and disease but a few people do prosper because they do have the skills needed to survive. Some grab power for personal gain, some gain power due to respect for their leadership skills, some for the religious guidance they can give. It's a brave new world that is created and it's a great world for us the readers to explore.

But honestly, the entire series falls flat after that. Stirling created a great world in order to tell a story in, but he really doesn't know what to do with it after that. Every character is a Mary Sue and has little to no personal growth to go through during the entire series. They don't change or learn anything that helps them grow as people and they're pretty much the same person on page of one of book one as they are on the last page of the third book.

Not to mention all these characters do and say things that don't make sense. And on top of that they KEEP doing things that don't make sense, where as any of us in the real world would see what we are doing is not working, is not making sense or is just stupid and we'd modify our behavior accordingly.

***SPOILERS*** ***SPOILERS*** ***SPOILERS***

So right off the bat the Protector and his wife are yelling at one of their vassals and are insisting that the fact that their daughter was kidnapped is his fault. Moron! YOU are the one who put her on a train going through enemy territory! YOU are the one who planned a rescue that was so poorly put together that it failed and almost got her killed! So how exactly is this HIS fault?

In the next few pages he calls the McKenzies "Satan Worshipers." MORON! They worship different gods than you do! Are Muslims, Hindus, or Buddhists, Satan worshipers just because they worship different gods than you do!?! Of course they aren't!!! Were the ancient Greeks devil worshipers? Were the ancient Egyptians? OF COURSE NOT!!! I'd expect a COLLEGE PROFESSOR who taught WORLD HISTORY FOR 20 YEARS TO KNOW THIS!!! Very shoddy writing.

So then on page six the Protector says that his daughter is being exposed to, "A bunch of fanatics playing make believe." Well if that isn't the pot calling the kettle black then I don't know what is!

Please explain to me why Lord Bear, Juniper and every officer either of their militaries have little speeches they give before their troops fire their bows? For example, "Let the grey geese fly!" Or Astrid yelling something in Elvish. Why not just yell, "FIRE!" or "SHOOT!" What happens if this officer who is used to yelling their own personal catch phrases to get archers to fire their bows has to command another troop who doesn't use that as a command to shoot and they use that command, "Let the grey geese fly!" Then the archers are sitting there scratching their heads wondering what the heck their commander is talking about while the enemy is getting closer or taking cover? See the problem? Plus I timed it, it takes two seconds to say that phrase. From the moment the first syllable leaves the commanding officer's mouth, the enemy knows they are being attacked and knows to take cover, raise their shields or make a run for it. Trained infantrymen can very quickly form a shield wall, and you can sprint pretty far in two seconds so it gives the enemy an advantage. It's just more pointless medieval flare that the author threw in because apparently he's in love with pointless flowery speeches that eventually get people killed.

So moving on, Juniper still thinks she's a witch and that she has magic powers and can cast spells. So she casts a "spell" and tells everyone that if anyone is mean to or threatens or physically harms Matti, (The Protector's daughter whom they have under house arrest), that some ancient boogey-man will rise out of the ground or the oceans and get them. Honestly if I was there I'd walk up to the kid and yell in her face that I was gonna kick her ass, then turn to Juniper and say, "Okay I threatened her, when does your boogey-man get here?" Just to keep driving home the fact that she does NOT have magic powers and that she is just a figurehead that is kept around to be pulled out of storage when we need to motivate people to do something that is in their best interest but they're too stupid to realize it. Much like the Queen of England is right now.

So then the Protector's wife shows up at a city that is in neutral territory in order to negotiate for trade routes and the release of her daughter. And once again the main characters have ANOTHER opportunity to stop the coming war dead in its tracks before it even starts, but they manage to not realize it and mess up their opportunity. Just wait until she is outside of the neutral city with her little entourage, attack and kill everyone in her party but her, and hold her hostage and threaten to kill her if the Protector goes forward with his planned war. And then DO IT when he does, then send him his wife's severed head in a box along with this message to him: "You didn't listen and now your wife is dead because of your own ego driven stupidity. If you continue this aggressive military action, we will do the same to your daughter." Name me one man on this planet who wouldn't immediately order his forces to retreat after receiving a threat like that?

But no, Astrid, Juniper and Lord Bear are too naïve to actually use this opportunity to their advantage and the Protector's wife uses her personal assassin to kill the one man who could actually PROVE that the Protector IS planning a coming war, thus the three leaders of these groups look like completely incompetent morons throwing around accusations that they can't back up with proof, no one believes them and the Protector's men continue with their plans to invade in a few months.

Page 353 What exactly is a "notional border?" Again, no spell check?

S.M. Stirling just isn't very good at writing large epic battles scenes. His battle scenes are just boring and repetitive to the point where you can honestly just start skipping pages. The author's descriptions of a battle scene pretty much boils down to this: Okay, they use this attack formation, other guys have this kind of artillery. The attack fails, they bring out their own artillery, Astrid orders a charge and yells something in elvish..." You can honestly skim over most of the battle scenes because you're not missing anything.

The only time you need to read the description of a battle is when Lord Bear goes one on one with the Protector. And big surprise they both kill each other and the war is over. Great, so the one interesting character in the whole series, (Lord Bear) is dead. Then the Protector's wife takes over leadership of his army and they promise to pull back and they negotiate a peace treaty with Juniper.

So then we get the obligatory funeral scene where Lord Bear is buried and then Juniper speaks at his funeral. She confesses to everyone that she loved him. How do you figure!?! You had a one night stand with him almost ten years ago! And after that you only saw him once every six months or so for like one hour at a time and those times were basically town council meetings! I've got a closer relationship with my financial advisor whom I see roughly three times a year than she had with Lord Bear!

You can also just skip the epilogue. It's just another long pointless description, this time it's of Juniper and Nigel's wedding.

***END SPOILERS*** ***END SPOILERS*** ***END SPOILERS***

I am so glad this trilogy is over, I don't know how much more of this I could take! The first book was pretty good, the second book was okay, this one was pretty much just filler and it felt like the author was just running out of steam in this one.

I may give the works of S.M. Stirling another chance one day, but probably not for a long time. I know there are other books in this series, but I just have no desire to read any of them, or any interest in any of these characters that will keep me coming back for more.

If you really want something GOOD from this author, go check out his Terminator trilogy. That was awesome! This series was just lame and a chore to get through. The author does know a lot about medieval culture, and combat, I will give him that much. But that's not enough to carry an entire series. His storylines and characters just aren't very interesting to read about.

A Meeting at Corvallis (2006) is the third SF novel in the Change series, following The Protector's War. In the previous volume, Signe Havel offered to buy a maddened horse for Rudi MacKenzie, but the owner refused to sell the mare. Rudi climbed into the corral, faced down the horse, mounted her and rode away over fence and hedge into the distance.

Eddie Liu led his band in an ambush of Clan MacKenzie coming back from a parlay, killed several, and took Rudi hostage. Juniper cursed Eddie and then alliance forces killed each and every one of the ambush party. The Clan MacKenzie celebrated Samhain with a death rite and asked the gods for assistance in the coming war.

In this novel, the Dunedain Rangers kill a bandit gang and take their leader -- a Protectorate knight -- to Corvallis as evidence of PPA machinations. They stash the knight in Hatfield & Hatfield's lockup under guard and go visit the PPA representative to arrange ransom for his return.

Seemingly by chance, Sandra Arminger is onhand to negotiate for the release of the knight. She offers to pay the ransom herself and then talks them down to a reasonable compromise. Later, she sends her vassel knight Tiphaine to assassinate the captured knight.

Tiphaine is rudely surprised when four Dunedain Rangers ambush her in the warehouse. To their surprise, she gets away, but not without injuries. The Rangers were expecting a rescue attempt, but not a murder to keep the knight from talking.

The Corvallis police and the Faculty Senate are rather upset at the murder and tend to blame the Rangers for the bloodshed. This upsets the realists among the Corvallis citizenry. The whole situation makes rather clear the ruthlessness of the PPA to those who are not blinded by the cover stories.

In this story, the MacKenzies and the Bearkillers prepare for war. Even Rudi MacKenzie and Mathilda Arminger practice archery with the others of their age. Mathilda is becoming quite good with the bow, but still not as good as Rudi.

The Bearkiller militia are practiced in war games against the A-lister cavalry. The practice is so realistic that the medics stand by to treat the inevitable injuries. At least none are killed in training accidents.

Juniper MacKenzie and Mike Havel go to Corvallis to try to talk the Faculty Senate into providing forces in the upcoming conflict. The Senate is indecisive, but a few of the landowners have some serious talks with the alliance leaders. Major Jones is also agreeable with the idea of a mutual defense treaty.

This story finally relates the start of the war between the PPA and the Williamette Valley alliance. Three PPA columns move out to besiege the monks at Mount Angel and to attack the MacKenzies and the Bearkiller Outfit. The Corvallis Faculty Senate decides to stay out of this war.

This tale is enjoyable, but the plot is starting to become stale; there is an element of sameness to the storyline. While the details are interesting in themselves, one yearns for something radically different to happen. However, this is the concluding volume in the first trilogy, so the story provides enough excitement to keep the reader involved to the very end.

About the ending: so far every volume flirts with fantasy, especially in the concluding chapter. Juniper Mackenzie is a witch and believes deeply in her religion, so the visions and other signs may just be wishful thinking and self-hypnosis. On the other hand, someone or something very powerful brought about the Change. Was it God or an entity with much the same powers?

This is not the last volume in the series. The initial volume of the second trilogy -- The Sunrise Lands -- explores the results of the Change further east. Look for it!

Recommended for Stirling fans and for anyone else who enjoys tales of the destruction of civilization as we know it.

-Arthur W. Jordin

A great concept Trilogy that started off with an awesome first book (Dies the Fire) that sputtered with (The Protector's War) and ended with a very unsatisfactory (Meeting at Corvallis).

The writing was still sharp and crisp and some scenes were very captivating but I kept waiting for that amazement and sense of joy that I felt from the first book to be achieved in this one.

Unfortunately, it never happened and I was left feeling what could have been an amazing trilogy.

Definitely Read the first book of the series but I would skip the next two.

This book winds up the "ASB's destroy powered civilization, aka The Change" trilogy, which began with DIES THE FIRE (2004). CORVALLIS has moments, but is heavily padded: a Really Dumb space-filler plot-driver features musical-chairs kidnapping of the Bad Protector and Good Witch's kids. Chase scenes follow, la la la.... Bah. The writing continues better than competent, with some good 'n' bloody battles, but perhaps more about Oregon scenery than you will really want to read. Same crappy map, too. There's more than a hint of Gwen Drakon's steely elegance in Sandra Arminger, the Protector's consort. Did I mention the Hot Lesbian Sex, featuring a scary Spetsnatz lesbo-commando?

Not one of his better efforts -- though there's a fine novella here struggling to get out.... <G>

OK, maybe I'm being a little hard on Steve -- I did have fun reading this -- well, sorta kinda, when I wasn't being annoyed with all the goddam PADDING. So YMMV (weasel, weasel).

"It's a sin to waste the reader's time" -- Larry Niven.

Happy reading--

Peter D. Tillman

The third in the series does not disappoint the fans. I was particularly happy to see some attention paid to Corvallis. Although clearly not Mr. Sterling's favorite, it is the only government in the trilogy which has any chance to retain a Republic with a true democratic system. The citizens of Corvallis are making a real attempt to hang onto the hard won centuries of progress and not slide into feudalism or superstition like many of our protagonists in the story (Arminger, Havel, Juniper, Astrid). The battle against the Protector is well done. I did find it hard to believe that many of the pre-Change population could have so thoroughly regressed into a feudal mentality but I guess that is the perogative of a science fiction writer. Kudos to Mr. Sterling. I hope to see more spin offs in the future. If so I really hope we see the gradual advance out of feudal mentality and into a 19th century style economy offset with a 20th century knowledge layover and political system.

Well, the first book was interesting, the second tolerable, but the final one is terrible. Heavily padded - we know the details of every meal eaten, and every journey has several long lists of local flora and fauna. The armor of nearly every important character is described again and again. Even small things are repeated endlessly - every time a character in armor hugs or is hugged we get a reminder of the armor (which generally was described a page or two back).
There continues to be no explanation of The Change, other than hints of a divine origin. Given that the basic laws of physics have been severely tampered with, this is not very satisfactory. And still, most characters seem relatively uninterested in the reasons for the Change. A bit of bad pseudo-physics is given but only annoys.
There are long, long battles and duels, described in painful detail which slows the action to a crawl.
The end is not bad, although the hints of things to come are painfully obvious.
Sigh...if you were intriged by the premise in the first, and slogged through the second, save yourself. Don't buy this book.

Very well written, give one pause to think about just how dependent we are on technology and... just would happen if civilization and the "social order" ere to be thrown into a tailspin?
The series is on-going (ol SM is writing like a demon).... I don't think the later books are not quite as good as the first three, (a little too drawn out) but if you like a LOT of detail.....

I happened across "The Protector's War" while at the library last spring, but read "Dies the Fire" prior to it once I realized it was the second book in a series. I have since read all three books in this series as well as the three books in the Nantucket trilogy.

I found "A Meeting at Corvallis" to be a fine end to this trilogy that leaves things generally wrapped up yet open enough to allow for the next planned trilogy set a couple decades later. Unlike "The Protector's War" which featured no such war, this book does feature a meeting at Corvallis. Technically, there is a meeting at Corvallis which is pretty short, and also references to regular planned future meetings at Corvallis at the end of the book. I can't help but wonder though whether Stirling named this and the prior book before he finished writing them, each time not quite hitting what he thought the main plot element would be.

It was great to see the characters again, and while the loss of a key one at the end was sad, it was handled well and gave an exit that was fitting for the character as developed.

Very well written, give one pause to think about just how dependent we are on technology and... just would happen if civilization and the "social order" ere to be thrown into a tailspin?
The series is on-going (ol SM is writing like a demon).... I don't think the later books are not quite as good as the first three, (a little too drawn out) but if you like a LOT of detail.....

I happened across "The Protector's War" while at the library last spring, but read "Dies the Fire" prior to it once I realized it was the second book in a series. I have since read all three books in this series as well as the three books in the Nantucket trilogy.

I found "A Meeting at Corvallis" to be a fine end to this trilogy that leaves things generally wrapped up yet open enough to allow for the next planned trilogy set a couple decades later. Unlike "The Protector's War" which featured no such war, this book does feature a meeting at Corvallis. Technically, there is a meeting at Corvallis which is pretty short, and also references to regular planned future meetings at Corvallis at the end of the book. I can't help but wonder though whether Stirling named this and the prior book before he finished writing them, each time not quite hitting what he thought the main plot element would be.

It was great to see the characters again, and while the loss of a key one at the end was sad, it was handled well and gave an exit that was fitting for the character as developed.

I really enjoy this series. It's a ripping yarn. It's one of those books I carry around at lunch and dinner so I can get in a few extra pages while I eat. It's that good.

However.

In the second book of a trilogy a MacGuffin gets introduced, gets referred to as being Very Very Important six or seven times, and the main characters gain the ability to use it at the very end of the book. For that MacGuffin to not get mentioned at all in the next book until page 168, and then get dismissed with a casual "Oh, it wasn't that useful after all; too bad this is real life and not A STORY, where something like this could foil the enemy's plans"...what the heck??? I can't make up my mind whether it's just really bad plotting or insulting to the readers or both. 'Amazingly poorly handled' is probably the best thing I can say about it.

The story begun in Dies the Fire and continued in The Protector's War comes to a temporary close in this book. ("Temporary" because Mr Stirling is already working on a second trilogy, which begins a dozen years after the end of this one.) Arminger's Portland Protective Association is finally bringing the long-promised war to Havel's Bearkillers, Mackenzie's clan, and the monks of Mt Angel, but the faculty at Corvallis are still refusing to dedigitate. Well-written fights abound, ranging from single combat to large battles involving several thousand soldiers. Who will win? Who will survive?

Stirling's eye for detail provides some fascinating passages, and new character Tiphaine Rutherton is one of my favourites in the entire series. All in all, Stirling's best so far, and a series most highly recommended.

This book was a nice conclusion to the series. At times it became a bit tedioius but that is to be expected with a world such as this that has been well developed. Very enjoyable and worth reading. There are enough threads left hanging that hopefully the story will continue.

This is the third in a trilogy starting with Dies the Fire then The Protector's War. These three constitute a single complete story and you should read them in order. The same world plus a decade or so will be in a future trilogy. If you like Stirling this is one of his best. If yoy haven't read him before, he writes stories that show new societies being formed out of the collapse of old societies or the intrusion of a new group into a more primative society. This trilogy is one of the former killing off 95+% of the human race in the first book. The setup is that some off stage Enity with at least weakly deitific power has stopped the machinery, cut off the electicity, and stops the guns from going bang. The scene is mostly western Oregon. The protaganists are period geek reenactor with monomanical and sadistic tendancies, a former Marine NCO who becomes Lord Bearkiller, and a Wiccan folksinger who forms her own clan. This book ties up the plot lines neatly, plays fair with the reader and also surprises one. What's not to like?

Superbly written dialogue, characters that leap off the page, and action sequences that make the heart pound and the blood race are all combined in a reveting story that proceeds flawlessly to bring supremely fitting closure to the first tale of a new world in the making. For any fans of tales of daring, swashbuckling romances, struggles of the oppressed against black evil, or heroic sagas in general, this is a must read.

Guaranteed to keep you on the edge of your chair from first page to last, it's definitely a don't-put-it-down-until-you're-finished kind of book.

A Meeting at Corvalis draws all the loose ends from the previouse two books into a tightly woven, and unexpected, conclusion while involving all participating factions in intense mental and physical battles right up to the last page. I found myself spell bound as this story grew closer to the end with no apparent way for the Bearkiller and McClintock Clans to win over the ever present threats of domination from the North. Very enjoyable reading.

"A Meeting At Corvallis" concludes the "Dies the Fire" trilogy in a manner that left me completely satisfied with the ending yet eagerly awaiting the next trilogy. As with all the books in the trilogy, Mr Stirling writes well researched, descriptive prose that bring detailed mental pictures when read. In fact, some of the scenes in "A Meeting At Corvallis" are set in an area where I grew up. They are so well written that I was picturing them in my mind as I read them, without tripping over things such as roads and hills in the wrong place, etc. Almost like a set of dual memories.

A definite MUST read (again).

I used to find Stirlings work entertaining after a fashion. However His working is begining to become the same material rehashed over and over. It is always lesbians and alternative heros, some SCA, ARMA or Neo-pagan or stooge managing to defeat all comers like some mythic warrior hero. This would be OK if he set his books in a Mythic world, but he does not. The whole Corvallis series was just trite. The World ends and the only survivors capable of putting together a military or Government are a bunch of neo-pagan, SCA, HAKA, and ARMA folks. I am familiar with these loosers. I find this highly doubtful unless along with suspension of the laws of nature all the military types in the world dissapeared also. Like I infered it was fresh and interesting at first. In the Nantucket series, and OK in 1632,but now it is done to death find a new schtick.

Sincerely Joe

I don't understand how anyone could give this book a rating anywhere over 2. The average rating for this book is over 4 stars. I checked and THE LORD OF THE RINGS, DUNE, ENDERS GAME and THE GRAPES OF WRATH just to mention a few have the same rating. No way this book should be rated the same as those classics. The things that really bother me about this book and the whole series for that matter.

1. Accepting the basic premise that there's a blinding flash of light and the laws of nature change causing life to revert back to feudal times. As an American and I don't believe that America would vanish so

completely. Americans love America and they would not let it die. I didn't

understand the author's take on this until I looked up the authors bio. Once I saw that he wasn't an American it made more sense.

2. The time line makes no sense. I don't believe in only 9 years that these societies would have evolved so far.

3. As a combat veteran I find it totally ridiculous that in 9 years you would have warriors so proficient in the use of swords, fighting with bows, with lances on horseback. It is not possible. And the charactor of Astrid. She must be green because she's more deadly then the Hulk. The greatest rider,bow shot, sword fighter and tactician. She's thinks she's a Ranger. I've read the RINGS so many times since I was a kid and the Rangers didn't walk around like Astrid constantly boasting, telling people how good she is how she was going to kill them. She's closer to Boramir. Another blatant theme the bad guys are stupid and always lose despite always having all the advantages. since the good guys always win the book has no suspense. I thought it was boring.

With all due respect to the work involved in creating such a novel, this felt like a lot of padding and full of tangents until he could wrap it up in four or five chapters at the end. It was interesting, but didn't seem as inventive as the first two volumes.

Finally it seems Stirling got some correct information on Willamette Valley geography, but the botanical mistakes jar this Oregonian. It's really hard to get into either the plot or the characters when a reader comes to things that are just plain wrong. For instance, Indian plum blooms in February, not May. Peonies and rhododendrons bloom in May, not later in the year and late azaleas might be blooming in July, but certainly not September 22nd. As a further note, filberts are currently dying of Eastern Filbert Blight and without the spraying that we filbert growers have been doing for the last 10 years, most would be dead north of Salem. While I enjoyed this book, I would hope that Stirling would either write about where he lives or do more research.

There's only one thing wrong with the trilogy that ends with "Meeting." And that is it is only a trilogy. And there's only one thing wrong with Steve Sterling as an author - he doesn't turn out a new book every three weeks.

If you are thinking about buying this book, stop thinking and fork over the cash. You'll be glad you listened to me.

A most satisfying end to an incredible series. Stirling does a credible job of weaving the story to conclusion, tying up loose ends whilst still leaving the reader wanting more. A MUST READ for S. M Stirling fans!

a great ending to the series. the author is very imaginative. I wasnt prepared for my favorite character to die. I didnt think that the story took a long time to get into gear as one of the editorial reviews said, I thought that the detail was necessary to flesh out the story.