S. M. Stirling

In the tenth year of The Change, the survivors in western Oregon have learned how to live in a world without technology. But a confrontation between the forces of those who would rebuild the world peacefully and the feared Protector, who will use whatever means at his command to extend his power, threatens to plunge the entire region into open warfare.

Focusing on the Vaiden family of northern Alabama, The Forge depicts "the changes forced on life in the South by the war and its aftermath."--Intro., p.x.

The adventures of an interplanetary con man. He is Myron Tany, a young sailor on a tramp cargo vessel. He journeys from one exotic world to another, turning a buck and breaking hearts. By the author of Night Lamp.

What it means to be a warrior has become a pertinent issue of our time. What makes some men and women perform extraordinary deeds on the battlefield? What makes them risk their lives in the pursuit of victory? And do their successes or failures in combat bring them happiness, melancholy, or fulfillment? Max Hastings's "authority [and] humanity" in depicting "the realities of combat" (Alistair Horne, The Wall Street Journal) has been greatly praised on the release of his previous book, Armageddon, which documented the last eight months in the European theater of World War II. In Warriors, Hastings takes up the experience of fourteen soldiers and airmen, together with one remarkable sailor, who fought in the wars of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, portraying their triumphs, follies, and, sometimes, tragedies. We meet Baron Marbot, an exuberant cavalry officer who joined Napoleon's army at the age of seventeen and fought through Waterloo in a happy and shameless pursuit of glory; paratrooper "Slim Jim" Gavin, an orphan who enlisted in World War II to escape his miserable boyhood and went on to become America's youngest general since Custer; Nancy Wake, a dashing Australian who fought for the resistance in Nazi-occupied France; Avigdor Kahalani, an Israeli officer hideously burned in the Six-Day War, who, six years later, was one of the tank commanders who saved his country during the defense of the Golan Heights in the Yom Kippur War. Each of Hastings's pen portraits depicts a unique and remarkable human story. A tribute to the valor of these fighters and a searching study of combat in modern history, Warriors enhances our understanding of the hearts and minds of the people who serve in war. It is also an appealing book for the reader who is drawn to tales of heroism, human drama, and some of the most exotic characters of modern times.From the Hardcover edition.

It's spring on Nantucket and everything is perfectly normal, until a sudden storm blankets the entire island. When the weather clears, the island's inhabitants find that they are no longer in the late twentieth century...but have been transported instead to the Bronze Age! Now they must learn to survive with suspicious, warlike peoples they can barely understand and deal with impending disaster, in the shape of a would-be conqueror from their own time.

Stirling's charming second pastiche of 1930s planetary romances (after 2006's The Sky People) moves from Venus to Mars, where different Terran factions vie to pick up the pieces of the Tollamune emperor's shattered realm. Archeologist Jeremy Wainman, sent by the U.S. Aerospace Force to explore the lost city of Rema-Dza, promptly falls in love with Martian mercenary Teyud za-Zhalt; no surprise that she turns out to be heir to the long-vanished Crimson Dynasty, or that they rush off to thwart an attempt to usurp the Ruby Throne. Soon they find themselves fighting a pack of feral airship engines and questing after the invisible crown of the first emperor. Stirling successfully creates a truly alien environment (Rugs crawled to envelop the feet), and his flair for the dramatic and obvious affection for the Mars of Burroughs, Brackett and Bradbury almost make up for his inclusion of pirates with eye patches, heavily armored guards riding fat-tired, self-propelled unicycles and other moments of near-parody.

"Rudi Mackenize, now Artos the First, High King of Montival, and his allies have won several key battles against the Church Universal and Triumphant. But still the war rages on, taking countless lives, ravaging the land once known as the United States of America. Artos and his Queen, Mathilda, must unite the realms into a single kingdom to ensure a lasting peace. If the leaders of the Changed world are to accept Artos as their ruler, he will need to undertake a quest to the Lake at the Heart of the Mountains, and take part in a crowning ceremony--a ceremony binding him to his people, his ancestors, and his land. Then, once he has secured his place and allegiances, Artos can go forward, and lead his forces to the heart of the enemy's territory..."--

Against the Tide of Years continues the adventures of the Nantucket residents who have been transported through time to the Bronze Age. In the years since their arrival, the fledging Republic of Nantucket has striven to better the primitive world in which they now exist. Their prime concerns are establishing a constitution and handling the waves of immigrants from the British Isles. But a renegade time traveler plans his own future by forging an empire for himself based on conquest by modern technology. The Republic has no alternative but to face the inevitable war brought on by one of their own....

"S. M. Stirling's Novels of the Change are a "truly original combination of postapocalyptic sci-fi and military-oriented medieval fantasy" about a future where mysterious Powers removed advanced technology, and humanity rebuilds society. However, this new world is not always a peaceful one ... The spirit of troubadour Prince John, the brother of Crown Princess Orlaith, has fallen captive to the power of the Yellow Raja and his servant, the Pallid Mask. Prince John's motley band of friends and followers--headed by Captain Pip of Townsville and Deor Godulfson--must lead a quest through realms of shadow and dreams to rescue Prince John from a threat far worse than death. Meanwhile, across the sea, Japanese Empress Reiko and Órlaith, heir to the High Kingdom of Montival, muster their kingdoms for war, making common cause with the reborn Kingdom of Hawaii. But more than weapons or even the dark magic of the sorcerers of Pyongyang threaten them; Orlaith's lover, Alan Thurston, might be more than he appears. From the tropical waters off Hilo and Pearl Harbor, to the jungles and lost cities of the Ceram Sea, a game will be played where the fate of the world is at stake. Kirkus Reviews"--