Dies the Fire - SM Stirling

At 6:15PM on March 17th, 1998, an electromagnetic pulse of unknown origin knocked out every modern technology - planes fell from the skies, car engines cut out, electrical sub-stations stopped working, telephone services went down, and the electronic age ended in an instant. Whatever, or whoever, caused the Change also changed the laws of nature - gunpowder no longer explodes, rending firearms useless, and steam can no longer power an engine. The authors of the Change are unknown, their motives similarly mysterious, and for those who survive the struggle to stay alive is considerably more pressing than determining their identities.
Dies the Fire follows the fates of two groups of survivors in the first year after the Change - former marine-turned-pilot Michael Havel, and Wiccan High Priestess Juniper Mackenzie. Though very different in style and in followers, both protagonists have similar aims - to settle in a safe, arable part of Oregon and create a civilised, well-defender community. But as the country is stalked by plague, cannibals, and gangs of marauding criminals who use might to enslave and destroy communities. In Portland a history professor has taken control and created a neo-feudal system with him at the top.
One clear theme throughout the book (which is both the first in a series and a companion work to another Stirling trilogy ) is the effect leadership has on its community. Though Havel and Juniper have the same intent, the communities they develop are substantially different in style - Havel's is militaristic, with strong discipline and an emphasis on all able-bodied members contributing to protection and armed defence. Juniper's Celtic heritage, the source of her Wiccan faith, leads her to adopt an extended family approach that stresses long term maintenance of education and provisions. Similar to both groups is moral fortitude and a recognition that changing times mean changing what is and is not acceptable.
The exploration of how well nations as a whole and individuals would survive the sudden loss of so much we take for granted is thought-provoking and well crafted. There is strong recognition of the role that members of unappreciated groups - like creative anachronism societies, farmers and historians - would play in this new world.
The detail is meticulous, from the (many) fight scenes to the impact of day to day life. I often felt hungry while reading Dies the Fire, and found myself eating carrots and other fresh fruit and vegetables (and longing for newly baked bread), in sync with Juniper's cravings. I also found myself appreciating being able, despite Victoria's water restrictions, to take a shower in water that I didn't have to heat myself.
I liked that my expectation that these two would unite and create a pair bond was not (exactly) met, and found this typical of how Stirling manages to eschew predictability. I felt profoundly irritated by the one Australian representative:

That you in the Ned Kelly suit, Eric-me-lad?... Who're you cobbers? S'truth, it's good to see yer! C'mon in and have a heart starter - we're a bit short of tucker, but there's some neck oil left.

but he mercifully left the scene shortly thereafter; and I could have done without the lengthy extracts from songs and poems, and the heavy sprinkling of Celtic sayings that permeate the text, but was involved enough in the tale that despite its length (almost 500 pages) I'm heading straight back to the library for both book two and the first in the companion series. - Alex

The Emberverse novels of the change:
1. Dies the Fire
2. The Protector's War
3. A Meeting at Corvallis
4. The Sunrise Lands
5. The Scourge of God
6. The Sword of the Lady
7. The High King of Montival