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The Scourge of God: A Novel of the Change
The Scourge of God: A Novel of the Change
The Scourge of God: A Novel of the Change
Audiobook18 hours

The Scourge of God: A Novel of the Change

Written by S. M. Stirling

Narrated by Todd McLaren

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

4/5

()

About this audiobook

Rudi MacKenzie continues his trek across the land that was once the United States of America. His destination: Nantucket, where he hopes to learn the truth behind the Change that rendered technology across the globe inoperable.

During his travels, Rudi forges ties with new allies in the continuing war against the Prophet, who teaches his followers that God has punished humanity by destroying technological civilization. And one fanatical officer in the Sword of the Prophet has been dispatched on a mission: to stop Rudi from reaching his destination by any means necessary.
LanguageEnglish
Release dateOct 13, 2008
ISBN9781400176823
The Scourge of God: A Novel of the Change
Author

S. M. Stirling

Steven “S.M.” Stirling is a writer by trade, born in France but Canadian by origin and American by naturalization, living in New Mexico. His hobbies are mostly related to the craft of writing. He loves history, anthropology, and archaeology, as well as interest in the sciences. Steven has published over 40 novels, at least 5 of which are New York Times bestsellers and he has won awards including the Dragon Award for his novel, Black Chamber. Steven has been a Writers of the Future Judge since 2021.

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Reviews for The Scourge of God

Rating: 4.076923076923077 out of 5 stars
4/5

13 ratings7 reviews

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  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    The second is Stirling's latest Emberverse series, this book follows up on The Sunrise Lands. I like the way this series is shaping up. I understand it's to be a four book series following Rudi and his fellow adventurers as they quest eastward. It's unusual for Stirling to cover such a short amount of time in each book; usually it's all sweeping epics. I think he writes well either way, and I appreciate the change of pace. Although I didn't feel as though the plot moved a ton, the characters are becoming well developed and delightful. (I especially love Alyward's kid.) The cliffhanger at the end was an "oh drat" moment, but it wasn't absolutely obnoxious, the way some can be. My biggest complaint is that it was so short. I felt a little ripped-off. Maybe I shouldn't have read the chapters Stirling released on his website. It was practically half the book! I tried to re-read those when I got the hardcopy, but ended up skimming until I got to the point where they left off. Maybe the next one will be longer.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    The Scourge of God by S. M. StirilingThe gods have tasked Rudi Mackenzie with a task. He must claim a sword across the country in Nantucket and return home. He and his companions set out across a hostile countryside, facing wasteland lands and the fanatic cutters. Stirling stirs the soul. I find his writing captivating and enthralling. His hero’s embody both realism and astounding strength of character. The modesty and self depreciation of Rudi is contrasted with the self centeredness of Odard. Even Odard appears to be coming less odious. Ingolf is battling his personal demons and still manages to maintain his self respect and personal restraint when faced with the tantalizing Mary. Heroism does not escape unscathed. Stirling does not hesitate to kill off characters or maim them to further the story line. Considering I am generally reading at least three books simultaneously, Stirling is able to enthrall me to the point of charging through his work. Not many authors do that to me. This is the second of an excellent saga of the Change a post-apocalypse society. (or 5 of a continuing story) This book gives some incite as to what caused the fall of society as we know it. I highly recommend the book.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Rudi McKenzie and party go east on their quest for the magic sword at Nantucket... Nine is a canonical number, isn't it? This post-apocalyptic journey across America is a great adventure, with evil inquisitors and good witches and Indian tribes and bandits and lions and buffalo. There are hints that some magic might be coming in to replace the lost technologies. But it's not for the uninitiated. It's the middle of a trilogy, that is a sequel to another trilogy. Don't bother unless you're familiar with the series.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Excellent extention of the story Of the Change. Ending abrupt and predictable. Hopefully, because the next volume will soon be available. Characters getting numerous enough to consider including a lst.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    The reasons this tale does not get higher is that the more the author pens, the less consistent his world view seems. Our heroes who are undefeatable and will never die it seems have the laws of the world they know only change to support them.It causes us to lose the drama and conflict that we should expect, that we had in the first series. Here the bad guys from that are good guys and we are kept being shown just how nice they are now. The new bad guys are so bad that they have anti-heroes that are undead. Cut their heads off and they still fight undead. So we have a series that once you might suspend your disbelieve in a world where there were changes to the laws of physics to allow for the regression to the medieval non scientific world that Stirling presents. Now we have gone beyond that as we travel across all the US and find similar Rancher Sheriff societies that we have seen before, but each with its view on religion and the gods that they worship, including the Roman Catholic parts we are familiar with, coming to influence in reality these characters. We have a world where the gods man created to survive the time where science has been destroyed, are now real rather then rationalized for our minds to handle things we generally can not handle. That is, until the last chapter where factories and science works again. The story is not worthy of a reread and only worthy of reading if you are caught up in the universe Stirling has created. The holes are becoming bigger then even the author can keep track of. Without the Zombie robot killers, the Many Gods by region Living, and the laws of physics selectively working, this series would have been as good as the first, or even the Island in the Sea of Time series.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    The adventure continues as the band recovers in the Tetons and makes their way to Iowa. It's an enjoyable story, full of more creative possibilities about a future world based on the past.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    12/11 I'm bumping this up to four stars. The second reading left me less concerned with plot progression, and more willing to luxuriate in the world that Stirling's made. Yes, there's no doubt that Rudi is going to triumph in every situation, but it's because he's Hero Incarnate. It's a lovely escape, and a wonderfully convincing dystopia.

    12/10 Another solid entry in the Emberverse saga, this book takes Rudi Makenzie and his cohorts deep into the middle of what used to be the United States. Their adventures are grueling and (need I say it?) gruesome.

    3.5 stars, really. A lot of interior monologues keep this from being quite as gripping as its predecessors. Also, there begins to be a sameness, a muchness to the plotlines. This does not hinder my desire to finish the series, however. The characters are strong, likable and most important of all, interesting. I care what happens to them, and I'm interested in seeing what will happen in Nantucket- I so hope we get to Nantucket in the next book.