The Given Sacrifice: Emberverse Series, Book 10

This book was not quite what I'd expected. I had figured it to be the final book in the series, with the very long story of Rudi's struggles against the Dark Power finally coming to an end. And so it is... and then Stirling goes on and sets up the next arc, and hands the protagonist's slot over to Rudi's daughter Orlaith. So now I know I have at least another 3 or 4 books in this universe to look forward to!As far as the story itself goes, this is mostly winding down Rudi's arc; we see the liberation of Boise and the destruction of the CUT's home base (and, not so incidentally, the Prophet who is the main vehicle for the Dark Power), and there's a visit to one of the scattered mini-cultures that was briefly mentioned several books back. This one is based around a troop of Boy Scouts (with, conveniently, an associated troop of Girl Scouts) who were stranded by the Change in the middle of Yellowstone Park. There were a few adults along to guide them during the early Change Years, and Scouting's emphasis on handicrafts and wilderness skills has served them well; they have a small but viable settlement, and are far from the strangest culture to evolve in the post-Change world. The final third of the book does some skating over "and then there are a couple of decades of peace and prosperity while Orlaith grows up" before tossing Rudi and Orlaith into an encounter with a small group of Japanese explorers and... but that would be a spoiler. :-)There are one or two minor but annoying errors in the book, the sort of thing an editor should have caught. The pre-Change capital of Montana is not Billings but Helena; and perfect pitch is not "the ability to reproduce a note when it is sung to you" -- that's just having a good ear. However, these are mere quibbles in what is otherwise a worthy end to this part of the story line.Note: This is definitely NOT the book to start reading the series with! If you want the full explanation of Stirling's universe, start from the beginning with Dies the Fire. If you're okay with falling into an established story and picking up background as you go along, Rudi's arc starts with The Sunrise Lands.

S.M. Stirling's novels of the Change are an interesting blend of sociology, medieval and pre-industrial history, and alternative reality speculative fiction. The Given Sacrifice ends the saga of the second generation of history after the Change, when "the lights went out" and electricity and internal combustion engines (and a few other inventions) stop working when a few specific laws of nature decide to start working differently.The Given Sacrifice, the 10th novel, does a good job of ending this "Generation 2" cycle of the Change series. The novel is written in two parts. The first completes the epic struggles and battles of the newly formed kingdom of Montival against the "Cutters." It is the story of Rudi MacKenzie and his generation of "Changlings." This part of the novel is a war on several fronts, and the conflicts of the earlier novels weave together to a satisfying, lance-sword-and-arrow bloodifying climax. Part 2 provides a long denouement where each faction and group of significant lesser characters are seen moving toward the fulfillment of their cultural and personal desires. This may seem overmuch, but after seven books of sighs and articulations of what peacetime will be like, it is fulfilling to see closure. Besides, after the multiple endings of The Lord of the Rings, a "what's happening in the kingdom now" ending is canonical tradition.Of course, the title The Given Sacrifice provides a clear prophesy of what's going to happen to poor old Rudi, King Artos I. This is no spoiler. He's told several times in earlier novels about his early sacrifice for his people and country, he recollects aloud this several times in the novel, and--by golly--Artos and Stirling (and the gods or Powers) aren't just jerking our chain. The appeal of the ending isn't the unexpected turn of events; its Stirling's ability to provide detail to create both stirring action and authentic pathos that makes the ending worthy of seven books' worth of build-up.And, incidentally, we are introduced to Princess Orlaith, Rudi's eldest child, and beckoned through Stirling's keyboard to the adventures of Generation 3 of the Change, introduced by the novel The Golden Princess, already available for purchase. The saga continues!

Really rather enjoyed this, the previous book didnt really move the story on very much- this one moves us considerably further and introduces the next generation of changelings. I dont know whether this is supposed to be the last of the series, in some ways it felt like it with a lot of loose ends being tied up- but the ending is left open for more books. It does have a few of the general problems of the series- Stirlings lesbian obsession for example (and rather unpleasant treatment of most male gay characters - but at least Rigobert de Stafford FINALLY gets a boyfriend in this one). I was also expecting the final showdown at Corwin to be a little more apocalyptic. Overall though this is almost up to the standards of the earlier books.

This story tells the events following the creation of the high kingdom and the final confrontation with the CUT.As ever the characters are believable and you care about what's happening.However - an this is why it does not get 5 after the confrontation with the prophet at Corwin the follow up is a bit like the third volume of Lord of the Rings with a series of stories while Orlaith grows up leading to the set up for the "next Generation".I think it would have worked better to deal with the aftermath of the victory and i am sure there would have been a lot of stories which could have been told. If you have read the other change novels this is a must read but for a new reader it might be difficult to "get into" . .

I just read the Given Sacrifice. It nicly ties up the story. If you, as I have done , read all the others in the series it is ofcourse a must. The story is thight but there should be a continuationWhat is going to happen the eagle scouts and the Japanese ? We are promised a continuation set maybe 20 years later S.M says on his homepage. I would like to se maybe 10 years after this one.The details are very good , one realy gets a feeling of being present. What I really would like is a better map, ofcourse this being a regular complaint of mine. It would not, whith a long series like this, do any harm to have list of persons. The main persons you remeber but if a person turn up in one book and then two books later it takes a while for me to remeber him.However its a very good book so hurry up an buy it!

This episode in the saga tries to wrap up some of the threads in the storyline, but left me feeling that there should be much more to come in the future. I hope Steve Stirling will continue to develop this epic tale and tell us more about the wider world beyond Montival.

The Change books are very good, but the author does include a lot of padding - maybe he gets paid by the page - but don't mind me, I'm an old cynic.