The Desert and the Blade
By S. M. Stirling (Ace, ISBN: 978-0451417350)
Melding of many cultures and traditions
Review by Lawrence I. Charters, December 26, 2015
The historian in me has a great many reservations about this latest novel in this lengthy series, but the reader and fan finds it a delight. Sterling seems intent on turning his post-Apocalypse series into an ethnic and cultural stew even more diverse and astonishing than American society, and that is ambitious.
The Desert and the Blade is the 12th book covering an alternate universe in which the modern world came to an ending in 1998. With no warning at all, and with no identifiable cause, the laws of physics changed, eliminating electricity, internal combustion engines, gunpowder and pretty much any power that wasn’t provided by muscle, wind or water. From the ashes, a world with decided medieval overtones developed, and through eleven novels and several wars and many battles, the Pacific Northwest found peace in a new High Kingdom.
The peace is shattered at the end of the 11th novel when the High King is murdered, and his daughter, Órlaith, Crown Princess of Montival, teams up with Reiko, Empress of Japan, to seek out a weapon that can combat the supernatural powers that are plaguing both their domains. In seeking the weapon, they travel to Southern California and the inland desert, meeting along the way Korean warriors, Haida pirates, cannibals, a Jewish camel-mounted band, and descendants of California flower children.
It is entertaining reading, but — I question the premise that post-apocalyptic survivors would adopt the technology, customs, languages, and weapons of their ancestors, especially from cultures that faded from view one to several thousand years ago. My willing suspension of disbelief was not all that willing at times.
And yet: I’m waiting for the next book.