The Golden Princess
By S. M. Stirling (Ace, ISBN 978-0451417336)
Beautifully written, extended look at a modern world, crashed
Review by Lawrence I. Charters, November 2, 2014
This is the latest volume in an extended alternate history, most taking place around the Pacific Northwest. Taken as a whole, it is a beautifully written, extended look at what happens if the laws of physics are fundamentally changed, and humans can no longer use electricity, or nuclear power, or even gunpowder. When you take modern societies and immediately plunge them into a world relying on muscle power, blade, and bow and arrow, things change.
In this volume, the daughter of the High King of a realm stretching from Oregon and British Columbia inland to Iowa — is murdered. The king was much beloved, and the murder is a suspected tool of an inhuman, alien power. Together with visitors who crossed the Pacific from Japan to elude the inhuman foe, a small band searches for the key that could lead not just to revenge, but gaining an upper hand in a long war with a cold, unfeeling foe.
The writing is that of a mature hand, graceful and at times poetic, yet Stirling does not let style keep the novel from unwinding a spellbinding story.