Just Finished Reading: A Meeting at Corvallis by S M Stirling
In the tenth year after the mysterious event known as The Change, which made all technology useless and precipitation the collapse of civilisation, the survivors are on the brink of war. Oregon is divided into competing enclaves reduced to versions of feudalism and the warlord of Portland has expansionist ideas. But standing in his way are the Bearkillers and the Mackenzie Clan. It’s only a question of where the hammer will fall and how long they can fight against the massed knights of the Portland Protective Society. Arrows will fly, armoured knights will charge and many will die before the war is over.

This is the third book in this series following Dies the Fire and The Protector’s War. Based on the awesomely ridiculous premise that human civilisation would totally disintegrate without present technology to support it and that billions would die in a matter of a few years and that the few survivors would descend into a feudal state it actually turns out to be a compellingly well told story. Despite its many faults (and I do mean many) I have actually found all three books so far – there’s a fourth out in hardback – difficult if not impossible to put down. I rampaged through the 622 pages in just under a week which is about twice my normal reading speed. To enjoy them though you really need an iron grip on your sense of disbelief, you just have to ignore the casual way the author disposed of 90%+ of the human population and you really have to ignore the very convenient coincidences littering the pages. Huge pinches of salt should be held ready to help you swallow the plot. Just put your brain in neutral and enjoy the ride. Its fun – just as long as you resist the need to actually think about the world Stirling has produced. I’m not sure that I shall be investing in the fourth book but I suspect that I’ll be dragged back to Oregon kicking and screaming when it comes out in paperback.