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    The Given Sacrifice
    The Given Sacrifice
    The Given Sacrifice
    Audiobook14 hours

    The Given Sacrifice

    Written by S. M. Stirling

    Narrated by Todd McLaren

    4/5

    ()

    About this audiobook

    Rudi Mackenzie has won the battle that expelled the enemy from the new High Kingdom of Montival. Now he must free the people who live in the state once known as Idaho from occupation by the legions of the Church Universal and Triumphant and pursue them to their lair over the mountains. There he will finally confront the forces behind the Church-the Powers of the Void.

    Yet even a victory will not end the conflict forever. The Powers of the Void are malevolent and infinitely patient, and the struggle is one that involves the entire world. They threaten Rudi not only in the present, but also in the future represented by his children, Orlaith and John. Rudi knows this.

    And as his heir Princess Orlaith grows up in the shadow of her famous father, she also realizes that the enemy will do anything to see that she does not live to fulfill her parents' dream.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherTantor Media, Inc
    Release dateSep 3, 2013
    ISBN9781400184538
    The Given Sacrifice
    Author

    S. M. Stirling

    A well-regarded author of alternate history science-fiction novels, S.M. Stirling has written more than twenty-five books, including acclaimed collaborations with Anne McCaffrey, Jerry Pournelle, and David Drake. His most recent novels are T2: Infiltrator, The Peshawar Lancers, and the Island in the Sea of Time trilogy.

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    Reviews for The Given Sacrifice

    4/5

    17 ratings8 reviews

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    • 4/5
      I thought this book ended the Emberverse IV series in a good fashion, tieing up the story nicely. I didn't realize there was an Emberverse V series or that it had already began with The Golden Princess which was just released September 2nd. I really liked Stirling's method for advancing the years of the story in the end, setting the stage for the Emberverse V series. I like the 1st four series well enough that I'll probably read series V when they are out, but it is time to read something else for a while.
    • 3/5
      More of the same. Story line progresses very slowly.
    • 5/5
      One tale concludes and another begins. This book brings the story of the Cutter War to its conclusion. The war serves as a framework for two stories. The first is the story of Rudi the fated king, whose blood must be spilled to nurture the land. Intertwined with this is the story of the transformation of Montival from an imagined realm to a real polity with its own legends and customs. The two linked stories will meet their preordained rendezvous with the rise of Princess Orlaith and the new threat from the Void. The Cutters may be overthrown but the evil that animated them has other avatars. The world building and characterization is as ever excellent but kudos to the most excellent sword and magic battle in the Dark Tower and the wonderfully quirky Morrowlanders.
    • 3/5
      A few interesting parts, like the battle for Boise, but a lot of filler material. The end of the war felt more liek an afternoon: a big let down... Book is divided into 2 parts, with the second feeling like it's only a preparation for the next book, although the final chapters were interesting at least.
    • 4/5
      This book was not quite what I'd expected. I had figured this 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.
    • 5/5
      Good ending to one phase of an excellent series. Peace finally reigns, after the CUT are defeated. New allies and enemies appear; it is time for new leadership to pick up the sword.
    • 4/5
      I've enjoyed all of the Change series so far, this one included. It's a bit different than the others due to how much time it covers. Some of the favorite characters are aging and a new generation emerges behind them. As always, Stirling tells a creative yet believable story.
    • 3/5
      The 10 installment in the 'Emberverse' series, though I don't know why it is called that. The Change series is probably a better collective title. It all started when some a cataclysmic event occurred on Earth - all combustion and nuclear based technology ceased to work completely, immediately. In this the 10th book after this event, Rudi MacKenzie, aka Artos, High King of Montival, continues to bring the disparate groups of NW USA together in their war to exterminate the evil Cutters. In place of the technology that ruled the Earth before, there is now very limited magic. The Cutters are lead by leaders clearly possessed by evil entities, demons in all but the name. I like these books for the characters and I always enjoy post-apocalyptic/society rebuild novels, but at this point, by book 10, this is starting to feel like it is dragging on. It doesn't help that from page 1 the meaning of the title is very clear, the eventual conclusion of the plot is no surprise at all. There are also a few very unexplained plot events that deserved some more space, without it they felt strangely jarring and incomplete. Even so, I enjoyed it, but if you haven't read at least some of the previous books, this won't make a lot of sense to you.