''The Protector's War'' is a 2005

alternate history Alternate history (also referred to as alternative history, allohistory, althist, or simply A.H.) is a subgenre of speculative fiction in which one or more historical events have occurred but are resolved differently than in actual history. As ...

post-apocalyptic Apocalyptic and post-apocalyptic fiction are genres of speculative fiction in which the Earth's (or another planet's) civilization is collapsing or has collapsed. The apocalypse event may be climatic, such as runaway climate change; astronom ...

science fiction Science fiction (often shortened to sci-fi or abbreviated SF) is a genre of speculative fiction that deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts. These concepts may include information technology and robotics, biological manipulations, space ...

novel by American writer S.M. Stirling. It is the second novel in the Emberverse series. ''The Protector's War'' describes the events of roughly a year, some eight years after the Change which altered the laws of physics in '' Dies the Fire''. It describes the preparations of the Portland Protective Association for a war of conquest against the other communities of the

Willamette Valley The Willamette Valley ( ) is a valley in Oregon, in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. The Willamette River flows the entire length of the valley and is surrounded by mountains on three sides: the Cascade Range to the east, the ...

, their actions in response, and the arrival of three English refugees whose coming will help shape events in

Oregon Oregon ( , ) is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is a part of the Western U.S., with the Columbia River delineating much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while t ...

Plot summary

Eight years after the Change, Clan Mackenzie, led by Juniper Mackenzie, and the Bearkillers, headed by Mike Havel, have established themselves in the

. They have become bitter enemies of the much larger, expansion-minded Portland Protective Association (PPA), led by the Armingers. The barons of the PPA constantly violate a ceasefire with the other factions. During one of their raids, Eddie Liu, Baron and Marchwarden of the PPA, is confronted by a small group of Mackenzies, led by Eilir Mackenzie and Astrid Larsson. After a short skirmish, Liu leaves, again swearing revenge against the Clan. In the meantime, in Great Britain, Sir Nigel Loring is imprisoned by the mad

King Charles III Charles III (Charles Philip Arthur George; born 14 November 1948) is King of the United Kingdom and the 14 other Commonwealth realms. Charles was born at Buckingham Palace during the reign of his maternal grandfather, King George VI, and ...

, but is rescued by his son Alleyne Loring and John Hordle, formerly of the

Special Air Service The Special Air Service (SAS) is a special forces unit of the British Army. It was founded as a regiment in 1941 by David Stirling, and in 1950 it was reconstituted as a corps. The unit specialises in a number of roles including counter-terr ...

. They leave

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

aboard a Tasmanian sailing ship, which is conducting a worldwide survey. On their arrival in Portland, Arminger pressures Sir Nigel, who is the closest thing to an expert on

nerve gas Nerve agents, sometimes also called nerve gases, are a class of organic chemicals that disrupt the mechanisms by which nerves transfer messages to organs. The disruption is caused by the blocking of acetylcholinesterase (AChE), an enzyme that ...

, to help him recover some of it to use against his enemies. The British trio outwit Arminger and escape to the south. Mike Havel and his wife Signe Larsson Havel try to lure Crusher Bailey, a bandit who has been raiding and taking slaves, into a trap by masquerading as travelers with a herd of horses and a wagon of valuables. When Bailey takes the bait, Mike and Signe's reinforcements are delayed and they have to retreat to the ruins of an abandoned

pornographic Pornography (colloquially called porn or porno) is sexually suggestive material, such as a picture, video, text, or audio, intended for sexual arousal. Made for consumption by adults, pornographic depictions have evolved from cave paintings ...

video store. Just before they are overrun, they are saved by the timely intervention of the Lorings and Hordle. Sir Nigel and his son meet the Mackenzies and their old friend Sam Aylward, who was formerly a sergeant under Sir Nigel. The Mackenzies tell of their raid, where they ambushed a horse-drawn train and unexpectedly captured Norman Arminger's only child and heir, Mathilda. Soon after, Eddie Liu and his massive bodyguard Mack arrive on a diplomatic mission to negotiate Mathilda's release. Astrid Larsson and Eilir Mackenzie and their small band of Rangers discover signs of a PPA group hiding nearby. Liu fires nerve gas at the guards, killing all of them, and frees Mathilda. Despite the danger, Liu searches Rudi Mackenzie's tent for a book that Mathilda gave Rudi, which contains the key needed to decode PPA plans that have fallen into Clan hands. A fight breaks out. Mack seriously wounds Rudi before he is killed by Hordle, and Liu is killed by Eilir Mackenzie. The Bearkillers arrive soon after and mop up the remaining PPA knights. Rudi is saved by Signe, who overcomes her distaste for him and saves his life with an immediate blood transfusion. The book ends with Rudi's initiation into

Wicca Wicca (), also known as "The Craft", is a Modern paganism, modern pagan, syncretic, Earth religion, Earth-centred religion. Considered a new religious movement by Religious studies, scholars of religion, the path evolved from Western esote ...

Characters

References to other works

*Stirling continues to make references to ''

The Lord of the Rings ''The Lord of the Rings'' is an Epic (genre), epic high fantasy novel written by English author and scholar J. R. R. Tolkien. Set in Middle-earth, the story began as a sequel to Tolkien's 1937 children's book ''The Hobbit'' but eventually d ...

'' by

J. R. R. Tolkien John Ronald Reuel Tolkien (, 3 January 1892 – 2 September 1973) was an English writer and philologist. He was the author of the high fantasy works ''The Hobbit'' and ''The Lord of the Rings''. From 1925 to 1945, Tolkien was the Rawlinson ...

, this time with Astrid and Eilir forming the Dúnedain Rangers. *A character on the boat that Nigel, Alleyne and John flee on has a crewmember named "Dominique Flandry," a nod to Poul Anderson's character Dominic Flandry. *The names of the British refugees and other characters appear to be based on the characters Samkin Aylward, Sir Nigel Loring, Maude Loring, Alleyne Edricson, Hordle John, and Robert Knolles from

Arthur Conan Doyle Sir Arthur Ignatius Conan Doyle (22 May 1859 – 7 July 1930) was a British writer and physician. He created the character Sherlock Holmes in 1887 for ''A Study in Scarlet'', the first of four novels and fifty-six short stories about Hol ...

's '' The White Company''. *The book which is used by the Protector's forces as the key to their encrypted plans is '' Bored of the Rings'', Harvard Lampoon's parody of ''The Lord of the Rings''. *Arminger is a follower of the Evil Overlord List. *When discussing whether people are getting into the "right" sept, Juniper jokingly suggests that they could enchant a talking hat to sort people. Arguably a reference to Harry Potter.

References

External links

Maps and Links for The Protector’s War''The Protector's War'' on Google Books
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Protector's War The Emberverse series 2005 American novels 2005 science fiction novels Alternate history novels Novels by S. M. Stirling Novels set in Oregon American post-apocalyptic novels Roc Books books