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Lord of Mountains: A Novel of the Change (Change Series) Hardcover – September 4, 2012

by S. M. Stirling (Author)
4.3 4.3 out of 5 stars 849 ratings
Editors' pick Best Science Fiction & Fantasy
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“[A] gifted author,”* S.M. Stirling created a fascinating neo-medieval world in his Novels of the Change where the remnants of humanity struggle to survive in a post-technological environment. Now, the New York Times bestselling epic continues as a king faces a challenge beyond the battlefield…

Rudi Mackenize, now Artos the First, High King of Montival, and his allies have won several key battles against the Church Universal and Triumphant. But still the war rages on, taking countless lives, ravaging the land once known as the United States of America. Artos and his Queen, Mathilda, must unite the realms into a single kingdom to ensure a lasting peace.

If the leaders of the Changed world are to accept Artos as their ruler, he will need to undertake a quest to the Lake at the Heart of the Mountains, and take part in a crowning ceremony—a ceremony binding him to his people, his ancestors, and his land.

Then, once he has secured his place and allegiances, Artos can go forward, and lead his forces to the heart of the enemy’s territory…

*San Francisco Book Review 
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Previous page
  1. Book 9 of 15
    Emberverse
  2. Print length
    336 pages
  3. Language
    English
  4. Publisher
    Roc
  5. Publication date
    September 4, 2012
  6. Dimensions
    6.5 x 1.25 x 9.5 inches
  7. ISBN-10
    0451464761
  8. ISBN-13
    978-0451464767
  9. See all details
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Editorial Reviews

Review

Praise for S. M. Stirling and his Novels of the Change

“Stirling has blazed a clear comet trail across his postapocalyptic landscape that illuminates both the best and the worst of which our species is capable.”—Science Fiction Weekly

“Nobody wrecks a world better than S. M. Stirling, and nobody does a better job of showing that people remain people, with all their high points and low, in the wreckage.”—Harry Turtledove, New York Times Bestselling Author of Supervolcano

“[A] richly realized story of swordplay and intrigue.”—Entertainment Weekly

“Absorbing.”—The San Diego Union-Tribune

About the Author

S. M. Stirling is the author of numerous novels, both on his own and in collaboration. A former lawyer and an amateur historian, he lives in the Southwest with his wife, Jan.

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Roc; 1st edition (September 4, 2012)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 336 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0451464761
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0451464767
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.2 pounds
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6.5 x 1.25 x 9.5 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.3 4.3 out of 5 stars 849 ratings

About the author

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S. M. Stirling

S. M. Stirling

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I'm a writer by trade, born in France but Canadian by origin and American by naturalization, living in New Mexico at present. My hobbies are mostly related to the craft -- I love history, anthropology and archaeology, and am interested in the sciences. The martial arts are my main physical hobby.

Customer reviews

4.3 out of 5 stars
4.3 out of 5
849 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

David F Salisbury
5.0 out of 5 stars One of the most fully realized scifi series
Reviewed in the United States on May 26, 2014
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This book comes near the end of a long series and won't make much sense to any one who hasn't read the earlier volumes. Sterling's change series begins when a flash of intense light causes all the electronic devices and fuel-powered engines in the world to stop working simultaneously. The more than half dozen hefty volumes in the series describe the catastrophic breakdown of modern civilization that results and the attempts of the survivors to rebuild workable society in this new reality. It's geographic center is western Oregon and it concentrates on members of the Society of Creative Anachronism who have retained the preindustrial skills that become essential for survival and a Wiccan coven that supports itself as a group of Celtic minstrels. The Wiccans, whose religious views seem to resonate with the changed conditions, form a community and attract a number of talented survivalists. During the first part of the series the Wiccans' primary adversary is a kingdom based in Portland set up by a professor of medieval history who sees the collapse as an opportunity to create a feudal society with all the trappings. He is able to do so by moving rapidly and ruthlessly, aided by a queen with a taste for political intrigue. The Wiccans band together with a number other smaller independent communities in central Oregon to resist the expansionist aims of the Portland association and fight it to a draw. The truce agreement includes the provision that the son of Wiccan leader and the daughter of the Portland dictator are exchanged as hostages. The two form a close friendship. The dictator dies, his wife takes over and a peace agreement is struck. Up to this point the series has been primarily hard science fiction, but at this point it takes a turn toward fantasy. The son and daughter, accompanied by a group of champions, head to the East coast on spiritual quest. In so doing they encounter a number of different survivalist groups including one in Idaho trying to bring back the USA, a prosperous agrarian society centered in Iowa, and a Viking revivalist group in Maine. But much of the country is controlled by degenerate groups of cannibals. And in the Rocky Mountains they find a rapidly growing religious sect headed by a demonic priesthood with supernatural powers. The questers finally make it to their goal, Nantucket Island, the point of origin of the change. There, the son, Rudi, is given a magical sword that makes him a king and guardian of the land against the demonic priests who become aware of him and hunt the group relentlessly as they travel back to Oregon. Upon their return Rudi and Matilda, the dictator's daughter, are married and become the acknowledged king and queen of their region and their first priority is to prepare for battle with the demon priest who are pushing rapidly west. This is the point at which then the current volume picks up the story. Stifling has created a cast of interesting, memorable characters and put them in a dramatic situation. Sometimes his descriptions are a little too detailed for my taste but he's managed to keep my attention and interest through more than a half dozen books written over 10 years!
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Andrew Degenhart
4.0 out of 5 stars Short, good and dissapointing all in one.
Reviewed in the United States on September 28, 2012
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Sterling's new novel is short. It feels short, and I'm starting to get the same feeling I got many books into the Wheel of Time series where it seemed like each book covered less and less ground in some attempt to prolong the suspense/drama/story/moneymaking. That being said it is S. M. Sterling and I like his work so this was far from terrible. The writing was in depth and on the side of overly descriptive if anything but he crafts a very well thought out and easily imagined world.

Ultimately though I am still wishing he would go back to the way in which he started this series. No mystic stuff, no magic, none of this over-saturation of Celtic-is-best and "enforced gender equality." I loved it when the heroes were a little less "out of the fantasy novel" heroes and more believeable person from down the street thrown into a new situation and comes out on top because they used their brain types.

If nothing else, this novel continues to scratch the itch I have for post-armageddon fantasy but it inches ever closer to standard fantasy faire with each new offering.
8 people found this helpful
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McKinneyTexas
5.0 out of 5 stars Of Course It's an Interim Book
Reviewed in the United States on October 24, 2012
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Ok, here's the thing: the world pretty much ended in the first book of this series. By odd coincidence, different groups of survivors clustered together and formed ersatz cultures based on remembered and mythologized history and custom with one exception, the CUT. The CUT is the demon wild card let loose on the world. So, we have 'the good' (for the most part) vs the 'really bad', and the really bad, the CUT, is hell bent on domination. It cannot tolerate any but its own. So the Mostly Good have no choice but to resist the Really Bad. They have seen what happens to those the CUT overcome, and no one wants any part of that. The process of societal formation, of protracted war and all that attends these phenomena takes time. Stirling prizes internal logic and consistency. He isn't going to be rushed any more that his publishing schedule and editor require. Wars are seldom won in a single battle and the CUT is a formidable adversary. A protracted struggle is just that--protracted.

If you want a sustained, well thought out, highly entertaining story of what-could-be, this is your series and Lord of the Mountains is yet another outstanding installment. If you want a story that wraps everything up in a trilogy, this may not be your cup of tea. If you are wondering if this is ever going to end, the answer is 'YES', in the next book. Go to Stirling's website (smstirling.com) and you'll see that this series ends with a finale called The Given Sacrifice. Stirling has also announced a new trilogy in this universe, set twenty years after the conclusion of the Montival series. My only complaint about Steve Stirling is that too much time passes between books.
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Top reviews from other countries

KJOH
5.0 out of 5 stars Great
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on January 4, 2016
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Exactly what husband wanted for Christmas, arrived in good time.
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Hairy Zelden
4.0 out of 5 stars Four Stars
Reviewed in Canada on March 9, 2016
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Enjoyable continuation of the endless saga of "The Change". One a year is about right.
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Scotsman Steps
4.0 out of 5 stars The end is nigh, more or less...
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on September 3, 2012
Verified Purchase
If you've made it this far into the series, you're unlikely to abandon it now, although a certain foot-tapping desire to see the finish line is to be expected. It offers the same reading enjoyment, lavish plotting, and writing excursiveness to which we've all become accustomed. Character development, except in the rare cases where new characters are introduced, is at a series low, although most of the action occurs from the viewpoints of well-known players. Reliance on song, poetry and the mysteries of the Old Religion seemed heavier to me than in other volumes but perhaps I'm just one of the few to whom they never held much appeal. Overall, it's recognizably Stirling doing what Stirling does well, and I enjoyed it.

This isn't clearly the end of the series' line, nor is it a particularly satisfying penultimate volume. In fact, it reads a bit like an either/or: while the Darth Vader-equivalents finished the novel spinning away in their off-page Tie fighters, the majority of the heroes are becoming more or less settled in for what appears to be their final rewards. Nothing is quite resolved but neither is there much suggestion that substantial developments await the characters we've now spent several thousand pages following. When I first put the book down, I assumed it was an author/publisher compromise: "I can't get the whole story into less than 900 pages" meets "This is a reasonable stopping point, so we'll do it in two volumes." Now I wonder - Stirling likes his multi-generational plotting; perhaps his plan is a Richard/Henry/Henry tale where the grandson is the one to clear the last of the mess his grandfather stepped in? This book works as well as a reboot point as it does anything else, so why not? Whatever the next step is intended to be, a more suspenseful ending (or set of endings, in a plot this wide) would have helped.

Highly recommended, but not, perhaps, as highly as the first four books of the series: tying up a sprawling mega-plot may be taxing Stirling's abilities slightly more than launching it did.
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Ms S Gardner-Brown
5.0 out of 5 stars Another wonderful story of Rudi and the Quest
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on March 27, 2015
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Completely love the whole Emberverse series, and this book was no exception.
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AP
3.0 out of 5 stars Not sure if end of the sub-series or filler book.
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on February 26, 2014
Verified Purchase
I have read the whole series, it has now been several years following the evolution of the world after the Change. But this book as different from the rest. First much shorter, which in principle should not be an issue. But more importantly, it felt as Stirling was not sure if he was closing down the Artos sub-serie and setting the stage for the next generation, or if it was simply necessary to print something now, quickly, not conclusive, to then continue with the end of the Artos sub-series.

Not sure now if I will follow the next set of books.
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