The Sword of the Lady

A Novel of the Change

By: S. M. Stirling

Narrated by: Todd McLaren

New York Times best-selling author S. M. Stirling continues what Library Journal has termed his "epic of survival and rebirth," chronicling a modern world without technology.

Rudi Mackenzie has journeyed far across the land that was once the United States of America, hoping to find the source of the world-altering event that has come to be known as the Change. His final destination is Nantucket, an island overrun with forest, inhabited by a mere two hundred people who claim to have been transported there from out of time.

Only one odd stone house remains standing. Within it, Rudi finds a beautifully made sword waiting for him - and once he takes it up, nothing will ever be the same....

©2009 S. M. Stirling (P)2009 Tantor Media

It just gets better and better.

Mr. Sterling's mind continues to run in Turbo Mode. In this volume, some issues are resolved only to be replaced by deeper mysteries. A number of new characters are introduced, some good, some bad, most interesting. Rudy continues to learn and move toward becoming the larger than life hero he must. In the end, we must await another book.

The only criticism I have is the inordinate amount of time taken to describe the many feasts that Rudy and his compatriots must endure on their travels. I can only suspect that Mr. Sterling must write on an empty stomach. I nearly went so far as to give the book only 4 stars for this reason but it is just to darn good everywhere else.

I strongly suggest that if you have not read the previous books in this series that you start with the first and work your way to the last. Otherwise much of the context will be confusing. Fortunately all the previous books are also very good.

Stirling builds a new, possible world

Would you try another book from S. M. Stirling and/or Todd McLaren?

I would and will buy more books by Stirling. The Novels of the Change are great.

What was one of the most memorable moments of The Sword of the Lady?

Rudi's fight with the primitive descendants of survivors on his travels while he tries to free his friends from a hostage taker by paying the ransom he must.

How did the narrator detract from the book?

The narrator, Todd McLaren, detracted from this book, and the previous ones I've listened to in the series by his frequent mispronunciations of words. For example, ration, rhymed with fashion, is the common usage. Ration, rhymed with nation, has not been used since the First Word War. His mispronunciation of the name of Portland's river as wil-a-MET, I noticed corrected in about book 4, so someone from Oregon must have complained and told him it's locally called the wil-A-met (short "a". It appears no one took the time or trouble to correct him on the pronunciation of Haida, the native tribe from the Queen Charlotte Islands. In the books where that tribe drew first mention, he pronounced it as high-EE-dah, and continues to do so in Sword of the Lady. It's too late now, since the series is finished, but should he run into it again, he might be interested to know it is pronounced high-dah, with no particular emphasis on either of the (only) two syllables. In earlier books, I felt he read words the author had not written, as if he was not paying full attention to what was on the printed page.

Did The Sword of the Lady inspire you to do anything?

Yes, it inspired me to continue buying the series because I enjoy Stirling's work. It also inspired me to take careful note of the narrator of subsequent purchases of books outside the Novels of the Change, to be sure I don't buy anything narrated by Todd McLaren, who can't be troubled to seek local knowledge when he runs across words unfamiliar to him. Though in all fairness, I must say he does British accents quite well.

Shrugging and snorting fools lol

I love the emberverse series!! incredibly well written and poetic. I have read the first 6 books and they lead into each other soo well. The character development is second to none, a very satisfying realistic description of ancient skills needed to survive a post apocalyptic world, and a Uncannily accurate description of the very real spiritual world and experiences that are at work around us ( I’m Christian I love contemplating spiritual experiences of all religions). How ever this guy could write a trilogy on a trip to the bathroom! I wish I would have known going into this that it wasn’t going to conclude anything anytime soon, the first trilogy concluded it’s self very well and maybe I should have stopped there. when I started reading the first book of the second trilogy( sunrise lands) I felt like Rudy’s trip was gonna conclude at least to retrieving the sword in the first book, no such luck!!!! Looks like I’ll be stuck reading these series for a lifetime to try and reach a decent conclusion. That might not be as important for some people but I wish the author balanced describing every little aspect of every scene with some level of reaching a decently satisfying conclusion and progress through the story line. I was pissed how this sixth book ended, wish I had time just to sit down and read the entire emberverse series, I get emotionally involved in theses stories, but I gotta life of my own to live so it’s forfeit now or stay stuck in these series for longer than I’d like to invest in any fictional book. This book series would be great for someone who doesn’t get to emotionally involved in fictional stories and could stand be teased along for eternity with most of your time being consumed with the details of swaying grass, people shrugging and snorting more often than normal. I LOVE IT AND HATE IT!!!!

The saga continues

The book is a excellent continuation of the Change series. The details of the story along with fantastic narration pull you in and have you listening worth every spare moment. If you haven't listened to the other books I highly recommend you start from the beginning.

Can't get enough

It keeps getting better as a story and feels less like a primer for a religion. The narrator does a great job with voices and all. But pronunciation of some words makes me nuts. Please tell him that "chete" is NOT pronounced sheet. It is shetee, like Machete!

Ok read

Ok. It’s a bit boring at times and a little too much battle for heavens sake what else can I say. Just ok. I never figured out the cause of change

Loved it!

Can't wait to download the next one. I have enjoyed this series since the beginning. I love the detail in the writing, also the narration is excellent

Great story, poor pronunciation

So loving the story, again - this is my second time reading, the first time listening. One of the reasons I actually wanted to listen instead of read it again is all the weird snippets of foreign languages. I am disappointed that the producers didn’t better guide the speaker to pronounce words correctly. Anamchara isn’t pronounced with a “ch” like “cheese.” The swords they use, shetes, aren’t “sheets,” obviously, it should be pronounced shet-tees…since it says in the book ten times they are descendants of machetes. “Celts” is pronounced with a hard K sound, not “selts.” I’m just a little disappointed that someone who is paid money to pronounce words doesn’t put more effort into making sure it’s done correctly. Or that the production team doesn’t do that.

Great alternate world.

Exceptionaly well written and performed. characters and situations segue without flaws from one book to another.

Great story

This was a great book. loved everything about it. If you love alternative histories this series is for you.