I finished reading the sequel to Dies the Fire, the Protector's War, last weekend as I rudely read during the Con's elections meeting in Harrisburg. [Jessica, it's a shame you don't come to these any more. There was discussion of Federal Reserve policy and the ramifications of the coming replacement of Greenspan in the context of non-profit financial decisions. I plagarized your opinions shamelessly. The elections themselves were something of a waste, as there was very little of controversy, and what controversy there were elicited long-winded opinions from what seemed like every member present. At great length.] The first book was very much a stand-alone affair - it ended quite solidly, and sufficed unto itself. The sequel, on the other hand, is quite explicitly a serial affair, and ends on an annoyingly vague rising note, with the actual fate of several characters unstated but quite definite. Stirling just didn't want to *tell* us before we went on the the next book in what is apparently going to be a trilogy. Bah.

Oh, and the new book establishes retroactively that the survival rate world-wide was less than 1%, not 10%. Seems rather exaggerated.