Snowbrother

Fifth Millenium

by S.M. Stirling

As all in her tribe, Shkai'ra was trained from childhood with one goal in mind--efficiency in the arts of war. At the age of 19, Shkai'ra is given a mission by the elders of her tribe--cross the steppes and enslave a Mintzan city or die in disgrace. Formerly published by NAL (1984) in a substantially different form.

Genres: Fantasy, Fiction, Science Fiction, Science Fiction Fantasy, Post Apocalyptic

251 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published March 1, 1985

About the author

Stephen Michael Stirling is a French-born Canadian-American science fiction and fantasy author. Stirling is probably best known for his Draka series of alternate history novels and the more recent time travel/alternate history Nantucket series and Emberverse series.

MINI AUTO-BIOGRAPHY:
(personal website: source)

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.

Reviews

[Laura · Rating 1 out of 5]

1.5 🌟
Gore and torture, rape and flesh eaters (human flesh that is - just so we're in the clear!), filthy barbarians with ritual sacrifices topped with a load of human degradation.
I kept to it untill the end only because I simply had to know if it will turn out all right in the end. And It was intriguing.

[Garham · Rating 1 out of 5]

How on earth could a book about sword swinging post-nuclear poly/bisexual barbarians not be awesome? S M Stirling seems to have found a way.

Only read this you're into clumsily written gory descriptions of unarmed people being tortured and slaughtered and eaten... and I like lots of violent stuff, from norse sagas through the extremely campy "death dealer" series based on the frazetta paintings which are positively tasteful and intelligent by comparison.

[Sam · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a great story (and a repeat read after 20+ years). Yes, there is a lot of violence/pillaging in this book, some of it very graphic, yet not dissimilar to many others in this genre. Part of me thinks that the some of the more negative reviews may be due to readers unsettled and shocked that much of the carnage is led or inflicted by a female Chiefkin. That difference in perspective alone makes this early Baen publication worth reading.

[Robert Furlong · Rating 2 out of 5]

The experience of reading this book was a strange clash between being invested in the clash of cultures described and the numerous unnecessary scenes that added nothing to the plot and shocked you out of the experience. It kind of seemed like a late '90s attempt at being edgy, as the author went into unfortunately specific rape scenes throughout the entirety of the novel to the point where I just wanted to say "ok we get it, these are terrible people, you don't have to beat me over the head with it." At one point he even set up the assault and faded to black for a chapter, so you assume that the author tastefully let you know everything you needed to know about the protagonist without needing to get into the gritty details. But nope, one chapter later you just fade right back in to a fully detailed rape scene that had absolutely no benefit to the character building since the reader already knew everything they needed to know from the setup in the previous chapter.

[Joe Santoro · Rating 2 out of 5]

The cover advertises this as 'swords vs. magic' but it's really 'nomads vs. civilization'.. it's set 3000 years after nuclear holocaust.. one group are horse riding warriors, the other live in cities and do 'magic (mostly technology) and try to be one with the Earth.

WAY to0 much description, not much in the way of characters, and a pretty average, standard plot. Nothing really to see here.

[Kyle · Rating 4 out of 5]

An early SM Sterling novel, if you have read the Change series or others by him, you can see the beginnings of his writings and cadence. Nice to read early stories before authors get popular and editors let them go. It still was still highly detailed and interesting world building with a mostly compelling story line. Interesting to read about the military methods and especially the whistle net communications used by the troops, not obvious and not what you read in other medieval-ish books.

[Susan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Love this book, I have to re-read every few years.

[M.J. Fiori]

1/18/2013
Why is it so easy to put down (for three months) a book I'm nearly halfway through? Because it's not on the Kindle.

10/2013
A bit after starting this book, I thought to me olde self, I thought: Well, only in the '70s would it be acceptable for your badass young (anti-?)heroine to rape a 13-year-old boy she has taken as battle booty. (Seriously, NO pun intended.) Then I checked and saw that this book was published in 1992.

Hmmm. I guess it had been awhile since I read any high fantasy outside of George R.R. Martin, you know--true Swords & Sorcery. (Although that comparison may not be so ... um--oh, never mind.)

I'm not done yet, and I don't mean to knock his honorable coolness, S.M. Stirling. I found this title on someone's Top 20 list of speculative books and finally acquired a used paperback as it seems to be sadly out of print. Real living actual review to follow ...

But also! Names like Shkai'ra Mek Kermak's-kin. Really? Really?! Doesn't that just scream 1977 at you?

I guess I need to rearrange my ideas of Stirling a just a steampunk guy. Apparently he also makes room for nubile young war-machines draped in hides and furs, with flashing eyes and Yoda-speak.

[Alma · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read the entire Fifth Millenium series. Rollicking, sword swinging, fist smashing, down & dirty good times ahead!

[Art · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good book, slow, but interesting.