Saw some ads for this during the Olympics.
I like post apocolyptic shows in general, and even can live with lost knowledge. But “all advanced technology stops working” bothers me. I can imagine electronics stopping (some sort of EMP), but batteries? And there is apparently fire, which means steam engines should still be possible (not to mention diesel)
I’ll probably watch just to figure out where they will draw the line.
Brian
Sounds like they took their inspiration from the novel “Dies the Fire.”
Every time I see a commercial for this show, I wonder when S.M. Stirling will get around to suing the producers. At the very least, he’s got to be thinking about it.
It’s a whole series of books (I think they’re referring to them as The Emberverse now but I have no idea what that means). This was my thought too. Like the OP, I’m looking forward to this show, if for no other reason but to see exactly how far they take the lack of technology and how they try to explain it. Stirling makes a point of attempting to explain how it happens in his books but it doesn’t really matter. The truth is that what doesn’t works is random so the only explanation that fits (other than “the author needs it this way for the plot to work”) is that God/a wizard/magic did it.
I still like the books though, and I really do look forward to Revolution. Fantasy disguised as science fiction doesn’t offend me as long as it’s interesting.
I’m not sure how far along in the “Dies the Fire” series you are, but…
“God did it” is the official explanation.
I hope this doesn’t derail this thread, but this seems like a good time to ask. I enjoyed “Dies the Fire” very much. However, I just couldn’t finish the second in the series. I suppose it just felt like the author was too heavy handed, took the story too seriously. Does the series get better or worse as it progresses? “God did it” as an explanation doesn’t really bother me much provided the rest of the story is worthwhile.
I found it got worse (I think I made it through three) and the first Nantucket book was even worse than that so I never made it any farther. My one attempt at reading a Stirling book outside the series didn’t go well either.
So out of five books, Dies the Fire was the only one I liked.
Dies the Fire is, BY FAR, the best book in the series. None of the other ones even come close. And the two most recent books, (#7 and #8 of a planned 10-book series) are just padded out messes. After #4, Stirling said everything would be wrapped up after seven books. That didn’t happen.
In the Emberverse gunpowder (& by extension all explosives) stop working as well. The same even also caused the island of Nantucket to travel back in time 3,000 yrs (their technology still works).
It looks cool but I’m sure there will be something about it that drives me crazy. They will draw it out relentlessly, it will be full of flashbacks, some sort of soap opera issues will become central to the plot, etc.
The Nantucket trilogy were good. The Emberverse books are good, not-so-good, good, bad, even worse, and that’s when I gave up.
I’ll give Revolution a chance, but I’m not optimistic. It looks like a producer said “Let’s see what we can rip off from a dozen different books.”
It did look deadeningly familiar. Everyone dresses like Mad Max. Evidently, the technology for doing laundry and washing have been lost, too.
The idea was done long before Stirling: Fredric Brown’s “The Waveries” was written in 1945 and uses the same premise. No more electricity. Brown, however, didn’t see that as the end of society, just a step back to a 19th century agrarian one.
I really wish Stirling would revist the 13th century BC. How’s Nantucket doing 20+ yrs after the Event? How are Tartessos, Achaea, & Babylon developing? What’s Princess Althea up to?
I made the mistake of watching the extended “preview” a few months ago… structurally you could tell it was the entire pilot episode cut down to a few minutes. It didn’t look awful and reminded me a lot of Showtime’s “Jeremiah.”
I will watch but I suspect it will become more about pretty people falling in love than what happened to the power.
Of course he would have to stand in line behiind Steven R Boyett’s Ariel. Of course it’s not exactly the same.
p.s. Thanks for the inspiration to actually find this novel. I remember reading as a kid and wanted to find out what it was.
Ha! There’s a quote from S.M. Stirling on the cover.
But yeah, not exactly the same. Stirling’s original trilogy actually has no magic at all (though there are a bunch of pagan witches running around). Which is what I assume NBC is doing with Revolution.
That’s the big question I wish he would get around to.
I thought I’d read somewhere it was loosely based on Dies the Fire, but I’m not finding that now to cite it.
As for the books - I’ve read all of them so far. First one was great. The second two were good. After that, it’s been a struggle, and the last one was like slogging through it. Will I read the next one? Yes, because I’ve invested too much to not do it. It’s kind of like Jean Auel’s stuff at this point.
Here is some more info - at least the steam engine question gets answered. Still no explanation as to why the plane falls out of the sky (I can see engines failing, but it would still glide).
I’m willing to suspend disbelief (my guess, the permitivity of free space is changed or something like that), but only so far.
In the extended preview
A computer boots up next to a amulet
Brian