Though The Protector's War offered little indication that this series was headed in the right direction, A Meeting At Corvallis goes a long way to redeeming the Emberverse. For if Mr. Stirling struggles sometimes to flesh out his characters beyond the archetypes upon which he has based them, he certainly knows how to set up and execute a war. And it's a big one too, an apocalyptic clash of post-Change civilizations the outcome of which will determine the rights and freedoms of the survivors who will live under the victors.
There's so much action and plot development here that the two-dimensional characters become secondary to the story, mere placeholders for its main thrust, a battle to the death between freedom, defended by Juniper's clansmen and Mike's Bearkillers, and feudalism, forwarded by the Lord Protector and his army. Though I'll likely stop reading here, this volume has considerably improved the chances that I might someday read on. For even if Mr. Stirling succumbs to cliches and Dungeons-and-Dragons cheesiness, he's not afraid to ante up the lives of his characters and roll the dice of fate to see what shakes out. (3/5 Stars)
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