Very cool!
Through the wonders of the internet, I know a man who is a oblate of (and had previously been a novice at) Mt. Angel -- adding yet another reason why I *must* read this book. 
peace,
Hello Dale,
Don't want to rain in the parade, but do we know that it's actually Stirling?
I am inclined to think so, and certainly *want* to think so. But you no doubt have access to information I do not...
In any case, it looks like we all have yet another Stirling masterpiece to look forward to...
P.S. The other obvious group that would stand to fare well would the Amish.
The old pagan Celtic feasts certainly did make a certain kind of sense, which is no doubt why some ended up being worked into the Church's feast calendar in various ways.
FWIW, Stirling has had a significant internet presence for years now -- I used to meet him on the Usenet group soc.history.what-if. It's not at all unlikely that he would google himself and leave a comment.
Richard:
What Craig says. I don't *know* that it's actually him, but he is a big presence on the internet. Remember the Instapundit reference from a few weeks back where he engaged in slugfest with the Tinfoil Lancers at DU?
And Craig's also right about Usenet--there are several reams of posts with the "joatsimeon" tag. [I like Usenet, but if I ever started posting there, my wife would kick me to the curb. The blog is a sufficient drain on "us time," and she's likely right about that.]
How he got here is a bit of a baffler--IIRC, Google has been demoting blogs of late. But adding the SOBs at V*nguard as a "news" source. Sorry--I digress.
Like I said, it feels legit, for lack of a better term. The publishing date for TPW is a big hint--that's not even referenced on the official website.
Zach:
Do you have any links on Mt. Angel?
Thanks.
Hello Dale, Craig,
I had no idea that Stirling was such a net-hound. But I am really not surprised.
Interesting that he's doing a sequel to Dies the Fire and not Conquistador or Peshawar Lancers - especilly given how well the latter did in book sales (as I understand it). But at this point Stirling can write whatever he wants, and my bet is that he finds the Dies the Fire created world to be a more interesting one to play in right now.
I did not know about his Democratic Underground fisking. I tracked down the Instapundit reference but it seems that the D.U. thread is long gone. A pity.
best regards,
Richard
Dale:
I think they are at http://www.mtangel.edu/.
I'll ask and see if I can get some more links.
peace,
And yes, the Amish ought to do well. (Although I suspect that they would be taken terrible advantage of, given their pacifism.)
I remember from high school a scifi novel, Z is for Zechariah, I think, where everybody post-Bomb is Amish -- the only detail was if you're Old Amish or New Amish, but that's a distinction without a difference. Anyone else remember that one?
peace,
Dale:
I envy you, you S.O.B.
Well, this is one radtrad who thoroughly enjoyed "The Stand" and the entire Dark Tower series by Stephen King as well as "Father Elijah" by Michael O'Brien.
Hell, I even kinda liked a few of Bud McFarlane's books.
Before reading Dale's blog entries, I had never heard of Stirling. Now I reckon I'll be picking up "Dies the Fire" this weekend.
Mr. Stirling! Please put down that bell and pass me my drool cup! I'm not sure if two short stories quite qualifies me as "a published fantasy author," but you're right: I'm curled up in a ball twitching from NOT reading the sample chapters... must... wait... (twitch!) don't... wanna... ruin it...!!! (twitch!)
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