Hello and welcome to my site, por-la-madruga.com. Here you will find a little bit about me, my family and our travels and times. This site includes a gallery, some travel tips from the various places we’ve been and also planning on including some links through Google Maps and Google Earth for some virtual sight-seeing and planning.

The site is currently broken down in to three main sections, Personal, Travels and Photo Albums. The first and last are fairly self explanitory, and the middle selection will include tips, information and places of interest from my various travels. Hope you enjoy the site and stop by often for updates and information!

-R

Written by S.M. Stirling, this novel takes on the challenge of an Alternate History story set in the Oregon Valley just south of the Silicon State of Washington. Set in the Willamette Valley in northwestern Oregon, the story begins in the late nineties (1998 to be exact). On the evening of March 17th, 1998, a Change occurs, and Man in thrust back into the Dark Ages.

While the premise of this so-called change requires the reader to take on certain assumptions (not fully explained till later in the first and second books of the trilogy), they do not require the leap of faith and fiction of other books in the "Alternate History" sub-genre of modern Science Fiction.

The story revolves around three main groups located in and around Portland, Oregon. These become the groups known as the Portland Protective Association, Clan Mackenzie and the Bearkillers. Each "faction" brings a different focus to the reading and while plausible, great portions of the book are dedicated to a mindless amount of Celtic and Wiccan "antics". While this certainly helps to immerse the readers into the happenings of the characters, it brings about a feeling of being trapped in a very badly acted "RenFare". While I am currently reading the third book in the series "A Meeting At Corvallis", I've found myself skimming over vast sections of the books as the characters sign Old English Ballads and the characters carry on discussions in Gaelic and Elvish (ala J.R.R. Tolkien). I enjoy the overall progress of the book, but find that the characters would be better served with more flesh and less "culturalisms" in the form of Gaelic quotes and similar. Better to focus on the actual things that have "changed" due to this event on the evening of the 17th of March, then waddle in the intricacies of Gaelic quotes and Society for Creative Anachronisms events.

For those into "post apocalypse" settings, this is definitey an interesting read. While not quite as long-winded as some other "Alternate History" writers, the pace and plausibility of the events make the sense of the book quite tangible.