Rating: 
Summary: Has Some Great Non-Fiction Woven into a Novel!
Review: I consider Conquistador the very best alternate history/parallel universe novel that I've ever read. Stirling got nearly everything right in this novel. Most importantly, he managed to weave a lot of useful non-fiction into a fictional storyline (in this case natural history, small unit tactics, ecology, small arms, and much more). I can personally attest that this feat is harder than it appears at first glance. (I did something similar in my novel of the near future, "Patriots: Surviving the Coming Colapse.") Most writers that attempt to include non-fiction in a novel fail miserably--often exhibiting a tendedncy to bog down the storyline. But here, S.M. Stirling pulls it off nicely and provides a novel that is informative yet is hard to put down. I highly recommend this book!
Rating:
Summary: Another Stirling masterpiece
Review: I loved everything about the Nantucket series, especially the characters. Ditto for "Peshawar Lancers". When I saw this book on sale recently, I decided not to wait a year to read it -- and wasn't disappointed in the slightest.If you're like me and enjoyed both the Nantucket and Peshawar stories and peoples so far, the same will happen here. Stirling may just be coming into his genius, story-telling wise, as "Conquistador" is a carefully thought-out and written alternate universe novel, an engrossing read. I couldn't put it down and finished it less then twenty-four hours after I bought it. You'll like the characters and wish you lived in New Virginia by the time you get to the third chapter. Don't miss this one, it's spectacular!
Rating:
Summary: Another Stirling masterpiece
Review: I loved everything about the Nantucket series, especially the characters. Ditto for "Peshawar Lancers". When I saw this book on sale recently, I decided not to wait a year to read it -- and wasn't disappointed in the slightest. If you're like me and enjoyed both the Nantucket and Peshawar stories and peoples so far, the same will happen here. Stirling may just be coming into his genius, story-telling wise, as "Conquistador" is a carefully thought-out and written alternate universe novel, an engrossing read. I couldn't put it down and finished it less then twenty-four hours after I bought it. You'll like the characters and wish you lived in New Virginia by the time you get to the third chapter. Don't miss this one, it's spectacular!
Rating: 
Summary: Ok story, but way too S L O W
Review: I read the first two books of the Islands in the Sea of Time series. About halfway through the second one, it just got too boring for me. The original idea was very good, but there just wasn't much of interest beyond that. Conquistador shares a similar feel.
The story wasn't bad and the characters were OK, but the dialog was bad and the book was just way longer than it should have been, packed with slow boring parts with a little action sprinkled in. I also felt like the author was trying to force in a lot of little trivia all along the way, and a lot of the time it seemed forced. Add to this an anticlimactic ending and it just wasn't as good as I had hoped.
I wouldn't recommend this book. Stirling seems to have good ideas, but doesn't deliver much with them.
Rating:
Summary: Very disappointing entry by an author I generally like
Review: I've enjoyed Stirling's other books quite a bit. This one spends way too much time exploring the ecological and political aspects of the alternate universe and way too little time on characterization and plot. The characters are shallow and way too "perfect". Everyone's good looking, smart, and athletic with a good sense of humor. I'm really having to force my way through to the end. I hope Stirling doesn't go the way of Turtledove, but after this I'm not optimistic.
Rating: 
Summary: Stirling's changing times...
Review: I've read most of SM Stirling's AH books starting w/the Draka series. I found those to be a nightmarish version of AH, one that tho technically strong was WAY too one sided. This story as already described so well by others is also technically strong BUT the characters are mostly set in more then one dimension unlike the Draka. Failures do happen to the protaganists and you can cheer for the main characters too. Though not long enough, I enjoyed the read and believe that Stirling fans will too. I really do hope he is still working with J. Pournelle on those CoDominion/Early Empire stories--The Prince was GREAT!
Rating:
Summary: GREAT
Review: If you are searching for the western literature masterwork of the century ...... search again. But this book is a very good fun and solid read; well written, well researched and throughly enjoyable. The characters are realistic and well rounded and I have really enjoyed reading this novel. Money well spent and worth reading in hardcover. I am still hoping for more novels in the Draka Universe (and even some more novels in the Island or Peshawar Universe would be nice). Perhaps Mr. Stirling could clone himself or, at least stop sleeping :).
Rating:
Summary: Conquistador
Review: is an excellent story. S. M. Stirling is a wonderful storyteller, creating believable and interesting charcters, and putting them into interesting situations. It's hard to put his books down--so be sure to free up plenty of time before you crack one open.
Rating:
Summary: California Dreaming
Review: Isaac Asimov once said that he was able to generate numerous Robot stories, simply by taking his Three Laws of Robotics and considering the possible variants if he emphasised one over another, or if he made two come into conflict. In a like way, Steve Stirling is doing so with the theme that he first instantiated in his Draka series. To wit, what happens when a group of people is put in an environment where they are a technologically advanced minority? How do they behave, and indeed how should they, towards a backward majority. What type of society will arise? In the Draka books, the Draka are a ruthless, expansionist, slave owning power. In "The Chosen", he gave us a very slightly more benign version. Then in the Nantucket trilogy, he created two societies. The Republic is explictly the US; benign and expansionistic. Walker's Kingdom of Greater Archaea is literally sadistic, and aggressively imperialistic. Now, Conquistador takes it further, and is more nuanced. The breakaway society is aristocratic and, where it suits itself, ruthless. But there is no slavery, or even the serf-like chattals posited in his other books. The leader is admirable at times; a benevolant dictator. Whereas with the Draka, Nantucket and Chosen scenarios, few readers would empathise with the villains, here it is fuzzier. In fact, this society and its leader, Rolfe, map closely into that of Isketerol's in the Nantucket books. Recall in those that Isketerol is shown as bold, as per his sneak attack on Nantucket itself, but also as genuinely concerned for his society, and humane when he can afford to be, because in the long run, this yields more. If you have read and enjoyed Stirling's other books, then you will too, here. The portal idea is scarcely new, but Stirling, with his usual skill, has made a fresh variant. The scenes in San Francisco and Los Angeles, especially in the alternate universe, are well drawn. The descriptions of a teeming Nature are most attractive, and will be no surprise to his readers. A seductive window into an alternate California. Plus, if this book is well received, he has left an ending begging for a sequel.
Rating:
Summary: Stirling's best-written book yet. 4.5 stars
Review: It's 1946. The white man is about to discover America.... Bottom line: Steve Stirling's writing just keeps getting better. This parallel-world thriller incorporates the best features of his popular Draka and Island in the Sea of Time series. Enthusiastically recommended. 1946: John Rolfe, recuperating from his war wounds,is tinkering with a war-surplus shortwave radio. !!CRACK!! The end of his basement is GONE, replaced with a sheet of rippling silver.... 2009: Tom Christiansen, game warden, is on a bust of wildlife-smugglers. The smuggler's warehouse is destroyed by incendiaries, but he find a fresh-killed man -- and a fresh-killed *dodo*.... And Steve Stirling is off and running with another of his patented reinventions of SF/F classics, here the 'virgin world next door.' As always, his research is deep, and impeccable. Details matter. His major characters come alive, and the minor ones carry their spears smoothly. The structure of the book is a police-procedural in 2009 -- Christiansen & a buddy work through an increasingly-weird wildlife-parts smuggling case -- with explanatory flashbacks in "New Virginia", as John Rolfe has tagged his virgin California. Once the wardens have twigged to the Rolfes' secret, they're abducted to New VA, and the book morphs to a political thriller -- Draka-like Elements are intent on subverting the (mostly) benevolent oligarchy that rules the new New World. One of the strengths of Conquistador is that all sides are drawn warts and all -- no shining heroes or dastardly villains here (well, a couple of the latter) -- just people playing with the hands they're dealt. And the new New World is a fabulous wish-fulfillment fantasy, that almost everyone who's gotten a bellyful of the downside of civilization has had -- but here worked out thoughtfully and carefully. Very nice. So, are there warts on this terrific book? Pretty minor ones: the secret-gate-between-worlds shtick is overdone. The food is better than I'd expect in white-boy heaven -- compare the Canadian/Northern US 'land of the bland', and the big, bland, indifferently-prepared meals in old White South Africa, to the lovingly-described feasts in New Virginia.... OK, so I'm reaching for something to complain about. This is Stirling's best-written book yet. It's (probably) #1 of a series, but comes to a stirring resolution, with a wonderful trick teaser for the next. If you've liked previous Stirling books, you'll love this one. And if you've put off trying him -- wait no longer. This is a winner. Here are some author comments, from Usenet: "I've had CONQUISTADOR bubbling at the back of my mind for a long time; since the early 80's, in fact. It's a different book than it would have been if I'd written it then, of course; I like to think my technique has improved, and I've mellowed out a bit. On the other hand, it's also not quite the same book that I would have written if the idea for it had come to me recently. Large chunks have been 'around' since its genesis. That made writing it an interesting experience; sort of like a collaboration with myself."
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[Conquistador] "right now it's a standalone, although there's potential for sequels. I'm planning on a couple of alternate-history space-and-planet operas next, though, involving alien-induced differences in the solar system which only become known on earth in the early 1960's." [Google Groups for an interesting discussion of Conquistador. Caution: SPOILERS] Review copyright 2003 by Peter D. Tillman
First published at SF Site
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