Name of Novel

[Rubidad]

Greetings,
Several years ago, maybe even a decade ago , I read a great book about the collapse of civilization due to the failure of computers and electronic circuitry. It began with the female VP of the US in a supersonic vehicle that lost all power and crashed. Things like carburetor vehicles continued to work... There was also a sequel written.
I cannot remember the title or author, and my google/bing mojo has failed me. Did I tickle anyone's memory a bit???

 

[Ropie]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dies_the_Fire

?

 

[Rubidad]

Thanks, Ropie, but that's another series.
The one I'm trying to recall and reread has most of the action on the East Coast I think, and cars without fuel injection, but with carburetors continue to work and I think guns and other non-computer circuit stuff works too. I don't want to spoil it for anyone interested, but it is an extraterrestrial event that caused the crisis....

 

[dannymcg]

This is really annoying me!
I read that full story early this year (and was impressed at how calm the lady VP was as they were crashing) but can't remember the title/author myself.
Hard thinking needed! - trouble is I'm currently unemployed so am banging through between six and ten books a week, every week.

 

[Av Demeisen]

This is really annoying me!
I read that full story early this year (and was impressed at how calm the lady VP was as they were crashing) but can't remember the title/author myself.
Hard thinking needed! - trouble is I'm currently unemployed so am banging through between six and ten books a week, every week.

Johan Cruijff used to say "ieder nadeel heeft zijn voordeel (every disadvantage has its advantage)".

 

[Sfinx]

Johan Cruijff used to say "ieder nadeel heeft zijn voordeel (every disadvantage has its advantage)".

well, technically he said: "ieder nadeel heb z'n voordeel" - but Dutch being quite a minority language on these boards, we'll not get into Dutch /dialect / Cruijffiaans

I'll just throw one other in I like a lot: "Voetballen is simpel. Het moeilijkste wat er echter is, is simpel voetballen."

 

[Sfinx]

This is really annoying me!
I read that full story early this year (and was impressed at how calm the lady VP was as they were crashing) but can't remember the title/author myself.
Hard thinking needed! - trouble is I'm currently unemployed so am banging through between six and ten books a week, every week.

In that case - was this one in one of these??

It's a separate story in a book (like Wolfe likes to do, may actually be him, but can't remember...) about a young man going out to sea, searching for a giant monster, only able to find it by a girl's intervention; the monster sports a giant gun turret (i think). I think, but am not sure, it has also has to do with girls/virgins being taken from a city (where possibly wizards are trained?)...and the young man 'going to the rescue' wanders around ever-changing sea channels before he finds the monster / giant (as said, i think with the help from a girl (who gives him a map?)

 

[cpegg]

It began with the female VP of the US in a supersonic vehicle that lost all power and crashed. Things like carburetor vehicles continued to work... There was also a sequel written.

That sounds like Aftermath by Charles Sheffield. Starfire was the sequel.

 

[dannymcg]

That sounds like Aftermath by Charles Sheffield. Starfire was the sequel.

Yeah! That's the one I was thinking of