Dies the Fire, by S. M. Stirling, is probably my favorite novel of the third millennium to date.

One of the two protagonists is a lady fiddler and folksinger, modeled closely on the former Heather Alexander - the character's name is Juniper Mackenzie.

More here also.

There are now six sequels, the most recent of which was published this past Tuesday and on which I am sweating out Amazon's slow freight shipping.

Peter