1634: The Baltic War (9) (The Ring of Fire)

I love this series enough to try mightily at presenting it on Wikipedia and having it make sense to some reader who is in all likelihood not a book lover. I can't really disagree with any of the fourteen review opinions presented before this writing (but would add the "Ring of Fire" as a mandantory pre-read--those anthologies as noted in its forward were written concurrently with and shaped this milieu at the same time as the justly lauded and vaunted 1633, and I would suggest reading it before even that triumphant work!), as I understand that not all of us look for the same things in a "good read". But the fact is, I AM going to rebut a few things said -- instead of writing a standard review myself, as the earliest five or six singing the praise of the work pretty much are what I would have written. It's the couple of sour apples in the batch that I want to present a different viewpoint on their gripe, or shed some light as to why they shouldn't be griping about that aspect at all with a reason or two behind the issue. The critics filing reviews ahead of me complaining about the sunny tone and romance have a right to their dismal preferences, but I can say this to them--this is post 90's guys--get in touch with some of your female side, this thing isn't being written to be read only by guys as many of it's boosters (and writers) are of the female persuasion. (Kind of reminds me of 'The Princess Bride' line: "Is this a kissing book?", asked the boy. The answer's the same of course-- Yep, some of the time!) But the 1632 Afterword addressed that sunniness quite well--the late Jim Baen advised Flint to lighten it up and go easy on the violent side of things--and that's the nature of the storyline and tone that began what is truly deserved to be called a phenomenon. Flint likes the light hearted approach on top of that, and his humor pays that bill nicely for me most of the time. So the first moral is the prologs and afterwords in this series are pretty important reading... and relatively brief at that, so I recommend you do that. The critics lamenting the "too many characters" most of us don't see often enough and get enough of fast enough will be unhappy with the next three novels Flint and Weber have a contract to write as well. (No speculation here, just fact--we can but hope they take less time to schedule a writing window in their respective careers sooner than this last lengthy delay, as Flint and Weber are definitely carrying the Central European thread together--and some of the reviewers below have missed the point that many Europeans live outside that geographic region, and those other threads will cross back and recross and tangle with the mainline story again and again-- as Flint says, History is a messy business as it's generated by the actions of the many, not just a couple of supermen.) But the series does have all those complicated side threads, and will have a few more yet, I'm sure. And those all have hints and obvious literary h

Like its two direct predecessors, 1632 and 1633, this is a delightful romp thru the middle of the time of the thirty years war, specifically the early to middle 1630's. These three, and the several collateral books in the 'series': 1634: The Galileo Affair (The Ring of Fire), 1634: The Ram Rebellion (Assiti Shards), 1635: Cannon Law (Ring of Fire), Ring of Fire (Assiti Shards), The Grantville Gazette, Grantville Gazette II, Grantville Gazette III, future issues of the Grantville Gazette and doubtless many more to follow, all great fun, really constitute not a series, but one huge hypernovel, variously called (collectively) 1632, 163x, Assiti Shards, or Ring of Fire, and incorporating at least three of the four basic plots, The Little Tailor, The Yellow Brick Road, and numerous instances of Boy Meets Girl; in this volume, Eddie-Anne Cathrine and Thorsten-Caroline. While these books can be read and greatly enjoyed in any order, the best plan is to read 1632 first, then 1633, and thereafter read the 1634, Grantville Gazette, and Ring of Fire titles (in any order, except read The Galileo Affair just before going on to the 1635 titles, beginning with Cannon Law, (direct sequel to The Galileo Affair). I refer to the other books as collateral because the story lines of those books are more or less peripheral to the story lines of 1632, 1633, and 1634: the Baltic War. Besides being very enjoyable in themselves, these stories enhance and supplement the three 'mainline' volumes. Every one of these books is a very enjoyable action-adventure story, and every one just incidentally gives you fascinating insights into the social and cultural milieu of one or more of the nations of Europe in the 1630's. HISTORY TEACHERS TAKE NOTE! And finally, some of you, those who like computer games, may want to get Eric Flint's 1632 Resource Guide and Role Playing Game [email protected]

After 2 year wait 1634: The Baltic War is finally out. This is an interesting marriage of 2 very good authors with different writing styles, life experiences, and (most importantly) politics. Of course in comparison to 17th Century European politics, they seem like radical socialists, nae, almost anarchists. I wish our congressmen would learn from these two politically active authors. I wish I knew how they delegate characters and storylines, although I am sure Stearns is definitely Flint's character, as is the recking crew, and Mr. and Mrs. Simpson are definitely Weber's, they have seamlessly written a very complex novel into one complete whole that ties up most of the loose ends from 1633, of course not all, because I believe they have at least one more novel to go. I think mood has one of the telltale signals to author hints, Weber tends to more seriousness, Flint owns irreverency, although both are guilty of both in this book. I hope the next comes out much faster. What makes this book, and series fun, is the blending of history, politics, social commentary, and action into one very fun and fast paced story. The use of minor characters throughout the book to flesh out the story, and make political and social commentary is what makes it great.

This is a very frustrating book to review simply because if I start praising it I'm going to run out of superlatives in a hurry. It isn't so much a "single novel" as a set of *VERY* well-written novellas and novelettes interweaved with each other, and some of the consequences of actions taken in one story, such as the "Tower of London Rescue", have consequences for others, such as the "Negotiations With Spain" story. Flint and Weber are masters of their craft, and the joints don't show. Aside from the fact that this book has everything a reader of this kind of story has a right to expect, combat, politics, treachery, honor, courage, and yes, just a dash of "knives in the night," neither author ever lets you forget that history is the ultimate "people-watching." If you get this book as a hardcover, the publisher has bound a CD into it which has the earlier books in the saga on it in electronic form, so if your local bookstore is unfortunate enough not to carry the other books, you can still catch up on the saga from the eCopies, which are NOT encrypted and can be stuffed into your PDA, read on your laptop, printed, or fed into a text-to-speech engine. I strongly recommend this book, and I'll leave you with an example of just how good the writing is. The book's ending is absolutely howlingly funny. But, to understand WHY it's so funny that when I got there I spent ten minutes choking on laughter, you have to read the WHOLE book first! Now THAT'S good writing! Thank you, Eric and David. Please, keep 'em coming.

If you liked 1632, you'll love this book. It directly continues the story, as told in 1632 and 1633, so you don't have to worry about all of the other little side stories (i.e. the Grantville Gazette, etc.). While it starts off a little slowly, it really does an excellent job of tying up many of the loose ends of the story, and there are quite a few of them. It deals with the American captives in the Tower of London, along with the rescue attempt that was launched at the end of 1633. It deals with the Spanish seige of Amsterdam. It deals with the Blockade at Luebeck, and the power of the ironclads, as well as really making Simpson a much more likeable character. It also deals with my favorite two characters, Julie and Alex Mackie, as well as dealing with how the force structure of the army works. And finally, it deals with Denmark and the situation that Eddie Cantrell finds himself in. All in all, it takes all of those storylines, as well as adding a few more, and weaves them together so that it's neither boring, nor is it overly confusing the way some fo Harry Turtledove's stories can get. I highly recommend this book, and also 1632 & 1633 as well. 1632 is more of a feel-good book, but Eric (Flint), David (weber) and the late Jim Baen have turned this into a truly worthwhile and entertaining series that will simply keep you turning the pages until is it finished. I truly hope that they continue the series, as I'd like to see this brave new world continue to evolve and grow. To read this book now, just go to baen.com and sign into the webscriptions.net to read the Advanced Reader Copy. It's well worth it.