Type of bind: Hardcover
Dewey Decimal Number: 813.54
Format: Bargain Price
Label: Baen
Manufacturer: Baen
Quantity: 1
Page Count: 512
Printing Date: April 25, 2006
Publishing house: Baen
Sale Popularity Level: 683078
Studio: Baen
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Product Description:
The Thirty Years War continues to ravage 17th century Europe, but a new force is gathering power and influence: the Confederated Principalities of Europe, an alliance between Gustavus Adolphus, King of Sweden, and the West Virginians from the 20th century led by Mike Stearns who were hurled centuries into the past by a mysterious cosmic accident. Inspired by the example of American freedom and justice, a movement in Franconia among the peasants, who have revolted several times even before the arrival from the future of the town of Grantville, an independent revolutionary movement has arisen, flying the banner of the head of a ram. The West Virginians fully approve of liberating the peasants from the nobility, but they are also aware of how revolutionary movements can lead to bloodbaths. And avoiding that deadly possibility will require all of their future knowledge and all their plain old American horse-trading diplomacy. . . .
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Rated by buyers 
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Sorry about the terrible pun in the review title, given the subject matter of this book. But the book is a death march--a long slog through trivia that might be fascinating to a few Baen's Bar fanatics, but which the rest of us find pretty boring. The greatest thing about 1632 was the fact that it told a great story, which was strong enough to hold the history that was hung all over it. The storytelling isn't nearly as strong here, and the history weighs it down. Recommended for die-hard 1632 fans only.
Rated by buyers -
This book is a little more of a thinky piece than the typical 1632-verse story, and as such it suffers from two problems: (1) the writing quality is uneven and largely amateurish; and (2) the 1632-verse can't withstand too much thinking.
The very first issue is obvious enough, and has been covered adequately by other reviewers. Suffice it to say that if there is anything about Eric Flint's writing that annoys you, that flaw will be magnified in the contributions by other authors. The one that really bugs me is the tendency to establish things by having characters talk about them instead of being shown the thing directly (the biggest offenders here are the various conversations that go: "Gee Ann, these Brillo stories sure are hilarious!" "I agree!").
The second problem is a little more subtle. Eric Flint has stated in text or in author's notes that the big themes here are that Life is Shades of Grey and Great Men are Overrated. But the entire 1632-verse presents us with a grey and white world where your goodness can be judged by how far you deviate from the ideals of Mike Stearns. Moreover, no character ever really goes from good to bad or bad to good--the closest thing is John Simpson, and he doesn't really change, we're just supposed to like him more once we discover that he's more like Mike Stearns than we originally thought.
Meanwhile, this whole story is about how Great Men are super-cool. Not only is Mike Stearns Better Than You, we also get a cameo by Gretchen Richter to illustrate that she is Better Than You, and the other characters mention in passing that her husband is probably Better Than You too. None of the mainline characters is ever outsmarted, out-toughed, or shown to be wrong about anything (except by other mainline characters, and always in strict accordance with the deviation-from-Stearns hierarchy). I think some of these problems come from the warmed over fanfiction origin of a lot of the writing, but they're creeping into the series as a whole, and they're a lot more noticeable when a book is as devoid of action as this one.
This book can safely be skipped unless you are a 1632 completist or you (like me) desperately need reading material for a long plane flight.
Rated by buyers 
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This book is a frame tale: a collection of stories within an overall theme. They lead into each other, but are separate entities in themselves as well. Some stories on big themes, some on little ones, a lot of humor, and the bad guys get their just desserts. As the authors stipulate, history is random and contingent, and this is an excellent illustration of that concept. I've probably read this one six times, and it improves with every read. The only other author I can say that about is Bujold. Read it! Read it now! Buy copies for all your friends!!
Rated by buyers 
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I'm surprised at all the 1-star reviews for this book. I actually thought it was quite good and told an important story that most likely would have made a rather dull novel. Like many other reviewers, I was more fond of the short stories in the very first half of the book than the novella by Flint and DeMarce that finishes it. The stories of Brillo the Ram and his rise to fame are highly entertaining, and whoever thought of using him to inspire the Franconian uprising deserves some serious kudos. Kerryn Offord's "The Night at the Ballet" was surprisingly good, even though it didn't tie in with the major plot line very well. I never would have thought a story about ballet dancing would have impressed me, but I guess you just never know.
The major story thread is the 'modernization' of personal rights in the Fanconian provinces. Land ownership, voting rights, and such for people living in territories of the New United States isn't really an exciting-seeming subject, but by telling these stories from the perspective of regular people, this book really brings the story to life. While written by a number of different authors with varying skill, most of the stories are focused on a common theme and tie in together nicely. No large battles or extremely important events occur here, but its still and entertaining book.
One reviewer griped about not being able to keep track of all the characters. I didn't find this to be too much of a problem, but I did read the book fairly quickly. I can certainly see difficulties if you typically read books over long periods or many short sessions. There is a helpful listing of characters and maps at the beginning of the book.
All in all, this book does an excellent job of telling an important aspect of the Ring of Fire story, and manages to do so in an entertaining way.
Rated by buyers 
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The early in this book are fun and enjoyable reads. The later stories I found slower with the exception of the final climax of the book. This scene builds up through several of the stories to the final event and it suddenly occurs and is done with. There is less explanation of these final events than I found to be satisfactory. But it is in a series that I really like so it was still enjoyable. For those who do not like the deep intrigue of politics this may not be a favorite after the very first couple of stories.
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