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Assiti Shards #17
1636: The Viennese Waltz
Book #18 in the multiple New York Times best-selling Ring of Fire series, and the team behind national bestseller 1635: The Kremlin Games.
When Grantville, West Virginia was transported back to the year 1631 -- in the middle of the Thirty Years' War, no less -- many things happened. Many opportunities arose. It's said that a rising tide lifts all boats. Perhaps not quite as high as the Barbie Consortium rose, however.
A cabal of ten- to twelve-year-old girls?
They aren't twelve anymore. And they gave up playing with dolls some years ago, when they sold them all and started an investment consortium. A consortium that did quite well.
The Barbie Consortium hits Vienna. In several different ways. The princes and princesses, dukes and duchesses, the common men and women on the street have no idea what's about to happen.Neither do the girls, but they're determined it'll happen their way.
At the publisher's request, this title is sold without DRM (Digital Rights Management).
About 1636: The Devil's Opera:
“Another engaging alternate history from a master of the genre.”—Booklist
“. . . an old-style police-procedural mystery, set in 17th century Germany. . . . the threads . . . spin together . . . to weave an addictively entertaining story. . . . a strong addition to a fun series.”— Daily News of Galveston County
About Eric Flint’s Ring of Fire series:
“This alternate history series is…a landmark…”—Booklist
“[Eric] Flint's 1632 universe seems to be inspiring a whole new crop of gifted alternate historians.”—Booklist
“…reads like a technothriller set in the age of the Medicis…”—Publishers Weekly
Eric Flint is a modern master of alternate history fiction, with over three million books in print. He’s the author/creator of the New York Times best-selling Ring of Fire series. With David Drake he has written six popular novels in the “Belisarius” alternate Roman history series, and with David Weber collaborated on 1633 and 1634: The Baltic War and latest Honorverse series entry, Cauldron of Ghosts. Flint was for many years a labor union activist. He lives near Chicago, Illinois.
When Grantville, West Virginia was transported back to the year 1631 -- in the middle of the Thirty Years' War, no less -- many things happened. Many opportunities arose. It's said that a rising tide lifts all boats. Perhaps not quite as high as the Barbie Consortium rose, however.
A cabal of ten- to twelve-year-old girls?
They aren't twelve anymore. And they gave up playing with dolls some years ago, when they sold them all and started an investment consortium. A consortium that did quite well.
The Barbie Consortium hits Vienna. In several different ways. The princes and princesses, dukes and duchesses, the common men and women on the street have no idea what's about to happen.Neither do the girls, but they're determined it'll happen their way.
At the publisher's request, this title is sold without DRM (Digital Rights Management).
About 1636: The Devil's Opera:
“Another engaging alternate history from a master of the genre.”—Booklist
“. . . an old-style police-procedural mystery, set in 17th century Germany. . . . the threads . . . spin together . . . to weave an addictively entertaining story. . . . a strong addition to a fun series.”— Daily News of Galveston County
About Eric Flint’s Ring of Fire series:
“This alternate history series is…a landmark…”—Booklist
“[Eric] Flint's 1632 universe seems to be inspiring a whole new crop of gifted alternate historians.”—Booklist
“…reads like a technothriller set in the age of the Medicis…”—Publishers Weekly
Eric Flint is a modern master of alternate history fiction, with over three million books in print. He’s the author/creator of the New York Times best-selling Ring of Fire series. With David Drake he has written six popular novels in the “Belisarius” alternate Roman history series, and with David Weber collaborated on 1633 and 1634: The Baltic War and latest Honorverse series entry, Cauldron of Ghosts. Flint was for many years a labor union activist. He lives near Chicago, Illinois.
492 pages, Kindle Edition
First published October 15, 2014
51 people are currently reading
406 people want to read
About the author
Eric Flint
250 books874 followersEric Flint was a New York Times bestselling American author, editor, and e-publisher. The majority of his main works were alternate history science fiction, but he also wrote humorous fantasy adventures.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 64 reviews
February 7, 2017
The Viennese Waltz is the latest in a LONG series of side-story novels set in the Ring of Fire universe written collaboratively by Eric Flint and a whole stable of authors (in this case Gorg Hoff and Paula Goodlett, the pair of authors who worked with him on 1636: The Kremlin Games). As far as Ring of Fire side stories go, this one isn't up to the standards of 1636: The Devil's Opera (or even Kremlin Games), but at the same time I found it generally well-written and entertaining (even if it did lack much of the series trademark action and world-altering political machinations). This book is focused almost entirely on events in Vienna from 1634 to 1636 as a group of up-timer teenage girls who made out like bandits in down-time investing descend on the city and gradually introduce economic reforms on Austria-Hungary, helping the hapless Hapsburgs to recover from the effects of being on the outside of the Grantville-led economic boom in Germany while also bridging a bit of the cultural-political gap that has kept the Austro-Hungarians and the new United States of Europe at arms length. As you'd expect from that description, this is a lot of economics, some culture clash, some down-time boys meet crazy up-time girls, and politics, which is okay by me because I find the whole Ring of Fire/Assiti Shards universe fascinating (even in a slow novel like this one). Also, it has the advantage over some of the previous slow novels (Bavarian Crisis springs to mind, as does Dreesen Incident (which I haven't read, but it's referenced a lot here)) in that it is relatively short at just under 400 pages and it doesn't overwhelm the reader with an insane number of POV's like Bavarian Crisis. There were some editing problems near the beginning as time and perspective shift without any clear explanation of who is talking and where, but that got better as the book progressed. It may sound silly but I almost gave this book 4 stars just because it finally has a 1636 map of Central Europe (with the USE state of Tyrol, independent Burgundy, and the Polish War situation depicted (though the map did bring up the question I keep wondering, what's the deal with Prussia? the map shows independent Ducal Prussia but by the 1630's it would've been held in personal union by the Elector of Brandenburg and thus (theoretically) part of the USE (especially after the events of 1636: The Saxon Uprising) but neither the books nor the map reflects this (though it's also not depicted as Polish-Lithuanian territory, weird)) to replace the circa 1635 map from the previous few books, which was a much-needed addition given the dramatic changes in that time. Anyway, while it might not be a first tier addition to the Ring of Fire storyline, Vienna Waltz does fill in some holes, provide context for the looming Ottoman invasion of Central Europe and tide us over until the next couple releases (French Civil War (get excited) and Russian Civil War part 2, yes, please!).
August 11, 2014
Quite good. The Barbie Consortium drops in, Vienna will never be the same.
September 25, 2014
Another entry in Flint et al's long-running Ring of Fire series. The action moves to Vienna, when a few up-timers sell a race car to Ferdinand III of Austria-Hungary and go along to maintain it. Vienna is in a recession, as uptimer technology is sucking all of the money out of other countries and into the USE. The Barbie Consortium (teenage girls who sold their dolls and invested wisely) becomes involved in overhauling the Austrian-Hungarian economy. But not everyone approves....
The focus here is on economics and monetary theory, with characterization and plotting rather sketchy. Despite that, it's an interesting read. For series completeists.
The focus here is on economics and monetary theory, with characterization and plotting rather sketchy. Despite that, it's an interesting read. For series completeists.
August 1, 2018
I enjoyed it! Good ending! I wonder where Gundaker is hiding!
October 16, 2020
This novel is very much a side story, and is probably of greater interest to readers who have been following all the Grantville Gazette issues and know the whole story of the Barbie Consortium. I know that Emperor Ferdinand III getting an American car and setting up a race track outside Vienna was mentioned in a story in one of the GG issues, but it's been long enough that the details are blurry.
The novel starts with the arrival of the car and its up-timer mechanics, and the creation of Race Track City -- and the uproar that results when one of the uptimers automatically thanks a servant, something unthinkable to the downtime aristocracy, who seem to regard servants rather as we'd view a robot. Maybe even less, in fact, because a lot of people in the here and now talk to their robots, and even thank machines (if a little jocularly) for doing things.
The young woman is fired -- and then immediately hired by the uptimers' household, so she doesn't suffer disgrace or penury. And then the Barbies arrive with their uptime economic theories and begin to address the Austrio-Hungarian Empire's financial issues. In the process, they undermine confidence in the reichsthaler, and end up effectively pwning the Empire's banking system, for which they are formally ennobled in a ceremony.
However, as has been the theme in a number of the more recent books in the series, there is a limit to the rate at which societies can adapt to rapid change, and there will inevitably be a certain amount of pushback from the more traditionalist elements of society. This comes partly from the brother of one of the major downtimer characters, and from a priest who is massively offended by uptime habits of dress, even conservative attire. It also dovetails into the Italian storyline, of Borja's attempt to depose Pope Urban VIII and the resulting effective schism in the Catholic Church.
This is a Baen book, so a happy ending is pretty much a given, even if it means some hair's-breadth escapes and the down-to-the-minute discovery and disarming of a literal ticking time bomb. Yes, one major character will take significant injuries, and some minor characters die in the process, but disaster is prevented and the revanchists discredited.
There are a couple of down-timer names that have some awkward associations to a present-day reader, but would be just ordinary names in that place and time. I'm not sure how well it works to remind us that this story is set in a time before those events happen, and that the major protagonists of this series are hoping to avert certain horrors of history.
The novel starts with the arrival of the car and its up-timer mechanics, and the creation of Race Track City -- and the uproar that results when one of the uptimers automatically thanks a servant, something unthinkable to the downtime aristocracy, who seem to regard servants rather as we'd view a robot. Maybe even less, in fact, because a lot of people in the here and now talk to their robots, and even thank machines (if a little jocularly) for doing things.
The young woman is fired -- and then immediately hired by the uptimers' household, so she doesn't suffer disgrace or penury. And then the Barbies arrive with their uptime economic theories and begin to address the Austrio-Hungarian Empire's financial issues. In the process, they undermine confidence in the reichsthaler, and end up effectively pwning the Empire's banking system, for which they are formally ennobled in a ceremony.
However, as has been the theme in a number of the more recent books in the series, there is a limit to the rate at which societies can adapt to rapid change, and there will inevitably be a certain amount of pushback from the more traditionalist elements of society. This comes partly from the brother of one of the major downtimer characters, and from a priest who is massively offended by uptime habits of dress, even conservative attire. It also dovetails into the Italian storyline, of Borja's attempt to depose Pope Urban VIII and the resulting effective schism in the Catholic Church.
This is a Baen book, so a happy ending is pretty much a given, even if it means some hair's-breadth escapes and the down-to-the-minute discovery and disarming of a literal ticking time bomb. Yes, one major character will take significant injuries, and some minor characters die in the process, but disaster is prevented and the revanchists discredited.
There are a couple of down-timer names that have some awkward associations to a present-day reader, but would be just ordinary names in that place and time. I'm not sure how well it works to remind us that this story is set in a time before those events happen, and that the major protagonists of this series are hoping to avert certain horrors of history.
December 31, 2018
I know this is a reread, but for the life of me, I couldn't find where or when I had reviewed it here, so I simply read it again ;-)
This is one of my favorite books in the ROF series. There's enough political and economic/social upheaval to appeal to adults, and there's a teenage angst angle through the Barbie Consortium to make any YA reader squeal with delight at times.
The ending, as with many of the ROF endings, seems a bit rushed although I feel we will be seeing more of the various von Up-Times as they grow and scatter throughout Europe. At least, I hope so.
This is one of my favorite books in the ROF series. There's enough political and economic/social upheaval to appeal to adults, and there's a teenage angst angle through the Barbie Consortium to make any YA reader squeal with delight at times.
The ending, as with many of the ROF endings, seems a bit rushed although I feel we will be seeing more of the various von Up-Times as they grow and scatter throughout Europe. At least, I hope so.
February 19, 2016
I have loved modern-people- displaced-in-time stories since I read Twain’s “Connecticut Yankees in King Arthur’s Court,” and suspension of disbelief is key. Also a certainty that while individual up-time people are smarter than individual down-time people, a lot of those smarts come from a gradual build-up of information discovered by *drum-roll* down-time people. A good time-travel book is going to acknowledge that, and the 16xx series certainly does.
So. A book about high finance. There’s going to be lots of boy-girl goings on to make it interesting, right? Right. And countries spying on each other, and Down-timers who hate the Up-timers, and Up-timers who hate the Down-timers.
This book actually starts off in 1634, and shout-outs to the other books in the series are either really annoying or a nod to continuity, depending on your preference. The titular Waltz takes place at the end, to a background of plots and murder.
If you don’t already love the series, this is an awful place to start. If you do love the series, read it for completeness. The financial wheeling and dealing is barely believable, and the romance is worse. The wand-waving solution to the financial crises is possibly believable within the series, but I had a really hard time accepting that a king would do that. Then there are the wealthy Barbies, girls ranging from 15-25. (And a waitress is described as 10 years older than the Barbies – which makes her from 25-35? How did she do that?) One is a down-timer, and one up-timer is more of a tag-along than a Barbie. They all pick up boyfriends and seem to be on the marriage track, whether they were interested in marriage or not, because that’s what girls do, right? Marry. The wealth/status differences between the girls and the boys make for some interesting conversations, though.
The cover with its Race Today! Banner is a tad misleading. Yes, there are cars in Ye Ancient Worlde, so someone who never picked up this series before will have an idea that this is a time-travel book. Sure, the Emperor wants a car, and the mechanics are building a race-track, and they’re going to someday hold the Vienna 500 here. But… there’s one car racing itself. I waited and waited for the two car race through the streets, and it never showed up. I was disappointed.
I wasn’t sure who everyone was, so I was happy for the Cast of Characters in the back. That is, until I read it. This is a book about High Finance, right? So….
*‘Anna, serving girl, buys a bra’ might be relevant, if a bit titillating.
*‘Roth, Morris advisor to King’ is informational.
*‘Roth, Judith wife of Morris’ kind of leaves out the fact that she becomes Head of the National Bank of Bohemia. That’s pretty important, in a book about High Finance. And it’s not as if the writers wanted to leave out spoilerific information, since ‘buys a bra’ takes place many chapters later.
*’Sanderlen, Gayleen wife of Ron’ also leaves out the fact that she becomes CEO of the investment company which is the most important factors of the book. How was this left out?
*’Forney, Dana, wife of Sonny’ is the co-CEO of the investment company. Somehow this is also not relevant.
*’Ron’ & ‘Sonny’, by the way, are listed as mechanics and not ‘husband of’ Gayleen & Dana.
None of the men are listed as ‘husband of’, even when the estranged marriage is an important plot point.
With all the fuss that the series and this book in particular makes about Up-time Attitudes about women’s emancipation, this Cast of Characters listing is disappointing.
So. A book about high finance. There’s going to be lots of boy-girl goings on to make it interesting, right? Right. And countries spying on each other, and Down-timers who hate the Up-timers, and Up-timers who hate the Down-timers.
This book actually starts off in 1634, and shout-outs to the other books in the series are either really annoying or a nod to continuity, depending on your preference. The titular Waltz takes place at the end, to a background of plots and murder.
If you don’t already love the series, this is an awful place to start. If you do love the series, read it for completeness. The financial wheeling and dealing is barely believable, and the romance is worse. The wand-waving solution to the financial crises is possibly believable within the series, but I had a really hard time accepting that a king would do that. Then there are the wealthy Barbies, girls ranging from 15-25. (And a waitress is described as 10 years older than the Barbies – which makes her from 25-35? How did she do that?) One is a down-timer, and one up-timer is more of a tag-along than a Barbie. They all pick up boyfriends and seem to be on the marriage track, whether they were interested in marriage or not, because that’s what girls do, right? Marry. The wealth/status differences between the girls and the boys make for some interesting conversations, though.
The cover with its Race Today! Banner is a tad misleading. Yes, there are cars in Ye Ancient Worlde, so someone who never picked up this series before will have an idea that this is a time-travel book. Sure, the Emperor wants a car, and the mechanics are building a race-track, and they’re going to someday hold the Vienna 500 here. But… there’s one car racing itself. I waited and waited for the two car race through the streets, and it never showed up. I was disappointed.
I wasn’t sure who everyone was, so I was happy for the Cast of Characters in the back. That is, until I read it. This is a book about High Finance, right? So….
*‘Anna, serving girl, buys a bra’ might be relevant, if a bit titillating.
*‘Roth, Morris advisor to King’ is informational.
*‘Roth, Judith wife of Morris’ kind of leaves out the fact that she becomes Head of the National Bank of Bohemia. That’s pretty important, in a book about High Finance. And it’s not as if the writers wanted to leave out spoilerific information, since ‘buys a bra’ takes place many chapters later.
*’Sanderlen, Gayleen wife of Ron’ also leaves out the fact that she becomes CEO of the investment company which is the most important factors of the book. How was this left out?
*’Forney, Dana, wife of Sonny’ is the co-CEO of the investment company. Somehow this is also not relevant.
*’Ron’ & ‘Sonny’, by the way, are listed as mechanics and not ‘husband of’ Gayleen & Dana.
None of the men are listed as ‘husband of’, even when the estranged marriage is an important plot point.
With all the fuss that the series and this book in particular makes about Up-time Attitudes about women’s emancipation, this Cast of Characters listing is disappointing.
July 9, 2018
++++I absolutely love this series. It has a little of everything: 20th century Americans suddenly in the midst of 17th century Germany, 17th century politics/wars/families/family rivalries and a strong dose of ingenuity/chutzpah/marksmanship/independence. In this case a court prince of the Austro-Hungarian Empire has visited Grantville, USE and become enamored of both the culture and the daughter of a practical engineer/man of all work/spy. Her sister is the public face of The Barbie Consortium which loosely consists of a number of young ladies, most of them teenagers who are the richest people in Europe. When they go to Vienna in preparation for the wedding of the prince and the commoner, all Hades breaks loose. Main characters: Sarah, Judith Elaine (Judy the Barracudy) Wendell; Haley Alma, Dana wife & mother, Andrew "Sonny" father & Brandon Fortney; Karl Eusebius "the Ken Doll", Gundaker, Maximilian von Liechtenstein court princes; Fredinand III Emperor of Austria; Uncle Bob, Ron & Gayleen Sanderlin, Elizabeth Lukretia "Aunt Beth" von Teschen duchess of Cieszyn; Albrech von Wallenstein King of Bohemia.
December 5, 2016
What a difference a different coauthor makes. The last book in the series got bogged down in endless expository text that brought the story to a screeching halt. This book is the exact opposite. Let me be clear: this is a story about monetary policy and investing in struggling Austrian state of 1636. There are no clashes of armies, flashing blades as duelists fight in a great hall, nor desperate chases along midnight roads. This is a book about money. How to make it, how it is used, and how it can screw you utterly.
And I couldn't put it down. The tension here is the possibility that a major nation, and the only bulwark against the Ottomans, could fall into financial ruin. The push is the new inventions and ideas coming out of Grantville. The pull is the hidebound traditions of the Austrian nobility. It makes for a fascinating clash.
And I couldn't put it down. The tension here is the possibility that a major nation, and the only bulwark against the Ottomans, could fall into financial ruin. The push is the new inventions and ideas coming out of Grantville. The pull is the hidebound traditions of the Austrian nobility. It makes for a fascinating clash.
December 8, 2014
I like this book. The bar for 1632 books, for me, is whether the characters and the setting keep my interest. This book really wrestles with the mysterious relationship between micro- and macro-economic policy, in terms of Vienna in 1636. Doesn't sound like entertainment, does it, unless you work for a central bank? But it is.
We get The Barbies, a prince, an emperor, a few nobles, lots of poor people, a race track for stock cars, and The Danube. In this episode, the Uptimers go to Vienna to set up a racetrack and a railroad. They discover that there are lots and lots of hungry people willing to work, and struggle to find ways to jumpstart the local economy.
I won't spoil the story, but I will give you a hint. Think of Cuba Gooding Jr saying, "Show me the money!"
We get The Barbies, a prince, an emperor, a few nobles, lots of poor people, a race track for stock cars, and The Danube. In this episode, the Uptimers go to Vienna to set up a racetrack and a railroad. They discover that there are lots and lots of hungry people willing to work, and struggle to find ways to jumpstart the local economy.
I won't spoil the story, but I will give you a hint. Think of Cuba Gooding Jr saying, "Show me the money!"
July 21, 2015
I find the Ring of Fire series quite fascinating, and possibly unique for the wide range of topics it covers. Some will fault this book for the lack of action, because it focuses instead on the world of finance. The central question is how to create a strong currency. Pretty dry (though informative) stuff in and of itself, but what makes this and other 'side' books in the series interesting is the focus on what it all means in the lives of real people - up-timer and down-timer, rich and poor.
November 25, 2014
Yet another solid entry in Eric Flint's fantastic 1632 series. This book features the popular (and romantic) Barbie Consortium as they begin to flex their political muscles in Vienna.
September 27, 2017
A good example of this series
It takes place off the main timeline, but it has a large impact on affairs across Europe. Finance is the major theme of the book.
It takes place off the main timeline, but it has a large impact on affairs across Europe. Finance is the major theme of the book.
October 28, 2024
This is a continuation of "1636: The Barbie Consortium". which is a subseries of the Ring of Fire series, aka, the Assiti Shards series (although calling it that is so utterly nerdy it defies description.)
Background: The West Virginia coal mining town of Grantville has been picked up and tossed back in time to the 1630s right in the middle of Germany during the 30 Years War. (See the book 1632). In "1636: The Barbie Consortium" several teenage girls decided they needed money. Part time jobs were out since in the 1630s, the only jobs open for them were as barmaids and they were still in high school, so they decided to pool their old Barbie dolls, sell them to the German/Polish and Italian aristocracy for a scandalous amount of money and then they parlayed that money into a business manufacturing peddle-driven sewing machines. In a pre-industrial world, peddle-driven sewing machines took off like a shot. Before they knew it, the girls were richer than just about anybody and everybody now looks to them for financial advice .... which leads us to the current story....
The story: Not all of the girls of the Barbie Consortium became millionaires and after all, they are still teenagers living with their parents, so when the new emperor of Austria is crowned, and decides to buy a car... one of the "Barbies" is forced to move to Vienna, Austria with her parents because the emperor needs a mechanic for his car. (In 1636, you don't just buy a car, you also buy the mechanic and build a road to drive the car on.) Not all the "Barbies" made a ton of money, only in proportion to the amount they originally invested. So how do you make more money? First, you need a product that people will want to buy, but Vienna is cash-poor so even if you have something that people want to buy, they can't buy it. No money... well... there is money but no one will take it. What the people will take are stock shares in the Barbie Consortium, and that is when an economic avalanche occurs. (See Gresham's Law.) Now the Barbies must solve this economic crisis, and maybe buy the entire country of Austria. (Does this country make my butt look big? :-) )
Any problems with this story? It seemed a little convoluted. I hadn't quite understood why the father needed to move to Austria (or want to) but that was eventually explained. There was a lot of economic explaining to do as well. It felt like I was in school, but if I was to understand what was about to happen, I needed that economic stuff explained. (Tom Clancy had to do the same thing in "Debt of Honor" and Michael Crichton did the same in "Rising Sun" and somewhat in "Timeline".)
Any modesty issues? Nothing more than what has been so in the previous novels in the series.
The ending was a little sappy, but this series always combines serious subjects with some tongue-in-cheek. I am often amazed at how anyone could make the 30 Years War a light subject, but the authors manage to do it without embarrassing themselves.
I would love to read this book again.
Background: The West Virginia coal mining town of Grantville has been picked up and tossed back in time to the 1630s right in the middle of Germany during the 30 Years War. (See the book 1632). In "1636: The Barbie Consortium" several teenage girls decided they needed money. Part time jobs were out since in the 1630s, the only jobs open for them were as barmaids and they were still in high school, so they decided to pool their old Barbie dolls, sell them to the German/Polish and Italian aristocracy for a scandalous amount of money and then they parlayed that money into a business manufacturing peddle-driven sewing machines. In a pre-industrial world, peddle-driven sewing machines took off like a shot. Before they knew it, the girls were richer than just about anybody and everybody now looks to them for financial advice .... which leads us to the current story....
The story: Not all of the girls of the Barbie Consortium became millionaires and after all, they are still teenagers living with their parents, so when the new emperor of Austria is crowned, and decides to buy a car... one of the "Barbies" is forced to move to Vienna, Austria with her parents because the emperor needs a mechanic for his car. (In 1636, you don't just buy a car, you also buy the mechanic and build a road to drive the car on.) Not all the "Barbies" made a ton of money, only in proportion to the amount they originally invested. So how do you make more money? First, you need a product that people will want to buy, but Vienna is cash-poor so even if you have something that people want to buy, they can't buy it. No money... well... there is money but no one will take it. What the people will take are stock shares in the Barbie Consortium, and that is when an economic avalanche occurs. (See Gresham's Law.) Now the Barbies must solve this economic crisis, and maybe buy the entire country of Austria. (Does this country make my butt look big? :-) )
Any problems with this story? It seemed a little convoluted. I hadn't quite understood why the father needed to move to Austria (or want to) but that was eventually explained. There was a lot of economic explaining to do as well. It felt like I was in school, but if I was to understand what was about to happen, I needed that economic stuff explained. (Tom Clancy had to do the same thing in "Debt of Honor" and Michael Crichton did the same in "Rising Sun" and somewhat in "Timeline".)
Any modesty issues? Nothing more than what has been so in the previous novels in the series.
The ending was a little sappy, but this series always combines serious subjects with some tongue-in-cheek. I am often amazed at how anyone could make the 30 Years War a light subject, but the authors manage to do it without embarrassing themselves.
I would love to read this book again.
April 2, 2024
This was my first reaction when realizing this was going to be yet another Barbie Consortium story. This annoying collection of teenage Mary Sues showed up quite regularly as one of the short stories in a Grantville Gazette or Ring of Fire anthology. Almost every time they did, it was one of the least interesting/believable/likable stories in the lot. So read an entire novel that is built around the Barbie Consortium?
With that said, I knew that the events in this book were crucial for setting up the events in the Ottoman Onslaught (which I already read out of order). So I figured I would just have to bite the bullet... er... glass... and cringe my way through it. I mean, how bad could a half dozen girls with the mind of Jordan Belfort and the body and personality of Kimmy Gibbler really be, right? Perhaps it was because I set the bar so low, but to my pleasant surprise...
March 4, 2023
Had been a while since I'd read any ring of fire books, so when I made the decision to drive to a fairly remote (to me) library - I've got cards to three different library systems here, living on the border between two states - I was happy to see that it had 2 of the next 3 books I needed, with the 3rd being an electronic only (and unlikely to be a library available book as a result) book.
This is more of the barbie consortium, mostly, with a little sewing circle thrown in, as the teenage barbarians raid and pillage the economy of Vienna in order to save it.
This is more of the barbie consortium, mostly, with a little sewing circle thrown in, as the teenage barbarians raid and pillage the economy of Vienna in order to save it.
November 27, 2019
Horrible! Worst ever and I’ve read them all. The military ones aren’t my favorite, but this one should be subtitled, why race track city near Vienna uses Barbie dollars instead of Holy Roman Empire dollars.
The Barbies are there but they barely talk about anything other than economics. Almost as dry as one of the articles in the back of the Grantville Gazette.
With this many authors, they really need to find someone who can do dialogue beyond the bare minimum.
The Barbies are there but they barely talk about anything other than economics. Almost as dry as one of the articles in the back of the Grantville Gazette.
With this many authors, they really need to find someone who can do dialogue beyond the bare minimum.
April 19, 2022
2022 bk 100. There's a new Archduke in town. With the death of his father, the new Archduke has a little more freedom to show his interest in uptime machinery and brings two families (including one member of the Barbie group) and several automobiles to town. Change is in the air and there are those who do not like it one little bit. A well crafted story of what happens when a moving force meets an unmoving wall at full speed!
September 16, 2023
Hayley Fortney’s family has gone to Vienna with the Sanderlin family: Ferdinand III purchased Ron Sanderlin’s 280Z and hired him to keep it running and build a race track. Later on, Sarah Wendell becomes engaged to Karl Eusebius von Liechtenstein, a court prince and the Ken Doll of the Barbie Consortium. The rest of the Barbies come to Vienna to be bridesmaids, except Heather Mason, who stays in Grantville to keep an eye on things. Naturally, the Barbies take Vienna by storm, and what a storm.
September 16, 2017
Great novel
This is a great book, both as a stand alone story and as one of the 1635 year collection. The novels are each able to be read as a single book, however all the story line weave together a much bigger tapestry if you read them all because they are set in the same year, so events in one influence the others.
This is a great book, both as a stand alone story and as one of the 1635 year collection. The novels are each able to be read as a single book, however all the story line weave together a much bigger tapestry if you read them all because they are set in the same year, so events in one influence the others.
September 9, 2022
Cliff hanger , and the Barbies get there just rewards.
I really liked the race track and the thrill that a car from the future would drive the wedge of revolution in to the heart of a hide bound Royal structure. The right machine van make difference.
I really liked the race track and the thrill that a car from the future would drive the wedge of revolution in to the heart of a hide bound Royal structure. The right machine van make difference.
December 13, 2024
This book captures what I love best about this series, watching a society and a nation be reshaped not by guns and bayonets (or not primarily) but by ideas and technology. This book also manages to turn finance and economics into engaging storytelling, a remarkable feat
June 26, 2017
Wasn't sure I was going to like it at first, but it became very interesting about halfway through.
June 28, 2017
Inflation / deflation - cash flow troubles can wreak an empire - Barbies o the rescue
March 9, 2020
Barbies Juggernaut
An inventive plot, with a mix of politics and romance, thoroughly stirred with money. Lots of it. Fascinating characters, all.
An inventive plot, with a mix of politics and romance, thoroughly stirred with money. Lots of it. Fascinating characters, all.
Read
June 17, 2020Another good story in this series. I like the way that they tie together and keep things moving. Really good read.
August 20, 2021
A very fun read with a nicely wrapped ending
October 7, 2021
Immediate sequel to the Barbie Consortium book, in which the "Barbies" go to Vienna for the wedding of one girl's older sister and accidentally trash the Austrian financial system.
August 1, 2025
Absolutely fantastic. Some scenes were so well written I wanted to reread them to enjoy it all over again and catch more of the details.
March 4, 2016
Reading book would be a waste of your time.
The characters are indistinct from one another. None of them talk like human beings. Not only is it exposition, but it is repeated by different characters. They don't act like human beings, either. The Barbies literally put their entire wealth and reputation on the line for Austria-Hungary for no other reason than that the plot required it. There are cameos that serve no purpose except to point out that the other books in the series still exist. The "villain" are incompetent and cartoonishly bad--the bad guy, a backwards Catholic priest, literally mistakes The Omen, Rosemary's Baby, Left Behind, & the Force from Star Wars for "documentaries" from the future in order to highlight how backwards he is. I hope the authors were trying to be funny, because otherwise... No, it's still pretty lame.
The ending was unsatisfying. The "climax," such as it was, fizzled out in 7 pages. They took a ticking time bomb plot device and turned it into the most boring thing I've read all year. There is more drama to be found in reading a shampoo bottle label.
I don't even dislike this book (it's not interesting enough to get that much of a rise), I just felt two stars would be too generous.
I used to await the next installment of the series with anticipation. So one star to 1636: The Viennese Waltz for dissuading me of that notion.
The characters are indistinct from one another. None of them talk like human beings. Not only is it exposition, but it is repeated by different characters. They don't act like human beings, either. The Barbies literally put their entire wealth and reputation on the line for Austria-Hungary for no other reason than that the plot required it. There are cameos that serve no purpose except to point out that the other books in the series still exist. The "villain" are incompetent and cartoonishly bad--the bad guy, a backwards Catholic priest, literally mistakes The Omen, Rosemary's Baby, Left Behind, & the Force from Star Wars for "documentaries" from the future in order to highlight how backwards he is. I hope the authors were trying to be funny, because otherwise... No, it's still pretty lame.
The ending was unsatisfying. The "climax," such as it was, fizzled out in 7 pages. They took a ticking time bomb plot device and turned it into the most boring thing I've read all year. There is more drama to be found in reading a shampoo bottle label.
I don't even dislike this book (it's not interesting enough to get that much of a rise), I just felt two stars would be too generous.
I used to await the next installment of the series with anticipation. So one star to 1636: The Viennese Waltz for dissuading me of that notion.
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