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1632 Universe/Ring of Fire #26
1636: The Barbie Consortium
Prequel to 1636: The Viennese Waltz. The Barbies are rising. After their West Virginia town is transported to 1630s continental Europe, a group of teenage girls discover that bringing future technology and future business practices to a backward Europe just emerging from the Middle Ages can be very lucrative indeed—and might even change the course of empire.At the publisher's request, this title is sold without DRM (Digital Rights Management).
361 pages, Kindle Edition
First published November 5, 2014
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244 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 30 reviews
July 6, 2021
Who would have believed that economics could be so exciting?
A pleasure to read, and probably the best single example of what I like about the Ring of Fire series. Showing how powerful the economic ideas of the 20th Century can be, equaling the political and technological impacts in these books about modern ideas spreading in 17th Century Germany. I had read most of these as short fiction over several years, and had remembered them as a really fun set of stories in which teenagers, learning the value of their irreplaceable uptimer artifacts (including the Barbies of the title) think about using them as investments to help their families and community. Now brought together into one book, these stories also provide a great introduction to the whole Ring of Fire series, since the major effects of the 5-year story are touched on as it affects the teenagers and their endeavors. And it is still a fun youths-come-of-age story. In some ways this is YA comfort food, but if so it is the best of such works.
A pleasure to read, and probably the best single example of what I like about the Ring of Fire series. Showing how powerful the economic ideas of the 20th Century can be, equaling the political and technological impacts in these books about modern ideas spreading in 17th Century Germany. I had read most of these as short fiction over several years, and had remembered them as a really fun set of stories in which teenagers, learning the value of their irreplaceable uptimer artifacts (including the Barbies of the title) think about using them as investments to help their families and community. Now brought together into one book, these stories also provide a great introduction to the whole Ring of Fire series, since the major effects of the 5-year story are touched on as it affects the teenagers and their endeavors. And it is still a fun youths-come-of-age story. In some ways this is YA comfort food, but if so it is the best of such works.
May 17, 2019
Not thrilling but nice
It's okay, but it has the feel of being shoved into the mold of what's going on in the mainline books. Prince Karl's introduction felt clipped. The ending was abrupt enough that I kept trying to find the next page, and almost wonder if there was an error in formatting the ebook.
It's okay, but it has the feel of being shoved into the mold of what's going on in the mainline books. Prince Karl's introduction felt clipped. The ending was abrupt enough that I kept trying to find the next page, and almost wonder if there was an error in formatting the ebook.
July 3, 2020
I originally thought to skip this book because it was about the Barbies! I'm so glad I didn't! I thoroughly enjoyed it!
2020 reread! This time around I understood more of the economics! I enjoyed it!
2020 reread! This time around I understood more of the economics! I enjoyed it!
October 2, 2024
This book is a series of short stories that I have read elsewhere, but collected here as a coherent storyline. It works reasonably well. I liked it a lot despite the fact that the main characters of the series only showed up occasionally and were flat. Mayor Dresson was mentioned, but just as an aside to explain some action taking place. You should have read "1635: The Dreeson Incident" to get the context, also "1632" which begins the series.
Background: The town of Grantville, West Virginia has been thrown back in time and place to the year 1631 and dumped in Thuringia, which was a principality of the Holy Roman Empire and which we would call today, Germany, somewhere between Erfurt and Magdeburg. This disrupted not only the lives of the West Virginians, but also the lives of the Germans who are in the mist of the 30 Years War, one of the worst wars in Western history.
The Story: The people of Grantville are scrambling to make a living, and at first don't realize that they are now rich beyond their wildest dreams. After all, in the 163os what German ever heard of plastic? What would they think of a generator? Batteries? A sewing machine? BARBIE DOLLS? The teenage girls of Grantville have pretty much outgrown their Barbie dolls, but they see an opportunity to cash in. The people of the 1630s want Barbie Dolls and since they are made of plastic and can't be made again (until they figure out how to make plastic again) these are the only ones and the rich people of Germany and Italy WANT THEM.... not for their kids but for themselves. So these teenage girls decide to begin a partnership to sell the dolls, but also to pool their money to start a business. The reason becomes obvious, they need a steady income, not a one-time windfall. They realize that someone's grandma owns an old peddle-driven Singer sewing machine and if they could disassemble it, make new parts and build their own sewing machines, they could make a mint selling sewing machines and incidentally, make some nice costumes for their Barbie Dolls. They become richer than their parents!
And so it went from there. It was fun. It was cute, It was dangerous in some cases. (The Tailor's Guild was most displeased, for example.) I learned a lot about business, economics, and career choices.
Any problems with the story? The authors talk about the problems in the preface. When they wrote the original stories they didn't know how the series would play out. They made some mistakes and, frankly, forgot what had happened in other stories in the series so that certain characters could not have possibly been here or there at the time and so forth. This would only be a problem for the 1632 fan who is plotting the timeline. The authors rewrote a few lines in the stories to better fit in with the rest of the series. There are also some stories here that I don't recall reading at all. Perhaps they were written to create a better flow in the storyline for this book.
Any modesty issues? They are the same as with the series. There was the barmaid who had to re-think her career choices. She was tired of being pawed by drunks. There was a mother who was an alcoholic and who would sleep with anything in pants. This was a bad role model for her two daughters, but it wasn't bad enough to have them taken away by officials and sent to the girls' grandfather until... well... the mother really goofed up when she finally realized her daughter were richer than King Midas by selling their Barbies.
The ending wasn't all that great. It just sort of ended. I sure enjoyed the ride though. I learned a lot.
I bought this book because I knew I would be reading it again.
Background: The town of Grantville, West Virginia has been thrown back in time and place to the year 1631 and dumped in Thuringia, which was a principality of the Holy Roman Empire and which we would call today, Germany, somewhere between Erfurt and Magdeburg. This disrupted not only the lives of the West Virginians, but also the lives of the Germans who are in the mist of the 30 Years War, one of the worst wars in Western history.
The Story: The people of Grantville are scrambling to make a living, and at first don't realize that they are now rich beyond their wildest dreams. After all, in the 163os what German ever heard of plastic? What would they think of a generator? Batteries? A sewing machine? BARBIE DOLLS? The teenage girls of Grantville have pretty much outgrown their Barbie dolls, but they see an opportunity to cash in. The people of the 1630s want Barbie Dolls and since they are made of plastic and can't be made again (until they figure out how to make plastic again) these are the only ones and the rich people of Germany and Italy WANT THEM.... not for their kids but for themselves. So these teenage girls decide to begin a partnership to sell the dolls, but also to pool their money to start a business. The reason becomes obvious, they need a steady income, not a one-time windfall. They realize that someone's grandma owns an old peddle-driven Singer sewing machine and if they could disassemble it, make new parts and build their own sewing machines, they could make a mint selling sewing machines and incidentally, make some nice costumes for their Barbie Dolls. They become richer than their parents!
And so it went from there. It was fun. It was cute, It was dangerous in some cases. (The Tailor's Guild was most displeased, for example.) I learned a lot about business, economics, and career choices.
Any problems with the story? The authors talk about the problems in the preface. When they wrote the original stories they didn't know how the series would play out. They made some mistakes and, frankly, forgot what had happened in other stories in the series so that certain characters could not have possibly been here or there at the time and so forth. This would only be a problem for the 1632 fan who is plotting the timeline. The authors rewrote a few lines in the stories to better fit in with the rest of the series. There are also some stories here that I don't recall reading at all. Perhaps they were written to create a better flow in the storyline for this book.
Any modesty issues? They are the same as with the series. There was the barmaid who had to re-think her career choices. She was tired of being pawed by drunks. There was a mother who was an alcoholic and who would sleep with anything in pants. This was a bad role model for her two daughters, but it wasn't bad enough to have them taken away by officials and sent to the girls' grandfather until... well... the mother really goofed up when she finally realized her daughter were richer than King Midas by selling their Barbies.
The ending wasn't all that great. It just sort of ended. I sure enjoyed the ride though. I learned a lot.
I bought this book because I knew I would be reading it again.
November 19, 2024
Sadly this "fan fiction" insert into the 1632 universe just doesn’t have the high quality of writing or the thoughtfulness of plot that the books by the original authors have. I had hoped this would flesh out the story line of The Barbies from the original books and, although it did a little, it was written like vignettes that were loosely linked together and just jumped from one incomplete idea to anther. - I certainly did not expect it to end when it did so the "abrupt ending" prompt would have been appropriate. However, I used it for the "future tech" prompt because I thought it was cute to have the time frame based 1632-36ish and the technology from the future to have been dropped in their laps via The Ring of Fire.
52BookClub 2024 Reading Challenge
Prompt #36 - Includes future technology
52BookClub 2024 Reading Challenge
Prompt #36 - Includes future technology
September 23, 2025
I am a 1632 freak and read every book that comes out. It is a tragedy that Eric Flint has passed, and I salute the people who are continuing his legacy. Especially the people who are filling in the blanks about characters and stories that are mentioned in the main timeline and need further elucidation.
This is an excellent standalone tale and required reading for anyone who enters the 1632 universe.
This is an excellent standalone tale and required reading for anyone who enters the 1632 universe.
December 6, 2017
Intricate as ever, fun story
Following a thread of an intricate alternative history that would rarely be told "uptime", this story is an excellent and unique addition. The number of characters, plots, and concepts is overwhelming at times, but the story is fun, refreshing, and well told.
Following a thread of an intricate alternative history that would rarely be told "uptime", this story is an excellent and unique addition. The number of characters, plots, and concepts is overwhelming at times, but the story is fun, refreshing, and well told.
September 30, 2020
This was originally composed as story stories filled out with a little new material and it shows. Enjoyment and comprehension is dependent on knowledge of other works. Between one chapter and the next character is suddenly dead and there is no explanation of why, not even a comment to jog my memory.
March 3, 2023
This is an e-book prequel to the next book I'm going to read, giving the full background on the barbie consortium and the sewing circle, as well as the start of the grantville stock market and various other businesses. It ends setting up the trip of the barbies to Vienna that will be the basis for the next mainline novel in the series.
March 24, 2018
Filling in the Gaps
The book fills in the gaps in the in many of the Ring of Fire books. Not only with the characters but the story also. It also helps to develop the characters of the Barbie Consortium and how they got into other books from The Fire series. It is a good read.
The book fills in the gaps in the in many of the Ring of Fire books. Not only with the characters but the story also. It also helps to develop the characters of the Barbie Consortium and how they got into other books from The Fire series. It is a good read.
April 2, 2018
I like the Barbies and the whole economic discussion of the events in Grantville and beyond. The characters are well developed and their situations are very realistic. This was a fun collection of their tales to move the entire narrative forward.
March 10, 2022
good read.
it fills in some of the questions I had from the other books. its a tad bit disjointed. But I liked it. Maybe a bit too technical for me on some subjects or processes. Just call me a Barbie!
it fills in some of the questions I had from the other books. its a tad bit disjointed. But I liked it. Maybe a bit too technical for me on some subjects or processes. Just call me a Barbie!
April 24, 2018
Didn't think a book about time-travelling teenagers starting a mutual fund in the 1630's could be that much fun. Definitely in the top half of the 1632 serie.
August 7, 2019
Good story
October 28, 2020
A good addition to this franchise.
March 21, 2021
It's a compilation of the Sewing Circle's and the Barbies Consortium's stories previously pubished in Grantville Gazette, but the sewing aren't well made.
October 7, 2021
How a bunch of teen girls got filthy rich. It takes us from the first business and investment to the girls starting to get interested in boys. Taken from short stories.
March 16, 2022
Charming
The barbie consortium in action. What's not to like? . . . . . . . . . . .
The barbie consortium in action. What's not to like? . . . . . . . . . . .
February 28, 2017
Another in the continuing story of Grantville as its residents try to cope with being thrown back in time. A lot of background information that has been covered in other stories is fleshed out here and given context. It reads like a collection of stories than a single novel, but it takes a lot of characters who are more peripheral in the main line books and gives them life. The girls in the Barbie consortium and David Bartley in particular, become fully fleshed individuals, as teens trying to cope with the sudden changes wrought by the Ring of Fire, integrating 20th century culture into 17th century Germany and vice versa. I enjoyed all the little touches that made these characters more real, and connected the dots where they had only been seen in glimpses in other books. Definitely looking forward to seeing what happens when the Barbie Consortium hits Vienna.
September 25, 2016
The year 1632 has lots of opportunities for people from Grantville. In this case it turns out that cheep barbies from a thrift store are a novelty for downtime collectors and there for worth a lot of money. This book follows what a group for young teenagers do with the money they get for, short story they start a business and invest it.
What follows is a story about how a little kids become independently wealthy how they deal with it how they keep control of their money when they are minors. Now you would think a story about investments cooperation and mutual funds would be boring but actually it manages to stay interesting even while educating about finances.
It does suffer from apparently being a series of short stories rather than a concise novel. I say apparently because its organized in chapters not separate stories which sometimes feels a little jarring but when not breaking between stories its actually reads pretty well. I probbably would have given a 5th start but for that.
What follows is a story about how a little kids become independently wealthy how they deal with it how they keep control of their money when they are minors. Now you would think a story about investments cooperation and mutual funds would be boring but actually it manages to stay interesting even while educating about finances.
It does suffer from apparently being a series of short stories rather than a concise novel. I say apparently because its organized in chapters not separate stories which sometimes feels a little jarring but when not breaking between stories its actually reads pretty well. I probbably would have given a 5th start but for that.
July 9, 2015
Well, that ended rather abruptly. I'm very glad I didn't even know this book existed until well after _Viennese Waltz_ came out.
If you haven't read any of the 163x books, don't start with this one. But if you liked _1632_, and like slice-of-life stories, this is pretty darned good.
It's not truly a novel. It's a melding of a ton of short stories that have appeared in the Ring of Fire anthologies and the _Grantville Gazette_s. I've read most of the early stories, but none of the later stuff. It's fantastic to have them all in one place, and edited together so that the reader has a much better understanding of the time span.
$4.99 is a bit steep for an unproven eBook for me, but in this case, I definitely got my money's worth.
If you haven't read any of the 163x books, don't start with this one. But if you liked _1632_, and like slice-of-life stories, this is pretty darned good.
It's not truly a novel. It's a melding of a ton of short stories that have appeared in the Ring of Fire anthologies and the _Grantville Gazette_s. I've read most of the early stories, but none of the later stuff. It's fantastic to have them all in one place, and edited together so that the reader has a much better understanding of the time span.
$4.99 is a bit steep for an unproven eBook for me, but in this case, I definitely got my money's worth.
February 9, 2016
Interesting compilation
This is a compilation of several stories from the ring of fire dealing with the Barbie Consortium. Parts are really excellent, but towards the end the snippets do not stand on their own well. We see different events in the series and the impact on the characters, but the characters become almost cardboard cutouts of themselves. There is not enough of the surrounding tale to give the events impact and without having read all of the books, Newsletters, forums and other material the end snippets read like writer school exercises more than full stories. The book ends suddenly, without any sense of having reached an ending. This is mainly for fans of the ring of fire, and those fans will have read most of these stories in other contexts.
This is a compilation of several stories from the ring of fire dealing with the Barbie Consortium. Parts are really excellent, but towards the end the snippets do not stand on their own well. We see different events in the series and the impact on the characters, but the characters become almost cardboard cutouts of themselves. There is not enough of the surrounding tale to give the events impact and without having read all of the books, Newsletters, forums and other material the end snippets read like writer school exercises more than full stories. The book ends suddenly, without any sense of having reached an ending. This is mainly for fans of the ring of fire, and those fans will have read most of these stories in other contexts.
August 13, 2017
This compilation of tales regarding Judy the Younger Wendell and her friends is a bringing together of some previously published stories regarding the Sewing Circle and the Barbie Consortium into one collection, with the addition of some new material.
As the various characters from both the Sewing Circle and the Consortium grow up, they are being carried into the mainline ROF stories in various positions of power, so having this compendium to fall back on as I read the next novels will be quite a help.
Plus, it was just plain fun to read about smart high school kids. And I actually got schooled in economics as well...
As the various characters from both the Sewing Circle and the Consortium grow up, they are being carried into the mainline ROF stories in various positions of power, so having this compendium to fall back on as I read the next novels will be quite a help.
Plus, it was just plain fun to read about smart high school kids. And I actually got schooled in economics as well...
February 24, 2016
After the Twilight books, I was leary of anything with teenagers as the protagonists. This book is very well written and so much less whiny, it was a joy to read. Realizing just how much their leap into the past has changed the opportunities for the teenagers in Grantville makes for a great story line.
September 16, 2023
This book contains stories about both the Sewing Circle and the Barbie Consortium. About how they started, their investments, who the members are and their contributions. It’s also about the mutual fund, OPM (Other People’s Money). It transpires over about four-five years since Grantville appeared in 1631 Germany.
December 19, 2014
Practically ends in mid-sentence
Much of this already exists and has been published as short stories, and it had a very abrupt ending. Apart from that though, strong characters and narrative as is usual for this series
Much of this already exists and has been published as short stories, and it had a very abrupt ending. Apart from that though, strong characters and narrative as is usual for this series
February 12, 2016
I was happily reading when the book ended! I wasn't NOT ready for that to happen. I guess I will have to buy the next one. The teenage girls are pretty smart and they really know what they are talking about.
August 19, 2021
Great stories
This volume covers the first four years after the Ring of Fire in 1631 weaving in and out of the other mainline novels from the perspective of younger Americans caught up in events and trying to make the best of things.
This volume covers the first four years after the Ring of Fire in 1631 weaving in and out of the other mainline novels from the perspective of younger Americans caught up in events and trying to make the best of things.
January 15, 2016
Barbie Consortium
A good read but too much of a repeat of the Gazette. I would have enjoyed a newer version of this subject.
A good read but too much of a repeat of the Gazette. I would have enjoyed a newer version of this subject.
November 6, 2015
Nice to have it all in one place
I read most of this before but worth the price to have it together. Makes "Viennese waltz" make more sense.
I read most of this before but worth the price to have it together. Makes "Viennese waltz" make more sense.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 30 reviews