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Ring of Fire Anthology #4
Ring of Fire IV
NEW YORK TIMES BEST-SELLING AUTHOR. CONTAINS A STORY BY DAVID BRIN AND AN ALL-NEW STORY BY ERIC FLINT. Collection #4 of rollicking and idea-packed alternate history tales written by today’s hottest science fiction writers and edited by New York Times best-seller Eric Flint. After a cosmic accident sets the modern-day West Virginia town of Grantville down in war-torn seventeenth century Europe, these everyday, resourceful Americans must adapt – or be trod into the dust of the past.
Let’s do the “Time Warp” again! Another anthology of rollicking, thought-provoking collection of tales by a star-studded array of top writers such as bestseller Mercedes Lackey and Eric Flint himself – all set in Eric Flint’s phenomenal Ring of Fire series.
A cosmic accident sets the modern West Virginia town of Grantville down in war-torn seventeenth century Europe. It will take all the gumption of the resourceful, freedom-loving up-timers to find a way to flourish in a mad and bloody time. Are they up for it? You bet they are. The fourth rollicking and idea-packed collection of Grantville tales edited and introduced by Eric Flint, and inspired by his now-legendary 1632. Plus: contains an all-new story by Eric Flint.
Stories by Eric Flint, David Brin, David Carrico, Virginia DeMarce, Charles E. Gannon and more.
About Eric Flint’s Ring of Fire series:
“[Eric] Flint's 1632 universe seems to be inspiring a whole new crop of gifted alternate historians.” –Booklist
“[Eric Flint] can entertain and edify in equal, and major, measure.” –Publishers Weekly
Let’s do the “Time Warp” again! Another anthology of rollicking, thought-provoking collection of tales by a star-studded array of top writers such as bestseller Mercedes Lackey and Eric Flint himself – all set in Eric Flint’s phenomenal Ring of Fire series.
A cosmic accident sets the modern West Virginia town of Grantville down in war-torn seventeenth century Europe. It will take all the gumption of the resourceful, freedom-loving up-timers to find a way to flourish in a mad and bloody time. Are they up for it? You bet they are. The fourth rollicking and idea-packed collection of Grantville tales edited and introduced by Eric Flint, and inspired by his now-legendary 1632. Plus: contains an all-new story by Eric Flint.
Stories by Eric Flint, David Brin, David Carrico, Virginia DeMarce, Charles E. Gannon and more.
About Eric Flint’s Ring of Fire series:
“[Eric] Flint's 1632 universe seems to be inspiring a whole new crop of gifted alternate historians.” –Booklist
“[Eric Flint] can entertain and edify in equal, and major, measure.” –Publishers Weekly
560 pages, Hardcover
First published May 3, 2016
44 people are currently reading
224 people want to read
About the author
Eric Flint
255 books877 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 42 reviews
May 18, 2016
za ljubitelje 1632 serijala (a znam da vas ima, ma gdje li ste samo), ovo je najbolji RoF dosad! Sve su priče zanimljive, dinamične, duhovite, dobro pisane. I ima ih dosta. i neki likovi nenadano kreću novim pravcima. prava poslastica.
May 11, 2016
Guess what? It's another Ring of Fire anthology! If you happen to be wondering, "what's the difference between these Ring of Fire anthologies and the Grantville Gazette anthologies," well basically these are (for the most part) written by professional authors (David Brin, Charles Gannon, etc.) and can broadly be defined as novellas (though there are a couple short stories as well), whereas the Gazette anthologies are basically collections of gussied-up best-of fan-fiction short stories from the e-mag of the same name. As you'd expect, the Ring of Fire anthologies tend to be more important in terms of canon and world development.
First off, before anything else, I've got to say: SWEET! A new map, and all the way up to June of 1636 and what's this? the USE has brought in a new province (Julich-Berg), since when!?! (I'll bet this has something to do with 1635: Wars of the Rhine, since that seems to be a theme with his book) Sorry... I like maps.
But anyway, back to the stories: (some of this may be a bit spoiler-y, though I try not to give away anything too important)
71 by David Brin - 8/10 stars - an amusing story within a story in which a down-timer science fiction geek (and French expatriate) imagines what could've happened to the people who were displaced from central Germany when Grantville arrived from the future and publishes a magazine serial (after all, nobody in Grantville actually knows that the German countryside got swapped to West Virginia ca. 2000, which is what Eric Flint says happened in the intro of 1632). It's more of a short story but quite fun and with some amusing surprises. One of the reasons this story appealed to me is that I've often wondered if anyone would ever publish a "sequel" story in which they fast-forward to 2000 in Grantville's new universe and the Assiti Shard impacts again (unlikely given the butterfly effect but possible), whether the people in the new universe would've prepared for the possibility and who/what they would choose to put in its path (Can you imagine the worldwide scramble to guide the course of the Earth's history the next time around? Things could get pretty intense, to put it mildly...). Admittedly, that would require a series that has moved at ~1 year book-time every 3 years real-time to jump forward 300 years, but it's an interesting idea and this is the closest I've seen of someone playing with anything similar.
Kinderspiel by Charles H. Gannon - 8/10 stars - this story involves an effort by agents of the USE (namely the good 'ol Hibernian mercenary regiment) to find out why a rural town in Swabia near the Swiss border has suddenly reneged on its agreement to establish an airship depot, which proves to be the tip of a very large iceberg of mystery and deception involving a plague-ridden Swedish army detachment, an abandoned abbey, child laborers, and crime most foul. I loved the mystery and the use of some beloved secondary characters only made it better. Unsurprising that we get another solid entry from Chuck Gannon; par for the course, as it were.
Add, Subtract, Multiply, Divide by Bjorn Hasseler - 7/10 stars - 1st Baptist Church of Grantville starts to fall apart due to conflicts over music, language, and drinking alcohol, ultimately splintering the Congregation. My enjoyment of this story was enhanced by the fact that I attend an evangelical church and I remember these kinds of issues from the 1990's, so I can vividly picture just this sort of story being all too real, but rather than simply skewering the Baptists, Hasseler takes an even-handed approach, which I found refreshing. Frankly, I expect a lot of people will hate this and love the later "Love Has a Wet Nose" or like me, enjoy this and dislike that story, but hey, Eric Flint included both so everybody gets something :).
Fallen Apple by Robert E. Waters - 6/10 stars - a down-time German school kid in Grantville sends a letter to the woman who (in our universe) gave birth to Isaac Newton, setting off a chain of events. I had two problems with this story. First, it's been done before. We've had stories about Pascal and Galileo and other downtime great minds (see "71" in this same collection for a better example) being affected by Grantville's arrival, but while this one has some interesting things to say in terms of predestination, it really doesn't have anything new to bring to the table. Second, the timing on this story is weird in that it seems to take place over late 1636 into early 1637 but not only does the pending Ottoman War seem to not be on anyone's mind but people still feel safe immigrating to Grantville in spite of it being near the center of what looks to be the RoF universe's First World War. I'm guessing the timing was determined by the Newton's family's history rather than the larger picture, but it felt to me like a MASSIVE plot hole.
Rats of War by Rainer Prem - 7/10 stars - A down-time mercenary in Austrian/Bavarian service with no luck at his occupation suffers disappointment after disappointment as he can't get plunder, his wife keeps losing babies in childbirth, he suffers ongoing nightmares from his experiences in combat, and every army he joins gets annihilated by the Swedes and their up-timer American allies; however, a chance encounter leads him to save a young girl's life and causes him to drop out of the mercenary life and eventually to travel to Grantville. This is a fascinating story because a great deal of it is real history taken from the diaries of a real-life mercenary and the confessions of a serial killer. It also gives the readers a look at what the up-timers' arrival was like for the people on the other side, which is something I can't recall seeing in any previous RoF stories.
Gold Fever by Herbert Sakalaucks - 7/10 stars - this story, about gold-panning settlers in Newfoundland, is a sequel to Sakalaucks previous novel, the Danish Scheme, in which King Christian organized a project to seize and colonize much of eastern Canada in hopes of obtaining its mineral wealth. While I was really happy to get a Danish Scheme pseudo-sequel (shame he didn't expand that story into something bigger), this is one of the shortest stories in the collection, and while it provides our best look yet at European colonization of North America post-RoF, it doesn't touch on the big questions (What will happen to the New England colonies under French occupation? Can the Dutch hold New Amsterdam, surrounded by French forces? Can the French maintain their forces in the New World with a civil war at home? What will become of France's relations with the various native tribes now that it's committed itself to a much more extensive colonization program? And what happened to the ship that disappeared in the Danish Scheme or the mad Dutch captain going Captain Nemo on any French or English he can find?).
Hide Trouble from Mine Eyes by David Carrico - 9/10 stars - in this prequel to 1636: The Devil's Opera, we follow the same pair of Magdeburg Police detectives as they attempt to piece together a grotesque series of murders by a serial killer. As with just about everything else he's written, Carrico shows that he can write both great stories and great characters. I don't want to say too much, as I enjoyed the mystery of this story. Here's hoping that Carrico can write another full-length RoF novel somewhere down the line.
The Blauwe Duif by Kerryn Offord - 8/10 stars - a merchant vessel moving through the Oresund off Copenhagen shortly after the Baltic War is sunk by one of the Danish mines. Facing the unpleasant task of repaying the owners for their losses, the Danes seek to recover the vessel's cargo to offset these losses while also dealing with the mines. Frankly, if you love the up-time tech meets down-time situations element of RoF stories, this is pretty much the only tech-heavy story in this volume, and that's a key reason I bumped it up to 8/10 as I do enjoy that part of these stories... a lot (and here I was really hoping we'd get a story about the USE Army's first tank or something else along those lines, ah well).
Prison Break by Walter H. Hunt - 7/10 stars - set after 1636: Cardinal Virtues (also written by Hunt), Colonel Maddox and her Rangers discover that one of Turenne's men is being held in a notorious Savoyard prison and rush to free him, ultimately encountering the man in the iron mask (but not that one... what can we say, everybody in down-time France reads Dumas, a detail I found hilarious). While this was a solid addition to the collection, it didn't really help advance the France storyline much.
Love Has a Wet Nose by Walt Boyes and Joy Ward - 5/10 stars - a young man gets depressed, goes to med school, moves to Grantville, and gets a dog after his lover dies. Before you start throwing stones, my dislike of homosexual love stories was not either of the primary reasons why I rated this so low; the key reasons were: A) this story contributed nothing to the universe and B) it's fully of soppy overused tropes. In the first point, this is like the third or fourth RoF short story about a homosexual that goes to Grantville. It doesn't provide any new world development or involve any particularly interesting characters, nor do any of the characters in this story do anything of importance: his lover dies, he goes to med school, he meets some lesbians, he gets a dog, he meets a new lover (that's literally the entire story). In the second point, it's a story where a dude's lover dies and he gets a bloody dog to rediscover love: now where HAVEN'T we seen that before? It's pointless and its plot device is a horrifically overused (and soppy) trope. At least it's short.
The Red-Headed League by Virginia DeMarce - 7/10 stars (can you believe it?) - the French-Huguenot Duke of Rohan, in service to Bernhard, self-established (but somehow undisputed) ruler of Burgundy, has discovered that in our universe his daughter was forced to marry a Catholic non-entity, effectively ending his House's importance as leaders of the French Protestants, so he demands that his wife and daughter come to Burgundy from Paris, so he can marry her to a good Protestant (Calvinist, particularly) nobleman and insure his House's future, sending a number of picked men (all of whom have red hair, coincidentally) to insure that his wishes are met by his... less-than-faithful wife. Things are complicated by the chaos in Paris due to Monsieur Gaston's ascension to the throne with Louis and Richelieu's sudden deaths (*cough* assassination *cough*). While Virginia DeMarce's writing style is still often nightmarish in its difficult use of stream-of-consciousness (particularly the unexpected jumps in place and time), this one is full of juicy world development, especially an attempt to (FINALLY!) make the Huguenots into more than just a band of crazy assassins (they even start circulating wanted posters for that bastard Ducos in Britain), and for that alone I was willing to overlook a multitude of frustrating editing. There's also a lot of bleed-over between this story and the final novella in this collection (not too surprising, since this focuses on Burgundy and Flint's novella focuses on events in nearby Lorraine and the Rhineland).
Scarface by Eric Flint - 8/10 stars - the infamous Captain Harry Lefferts is called into action, but rather than some epic rescue or daring-do, he's providing security for a mission to Hesse-Kassel (led by Ron and Missy Stone), the Rhineland, and Lorraine whose primary objective is to expand the USE's pharmaceutical industry and to placate the recently widowed Duchess of Hesse-Kassel by providing her with a lucrative high tech industry (as compensation for the Emperor's unwillingness to support the Hessians' attempts to seize more territory in the Rhineland (this is one of MANY references in this volume to the events of the forthcoming 1635: Wars of the Rhine, which is terribly confusing since it feels like these events ought to have been important enough to have been mentioned in the main books and now it feels like Flint and Co. are ret-conning things (like Monsieur Gaston's Rampage in the Rhineland (ooh, that would be an awesome band name: RAMPAGE IN THE RHINELAND! but I digress) when everything I remember reading previously suggested that Gaston was in exile in Savoy the whole time)). ANYWAY, the mission is also about helping the friendly-but-weak semi-independent (Burgundian/Netherlands protectorate) Duchy of Lorraine build up its defenses against another French incursion and providing humanitarian relief to the war and plague-stricken region. The up-timers are accompanied by remnants of Harry's Wrecking Crew (most of whom died in the last Italian series novel) and by a pair of young down-time noblewomen, one of whom is out to write a story about the mission for a society magazine while her cousin, a girl who was scarred by Smallpox as a child, has been frog-marched into writing a book of Harry's exploits, which causes the two to develop an unexpected affection. Phew, that was a long summation given that I said practically nothing about the story. Honestly, I kind of thought this story would have more lead-in to Ottoman Onslaught (which it might, in that near the end Harry gets recruited to help hunt the assassins who slew the Queen of Sweden (yeah, remember that, seems like forever since that plot line came up), which I assume will somehow be a part of the next main series novel), and when Flint said the story was about Harry Lefferts finally meeting his match, I thought maybe Harry would have a run-in with a super-talented Ottoman agent while engaged in subterfuge in Bavaria in preparation for General Stearn's looming attack (still wish Flint had picked 1636: Mike Mauls Max as the title of the next book, it had a certain elegant simplicity about it, though I'm guessing the focus of the story has shifted considerably since then); something like that, but I was WAY off (different sort of match...). Still, I enjoyed it, and while it's a bit formulaic up-time boy meets down-time girl, it managed to do so while also building the universe and moving the story forward and introducing some fun new characters and manages to humanize Harry Lefferts (unlike Love Has a Wet Nose, which did none of those things apart from the formulaic-ness).
All in all, Ring of Fire IV was certainly a better addition to the series than last year's disappointing Grantville Gazette collection and with the Ottoman Onslaught's release just 8 months away, I can almost see the light at the end of the tunnel of this current holding pattern the series has been in the last couple years. In addition to providing a bunch of fun new stories, it answered one of my oldest and deepest criticisms of the series, the rather unfair and surprisingly simplistic handling of the Huguenot issue, which was (at the time) at least as big as (if not bigger than) the similar Irish issue that has been such a major side-story element. This volume more than rectified that issue.
First off, before anything else, I've got to say: SWEET! A new map, and all the way up to June of 1636 and what's this? the USE has brought in a new province (Julich-Berg), since when!?! (I'll bet this has something to do with 1635: Wars of the Rhine, since that seems to be a theme with his book) Sorry... I like maps.
But anyway, back to the stories: (some of this may be a bit spoiler-y, though I try not to give away anything too important)
71 by David Brin - 8/10 stars - an amusing story within a story in which a down-timer science fiction geek (and French expatriate) imagines what could've happened to the people who were displaced from central Germany when Grantville arrived from the future and publishes a magazine serial (after all, nobody in Grantville actually knows that the German countryside got swapped to West Virginia ca. 2000, which is what Eric Flint says happened in the intro of 1632). It's more of a short story but quite fun and with some amusing surprises. One of the reasons this story appealed to me is that I've often wondered if anyone would ever publish a "sequel" story in which they fast-forward to 2000 in Grantville's new universe and the Assiti Shard impacts again (unlikely given the butterfly effect but possible), whether the people in the new universe would've prepared for the possibility and who/what they would choose to put in its path (Can you imagine the worldwide scramble to guide the course of the Earth's history the next time around? Things could get pretty intense, to put it mildly...). Admittedly, that would require a series that has moved at ~1 year book-time every 3 years real-time to jump forward 300 years, but it's an interesting idea and this is the closest I've seen of someone playing with anything similar.
Kinderspiel by Charles H. Gannon - 8/10 stars - this story involves an effort by agents of the USE (namely the good 'ol Hibernian mercenary regiment) to find out why a rural town in Swabia near the Swiss border has suddenly reneged on its agreement to establish an airship depot, which proves to be the tip of a very large iceberg of mystery and deception involving a plague-ridden Swedish army detachment, an abandoned abbey, child laborers, and crime most foul. I loved the mystery and the use of some beloved secondary characters only made it better. Unsurprising that we get another solid entry from Chuck Gannon; par for the course, as it were.
Add, Subtract, Multiply, Divide by Bjorn Hasseler - 7/10 stars - 1st Baptist Church of Grantville starts to fall apart due to conflicts over music, language, and drinking alcohol, ultimately splintering the Congregation. My enjoyment of this story was enhanced by the fact that I attend an evangelical church and I remember these kinds of issues from the 1990's, so I can vividly picture just this sort of story being all too real, but rather than simply skewering the Baptists, Hasseler takes an even-handed approach, which I found refreshing. Frankly, I expect a lot of people will hate this and love the later "Love Has a Wet Nose" or like me, enjoy this and dislike that story, but hey, Eric Flint included both so everybody gets something :).
Fallen Apple by Robert E. Waters - 6/10 stars - a down-time German school kid in Grantville sends a letter to the woman who (in our universe) gave birth to Isaac Newton, setting off a chain of events. I had two problems with this story. First, it's been done before. We've had stories about Pascal and Galileo and other downtime great minds (see "71" in this same collection for a better example) being affected by Grantville's arrival, but while this one has some interesting things to say in terms of predestination, it really doesn't have anything new to bring to the table. Second, the timing on this story is weird in that it seems to take place over late 1636 into early 1637 but not only does the pending Ottoman War seem to not be on anyone's mind but people still feel safe immigrating to Grantville in spite of it being near the center of what looks to be the RoF universe's First World War. I'm guessing the timing was determined by the Newton's family's history rather than the larger picture, but it felt to me like a MASSIVE plot hole.
Rats of War by Rainer Prem - 7/10 stars - A down-time mercenary in Austrian/Bavarian service with no luck at his occupation suffers disappointment after disappointment as he can't get plunder, his wife keeps losing babies in childbirth, he suffers ongoing nightmares from his experiences in combat, and every army he joins gets annihilated by the Swedes and their up-timer American allies; however, a chance encounter leads him to save a young girl's life and causes him to drop out of the mercenary life and eventually to travel to Grantville. This is a fascinating story because a great deal of it is real history taken from the diaries of a real-life mercenary and the confessions of a serial killer. It also gives the readers a look at what the up-timers' arrival was like for the people on the other side, which is something I can't recall seeing in any previous RoF stories.
Gold Fever by Herbert Sakalaucks - 7/10 stars - this story, about gold-panning settlers in Newfoundland, is a sequel to Sakalaucks previous novel, the Danish Scheme, in which King Christian organized a project to seize and colonize much of eastern Canada in hopes of obtaining its mineral wealth. While I was really happy to get a Danish Scheme pseudo-sequel (shame he didn't expand that story into something bigger), this is one of the shortest stories in the collection, and while it provides our best look yet at European colonization of North America post-RoF, it doesn't touch on the big questions (What will happen to the New England colonies under French occupation? Can the Dutch hold New Amsterdam, surrounded by French forces? Can the French maintain their forces in the New World with a civil war at home? What will become of France's relations with the various native tribes now that it's committed itself to a much more extensive colonization program? And what happened to the ship that disappeared in the Danish Scheme or the mad Dutch captain going Captain Nemo on any French or English he can find?).
Hide Trouble from Mine Eyes by David Carrico - 9/10 stars - in this prequel to 1636: The Devil's Opera, we follow the same pair of Magdeburg Police detectives as they attempt to piece together a grotesque series of murders by a serial killer. As with just about everything else he's written, Carrico shows that he can write both great stories and great characters. I don't want to say too much, as I enjoyed the mystery of this story. Here's hoping that Carrico can write another full-length RoF novel somewhere down the line.
The Blauwe Duif by Kerryn Offord - 8/10 stars - a merchant vessel moving through the Oresund off Copenhagen shortly after the Baltic War is sunk by one of the Danish mines. Facing the unpleasant task of repaying the owners for their losses, the Danes seek to recover the vessel's cargo to offset these losses while also dealing with the mines. Frankly, if you love the up-time tech meets down-time situations element of RoF stories, this is pretty much the only tech-heavy story in this volume, and that's a key reason I bumped it up to 8/10 as I do enjoy that part of these stories... a lot (and here I was really hoping we'd get a story about the USE Army's first tank or something else along those lines, ah well).
Prison Break by Walter H. Hunt - 7/10 stars - set after 1636: Cardinal Virtues (also written by Hunt), Colonel Maddox and her Rangers discover that one of Turenne's men is being held in a notorious Savoyard prison and rush to free him, ultimately encountering the man in the iron mask (but not that one... what can we say, everybody in down-time France reads Dumas, a detail I found hilarious). While this was a solid addition to the collection, it didn't really help advance the France storyline much.
Love Has a Wet Nose by Walt Boyes and Joy Ward - 5/10 stars - a young man gets depressed, goes to med school, moves to Grantville, and gets a dog after his lover dies. Before you start throwing stones, my dislike of homosexual love stories was not either of the primary reasons why I rated this so low; the key reasons were: A) this story contributed nothing to the universe and B) it's fully of soppy overused tropes. In the first point, this is like the third or fourth RoF short story about a homosexual that goes to Grantville. It doesn't provide any new world development or involve any particularly interesting characters, nor do any of the characters in this story do anything of importance: his lover dies, he goes to med school, he meets some lesbians, he gets a dog, he meets a new lover (that's literally the entire story). In the second point, it's a story where a dude's lover dies and he gets a bloody dog to rediscover love: now where HAVEN'T we seen that before? It's pointless and its plot device is a horrifically overused (and soppy) trope. At least it's short.
The Red-Headed League by Virginia DeMarce - 7/10 stars (can you believe it?) - the French-Huguenot Duke of Rohan, in service to Bernhard, self-established (but somehow undisputed) ruler of Burgundy, has discovered that in our universe his daughter was forced to marry a Catholic non-entity, effectively ending his House's importance as leaders of the French Protestants, so he demands that his wife and daughter come to Burgundy from Paris, so he can marry her to a good Protestant (Calvinist, particularly) nobleman and insure his House's future, sending a number of picked men (all of whom have red hair, coincidentally) to insure that his wishes are met by his... less-than-faithful wife. Things are complicated by the chaos in Paris due to Monsieur Gaston's ascension to the throne with Louis and Richelieu's sudden deaths (*cough* assassination *cough*). While Virginia DeMarce's writing style is still often nightmarish in its difficult use of stream-of-consciousness (particularly the unexpected jumps in place and time), this one is full of juicy world development, especially an attempt to (FINALLY!) make the Huguenots into more than just a band of crazy assassins (they even start circulating wanted posters for that bastard Ducos in Britain), and for that alone I was willing to overlook a multitude of frustrating editing. There's also a lot of bleed-over between this story and the final novella in this collection (not too surprising, since this focuses on Burgundy and Flint's novella focuses on events in nearby Lorraine and the Rhineland).
Scarface by Eric Flint - 8/10 stars - the infamous Captain Harry Lefferts is called into action, but rather than some epic rescue or daring-do, he's providing security for a mission to Hesse-Kassel (led by Ron and Missy Stone), the Rhineland, and Lorraine whose primary objective is to expand the USE's pharmaceutical industry and to placate the recently widowed Duchess of Hesse-Kassel by providing her with a lucrative high tech industry (as compensation for the Emperor's unwillingness to support the Hessians' attempts to seize more territory in the Rhineland (this is one of MANY references in this volume to the events of the forthcoming 1635: Wars of the Rhine, which is terribly confusing since it feels like these events ought to have been important enough to have been mentioned in the main books and now it feels like Flint and Co. are ret-conning things (like Monsieur Gaston's Rampage in the Rhineland (ooh, that would be an awesome band name: RAMPAGE IN THE RHINELAND! but I digress) when everything I remember reading previously suggested that Gaston was in exile in Savoy the whole time)). ANYWAY, the mission is also about helping the friendly-but-weak semi-independent (Burgundian/Netherlands protectorate) Duchy of Lorraine build up its defenses against another French incursion and providing humanitarian relief to the war and plague-stricken region. The up-timers are accompanied by remnants of Harry's Wrecking Crew (most of whom died in the last Italian series novel) and by a pair of young down-time noblewomen, one of whom is out to write a story about the mission for a society magazine while her cousin, a girl who was scarred by Smallpox as a child, has been frog-marched into writing a book of Harry's exploits, which causes the two to develop an unexpected affection. Phew, that was a long summation given that I said practically nothing about the story. Honestly, I kind of thought this story would have more lead-in to Ottoman Onslaught (which it might, in that near the end Harry gets recruited to help hunt the assassins who slew the Queen of Sweden (yeah, remember that, seems like forever since that plot line came up), which I assume will somehow be a part of the next main series novel), and when Flint said the story was about Harry Lefferts finally meeting his match, I thought maybe Harry would have a run-in with a super-talented Ottoman agent while engaged in subterfuge in Bavaria in preparation for General Stearn's looming attack (still wish Flint had picked 1636: Mike Mauls Max as the title of the next book, it had a certain elegant simplicity about it, though I'm guessing the focus of the story has shifted considerably since then); something like that, but I was WAY off (different sort of match...). Still, I enjoyed it, and while it's a bit formulaic up-time boy meets down-time girl, it managed to do so while also building the universe and moving the story forward and introducing some fun new characters and manages to humanize Harry Lefferts (unlike Love Has a Wet Nose, which did none of those things apart from the formulaic-ness).
All in all, Ring of Fire IV was certainly a better addition to the series than last year's disappointing Grantville Gazette collection and with the Ottoman Onslaught's release just 8 months away, I can almost see the light at the end of the tunnel of this current holding pattern the series has been in the last couple years. In addition to providing a bunch of fun new stories, it answered one of my oldest and deepest criticisms of the series, the rather unfair and surprisingly simplistic handling of the Huguenot issue, which was (at the time) at least as big as (if not bigger than) the similar Irish issue that has been such a major side-story element. This volume more than rectified that issue.
July 6, 2016
A good read, though a varied mix of stories: a few were boring, some were superb!
April 20, 2022
2022 bk 102. A collection of short stories featuring some of our favorite characters from the main series but including and introducing new downtime characters for our enjoyment. David Brin sent Flint an unsolicited manuscript for this volume that is tons of fun (and Flint does some fangirling over this) but my favorite story is the last with Captain Harry Leffert and a certain German high-born lady. From first to last the stories are great, with one good one that became so technical that my eyes crossed - but in a book of short stories that was easily resolved. (I skipped to the ending of the story and started the next one.)
March 21, 2016
A new collection of stories in Eric Flint et al's 1632/Ring of Fire universe. Grantville, West Virginia, was suddenly transported to central Germany in the middle of the Thirty Years War, altering the course of history. Culture shock is the least of it, as up-timers (Grantvillers) and down-timers (everyone native to the 17th century) forge a new reality.
There are no bad stories here. Standouts include "71" by David Brin, which explores what might have happened to the people living where Grantville now stands; "Prison Break" by Walter H. Hunt, in which a different Man in an Iron Mask is accidentally broken out of prison; "Love Has a Wet Nose" by Walt Boyes and Joy Ward, about soldier finding a place where he can safely be himself; and "Scarface" by Flint himself, a sweet novella about his long-standing character Harry Lefferts finally meeting his match.
Recommended, as is the whole series.
There are no bad stories here. Standouts include "71" by David Brin, which explores what might have happened to the people living where Grantville now stands; "Prison Break" by Walter H. Hunt, in which a different Man in an Iron Mask is accidentally broken out of prison; "Love Has a Wet Nose" by Walt Boyes and Joy Ward, about soldier finding a place where he can safely be himself; and "Scarface" by Flint himself, a sweet novella about his long-standing character Harry Lefferts finally meeting his match.
Recommended, as is the whole series.
June 8, 2016
I like that whole uptime / downtime thing, and how the ideals of american democracy work like acid on feudalism / nobility and so on. It's kind of a great leveler - lifting the underclasses and lowering the upper classes.
That's not always how it works in the real world, but the idea of a meritocracy in 17th century Europe is just plain fun.
There's a terrific story about the Magdeburg police. If you like a police procedural, with an alternate history twist, you can't miss this one.
There's a lame story about diving and the bends. Not because diving and SCUBA aren't interesting, but because the story seems to end before the basic mission is worked out.
There's an awesome Harry Lefferts story, called "Scarface." Buckle up, Leffert fans, and expect to see a new side of your hero.
There must be dozens of books in the 1632 universe, and I'm glad to report that it's still not enough. We need more because these stories are great fun to read.
That's not always how it works in the real world, but the idea of a meritocracy in 17th century Europe is just plain fun.
There's a terrific story about the Magdeburg police. If you like a police procedural, with an alternate history twist, you can't miss this one.
There's a lame story about diving and the bends. Not because diving and SCUBA aren't interesting, but because the story seems to end before the basic mission is worked out.
There's an awesome Harry Lefferts story, called "Scarface." Buckle up, Leffert fans, and expect to see a new side of your hero.
There must be dozens of books in the 1632 universe, and I'm glad to report that it's still not enough. We need more because these stories are great fun to read.
May 20, 2020
Some very good additions to the series. Some good additions. And a couple not very good or needed stories to fill in gaps in the larger novels. That is the problem with this fan and professional collaboration style of series. Even the pros miss the beat sometimes. But we get a very good overall extension of the new world after the Ring of Fire event that has altered a time line. And we have a short story dealing with various possible alterations that demonstrate this possibility. With so much coverage of the military in the main novels, this and the Gazette tales are a great filler for closer looks at the economic and social impact of events with some political views as well.
And like Vol. 1 and 2 have finished up those sections not read at first with this PB edition from Amazon.
And like Vol. 1 and 2 have finished up those sections not read at first with this PB edition from Amazon.
May 23, 2016
This collection of stories was fun to read. As usual with these Ring of Fire Collections, I find that some stories appeal to me more than others, but that the overall quality of writing is good. There are many little gaps in the main novels (there have to be, or they'd be three times as big!) The shorter works do a very good job of filling in along the edges.
Of the stories in the book, my favorites were:
71, by David Brin (A completely new idea in the Ring of Fire universe)
Scarface, by Eric Flint (New characters, old characters, and a great story with a happy ending)
The Red-Headed League by Virginia DeMarce (A compelling story that still manages to tell you more than you ever wanted to know about 17th century politics)
Of the stories in the book, my favorites were:
71, by David Brin (A completely new idea in the Ring of Fire universe)
Scarface, by Eric Flint (New characters, old characters, and a great story with a happy ending)
The Red-Headed League by Virginia DeMarce (A compelling story that still manages to tell you more than you ever wanted to know about 17th century politics)
June 30, 2016
This is a nice collection of novellas and short stories set in Eric Flint's Ring of Fire universe. The writing is consistently good, but YMMV depending on what rings your bell. Action, intrigue, and skullduggery abound. I especially liked 71 (what happened to those folks displaced from 1632?) by David Brin, Kinderspiel (something smells in Biberach’s town) by Charles H. Gannon, Hide Trouble from Mine Eyes (a police procedural) by David Carrico, and Scarface (beauty is in the eye of the beholder) by Eric Flint.
Good book.
Good book.
April 15, 2016
I knew the minute I read the preface of this book I was going to have trouble. I know the science fiction shelves of bookstores are loaded with Eric Flint books but I didn't realize how many were set in this one kingdom and time frame. I had a difficult time understanding the basic premise of this series. I'm sure fans will love this continuation and format of this book.
February 14, 2026
This series of anthologies had its start in Baen's Bar, back when interactive Web fora were still a very new thing. Eric Flint had a number of good stories by unknowns, and wanted them to see the light of day -- so Jim Baen authorized an anthology, and recruited some well-known authors whose names would ensure sales.
In this one, that pattern is turned on its head. As Eric Flint explains in his preface, he'd always admired David Brin -- but felt reticent about approaching him about writing a story. And then Brin sent him one -- and it was a delight. "71" delves into how the Ring of Fire changes downtime literature by introducing the concept of the counterfactual.
Several of these delve far more deeply than Eric Flint ever did into how people think in a world in which faith is so central. For instance, "Add, Subtract, Multiply, Divide" is not about mathematics, but about heresy and the various ways that cult leaders warp Scripture to their ends. And "Hide Trouble from Mine Eyes" is a police procedural dealing with a series of grisly murders, and the perp's sending verses cut from someone's Bible to the police shortly after each body is found. It ends with a very satisfying revelation of the culprit.
Eric Flint's own contribution, "Scarface," is not about a bandit or gangster, as one might initially expect, but about a young noblewoman whose face was marred by smallpox, and whose future has consequently been curtailed. And then she gets a job writing a tell-all biography of Harry Lefferts for quick money, since his family needs it -- and then becomes far more involved with him than she'd ever planned. It runs in parallel with 1635: The Papal Stakes, so if you haven't read the Italian Sequence, it could spoil one key turning point.
In this one, that pattern is turned on its head. As Eric Flint explains in his preface, he'd always admired David Brin -- but felt reticent about approaching him about writing a story. And then Brin sent him one -- and it was a delight. "71" delves into how the Ring of Fire changes downtime literature by introducing the concept of the counterfactual.
Several of these delve far more deeply than Eric Flint ever did into how people think in a world in which faith is so central. For instance, "Add, Subtract, Multiply, Divide" is not about mathematics, but about heresy and the various ways that cult leaders warp Scripture to their ends. And "Hide Trouble from Mine Eyes" is a police procedural dealing with a series of grisly murders, and the perp's sending verses cut from someone's Bible to the police shortly after each body is found. It ends with a very satisfying revelation of the culprit.
Eric Flint's own contribution, "Scarface," is not about a bandit or gangster, as one might initially expect, but about a young noblewoman whose face was marred by smallpox, and whose future has consequently been curtailed. And then she gets a job writing a tell-all biography of Harry Lefferts for quick money, since his family needs it -- and then becomes far more involved with him than she'd ever planned. It runs in parallel with 1635: The Papal Stakes, so if you haven't read the Italian Sequence, it could spoil one key turning point.
October 2, 2023
More stories from the Ring of Fire/1632 universe. In one, an author imagines a similar story with the town of Milda from 1632 Germany finding itself in the Middle East during the Roman conquest. Another story featuring Thomas North and his Hibernians; a story of a group of students searching for the original manuscripts from which the Bible was translated; a tale concerning Sir Isaac Newton and the need for him to be born; a mercenary’s story of “that could have been me;” a story of a family seeking its fortune looking for gold in Newfoundland; a serial killer case for Sergeant (should be I Spector) Gotthilf Hoch and his partner, Lieutenant Byron Chieske; a story of Al and Sam Morton and salvaging a sunken cargo of salt - sunken due to landmines; a prison break story featuring Sharon Maddox, her Rangers and Terrye Jo Tillman; a story of love lost, a small dog and love found; a story featuring Marguerite de Rohan, a possible marriage, Susanna Allegretti, Mark Cavriani, undelivered letters, Gerry Stone and the Red-Haired League; and finally a story featuring the lastest adventures of Captain Harry Lefferts Eva Katherine von Anhalt-Deshaun, Elisabeth (Litsa) von Schwarzenfels, and Ron and Missy Stone. A very enjoyable read!
June 10, 2024
3.5 Rounded Up
Ring of Fire is the name of a series of short stories built in the universe created by Eric Flint. This universe is also called the Ring of Fire. And there is another collection of Short stories in this universe called the Grantville Gazette. And there are actually two different Grantville Gazettes. The ones online use numbers (1,2,3,4) while the paper copies use Roman numerals (I, II, III, IV).
Confused yet?
It gets better. All the titles of the "long form" books start with the year they take place. So there are dozens of books that begin with 1635 and dozens more with 1636. But some of those books have nearly half their content taking place in years not titled. And others are not really long form but rather a loosely connected collection of short stories. And some of those stories are also found in the Grantville Gazette collections. Or the Ring of Fire collections. And all of this takes place in the Ring of Fire universe. Also called the 1632 Universe (even though only the first book takes place in that year. Partly) Also called the Assiti Shards Universe. But there are some stories in the Assiti Shards Universe that are not in the Ring of Fire (or 1632) Universe.
Now are you confused?
Ring of Fire is the name of a series of short stories built in the universe created by Eric Flint. This universe is also called the Ring of Fire. And there is another collection of Short stories in this universe called the Grantville Gazette. And there are actually two different Grantville Gazettes. The ones online use numbers (1,2,3,4) while the paper copies use Roman numerals (I, II, III, IV).
Confused yet?
It gets better. All the titles of the "long form" books start with the year they take place. So there are dozens of books that begin with 1635 and dozens more with 1636. But some of those books have nearly half their content taking place in years not titled. And others are not really long form but rather a loosely connected collection of short stories. And some of those stories are also found in the Grantville Gazette collections. Or the Ring of Fire collections. And all of this takes place in the Ring of Fire universe. Also called the 1632 Universe (even though only the first book takes place in that year. Partly) Also called the Assiti Shards Universe. But there are some stories in the Assiti Shards Universe that are not in the Ring of Fire (or 1632) Universe.
Now are you confused?
September 4, 2017
Fans of the Stone brothers and Captain Harry Lefferts will enjoy reading Eric Flint's contribution to this anthology, "Scarface".
As with all the ROF collections of tales, some are better than others, but this group certainly seems to be setting the stage for longer stories yet to come, and I am not yet tired of the series as it expands. It has gotten a bit unwieldy if you aren't reading in order, and with the large cast of characters in the 1632 universe, I wouldn't recommend these books to anyone who doesn't like to deal with large portions of dialogue and description.
They aren't cozy mysteries or action-packed thrillers. They contain some romance, some politics, lots of geography, lots of history, and some rollicking fun, but following the twists and turns of the timelines does require concentration.
I still love them all!
As with all the ROF collections of tales, some are better than others, but this group certainly seems to be setting the stage for longer stories yet to come, and I am not yet tired of the series as it expands. It has gotten a bit unwieldy if you aren't reading in order, and with the large cast of characters in the 1632 universe, I wouldn't recommend these books to anyone who doesn't like to deal with large portions of dialogue and description.
They aren't cozy mysteries or action-packed thrillers. They contain some romance, some politics, lots of geography, lots of history, and some rollicking fun, but following the twists and turns of the timelines does require concentration.
I still love them all!
July 6, 2019
My first anthology
For years I have avoided the 1632 series anthologies. Who wants a short story when a juicy novel is available?!? Well I just finished the Ring of Fire Book 4 anthology and I have to admit...I'm an idiot! Great stories, a chance to revisit characters and meet new ones, and all while enjoying another satisfying visit to this alt universe. Please learn from my mistake. Fill your time between the release of the next novel with an anthology.
For years I have avoided the 1632 series anthologies. Who wants a short story when a juicy novel is available?!? Well I just finished the Ring of Fire Book 4 anthology and I have to admit...I'm an idiot! Great stories, a chance to revisit characters and meet new ones, and all while enjoying another satisfying visit to this alt universe. Please learn from my mistake. Fill your time between the release of the next novel with an anthology.
December 25, 2018
Short stories rock.
Finishing a book of short stories always leaves me wanting.
Wanting more.
A good story does that.
I have read 600 page novels that did not impress me as much as a few hundred tight, concise and clear paragraphs.
I think short stories must be a lot more difficult for a writer.
So I love these books.
In the long run, short stories rock.
Finishing a book of short stories always leaves me wanting.
Wanting more.
A good story does that.
I have read 600 page novels that did not impress me as much as a few hundred tight, concise and clear paragraphs.
I think short stories must be a lot more difficult for a writer.
So I love these books.
In the long run, short stories rock.
September 28, 2017
Great Balls of Fire
If you're into Flint, and if you're not what's wrong with you, these anthologies are vital on filling story lines and background events that are in the 1632 uverse series. They also point toward future stories and plot lines.
If you're into Flint, and if you're not what's wrong with you, these anthologies are vital on filling story lines and background events that are in the 1632 uverse series. They also point toward future stories and plot lines.
May 9, 2019
Another brick in the wall!
Another good, and.sometimes great, collection of.bricks building the 1632 universe. Especially welcome was the further adventures of one Captain of a notorious "Wrecking Crew".
Another good, and.sometimes great, collection of.bricks building the 1632 universe. Especially welcome was the further adventures of one Captain of a notorious "Wrecking Crew".
July 5, 2020
Funny, entertaining, flows with the overall storyline of the series.well worthwhile
Can't wait for the next installment which can now be much sooner thanks to Ring of Fire Press
Won't be son enough
Can't wait for the next installment which can now be much sooner thanks to Ring of Fire Press
Won't be son enough
February 13, 2021
Another wonderful collection of stories, including one by David Brin, one of my very favorite authors NOT usually writing in this series. All of these are top notch, well worth enjoying whether you read the series or not.
June 8, 2021
Scarface makes the book
I enjoy the stories offered by all of the various authors, BUT no one brings the ring of fire to life as does Eric Flint, I enjoyed to no end the enlargement of Harry Letters, I hope that Eric reports on the further adventures of Harry and Eva
I enjoy the stories offered by all of the various authors, BUT no one brings the ring of fire to life as does Eric Flint, I enjoyed to no end the enlargement of Harry Letters, I hope that Eric reports on the further adventures of Harry and Eva
October 5, 2023
Great fun!
Eva! The strip down scene was delightfully lurid. What a great idea of the stack down rings in to the depths of history. More exciting is is what filed ,from the future, the hole in the present day left in the USA?
Eva! The strip down scene was delightfully lurid. What a great idea of the stack down rings in to the depths of history. More exciting is is what filed ,from the future, the hole in the present day left in the USA?
August 28, 2017
Excellent
A wonderful array of stories most of which are very good especially the one by Eric Flint. I enjoyed it very much.
A wonderful array of stories most of which are very good especially the one by Eric Flint. I enjoyed it very much.
April 19, 2018
I read this before but did not record it here so I forgot and checked it out of the library again :) it was still good the second time.
May 21, 2018
This was a bunch of good little novellas. It dragged in parts but worked to push the overall story further.
June 25, 2020
A cosmic accident set the modern West Virginia town of Grantville down in war-torn 17th century Europe. This is the 4th rollicking and idea-packed collection of Grantville tales.
December 31, 2020
3.5 probably all things considered.
December 6, 2021
Good anthology with some novellas included. I liked it.
September 21, 2016
As one of the authors of this anthology I only want to say that those stories are mostly enjoyable.
Some I don't like too much, some are better.
Of course, Eric Flint's "Scarface" is the top story, not only because it finally gives a love interest to one of the most prominent characters of the whole series, but it also shows the new world from a point of view most authors in the 1632-verse avoid: Young noble women, who are far from the normal clichés.
Some I don't like too much, some are better.
Of course, Eric Flint's "Scarface" is the top story, not only because it finally gives a love interest to one of the most prominent characters of the whole series, but it also shows the new world from a point of view most authors in the 1632-verse avoid: Young noble women, who are far from the normal clichés.
February 24, 2017
Just what I needed.
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