1637: The Peacock Throne

1632 Universe/Ring of Fire #37

by Eric Flint, Griffin Barber

The latest entry in the multiple New York Times best-selling Ring of Fire series created by Eric Flint

The emperor is dead; long live the emperors!

The assassinated Shah Jahan lies entombed beside his beloved wife in the Taj Mahal, while their progeny drag the Mughal Empire into a three-sided struggle over the succession to the Peacock Throne.

The diplomatic and trade mission from the United States of Europe is openly siding with Princess Jahanara and her brother Dara Shikoh. The mission, made up largely of Americans transplanted in time by the Ring of Fire, is providing the siblings with technical assistance as they prepare to fight their rivals for the throne, Aurangzeb and Shah Shuja. Meanwhile, the Afghan adventurer Salim Gadh Yilmaz, confidant of two emperors—Shah Jahan and now his son Dara Shikoh—has been elevated to the position of general. He has great challenges to face, not the least of which is resisting the fierce and forbidden mutual attraction between himself and Princess Jahanara.

As the conflict deepens, the junior members of the mission are sent east to buy opium needed by the USE’s doctors. Their guide, merchant Jadu Das, has an agenda of his own, one entrusted to him by seek out her great uncle, Asaf Khan, and promise whatever is needed to bring his army over to Dara’s side.

The USE’s mission was sent to India in search of goods needed in Europe. But now they find that straightforward task has become enmeshed in a great civil war — for control of The Peacock Throne.

About 1635: A Parcel of Rogues :

"The 20th volume in this popular, fast-paced alternative history series follows close on the heels of the events in The Baltic War , picking up with the protagonists in London, including sharpshooter Julie Sims. This time the 20th-century transplants are determined to prevent the rise of Oliver Cromwell and even have the support of King Charles."— Library Journal

About 1634: The Galileo Affair :

"A rich, complex alternate history with great characters and vivid action. A great read and an excellent book."— David Drake

"Gripping . . . depicted with power!"— Publishers Weekly

About Eric Flint's Ring of Fire

“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

Genres: Alternate History, Fiction, Science Fiction, Time Travel, War, Historical, Conspiracy Theories

784 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published May 4, 2021

About the author

Eric 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.

Reviews

[Todd · Rating 2 out of 5]

Takes up where Mission to the Mughals leaves off. There is to be a war of succession, but it's all build up until the three quarters mark of the book.

Well written story, but it just didn't hold my interest that well. l finished it but had no problem putting it down to do something else.

[James · Rating 3 out of 5]

This volume seems to finish 1636: Mission to the Mughals , which I has trouble remembering, it was released four years ago. The politics of the Peacock Throne are nasty, to say the least, Game of Thrones fan will like it. The ending has enough explosions and battles for the military SF fan and at times it feels like too much of a good thing. The politics and the setting are fascinating, time to check out some Indian histories.

It's a decent read, but read 1636: Mission to the Mughals first.

[Kevin K · Rating 4 out of 5]

Full disclosure, I had forgotten a majority of what occured during 1636: Mission to the Mughals, and it took me a bit to get into the swing of things.

As far as series go, The 1632 series is an interesting, a chunk of 1990's era Virginia gets kicked through time and space to the middle of Europe in 1632. This novel covers a side arc about a mission to India and the repercussions of the "Up Timers" in "Downtime" India. Ostensibly, the Europeans travelled to India for an opium connection (among other things) and arrive just after the murder of the Mughal emperor Shah Jahan. This throws the subcontinent into war as the heirs vie for the throne.

Lots of court drama, and the uptime technological knowledge gives one faction a pretty significant edge (repeating carbines and shotguns).

All in all, I enjoyed the second half of the book more then the first half, and it's definitely set the stage for a "new" India to emerge, it's also got some interesting story possibilities as not all characters headed back to Europe at the end of the novel.

I think the Ottomans *could* be impacted by the events in India, and it'll be interesting to see how it plays out.

[Ronald Spitzer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Enjoyable book and a good followup to the Ring of Fire Mughal India series. The characterization, politics, ignorance of the uptimers and other Europeans is well portrayed. The Mughal characters are well portrayed. Plenty of action. What I like about this is the authors have portrayed real historical people so accurately in this alternate history setting. Read the first India book "1636: Mission to the Mughals" first.

[John · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a solid followup to 1636: Mission to the Mughals. I'm not going to give any spoilers, so I'm just going to say that if you liked the first book, you will want to read this one too.

[Craig Beyers · Rating 4 out of 5]

The setting of this book—India—and my lack of knowledge and experience of many of the terms and meanings meant this book was more difficult than the others in the series. But I enjoyed the book and hope I learned something from it. Lots of intrigue in this book, possibly more than the others, and interesting from that different cultural viewpoint.

[Valerie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Interesting

Very enjoyable story & a great addition to the 1632 universe. These stories pique my curiosity so much so that I must find out what happened to them in our reality.

[Stan Morris · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pretty Good

One of the best written in the Ring series, but with too many subplots. Sometimes the details of the Indian culture made my eyes glaze.

[Robert Zielazinski · Rating 5 out of 5]

Palace intrigue and brutal battles

The further adventures of characters from "Mission to the Moghuls" ..love, swords, technology uplift, deceit,spies, and a struggle for the throne of the Indian Empire.
And battles... Lots of battles!

[Kathleen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very well written, if not historically accurate, story about the fight for the Mughal throne in India.
Particular emphasis on women of the harem and their plotting and less on Grantville natives.

[Craig Elderkin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very satisfying conclusion to Mission to the Mughals. Great depiction of a fascinating culture. Special kudos to Griffin Barber, whose writing nicely complements Eric Flint's style. I think the level of detail was perfect. I look forward to learning Eric's predictions about the interactions between the large Asian nations affected by the Ring of Fire (China, Russia, and China).

[Bill · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love it when Flint and pals move the ROF universe to locales outside of Europe. The Indian 'game of thrones' continues in this very good sequel to Mission to the Mughals.

[Randy Pursley · Rating 3 out of 5]

A good ending to this story arc. I knew very little of the Mughal empire before reading and the origin of the Taj Mahal. The book was a little slow at times, but still enjoyed it a lot.

[Leigh Kimmel · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a direct sequel to 1636: Mission to the Mughals, and as such is very heavy on the politics, particularly the political infighting both in the runup to the fight between the two claimants to the Peacock Throne, and afterward. I found it very slow going at times, and it's definitely not a good introduction to the series. You really have to be invested in the 'verse to enjoy this volume.

Worse, the ending is pretty clearly a setup for another novel, maybe even a couple of them. However, I have no idea whether that novel (or novels) was ever written -- and now that Eric Flint is gone, whatever additional volumes may have been planned are unlikely to ever be written.

[Redsteve · Rating 4 out of 5]

Probably the best installments of the Ring of Fire/1632 series that I've read in some time. Great combination of characters, history, intrigue, battles, politics, and religion, all set in alternate history Mughal India. POV shifts often enough to give multiple perspectives but not so much as to be disruptive. Strong 4 stars. NB: This is the sequel to 1636: Mission to the Mughals. The story came to a more solid conclusion in PEACOCK THRONE, but there is potential for a sequel, assuming that Barber wants to go it alone.

[Aamundson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Took a little while to get started, but then it sucks you into the plot and things are great.

[Htet Htet · Rating 5 out of 5]

When I started the first book of this duology (so far) "Mission to the Mughals" I was unsure whether I'd like it or not. I wasn't keen on reading about Mughals per se nor the new characters but luckily there was one character "Amir Salim" that was already known to me through a short story "The Company Men" which made me more interested in the book.

Once I started, I cannot stop. The story zips along pretty well -- once you get used to the foreign nature of the Mughal court. That first book was a 4.5 star book.

This book, not needing the time to build the world or the characters, took me on a rollicking ride. The story enthralled me. The characters shone. From historical characters like Jahanara, Nur, Dara, and Aurangzeb to fictional characters like Gervais, Bertram, Monique, and others, characters are vivid and it's really fun being a fly on the wall to all the machinations or shenanigans that are going on (not sure if Amir was real or not but he's a great character too).

Here, we have a 3-way succession war that quickly became 2-way with almost equal odds. Battle lines are drawn and sides chosen. There isn't a villain per se in the story (the two I disliked were the bigoted Jesuit and Roshanara). I sympathized with most of the characters.

The twist (courtesy of Jahanara) as the last battle of this story unfolded took me by surprise. I felt very sorry for Carvelho. The outcome was very satisfying. The ending (at the dock) was a vivid picture in my mind -- a lone horserider staring at the distant ships leaving. It leaves me wanting for the sequel to follow very very soon (if not now which is impossible) :D

In short, a great sequel to Mission to Mughals and a 5 star read!

[Monty · Rating 3 out of 5]

I rather liked the book on the whole,... But.

Yes there is a but, that being Dara Shikoh's hastily acquired mental derangement. Did he, in the prior book, take one of those saber blows to the head or something, I have no recollection of such!? Whichever I found it annoying and rather too "in your face" with another story where the lame duck male flounders about while the females rule the roost so to say. The lack of balance is.. anyway I found the exposition vis-à-vis Dara Shikoh's mental issue/s to be lacking to the point that it harmed the story between the (Mission to the Mughals) and (The Peacock Throne) the second book in this 1632: setting.

[BJ Richardson · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the 536th book in the Ring of Fire Universe (or some ridiculously high number like that), and the direct follow up to 1636 Mission to the Mughals. At times the politics and intrigue in this book seemed to be pulling inspiration from Game of Thrones. There was a good amount of action as well, but for both the action and intrigue I have taken a long enough break from these books that I had a hard time getting invested in this world once more. I don't think this book would work as a standalone, but most people who have read 1636MttM as well as some other Ring of Fire books, this will be an adequately enjoyable read.

[David Hettich · Rating 3 out of 5]

Lots of court political intrigue

Not a page turner for me. Most of the book is slow moving and centers on the political intrigue within the Mughal dynasty. Last few chapters were good - but it was hard to keep reading to finally get to them..

[Michael Annis · Rating 4 out of 5]

good read

I enjoyed this but there was one drawback, a biggie. Endless long conversations with little action so ended up skipping lots.

[Karen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely wonderful story about the Mughal court of India in an alternative history. Highly recommend it.

[Michael Brown · Rating 3 out of 5]

When we first went to Russia there were long passages with background info sprinkled into the character/plot development. First visit to Mughal India and then China the same. Here in book 2 of the Mughal series we have a lot more slow and sometimes boring material. The authors of Flint's alternate series like to cover many things. And cover them over and over. This redundancy has it's place but political maneuvers and religious discussions need not be repeated over and over in every new venue. In particular when they have been discussed already or just seem to repeat from a new character the same dictates. Yet that is part of the series filler that is I guess is required. It just makes it hard to get into these long stories easier.

This being Flint's last book, it will be hard to continue this area of the Ring of Fire in as much detail