I learned about the Ring of Fire Series from the Baen Free Radio hour podcast when they interviewed the authors, Eric Flint and Charles E. Gannon, of the latest book in the series, 1636: Commander Cantrell in the West Indies. The idea sounded interesting - a 20th century town is scooped up and dumped in 17th century Germany in the opening stages of the 30 years war. I tried to find it at the library but they didn't have the first book in the series. So, I was glad to see that it was free on Baen's Ebook library. Here's a link to the Baen Ebook Free Library page for the book. It was a fun read and as a history student I found it particularly interesting. It is the story of modern day people in a long past time, but it also covers some of the big historical events of that time. There were several chapters which walked the reader through a historical fiction account of the Battle of Breitenfield which were very fun. It gave some historical background, but also showed us a bit more of an important historical figure. All in all, the book was a very interesting read.
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Plot: Grantsville, West Virginia is a typical Appalachian town with a power plant, coal miners, and a population of a couple thousand. Populated by what many folks would call "hicks" or "red necks" it's citizens are hard working, rough and tumble, good hearted people. Mike Stearns is the leader of the local chapter of the United Mine Workers of America labor union and most of the town is at the high school cafeteria enjoying his sister's wedding reception when the event occurred. It felt like an explosion and searing light flashed across the sky. Nothing was damaged, but Grantsville was changed forever. As mike and the other residents go out to see what the damage is they come across a group of soldiers dressed in steel amour and with matchlock guns pillaging and raping a nearby farm stead. They quickly put a stop to that but soon realize they are not in the proverbial Kansas anymore. A six mile circle of land, with Grantsville at its center has been relocated to 17th century Germany. Or what will someday become Germany. At the moment its a mess of warring princedoms and the residents of Grantsville find themselves right in the middle of it.
My personal favorites: The mix of alternate history and historical fantasy was a delight. The characters were a lot of fun too. I honestly cared about them and wanted them to succeed. I will confess that it didn't seem like they could fail at times, but there were moments where I greatly feared for them. The flavor of the prose was enjoyable as well. I had to smile at the fact that Eric Flint, who is a "card carrying Communist," had a main character that is the leader of a labor union. The action was good and the history was fascinating.
Considerations: With rough and tumble mine workers, marauding mercenaries, and a fair number of battles or generally bad situations there is some very strong language. It didn't pull me out, although some may find 17th century characters using modern profanity stranger. It didn't bother me based on the fact that those people would have had words just as strong, we just don't know what they are. There was no real graphic violence, but I must mention that rape is referenced a fair amount. There are not descriptions of the actual rapes however. There is one scene, describing a young couple's wedding night where leaves no doubt that the wedding was consummated, but again, no graphic descriptions. The vast majority was emotional and mental descriptions. Very brief oral sex is implied. The scene is not gratuitous as it explores the mentality of the young bride who had been a rape victim of another man for an extended prior to her wedding. It is telegraphed very clearly and can be skipped without consequence to the larger story.
All in all, the story was fun and I hope to be able to find a few more. It was entertaining and fun to see a cross of modern and medieval.
Plot: Grantsville, West Virginia is a typical Appalachian town with a power plant, coal miners, and a population of a couple thousand. Populated by what many folks would call "hicks" or "red necks" it's citizens are hard working, rough and tumble, good hearted people. Mike Stearns is the leader of the local chapter of the United Mine Workers of America labor union and most of the town is at the high school cafeteria enjoying his sister's wedding reception when the event occurred. It felt like an explosion and searing light flashed across the sky. Nothing was damaged, but Grantsville was changed forever. As mike and the other residents go out to see what the damage is they come across a group of soldiers dressed in steel amour and with matchlock guns pillaging and raping a nearby farm stead. They quickly put a stop to that but soon realize they are not in the proverbial Kansas anymore. A six mile circle of land, with Grantsville at its center has been relocated to 17th century Germany. Or what will someday become Germany. At the moment its a mess of warring princedoms and the residents of Grantsville find themselves right in the middle of it.My personal favorites: The mix of alternate history and historical fantasy was a delight. The characters were a lot of fun too. I honestly cared about them and wanted them to succeed. I will confess that it didn't seem like they could fail at times, but there were moments where I greatly feared for them. The flavor of the prose was enjoyable as well. I had to smile at the fact that Eric Flint, who is a "card carrying Communist," had a main character that is the leader of a labor union. The action was good and the history was fascinating.
Considerations: With rough and tumble mine workers, marauding mercenaries, and a fair number of battles or generally bad situations there is some very strong language. It didn't pull me out, although some may find 17th century characters using modern profanity stranger. It didn't bother me based on the fact that those people would have had words just as strong, we just don't know what they are. There was no real graphic violence, but I must mention that rape is referenced a fair amount. There are not descriptions of the actual rapes however. There is one scene, describing a young couple's wedding night where leaves no doubt that the wedding was consummated, but again, no graphic descriptions. The vast majority was emotional and mental descriptions. Very brief oral sex is implied. The scene is not gratuitous as it explores the mentality of the young bride who had been a rape victim of another man for an extended prior to her wedding. It is telegraphed very clearly and can be skipped without consequence to the larger story.
All in all, the story was fun and I hope to be able to find a few more. It was entertaining and fun to see a cross of modern and medieval.
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