Eric Flint and David Carrico serve up the latest entry in the best‑selling alternate history saga of them all, the Ring of Fire!
It is the year 1636. The United States of Europe, the new nation formed by an alliance between the Swedish king Gustavus Adolphus and the West Virginians hurled back in time by a cosmic accident, is on the verge of civil war. His brain injured in the war with Poland, the USE's emperor Gustavus Adolphus is no longer in command. Enter Swedish chancellor Oxenstierna, a leader of aristocratic reaction against democracy. His goal: to assemble the forces of the hidebound ruling class in Berlin and drown the revolution in a bloodbath.
In Magdeburg, the capital of the USE, Mike Stearns' wife Rebecca Abrabanel is organizing popular resistance to Oxenstierna's plot. As part of the resistance, the American musician Marla Linder and her company of down‑time musical partners are staging an opera that will celebrate the struggle against oppression. Princess Kristina, the heir to the USE's throne, is now residing in Magdeburg and is giving them her support and encouragement.
But another plot is underway‑‑this one right in the heart of the capital itself, and with murder as its method. The only people standing in the way are a crippled boy and the boxing champion who befriended him, and an unlikely pair of policemen. Can the American detective Byron Chieske and his down‑timer partner Gotthilf Hoch thwart the killers before they succeed in their goal?
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I don't know why this was published. I'm not even sure if this book has a story. Let me try it: Evil guy plots a crime because he is pissed of by his rival. His henchmen sabotage this rival, the police catches up. End of Story. Intermixed are totaly unimportant bits of the Boxer with a heart oft gold and his sidekicks and the doings of the princess and the emperor. And btw the author should stop to try to write in German. For every 2 words there is at least 1 gramatical error in it.
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Product ReviewThis is really good. The rising tension in the story as everything slowly coalesced was really well done, although the foreshadowing of the final criminal seemed a little weak. The last chapter and ending was the sort of emotionally-perfect finish I've come to expect from Carrico's writings.
Only problem with continuity that I've seen so far is that "Do You Hear the People Sing" was actually already performed by Marla before, in the Broadway song section of her first public concert recital (the one where we meet Andrea Abati for the first time).Posted on
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Product ReviewA very complex and well written mystery with interesting characters and side stories throughout. I can't say what is missing, but something was or I would give it five stars. It is worth buying and reading even for readers new to this series.
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Product ReviewA bit too much of a Mercedes Lackey story, and not enough Eric Flint. The angel with a bad leg. The young hero with a bad arm. The Samson figure (even called Samson!) The policeman with a heart of gold. Individually, these figures might be interesting. Together, they are just cloying. If you want to read a real Grand Opera, try "Black Opera" by Mary Gentle. That lady can write.
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