A cosmic catastrophe, the Ring of Fire, strands the West Virginia town of Grantville in the middle of Europe during the Thirty Years War. The repercussions of that event transform Europe and, in a few years, begin spreading across the world. By 1636, the Ring of Fire's impact is felt across two great oceans, the Atlantic and Pacific.
Stretching Out: The United States of Europe seeks out resources ‑‑ oil, rubber and even aluminum ore ‑‑ to help it wage war against the foes of freedom. Daring pioneers cross the Atlantic and found a new colony on the Wild Coast of South America. The colonists hope that with the up‑timers' support and knowledge they can prosper in the tropics without resort to Indian and African slavery. Then a slave ship visits the colony, seeking water.... and the colonists must make a fateful choice.
Rising Sun: In 1633, the wave of change emanating from the Ring of Fire reaches Japan. The Shogun is intrigued by samples of up‑time technology, but it's a peek at what fate had in store for Japan in the old time line that has the greatest impact ‑‑ setting events in motion whose tremors are felt thousands of miles away and for years to come, as Japan pulls back from a policy of isolation and stakes out its own claim in the brave new world created by the Ring.
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Product ReviewI'm getting tired of the intermixing of GG stories with new material, especially in a $15 book that doesn't clearly state "more than half recycled."
If you want to re-monetize the GG stories (which I approve of), release them in self-contained units from Ring of Fire press or as singles.Posted on
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Product ReviewI enjoyed Tears of the Sun, which was not in GG, as a great finish of the first part of the book.
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Product ReviewAs mentioned above, If you have read all of the Grantville Gazette the first half of this book is a repeat. The second section "Rising Sun" is well done. I wish this had been divided into 2 ebooks to reduce the price.
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Product ReviewI have just completed reading the book and well, I was expecting more. Perhaps an entirely new book the fact that it contained nearly all the sections for Stretching Out from the Grantville Gazette looked more like just a filler section. Yet the new material was decent and very consistent, it kept the story going well and felt fresh. As for the section regarding Japan was well researched and lends support to the idea that prior to 1492 the Asian powers could have come to America and the after they could have established colonies after European contact. In all I will say it was a good book. But it would have been better with all new material
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