A sparkling addition to the multiple New York Times best-selling Ring of Fire alternate history series created by Eric Flint. An alchemist of the 17th century confronts modern science with often amusing results.
Phillip Theophrastus Gribbleflotz, the world's greatest alchemist and a great-grandson of Paracelsus—and a Bombast on his mother's side—was a man history had forgotten. But when the town of Grantville was transported by a cosmic accident from modern West Virginia to central Germany in the early seventeenth century, he got a second chance at fame and fortune.
The world's greatest alchemist does not make household goods. But with suitable enticements Gribbleflotz is persuaded to make baking soda and then baking powder so that the time-displaced Americans can continue to enjoy such culinary classics as biscuits and gravy. Applying his superb grasp of the principles of alchemy to the muddled and confused notions the Americans have concerning what they call “chemistry,” Gribbleflotz leaves obscurity behind.
In his relentless search for a way to invigorate the quinta essential of the human humors, Gribbleflotz plays a central role in jump-starting the seventeenth century’s new chemical and marital aids industries—and pioneering such critical fields of human knowledge as pyramidology and aura imaging. These are his chronicles.
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couldn't readI couldn't even finish the snippets.
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A wonderful side trip from the main storyline of the 1632 universe.
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excellent readI spent 6 hours eating this book up. I picked it up and had to finish it. Unlike many recent releases this is not a rehash of the Grantville Gazette. I learned about Dr. Phil through the years. There were characters I would like to know more about. It is as good as the first books in the series
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Delightful!The backstory in the first part helps understand some of HDG's foibles. The Doctor continues to be a delightful character, and his story here has me eagerly waiting the next episode. Nice! A fun read.
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Fun Side StoryDr. Gribbleflotz is a great character. I loved how he was Dr. Phil for some of the characters. This is a fun side story with cameo appearances by some of the main characters in the series. A must read for fans.
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Much new materialDr. Gribbleflotz is my favorite character first introduced in the Grantville Gazette. I expected this to be primarily the stories from the Gazette, but there is much new material both on the Dr.'s early years and his time in Prague. Highly recommended for Ring of Fire fans.
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