Though the Thirty Years Wars continues to ravage 17th century Europe, history as it once happened has been strongly deflected by the new force which is rapidly gathering power and influence: the United States of Europe, an alliance between Gustavus Adolphus, King of Sweden, and the West Virginians from the 20th Century led by Mike Stearns who were hurled centuries into the past by a mysterious cosmic accident-the Ring of Fire.
The USE has know-how of 20th century technology, but the American traditions of freedom and justice is having an even stronger impact on Europe, and the rulers of Europe are powerless to stuff the Grantville genie back into the bottle.
Virginia DeMarce, a trained historian and co-author of the New York Times best seller, 1635: The Bavarian Crisis, continues the saga of the time-lost Americans as seen through the eyes of both Americans and Europeans, as the Americans try to make sense of the strange world into which they have been hurled, and the Europeans try to understand the abilities and behavior of the visitors from the future. The result is a volume that will be irresistible to the thousands of fans of the Ring of Fire series.
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Product ReviewThis series has become so fragmented from the spin-offs that a reader, in order to make heads or tails of the story, must go back to the beginning and read every volume just to have a handle on the next. I agree with Terry that the minor characters hold little interest any more. Nothing against Ms. DeMarce, but I think it's probably time to send this cash cow to the slaughterhouse. Wake up Baen! You can only milk so much from sequals before you begin to smother the reader in stuff that has no relation to the original story. I've purchased every book and gazette from the first. And now I think I'm done. I don't have the fanatic fandom like a trekkie or the ability to follw sub-plots like a soap opera junkie. Keep the story on point, interesting and most of all short.
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