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| View Larger Image | Ring of Fire (Assiti Shards)
by Mercedes Lackey, David Weber, Dave Freer, Andrew Dennis, Virginia Easley DeMarce, Loren Jones, S.L. Viehl, Annette Pedersen, Greg Donahue, Eric Flint
| | List Price: | $23.00 |  | | 6 New starting at: | $15.00 | | 9 Used starting at: | $6.77 | | | | | Sales Rank: | 301705 | | Studio: | Baen | | | Binding: | Hardcover | | Number Of Pages: | 528 | | Publication Date: | December 30, 2003 | | Publisher: | Baen |
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EDITORIAL REVIEWS |
Product Description
The battle between democracy and tyranny is joined, and the American Revolution has begun over a century ahead of schedule. A cosmic accident has shifted a modern West Virginia town back through time and space to land it and its twentieth century technology in Germany in the middle of the Thirty Years War. History must take a new course as American freedom and democracy battle against the squabbling despots of seventeenth-century Europe. Continuing the story begun in the hit novels 1632 and 1633, the New York Times best-selling creator of Honor Harrington, David Weber, the best-selling fantasy star Mercedes Lackey, best-selling SF and fantasy author Jane Lindskold, space adventure author K. D. Wentworth, Dave Freer, co-author of the hit novels Rats, Bats & Vats and Pyramid Scheme (both Baen), and Eric Flint himself combine their considerable talents in a shared-universe volume that will be a "must-have" for every reader of 1632 and 1633. |
CUSTOMER REVIEWS (Average Customer Rating: 4.0 based on 24 reviews)
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Fitting Vignettes 
This collection of short stories is centered around the universe Flint created in his novel 1632 about a small town in West Virginia that mysteriously gets transplanted back into the middle of Germany during the Thirty Years War. Flint "loaned out" his universe to anyone who wanted to write a story about the town of Grantville and how its residents cope with their new situation...being stuck about 370 years in the past with no way to get home. So, what you get in Ring of Fire is some of the best fan-fiction around (though at least two or three of the stories are written by established authors). Thus, each of the stories presented opens up a plethora of characters and ideas which may be utilized in future installments of Flint's universe.
The stories contained within Ring of Fire are a worthy addition to Flint's universe. In fact, the one real issue I have with this anthology is that I wish some of the characters and plots presented in short story form had been fleshed out more. Not because the stories themselves were lacking, but simply because I wanted more about the individual plots and characters that were presented quite artfully. Oh well... I guess I will just have to look forward to continuing on with the story of the citizens of Grantville in future installments.
July 14, 2008 | |
Essential reading for fans of the Ring of Fire series.
I'm tempted to give this anthology 5-stars (which no anthology I've ever read has received). The majority of the stories here are fantastic and add significantly to the overall story behind 1632/1633. Only two or three of the stories (out of ~13) failed to impress me much and bring down the overall appeal of the book, but they are pretty short and shouldn't hamper anyone from enjoying the whole. Eric Flint's reasoning for promoting this book is sound. These stories help flesh out the characters in and around Grantville, introducing headline characters from future books and giving the reader a better grasp of the overall situations in the 30 Year War. Most of the stories take place around the same time as 1633.
Besides being enjoyable and fun to read, these stories accomplish the important task of progressing the overall story behind the series. Especially the last (and longest) story, written by Flint himself, which tells of the initiation of hostilities with Emperor Ferdinand and the alliance with Wallenstein to free Bohemia from Spain. Other stories fill in what happened in scenes that you were not privileged to in 1633, such as In The Navy, by David Weber, where you witness the recruitment of Simpson and the founding of the Navy.
Fans of 1632 and the following books should definitely take the time to read this book. It'll enhance your overall understanding of the situation and bring the characters into fuller life.
March 30, 2007 | |
Brilliant idea 
A brilliant idea: both this book and the new series of which it is a part. All red-blooded Americans will like these stories, and probably many Germans, too.
This is a better reading book than Flint's "1632" or "1633." Those are the novels that introduced the idea, of a bunch of small-town West Virginians mysteriously transported back to 1632 in south German lands in the middle of the misery of the Thirty Years War, into a series. This volume is the first to consist of a number of short stories and a novela, each one focused on a single topic or set of characters that are much simpler to understand than the novels. The argumentation or plots are short and tight here. Each story is an entire capsule, rather than open-ended threads (as in the novels), within a saga that is gradually spreading to encompass (and rewrite the "history" of) all of Europe, and equally difficult to integrate. The "main line" of novels sprawls a good bit, each juggling numerous parallel threads--like real history-- which will all, hopefully, link up some day. In this collection we get entire stories of how some line of innovation got started after the Americans arrived down-time, such as naval ships, the dye industry, religious rapprochements, telegraphy, infiltration, and the propagation of the American way, seen as the only route to survival. The idea is a bit like Twain's The Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court, but now for an entire town of 3500 facing and adapting to the brutal challenges of a strife-torn Europe.
The brilliant innovation of the series is its structure. Besides the novels, written by the creator Eric Flint and picked collaborators, Ring of Fire begins a line of anthologies that fill out the big picture developed in those huge novels. This anthology is not the usual passel of authors riffing on someone's created world, each in their own inimitable but clashing styles. It includes stories set in the world of "1632" submitted by unknown authors over email, taking advantage of an intense online community that has grown for the further development of this world. They produce a coherent collection of disparate stories, but linked by style and consistent background events, thanks to Flint's strong editorial hand and the cooperation of the writers. Significantly, some stories provide the backstory of major characters seen in the novels, while others show the contributions of minor characters to the fight for survival. Most remarkably, new characters are also introduced who will be allowed to become leading actors in the future main line novels. This series is a truly collaborative enterprise; the many authors of this anthology are not merely guest writers. Their stories spin in to, not spin out from, Flint's world of "1632." This structure is very generous, excitingly productive, and is unique in my reading experience.
While the novels contain major military actions, as one might expect from Flint's other books, this volume concentrates mostly on a great variety of civilian matters vital to the survival and then expansion of the community. The prose is so-so, quite literal, and just drives staight ahead. There also must be lots of pedantic history necessary to make sense of the specific problems and situations addressed here. Although this book should be read after "1632," the stories are not confined to a time line, and so can be read alongside any of the "1634: xx" novels. The Assiti Shards moniker has nothing to do with the series at present, but may eventually explain the mysterious initial time travel element.
October 17, 2006 | |
Ring of Fire on fire
I actually enjoyed this more than the main stream books. The more focused vinettes showed how the events effected not just the main characters, the the subcharacters and showed that each person would have their own point of view.
While it is mostly positive, here and there the darker side of human nature comes through.
August 31, 2006 | |
Essential background for 1633
"...about the correspondence, we seem to have exhausted the real fruitcakes, but Al Green got a doozy this morning. Did he tell you? ...well, word got around that he's the Reverend Doctor Al Green, and so he's gotten a letter from the Earl of Carlisle's secretary. Apparently the earl's in Paris, helping Ussher with his researches, and does the reverend doctor have anything that might help?"
"*That* Ussher?...Reassure me Al's not going to send him anything."
"Well, I offered him my copy of Hawking..."
- Rev. Jones and Father Mazarre, "Between the Armies"
These aren't free-standing stories; several are part of the essential plot development of the 1632 universe, and some cover key incidents forming the background of 1633 and 1634: THE GALILEO AFFAIR.
Allen, Deann and Turner, Mike: "American Past Time" How baseball began catching on in the reborn United States, starting with Billy, a high-school senior who considers himself the only hard-core fan and player in town (who'd probably have tried to pitch for the major leagues uptime). Split between pickup games with Grantville's immigrants and Billy's regular life, split between school, working for his dad, and freelancing on a farm.
Boyes, Walt: "A Witch to Live" A Jesuit, having written a controversial book opposing witchcraft trials, is assigned by his bishop to see justice done in the trial of the daughter of a once-respectable family, and when she flees to U.S. soil, he follows to bear witness to her retrial.
Cresswell, Jonathan and Washburn, Scott: "When the Chips Are Down" The Four Musketeers seeking a way around a central European prejudice against eating potatoes (seeing them as food for livestock rather than people).
DeMarce, Virginia: "Biting Time" Gretchen's formidable grandmother Veronica, and how her appointment for being fitted with false teeth led (through her handling of brats at the dentist's office) to her own bit of private enterprise.
Dennis, Andrew: "Between the Armies" How Jules Mazarin and lapsed Jesuit Father Heinzerling became involved with Grantville, and how Father Mazzare decided how to cope with the differences between the 21st century Church and that of 1632.
Donahue, Greg: Gerd, a former member of Tilly's army living in Grantville, has "Skeletons" in his past - ex-associates who have infiltrated the refugee camp looking for pickings.
Dorsett, Jody: A group of religious refugees sends an emissary to Grantville, who strikes up an alliance with someone with a different definition of "The Three Rs".
Flint, Eric: "The Wallenstein Gambit" occupies about a fifth of the book and introduces a major storyline as the badly wounded Wallenstein offers a deal in exchange for alliance and medical treatment: his help in preventing a massacre of Jews in Prague. Some exploration of the social complexities of a Jewish community in the Europe of that time.
Freer, Dave: "A Lineman for the Country" The mine's only switchboard operator and the town's telephone repairman can see that their old state-of-the-art equipment needs to be "downgraded" to something that can be maintained, but they lack the political skills to make it a priority with anyone else. Enter one of Mackay's couriers, prepared to appreciate anything that'll spare him days on horseback, and who has the people skills Ellie and Len lack.
Jones, Loren K.: "Power to the People" How the crew at Grantville's power station coped with the Ring of Fire, particularly the three staff members stranded without their families.
Lackey, Mercedes: "To Dye For" introduces leftover hippie and practical chemist Tom "I made LSD in the sixties" Stone and family with the story of how Stoner managed to persuade his prospective father-in-law of his suitability.
Pedersen, Anette M.: "Family Faith" suffers in the short form, as the family relationships of the protagonist - an excommunicate Jesuit in a largely Protestant noble family, seeking knowledge of young relatives lost among the refugees of the war - constitute most of the story, and are presented via exposition to an old family friend who should already know the facts.
Viehl, S.L.: "A Matter of Consultation" Introducing Charles Stuart's personal physician, William Harvey (key background to _1633_), local healers of various types (including "witches") and how they get on with uptime healers.
Weber, David: "In the Navy" (foundation of Grantville's naval shipyards and navy) Eddie Cantrell of "the Four Musketeers" - the young wargamer enthusiasts who have the best library of military history in Grantville - is the quartet's naval specialist in game design, but that doesn't trump the real experience of the most experienced ex-navy man in town: John Chandler Simpson. Decent character development of Simpson: competent administrator as an ex-CEO, experienced combat officer who knows how to explain things to another military man.
Wentworth, K.D.: "Here Comes Santa Claus" (December 1632) Doesn't seem to dovetail with "The Wallenstein Gambit", despite Flint's remarks to the contrary, but it's cute. Julie McKay is organizing Grantville's first annual post-Ring of Fire Christmas party, and can't get any uptimers to play Santa Claus (or much hard data on local Christmas customs). Spies (including Pappenheim, seeking the sniper who shot Wallenstein) sneak into town left and right and get very confused.
August 06, 2006 | |
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