Short and Sweet Book Reviews # 267 - The Volga Rules by Eric Flint, Duel to the Death by J.A. Jance

1637: The Volga Rules by Eric Flint
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

This is another Ring of Fire story that just quit without any conclusion. That is enough to make my unhappy but there was more that was a disappointment. This series was character driven but that was not true in this book. There was more about how to change uptime to downtime with the story jumping between scenes that could have been left out and not damaged the book. I also felt that the authors missed the opportunity to add scenes that would have added more emotion to the story. A disappoint. Hope better for other stories by other authors.

Duel to the Death by J.A. Jance
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Stuart Ramey has a problem and it can and will cause many more. He shut down Frigg and now he has to bring her back on line. Who is Frigg? A very complex computer program and there is someone who wants Frigg and will do anything to get her. This is a really interesting plot. We get to follow not only Stu, Ali, and B we also get to follow the characters who want the program. I loved following each character and seeing how everything would work out. It was also fun to watch the interaction between Frigg and the various characters. One of the best yet in this series.

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1635: A Parcel of Rogues by Eric Flint and Andrew Dennis

Alternate History

From Goodreads:

Book #20 in the multiple New York Times best-selling Ring of Fire series. When the diplomatic embassy from the United States of Europe was freed from the Tower of London during the Baltic War, most of its members returned to the continent. But some remained behind in Britain, including notorious enemy to the crown Oliver Cromwell. Now,  the hunt for Cromwell is on, with King Charles himself demanding Cromwell’s head.

When the diplomatic embassy from the United States of Europe was freed from the Tower of London during the Baltic War, most of its members returned to the continent. But some remained behind in Britain: Oliver Cromwell and a few companions, including the sharpshooter Julie Sims, her Scot husband Alex Mackay, and Cromwell’s Irish-American self-appointed watchdog Darryl McCarthy.

Soon, the hunt is on for the most notorious rebel in English history, with King Charles himself demanding Cromwell’s head. The new chief minister Richard Boyle, Earl of Cork, brings over from Ireland a notorious crew of cutthroats led by the man called Finnegan to track down and capture the escapees from the Tower.

The hunt passes through England and into Scotland, where the conflict between Cromwell and his companions and their would-be captors becomes embroiled in Scotland’s politics, which are every bit as savage and ruthless as Finnegan and his men. To make things still more conflicted and confused, the time Darryl McCarthy spends fighting alongside Cromwell forces him against his will to admire and respect—and even like—the man, despite Cromwell’s demonic reputation among all self-respecting Irish nationalist families like Darryl’s own.

It’s a Gordian knot anywhere you look—until Julie Sims brings out her rifle. Now it’s the turn of Scot partisans and English lords and Irish toughs to learn the lesson already learned on the continent:

A safe distance isn’t what you think it is. Not after the American angel of death spreads her wings.

A Parcel of Rogues is a must read for fans of the Ring of Fire series.  In the time line this fills in an event that happened early in the series.  Mike Stern is still running the United States of Europe and the escape from the Tower of London just happened.  Alex and Julie, two of the main characters as the series began stayed in England after the escape and we are just now finding out what happened to them and to Oliver Cromwell.

I found the first part of the book a little slow.  Since I am reviewing an ARC of A Parcel of Rogues some of the things that slowed the book down may be edited out.  There is a lot about Finnegan, the man tracking them down, that I could have skipped.  The same goes for all of the explanations about history and how it is changed.  That  could be shorten.  Of course that is me and some readers may think it needs the long explanations.

The last part of the book was just the opposite.  There was plenty of action, danger and tension.  Julie, Alex, Darryl McCarthy and Cromwell all play a part in keeping everyone safe.  A nice ending to the question of what happened in England and Scotland after the escape.

A Parcel of Rogues is not the best book in the series but it is an important side story and may lead to future books set in England.

Baen published A Parcel of Rogues by Eric Flint and Andrew Dennis.  The book is due out in 2016.

I received an ARC of A Parcel of Rogues from Edelweiss in return for an honest review.

1636: The Devil’s Opera by Eric Flint and David Carrico

Alternate History

What Goodreads says:

"A new addition to the multiple New York Times best-selling Ring of Fire series. After carving a place for itself in
war-torn 17th century Europe, citizens of the modern town of Grantville, West Virginia take on a murderous conspiracy of operatic proportions in Magdeburg, the capital of the United States of Europe.
New York Times Best Selling Series

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?

The Devil’s Opera is a side story in the series.  It features characters that are secondary in the main line of the series while the original main line characters are side characters here.  Events in The Devil’s Opera are running parallel to the events in The Saxon Uprising. 

There are several mysteries in the story and some new characters.  Music is featured as a way to make a political statement.  The book is extremely well written and held my attention throughout the story. Everything does intersect at the end.  It was a pleasant story and fulfilled my need for more of the series.  However, it is more of a filler and did not seem to move the story line along. 

Pick it up if you are a fan of the series.  It can stand-alone but is better if you have read the previous books.

Baen published 1636: The Devil’s Opera by Eric Flint and David Carrico in 2013.

1635: The Papal Stakes by Eric Flint and Charles E. Gannon

Alternate History/Science Fiction

I have been reading the Ring of Fire series and just finished the next one to come out.  Next one!  Yes, it has not come out yet.  It was not a free ARC but and ARC no less.  Baen often releases books that are popular months ahead of time as an eARC for $15.00.  I had just finished the 1635:  The Cannon Law.  It ended with a cliff-hanger and I wanted to know what happened.  When I went to Baen I found that the sequel to The Cannon Law, The Papal Papers, had just been released as a eARC. 

Here is the description from Baen: 

#15 in the multiple best-selling Ring of Fire Series.

It's springtime in the Eternal City, 1635. But it's no Roman holiday for uptimer Frank Stone and his pregnant downtime wife, Giovanna. They're in the clutches of would be Pope Cardinal Borgia, with the real Pope—Urban VII—on the run with the renegade embassy of uptime Ambassador Sharon Nichols and her swashbuckling downtime husband, Ruy Sanchez de Casador y Ortiz. Up to their necks in papal assassins, power politics, murder, and mayhem, the uptimers and their spouses need help and they need it quickly.

Special rescue teams—including Harry Lefferts and his infamous Wrecking Crew—converge on Rome to extract Frank and Gia. And an uptime airplane is on its way to spirit the Pope to safety before Borgia's assassins can find him. It seems that everything is going to work out just fine in sunny Italy.

Until, that is, everything goes wrong. Now, whether they are prisoners in Rome or renegades protecting a pope on the run, it's up to the rough and ready can do attitude of Grantville natives to once again escape the clutches of aristocratic skullduggery and ring in freedom for a war torn land.

The Papal Stakes does not follow what is know as the main line characters.  Instead it follows Sharon Nichols and Ruy Sanchez de Casador y Ortiz . Frank Stone, Gia Stone and several others from the previous book.  Harry Lefferts and his Wrecking Crew show up in this book along with some new characters.  This is a action packed book and as a result it does not have a lot of character development.   However some of the action does make major changes in Leffert and his Wrecking Crew.

That said the action is great and keeps the story arc moving along.  The action is running parallel but with little interaction to previous books. There are surprises in the book.  The two goals, freeing Frank and Gia and saving the Pope, flow smoothly but with unexpected results.  All of the action helps set up the next books in the series.  While The Papal Stakes runs parallel to the action in other books it sets the scene for blending the results of all the books some time in the future.

I loved the writing in The Papal Stakes.  This is a story that flows smoothly and is focused on the problems the characters face. Some of the books in this series spend so much time world building that the story slows down.  That was not true here.  Any world building was done is small doses and blended into the story line.  I think some of the difference is the different authors in the series.  Eric Flint keeps control of the series but allows other authors to write in his series.  This one is co-authored by Flint and Charles Gannon.  They are a good writing team.

The Papal Stakes is a great addition to the Ring of Fire series.  If you can’t wait to read the book go to Baen and get the eARC.  If you can wait buy the book when it comes out in October.

Baen published the ARC of 1635: The Papal Stakes by Eric Flint and Charles E. Gannon in 2012.

Musing Mondays July 16, 2012

This week’s musing asks…

What are you currently reading? Is it any good? Would you recommend it?

I am reading 1636:  The Kremlin Games by Eric Flint, Gorg Huff, and Paula Goodlett.  This is the newest book in the Science Fiction/Alternate History Ring of Fire series.  It is not a main line story.  It looks at what changes the Ring of Fire would make in Russia.  It does a good job at what it is attempting.  It also has a whole new cast of character not found elsewhere in the series.   It is not a stand alone book and I would only recommend it to fans of the series.  I am a fan of the series so I like it.  I just have a few pages to go and will finish it this morning.

Teaser Tuesday July 3, 2012

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following: 

• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
• Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers.

I am still reading the Assiti Shards series or the Ring of Fire series or the 1632 series by Eric Flint.  Baen keeps renaming the series so who knows what it will be called next. Today's teaser is from 1635:  The Eastern Front.


"For all practical purposes, their new home was an urban fortress.  That was hardly surprising, since it had been planned and built with that purpose in mind."  page 16

What Else I Read in June of 2012

 What Else I Read In is a monthly post featuring books I read during the month but did not write a full review on.  If you have a similar post leave a comment and a link and I will visit to see what else you read.  Also on your post leave a link back to my post so others can also share.  

Last month I listened to 1632 by Eric Flint.  I had read the book when it first came out and had started the series but two book in I quit always meaning to pick it back up.  This month I did just that.  So far I finished the following books:

1634 - The Baltic War
1634 - The Bavarian Crisis
1634 - The Galileo Affair  
1634 - The Ram Rebellion
1635 - The Cannon Law
Ring of Fire I
Ring of Fire II

There are a few other book that I have read and not review.

Romance:  

The Duke's Perfect Wife by Jennifer Ashley - This on has been on my TBR shelf for quite a while.  It is the last book in the series.  It was not as good as my favorite in the series (The Madness of Lord Ian MacKenzie) but it was a good end to the series.

Questionably Human by Miss Kitty Roads - This is a SFR and was free on Amazon.  A lot of it was very predictable but fun to read. 
Beneath the Starry Sky  by Jessica E. Subject - Another free book from the author and Amazon.  This was a novella in the "One Night Stand" series.  Like the previous book it was predictable but fun to read. 

Teaser Tuesday, June 12, 2012

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following: 

• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)

Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers.

 

My Teaser Today is from Ring of Fire I edited by Eric Flint.  This is a series of short stories and novellas set in the 1632 universe and my teaser is from To Dye For by Mercedes Lackey.

 

"They arrived with a horse and cart, and one of the German boys driving; Tom had heard them coming for quite a while, but in his current state of flat-lined depression, it hadn't seemed important enough to get up just to greet them on his feet."

 

"Hey Stoner!" Stearns called, when the hoofbeats and the creaking of the cart were getting pretty close.  "Are you dead?"