Customer Reviews

1635: The Cannon Law (The Assiti Shards)

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(7)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I really enjoyed 1632, I thought 1633 was a bit marginal, and 1634 The Galileo Affair to be honest was garbage. So I promised myself I would get these out of the library instead of buying them until I was satisfied Flint was back on form. He is almost there, and I have great hopes of The Baltic War. The main problem with this book is its wordiness. It consists of little more than people discussing diplomacy until about page 300, although the is the odd brawl. The last hundred or so pages are reasonably exciting, but I almost gave up before then. Luckily the diplomacy is reasonably interesting, and the historical research is okay. Unfortunately you have to get past sentences like, "He had done no more than skirt around the possibilities with the Count- Duke Olivares back in Madrid, discussing in generalities what might be done to bring a clearly difficult papacy to heel and remove a potential problem in the way of the strategy that Madrid was evolving to play Spain back in her rightful place as the chief is power in Christendom." This is probably the worst example, but what on earth were the editors doing. One or two of the characters are also beginning to wear a little thin. But the book still has some of the advantages of the original. The people are ordinary but placed in an extraordinary position, they're not geniuses or billionaires, they're not saving the human race, but trying to make the best of the situation they're in. They make ordinary everyday mistakes facing difficult problems. If the Baltic War has fewer words and more action, I'll be back to buying them.

When last we left our intreped time travelers, they had saved Galileo from the inquisition, the American Ambassedora had fallen for a Spanish swashbuckler, young love had conquered all, and Italian merchant empires were learning the meaning of "telecommunications" and "inside your loop."

This book picks up immediately after.

We should hear no more from people asking Flint & Co. for action. To say more moves into spoiler territory, but artillery, siege of castles, escapes in the night, the Spanish Inquisition, burning buildings, and escapades worthy of Bond, James Bond, should quench any fan's desire for a retreat from political haggling in smoke filled rooms.

This bodes well for the NEXT book (1635: The Baltic War) due out next spring.

The West Virginians from 20th Century America have changed the course of European history, landing as they did smack in the middle of Germany during the Thirty Years War. They've smashed the Spanish Armies marching across Germany, and averted Hapsburg coups in Northern Italy, but their toughest goal has been to establish the idea of religious tolerance. For a miracle, the Pope seems inclined to let toleration rule--but the Spanish Cardinal Borja wants to bring the full power of the church onto the side of using force to compell the Catholic faith.

The Americans in Rome can't believe that anyone would be stupid enough to try a military move against the Pope. First, the Spanish armies are needed in Naples, where unrest is everpresent. Second, using force against the Pope could splinter any hope for a Catholic alliance. Third, it could damage the relationship between the Spanish and Austrian branches of the Hapsburg family. Still, the Spanish are up to something and the American Ambasador's fiance does his best to find out what. The discovery that Cardinal Borja has hired a Spanish agent provacateur means that the danger is greater--but doesn't really explain what plans are under way--or what the Americans can do.

Author Eric Flint and Andrew Dennis combine in another step in a remarkable alternate history series. Flint's vision of an entire community, led by a rabble-rousing union organizer with firmly democratic motives thrust into the past creates a different kind of alternate history. Rather than the 'great man' approach common in alternate history classics, Flint stresses the social aspects. Following in this path, the books in the series examine individual Americans making a difference in their own way. 1635: THE CANNON LAW continues with this approach.

The basic concept remains solid, but since the first volume, the 1632 series has consistently fallen prey to long conversations with Americans telling each other what they already know and repeating themselves way too many times. 1635: THE CANNON LAW also suffered from its own problem--because the Americans cannot believe that Cardianal Borja will do anything as profoundly stupid as what he does, they don't do much to prepare for it. Nor do they do much else--other than wander around Rome, start soccer leagues, and plan for weddings and pregnancies. I understand that Flint wants to avoid the great man approach, but couldn't he have characters who are active, who have goals and who pursue them? In this story, Cardinal Borja is the active protagonist--the man with a plan. While we're given plenty of clues that he is a badguy (he looks down on others, etc.) it's hard not to be sympathetic to someone who's actually doing something rather than waiting around for someone else to act.

The whole purpose of an alternate history story is to show how things would be different if something had happened--if Andrew Jackson had not been injured, for example, in Flint's RIVERS OF WAR. An alternate history based on the supposition that the Spanish were even more stupid than they really were doesn't really excite me.

If you're hooked on this series, you'll want to grab this one. And it's certainly better than 1634: THE RAM REBELLION, but it falls a long way short of the best books in the series.

This book picks up where 1634: The Galileo Affair left off, with Frank and Giovanna starting up a Committee of Correspondence and Sharon Nichols heading up the United States of Europe's embassy in Rome. The primary focus of the book is the political machinations within the Catholic church, with Spanish cardinals led by Cardinal Borja attempting to disrupt the effectiveness of the USE-friendly Pope's reign. There are also the more personal stories of Sharon and Ruy's blossoming love and wedding plans, as well as Frank's initial exploits as a tavern owner and revolutionary.

The book starts out rather slowly, not grabbing the reader's attention and not progressing towards any obvious conflict or resolution. On its own, the first half of the book was quite disappointing, I'd say a weak 3-star rating. Luckily, the second half of the book really picks up the pace and develops into a very dramatic and exciting finale. More up-timers become involved, including Tom and Rita Simpson and Sharon's father. War breaks out in Rome, finally providing some action to a series that has lacked substantial excitement in the last couple of books. Covert operations to pull allies out of the way of impending disaster, fully displaying the utility of up-time weapons, make for a great ending. The book concludes without wrapping up the situation in Rome, demanding that a sequel be published sometime soon.

Overall, better than the previous couple of books and advances the story (at least in Italy) around the Ring of Fire. Recommended for fans of the series.

The second book in this side story about the USE that takes place in Italy is an improved story from the Galileo Affair. Frank Stone, the eldest son of the Stoner clan (well it was a druggy comune and the family name is Stone) has set up a Frank's Place, his version of the Committee Of Correspodence's Golden Arches, to serve pizza and wine. I really hope that in Italy the rest of the CoC's offices become Frank's Places, because I like the idea of bringing American pizza's to the forefront of Italy like we did in WWII with American soldiers. Note: they still make better pizzas than we do if my last visit to Sicily is any indication. What I like about this story is that the silliness of the first book is lessened, while the insight into the barochian politics of Spain, Rome, and the Vatican is looked at more closely. I really like the way Frank has developed his version of the CoC in Rome and I look forward to how it evolves in the third book. Sharon Nichol's wedding with Ruy Sanchez looks to be a very good team as far as Sharon's diplomacy and Ruy's spymanship is concerned. They both make great foils for each other. The coverage of the Pope and his nephew Antonio Barberini is a fascinating look into the workings of the church during the 1600's, remember that the French only lost control of the Catholic Church about one generation ago, and how much influence the Spanish had on Catholic policy. Cardinal Borja's plot to change Catholic policy is fun to watch, and his tool Francisco de Queverdo y Villega makes for a good rival for Ruy as spymasters. The strength of this novel, more like the main storyline, is its characterization and its look at politics, its downgrading of the silliness of the first book is a very serious plus. What is missing is David Weber's counter-balance of Republican values.

I am nuts about this "Ring of Fire" series. So crazy that I have purchased several sets of the other books in the series and forced them on my friends, hoping to get them half as excited as I am. Sad to say I have not succeeded in that so far, but nevertheless I have not been as enthusiastic about a science fiction series since I first read "Doc" Smith's stuff nearly 60 years ago. I have been carried away before but not to the ridiculous extent of trying to force others to read. That said, I was very disappointed in this latest volume. I fear Eric's heart is no longer in the series that he inadvertently created and which readers had to hold his feet to the fire until he agreed to write some more. The book starts slow, very slow, tediously slow, and stays that way at least until near the end. It then accelerates and ends in an overly rushed way. This may be related to the recent death of Jim Baen. But the book could have -should have - used another hundred pages to do justice to the material and follow up on many dangling threads. This is the first book in the series where I was ahead of the writer most of the way. Far ahead. The wonderful new character Ruy should have been allowed to show his wife the grave of his mother (His first name is a give away). That would obviously cause a major plot explosion. Flint even tries to weasel himself out the many year ignored cliff hanger he created at the Tower of London. (Coward?) So? In sum a worthy member of this fascinating, marvelous series, but not up to what it could have been or probably would have been had it been written a couple of years ago (as God intended) while Eric was frittering away his time on other projects. It seems that Eric has a lot in common with A. Conan Doyle and his creation Sherlock Holmes. Doyle also wanted to get on to something he thought would be more worthy of him. Or Sullivan of the Gilbert and Sullivan immortal Comic Operas. Please Eric, dona nobis pacem.

'Cannon Law' is a welcome return to the 1632 universe after 'The Ram Rebellion' left some readers disappointed. It is now clear that the series has not in fact lost steam.

This latest installation appears to be a sequel to 'The Galileo Affair' more than anything else, dealing largely with Vatican politics and efforts by a Spanish cardinal to undermine Pope Urban to the detriment of USE interests and possibly threatening the very existance of the Church in the long run. This is a great novel for those of us who love historical detail and good research. At the same time, it does not fall into the same trap of the previous book by getting too wrapped up in arcane 17th century minutia without adequate action or substance. The final third of the book in particular is almost entirely action.

Overall, the pace of the book and the balance between setup and action is very similar to the work of Patrick O'Brian. Fans of O'Brian would do well to pick up this series at the begining.

1635 starts out slow. Quite slow. Something happened on the way to the 1640's. Flint's vision of using various authors and telling variant stories makes the entire series quite variable. It is no longer whole, compacted, all part of one larger epic, but rather gives a feeling of great disjointedness.

I no longer care about these characters because I don't remember them. If an author is going to write such a large series, published over a decade at least, then there needs to be more backstory to remind loyal readers of what has happened, and not force them to reread all previous books. I found I was repeatedly confused as to previous events and people. This feeling is not alleviated by references back to events in 1634, a book yet to be published as of this point!

Evidently 1634 will tell the rest of the story of the Baltic War, something we have been eagerly awaiting since it began years ago in publishing time. This series proves to be a far more interesting when it stays close to the original books of this series- what would it be like for an entire West Virginian town to be transported back to the Thirty Years War? What would be the differences in cultural attitudes and technology, and how might that effect relationships and historical development?

1635 only deals peripherally with these issues, focused mostly on a new timeline of events in Rome and around the Pope. This holds mild interest, but many of the interactions and characters are simply historical people, going about their daily lives, not remarking or considering the Americans to any great extent. The audience who wants to read a historical novel is a bit different than those interested in alternative history. There is no outside American character regularly present to help us as an audience reflect on events. Even the Americans are from a time rather far removed from the present, due to the length of time it has taken to write this series. It is a bit disconcerting to hear conversations about Clinton and Monica in reference to events that happened five years ago (to these characters), and realize the characters have no understanding of the change in (our) world from 9/11. Thus for numerous reasons I am not drawn into the characters of this work.

And yet it still has it's positive points. Dialogue and character development are written in an above average style. In the last third of the book the action really picks up- and indeed, one wishes that the entire book had been like this. I would have been engrossed regardless of the genre and who I could identify with.

This is a barely recommendable book for someone already into the series. There are certainly far worse sequels out there, and Flint writes better than some of the other authors in his series. But I'd hope for better from Flint in the future.

This is a splendid addition to the 1632 series, but as a standalone it may be a little confusing. Read The Galileo Affair first, especially. I have read this volume at least 5 times, and it improves with every reading. The characters come alive on the page like few other authors can do, and I can't wait to see what happens to Sharon and Ruy next! Buy it, buy many copies and force them on all your friends!!

I have greatly enjoyed the RING OF FIRE series begun by Eric Flint. I enjoyed this one as well but it has been the least enjoyable one so far. It was readable and sometimes interesting but it did not keep me reading when I should have been doing other things.

The story takes place in Rome. The USE embassy has been accredited but is just barely tolerated. They have no real contact with the Vatican in any official capacity. Also come to Rome are some members of the Committee of Correspondence. They are taking the subtle approach and not being too flagrant in their activities. The USE ambassador is preparing to get married. It should all be fairly peaceful but that is not the case.

Cardinal Borja from Spain is still ticked off over the incidents from THE GALLILEO AFFAIR. He is also dumb and arrogant and want to be pope himself. He sets in to motion a plan for a coup which will leave the Holy See in Spanish (his) hands. It is a power grab pure and simple.

Much of this book will not make much sense if one has not already read the others in the series. I suspect that much the same can be said of this review as well. It is worth reading primarily because subsequent books will almost certainly build upon this one.