1635: The Dreeson Incident (Ring of Fire) [Hardcover]

Eric Flint (Author), Virginia DeMarce (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 2, 2008 | Series: Ring of Fire (Book 11)

The Thirty Years War continues to ravage 17th century Europe, but a new force is gathering power and influence: the Confederated Principalities 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.

 

While the old entrenched rulers and manipulators continue to plot against this new upstart nation, everyday life goes on in Grantville, the town lost in time, with librarians, firefighters, and garbage collectors trying to make do under unusual circumstances. And what better place for an undercover spy from France than working with the garbage collectors, examining 20th century machines that others throw out and copying the technology (though he wishes one device—the paper shredder—had been left behind in the future).

 

There are more sinister agents at work, however. One of them, Ducos, almost succeeded in assassinating the Pope, but his plan was ruined by quick action by a few Americans. Now, the would-be assassin not only has a score to settle, but has also decided on two excellent targets: Grantville’s leader Mike Stearns and his wife Rebecca. . . .

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Eric Flint is the author of the New York Times best seller 1634: The Galileo Affair (with Andrew Dennis)—a novel in his top-selling “Ring of Fire” alternate history series. His first novel for Baen, Mother of Demons, was picked by Science Fiction Chronicle as a best novel of the year. His 1632, which launched the ring of Fire series, won widespread critical praise, as from Publishers Weekly, which called him “an SF author of particular note, one who can entertain and edify in equal, and major, measure.” A longtime labor union activist with a Master’s Degree in history, he currently resides in northwest Indiana with his wife Lucille.

Virginia DeMarce, after jobs as peculiar as counting raisins for the Calif. Dept. of Agriculture, received her Ph.D. in Early Modern European History from Stanford University. She has published a book on German military settlers in Canada after the American Revolution and has served as president of the National Genealogical Society. She taught at Northwest Missouri State University and at George Mason University. She has had stories in the Ring of Fire anthology and Grantville Gazette (#1), and more stories in the online Grantville Gazettes. She has three grown children and five grandchildren, and lives in Arlington, VA, with her husband.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 608 pages
• Publisher: Baen; First Edition edition (December 2, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1416555897
• ISBN-13: 978-1416555896
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.4 x 1.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.8 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 1.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (69 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #652,436 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

117 of 127 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Read a phone book instead, December 27, 2008

By 

bookstealth "bookstealth" (Northern Illinois) - See all my reviews

This review is from: 1635: The Dreeson Incident (Ring of Fire) (Hardcover)

This book is just bad, bad, bad.

I'm a series fan so am familiar with the stylistic differences that come with the various contributing authors. For example, some of the fan-written "Grantville Gazette" entries are stronger than others but overall Flint's enthusiastic generosity with co-authors gives the series a heady vitality. Unfortunately, Virginia DeMarce consistently disappoints. She's a good researcher but a terrible writer.

I approached this new title with some caution, simply because DeMarce's previous two attempts were so bad. Unfortunately, she did it again, "it" meaning strewing names, names and more names across lots of pages and calling it a novel. There is NO character development. Zilch. Nada. Zip. Phone books have more depth of interest. A few of the names crop up more often than others but they aren't fleshed out. Worse, the reader is given absolutely no reason to give a whoop what these names--uh, 'characters'--do, much less what happens to them. Contrary to a previous reviewer's suggestion, I DO enjoy complexity in books. There is nothing complex about this mess. It's just a carelessly written hodgepodge. Or perhaps it's just cluelessly written. It's a big ol' glob of turgid text with no discernible purpose but it probably took a while to write--which is even sadder, when I think about it.

Worst of all, particularly for this series, this wretched book fails for context. I figured out where the book falls chronologically but it simply doesn't move the action forward. The torturous soap opera details of one boring family doesn't develop what happens when the modern world is forcibly injected into the past. I'm particularly peeved because this book is such a *waste*. It's a stagnant, disappointing waste of potential.

Save your money. This book is definitely not worth purchasing, particularly at hardcover prices. Mr. Flint and Ms. DeMarce? You used up your last free pass with this mess. When in a hole, *stop digging* already.

83 of 90 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars The Dreeson Incident, December 9, 2008

By 

Janet A. Tietz (Claremore, OK USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: 1635: The Dreeson Incident (Ring of Fire) (Hardcover)

I found the book tedious and it had a scatterbrained plot. The book was almost completely filled with difficult to follow interpersonal feminine relationships which I may presume are similar to those in romance novels. Very hard science fiction and the continuity with the rest of the series was lacking. In this book, within three years,the refinery was supplying all up-time fuels as needed; there were no limits on cartridge ammunition, railroads and radios were complete, and I infer that automotive engine production was in full swing. Blast furnace and primary processing technology would take several years without an industrial base to produce the steel used in this novel alone. In the mid-1800s, with all the available industrial base, it still took 10 to 12 years to get a working bessemer/martin furnace. They had third generation aircraft (does anybody know how difficult it would be to manufacture a just J3 or J5 cub under the novel circumstances)? The novel was too fractured and fragmented with wanting continuity. Eric Flint let us down on this one. This was far below his usual standards. I hope I did this right for I have never criticized a literary work before. This one was so bad I got mad. It was real torture to finish it.

56 of 64 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars For Ring of Fire Junkies Only, November 24, 2008

By 

PRIAM (Pasadena, CA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: 1635: The Dreeson Incident (Ring of Fire) (Hardcover)

I am a big fan of the Ring of Fire series and had eagerly awaited the latest installment from Flint and DeMarce. In fairness, it is not terrible. But, large portions of the book were less interesting to read than a family tree, which much of the book resembled throughout. It is fair to say that I was disappointed that this book fell so far below the level of the previous entries in the series, expecially the initial book and the Galileo Affair. There was simply too much effort and time expended trying to parse out who was related to whom, and how. That's not a recipe for great reading, no matter what your topic.