by Eric Flint, Andrew Dennis
ISBN: 0-7434-8815-6
Publisher: Baen Books
Pub. Date: 01 April, 2004
Format: Hardcover
http://www.baen.com/
While set in the same universe as the previous novels and stories dealing with the West Virginia town of Grantville and it’s citizens and efforts to bring U.S. democracy and freedoms to Europe during the time of the 30 Years War, 1634 is a bit of a departure from the other stories.If you are a fan of the past books, then you know pretty much what has been going on. In 1632, Grantville, W.V. was ripped from modern time and tossed back into the past of the early 17th century, during the 30 Year War, involving Germany and most of Europe.
In 1633, we looked at the vast political empires of Europe during that time, and got a bit more information on the citizens and inhabitants of this universe.
The look at the way that politics and religion mixed and worked off of each other showed that in many ways, society has not changed that much over the last 400 years, and also gave us a deeper look into the lives of the people who would become central figures in both our universe and the new one created by the founding of the U.S in the early 1600’s.
Finally, the collection Ring of Fire, while mostly a series of short stories that works to lay the ground work for sub-plots and develop new characters, also introduced people and situations that would become more involved as the series moves on. Which is what happened with 1634, the Galileo Affair. Frankly, if you have not read the earlier books, you might have a few problems understanding what is going on in this newest edition.
The major players that we have gotten to know from the other books don’t play as large a role here, and in fact several of them are only mentioned in passing. Mike Stearns here almost becomes a secondary player, and while I understand that he can’t be in every thread of every page, it still might have been nice to see him more. As to his wife Becky, she is only mentioned and never appears. The plot dealing with her imprisonment in a foreign nation is not dealt with, as is the case of other well-known characters.
The basic premise of this story is that President of the U.S.E. Mike Stearns has set up a mission to Venice to establish a trade relationship with the intent of developing a stronger base for the industrial structure of the U.S.E.
His selection of Fr. Larry Mazzare, Sharon Nichols, and Tom "Stoner" Stone as the envoys at first seems a good idea. However the inclusion of Stones children who are all teenagers proves to be as silly an idea as possible, since they react in mostly the same way as teens do in today’s society.
That is, they do a lot less thinking with their minds and hearts and a lot more with their ego and gonads.
The Stones (Grantville's resident hippie Tom, his children and his 16th century wife Magda) were all introduced in the collection Ring of Fire; two of the local Christian leaders, Father Mazzare of the Catholic Church and his best friend and fellow preacher Simon Jones, have appeared before, with more information given about them in Ring of Fire as well.
Also, further light is shed on Sharon Nichols, the nurse who was engaged to Hans Richter, the hero of 1632 and the struggling United States of Europe (Grantville). Seeing her in action in the operating room before dozens of priests and physicians of Venice and watching her demonstrate modern medical treatments is a vastly entertaining segment.
We also get to see a 20th century reporter go wild in the streets as he becomes almost a tabloid type reporter, and see as well the way the media can be corrupted and misled by those with more evil intentions, and see how these people exist in the 1600’s in Germany, Spain, France and Italy; you also realize that they exist even today in France, England, Washington, Iraq and the Middle East.
The descriptions and details about Venice and the Holy Roman Catholic Church were amazing, as was the more in-depth descriptions of the Inquisition and it’s workings.
And, we still get to see a few of the old enemies as well as some new ones. Cardinal Richelieu has made plans to destroy or embarrass the Grantville diplomatic mission if possible, and another character is introduced, a Huguenot named Michel Ducos who is about as nasty as any villain James Bond ever encountered. Ducos plans on using the Stone boys and local Committee of Correspondence in a mad plot to rescue Galileo, but his real intention is much more devious and intricate.
But, my personal problem was the main story thread. Since the title is more or less a giveaway, I don’t think I am telling any secrets by saying it (as well as the cover) leads one to think that Galileo is going to play a major part in the story.
Not so, my reading friends. Galileo is almost a side bar, and is never brought into the story except as a plot device.
The trial before the Inquisition in Rome is found near the end of the book, while the ‘plan’ to free him takes up considerable more space and pages.
His ego and pride are mentioned more then he is.
Still, it is an enjoyable book even with a few less exciting scenes then we are used to in the either books in the series.
Don’t expect the military battles of the earlier books. In fact, given the past we have grown used to in the other books, this one is fairly short of combat. The story is mostly about politics, intrigue, diplomacy and religious attitudes of the day.