Ring of Fire I

4.5 The best of the lot so far and that's saying a lot for a shared-world anthology. Obviously some of the short stories are better and some worse in a literary sense, but even the more awkward ones point to some important aspects (like actual PTSD) that are glossed over in the novels and introduce some new factions like the Unity of Brethren and the Jesuits (Friedrich Spee for the win).

Very good are Mercedes Lackey's "To Dye For" (hippie pot grower turns dye producer), Andrew Dennis' "Between the Armies" (Mazarini struggles to avoid war and an up-time Catholic priest finds himself in a difficult role) and Virginia DeMarce's "Biting Time" (tough down-time granny gets teeth and sets up pre-schools). My personal favourite is K. D. Wentworth's "Here Comes Santa Claus" (cultural misunderstandings galore and a liead in to Eric Flint's novella).

Two novellas bookend the thing and the first one, David Weber's "In the Navy" is workman-like, but interesting. Eric Flint's "The Wallenstein Gambit" however is brilliant in tying a lot of loose ends together with a desperate Jewish effort to stave off a looming genocide.

About the only problem I have with the anthology is that the series' lack of diversity really starts to show. It's great with female characters and there are a handful of token-ish Black people, but there's no one but neurotypical, straight, cis folks around. It's from 2004, but still, somewhat annoying - especially coupled with a great preference for love at first sight stories.

The other thing, but that one is incidental, is that Eric Flint suggests reading the novels first, which I strongly disagree with. There's a lot of things happening between 1632 and 1633 and a lot of it is in here. I read 1633 first and I really had some problems getting into the flow. Reading this one after 1632 is strongly recommended.

This ties in to the great strength of the series: there are many voices (even if they are not very diverse) and this multitude lends a much greater sense of historical verisimilitude to the setting. Okay, there's still a a main plot, but people are people and not everybody cares about the same things (well, except for toilet paper). As much as I love my Turtledove, I think this is an even better approach to writing Alternate History.

Really enjoyed this one

When I first read "1632," the open novel in this ever expanding series, I found myself put off by the writing but highly attracted to its premise. From what I have read, the novel was mean to be a stand alone work but the demand from its audience led the author to create a unique fictional universe in which multiple professional and amateur authors could contribute to the building of this massive universe. While I did not care for the first book, it was in this anthology of short stories that I really feel like one can see the promise of such an endeavor to show the complexities of historical. For the most part, "Ring of Fire I" is an enjoyable collection of short stories that expands the "1632" universe, adding greater depth and dimension to its characters and exploring in very insightful ways the ripple effect an early twentieth-century American town would have on the seventeenth-century German society.

The stories vary but a number of themes stand out. First, how would the "up-timers" begin to "scale down" their technology - using their knowledge to advance things but begin to accept that they will not be able to replace everything. Two stories that demonstrate this well are "In the Navy" and "A Lineman For the Country." Second, the impact that the idea of religious freedom and toleration would have in the middle of wars partially motivated by religion. In particular, I found the story "Between the Armies" compelling in its probing about how an "up-time" Catholic priest would adapt to being a part of the seventeenth century Church. Third, we can see the beginnings of many different plot-lines and the ripple effect that having new ideas and new technology will have all across Europe.

Some of the stories are serious, some are comical (I loved "When the Chips Are Down"). Some feature favorite characters from the first book while new ones are introduced. What we begin to see here that we didn't see in the first novel are characters you can really feel affection for and become personally invested into. In some ways, the collection feels like a loose novel. If you liked "1632," I definitely recommend this collection. If you were mixed about the first novel, I urge you to give this collection a chance.

A brief note: this book actually occurs simultaneously with the novel "1633" - I read it first because Eric Flint recommended that if you had to start with either, one should start with the anthology. This collection, especially the last few stories, set up one of the larger collections of a later series.