I think this is my third reading of this book and I still found it completely absorbing.  The first book, 1632, had to be the build-up (even though Flint conceived of it as a standalone – one of the egregious assumptions ever) to get us to a giant battle.  I might be wrong, but it sure looks like Flint recruited Weber just so he could get all the military stuff right.  I won’t say he was wrong; Weber was the perfect collaborator.

While the new government in Europe, the Confederated Principalities of Europe, came about through an alliance between the West Virginians and King Gustav of Sweden; it has an awful lot of enemies who are not too excited about Gustav having access to the famous people from the future with their weird ideas of equality but truly epic weapons.  Their most formidable foe is Cardinal Richelieu, the defacto ruler of France.  Just because the contemporaries don’t have the same technology or generations of experience doesn’t mean they aren’t sophisticated; and Richelieu may be the most devious and manipulative ruler ever.  The West Virginians and King Gustav will have to be on their toes through every political maneuver and battle decision.

Richelieu pushes them into a great battle that will decide who gets to control the Baltic Sea; and thereby deciding whose vision will rule Europe: Richelieu’s aristocracy continuing to rule, or Gustav’s idea of governing everyone equally.  And Mike Stearns finds himself in the middle.  The authors stop this from becoming a boring history and warfare lesson by keeping some of our favorite characters front and center. 

Mike’s wife, Rebecca, finds herself locked up in the Tower of London just as plague breaks out.  Julie insists on keeping her baby with her as she travels to Edinburgh; even while contemporary common sense says to never take a baby anywhere it doesn’t have to go.  Infant mortality was definitely a thing; which Julie discovers to her regret. Gretchen is still finding new ways of confounding city rulers with her insidious activism. Her brother Hans finds new joy in becoming the first contemporary pilot; flying missions against Richelieu and his lackeys.  Simpson is now Admiral of the Navy and I am most gratified at his character’s evolution; even Mike has to admit that Simpson has a place in this new world, and it ain’t half bad. I just loved the activity behind each political decision; each person believing their piece of the action was the most significant whether it was building iron-clad ships, or planes, or just improving the infrastructure.  It was also fun discovering that Mike, a diehard unionist, was turning out to be a world-class politician; one that even King Gustav could admire.

As the authors slipped from one POV to another, we gradually saw the very real threat that Richelieu posed.  And then we saw them counter each threat while coming to realize that future tech wasn’t going to solve every problem.

The plot was wonderful and even though I don’t like military science fiction, I was able to follow the action.  There was enough human interaction to satisfy this reader.  I did note, however, a distinct absence of the female characters in support of this story: Rebecca, Melissa, Julie, Gretchen and Rita.  They were there but kept pretty much as supporting characters.  The battle and advance of the military industry was most of the book.

Overall, this was a pretty amazing alternate history tale; expertly told and conceived. It’s certainly clear after this second book was published, just how much this world appealed to readers.  I think that when I initially read 1633, I was not enthused about how much the plot was about military actions; which is probably why I never picked up the third book.  Something I intend to rectify next month; all those rabid Ring of Fire fans must know something I don’t.  ~~  Catherine Book

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