1632

Ring of Fire, Book 1

By: Eric Flint

Narrated by: George Guidall

Length: 19 hrs and 22 mins

Publisher's summary

New York Times best-selling author Eric Flint has received glowing critical praise for his Ring of Fire alternate history series. In this first installment, a West Virginia town is transported from the year 2000 to 1631 Germany at the height of the Thirty Years’ War. Thrust into conflict, the town residents must also contend with moral issues, such as who should be considered a citizen.

©2000 Eric Flint (P)2012 Recorded Books, LLC

Critic reviews

“Gripping and excellently detailed.... A treat!” ( Publishers Weekly)

a fun alternate history story

Great reader with both male and female voices. Looking forward to the next book in the series.

Can't wait to finish the series.

Great story & performance. Only issue is in editing as some story conversations seem clipped.

Fantastic

Energetic and fun sci fi story with more to follow. Will listen to it again

A strong Introduction

I came into this series without a clue of how long it really is. Glad I did though, George Guidall does a terrific job at easing you into the story and setting, and introducing the characters you will be loving for a long time.

A terrific book for roadtrips as well!

Wow- a completely fresh time-travel premise

What did you love best about 1632?

Imagine my surprise, as a WV native, to realize the story is set in MY county. Most stories that have anything to do with coal-mining are set in the southern part of the state, so I was thrilled to know it was set in my own back yard!

What did you like best about this story?

That it was completely unexpected- the characters were fresh and interesting, and the premise was unlike anything I've read/listened to.

Have you listened to any of George Guidall’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

No, and at first I really didn't feel his voice fit the characters, since he sounds much older than the majority of them. But after I became immersed in the story, I didn't mind his narration. I could easily tell the difference between the characters, and his accents are very good.

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

There is a lot of humor in the story, and I also feared for the characters during the fight sequences. That's the sign of a good story.

Any additional comments?

In the future I may read or listen to the other books in the series. I'm interested to find out what happens to the inhabitants of Grantville!

Slow to start but great thru the end

I had a little trouble getting into the book. But once the action got going, it was fantastic. Can't wait to start the next one

Excellent alternate history

This is one of my all time favorite books. I can’t help but transport myself back to 1632 along with the characters. I love to think about what it would be like. A lot of the other reviewers give it a bad rap because of the romantic aspects. I honestly feel that it may not be absolutely necessary to the plot, but I also believe that it does enhance the fee of the characters. Don’t shy away from this book because of the bad reviews! I really think you will like it.

General storyline written by 12 year old

This was frustrating. I wanted to like it. It made me curious to learn more of the history of the 30-years war. The historical characters and plots surrounding them are not half bad. But the "modern" cast of castaway characters are just plain awful. People are divided up into the white hats and black hats. A black hat is BAD guy. Every motivation, every action, every word of the black hats is bad. The white hats are always good and right and true, oh, yeah, and they're all union dudes, so naturally anyone who has ever been a business owner (read: management) is BAD guy.

Contrast this approach with Harry Turtledove, "Southern Victory" series (also excellently read by George Guidall). In that series the reader is given a much more complete picture of characters -- a picture that demonstrates how characters are both good and bad; how they are often constructed by their experiences and upbringings. You might admire a character for certain aspects and just be furious at him for others. In comparison, this story falls flat.

Interesting, But Come On...!

I found the story line to be interesting with the small town being placed back in time with the ring of fire and really enjoy this type of fiction which places present day common everyday people in history that is known and have them find their way. But what I really had issues with were things that should have been dealt with but never mentioned. That's what was fun with Island in the Sea of Time by S. M. Stirling‎ where these types of problems were discussed and solved.

For example, the small WV town goes back in time and the author has an explanation. Ok, I can accept that. But come on, how many guns does this small town have? It's rather unrealistic that everybody gets a gun and limitless ammo. At least tell us where this is all coming from. It makes the story so predictable. I'm not sure if I'll make it to the next book. I'm taking a break and moving on to something else.

Meh.

Interesting concept, but some parts are too long in the tooth. The story is sometimes too bizarre and it makes it difficult to leave the walls of believability down. I won't be moving on to 1633.