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)

As much fun as it is implausible

most time travel stories involve a lone traveler wielding skills from the past or technology from the future in a desperate bid to get home, grudgingly finding a place in a new time. .Mr. Flint has trashed that paradym with the future colonizing the past. it's a tongue in cheek story that never becomes pretentious or loses it's humor.

Totally absurd but and I love it

What made the experience of listening to 1632 the most enjoyable?

Alternative reality has always been fascinating and in 1632 it is made so real somehow. Beside the modern day town mysteriously transferred to 17th century Germany, the story seems to be historically correct regarding life and political situations. And what will excactly happen when modern day Americans starts to intervene in their surroundings. Well, it's fascinating to listen and get involved.

What other book might you compare 1632 to and why?

There are numerous other books on this subject. I have mostly read and listened to books on WW2 like Fatherland or The man in the high castle. Maybe it's because I am getting a bit bored of WW2 facts and fiction that 1632 comes as a fresh wind to me. I can only hope that the following series will be as good.

What does George Guidall bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

He does a lot by lending his characters different accents, the Scottish talk with scottish accent, Italians with italian accent and so forth. He talks with a slightly milder voice for the women and so on. He reads plain and simple very well, just a bit to fast sometimes for a foreigner (not english speaking) but it's not much bother.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

Yes - if I had the time, definitely

Any additional comments?

Be thankful for your coffee :-)

Somewhat Interesting Book

quite boring and obviously unrealistic. it is actually a great story. I love when the reader changes his voice voice to a woman it's funny.

Absolutely Outstanding!

I love the way the author carefully blended the history of this turbulent time period with the social, political and economic changes caused by the town's appearance. The personal lives of the townsfolk and their relationships with their new neighbors adds a wonderful respite from the horror of the thirty years war. Mr. Guidall does a great job with both the male and female characters and adds the emotions to his voice that many other narrators lack. I am definitely hooked on this series!

Great book horrid reader.

I love this series, but the readers steadfast refusal to correctly pronounce words ruined it.

Favorite book

I absolutely love this book. Does an excellent job illustrating the perceptions of the past and how the people there perceive modern day values.

NOT ALL THAT BAD

Good idea for a story! An entire town is somehow transported back in time, over 400 years. The town and the surrounding land is also moved to medieval Germany. They are immediately drawn into a battle, which is part of a larger war.

While the idea is good, the actual writing is not. It seems puerile and weak. They are taken back in time , but have all sorts of illegal weapons and plenty of ammo. I'm all for lots of guns and good action in books, but where does all this stuff come from and how do the never run out of it?

The author has heavy left leaning background, so you get an unrealistic cast of heroes and characters. I can certainly overlook his lefty drivel and enjoy the book. I just keep in mind that the author is a bit simple .

I am looking forward to the next in this series.

Interesting Premise well treated

How do you create a fair and democratic society in the middle of 17th century Europe? Where the divine right of kings is accepted and if you are not of noble birth you can be murdered by any mercenary without consequence.

I’m not going to hold my breath until the initial starting conditions happen. It’s not every day that a whole town gets moved back to 1631. It was interesting to see how they actually BUILT a fair and democratic society.

What I particularly enjoyed was the absence of paranoid right-wing prepper drivel! The lack of make and model of every gun used was a plus also.

By George he's got it

It's been a while since I have listened to a narration by George Guidall, IMO he is one of the best readers to listen to. I originally heard him reading the "The Cat Who..." series by Lilian Jackson Braun's about James Qwilleran and his clue sleuths Koko and Yum Yum.

1632 is a romanticist story about small town America suddenly being trust back into the 30 years war. Not on the top tier story lines I prefer, though Eric spins the history, with it's historic personalities, cultural challenges, and political currents, that kept my interest and enlighten me. I just have a problem with the fictional part of the story line concerning modern weapons against hundreds and then thousands of aggressors - Isandlwana kept coming to mind.

This is a good read, you won't regret listening and may even be educated on one of the darkest periods in European history...

Best alternate history ever

Fantastic in audio format. Looking forward to listening to them all. Keep writing for us Mr. Flint. Entertainment and a worthy history lesson wrapped up together.