Ring of Fire (anthology)

Cover art by Dru Blair

Ring of Fire is the third published book of Editor-author-historian Eric Flint's popular 1632 series, an; alternate history; series. It is set in war torn Europe during the middle of the Thirty Years' War, at a time when religion was a pretext for war and authoritarianism held a hard hand around the throat of the populace. It is a unique model-shattering collection of short stories by a variety of established science fiction authors, all set in the universe initially created by Flint's science fiction novel 1632.

Premise of the series

The first novel, 1632 and resultant 1632 series share a common theme, which is to ask the "What if?" questions common to and characteristic of the science fiction genre: "What if a mysterious cosmic event occurred which exchanged a whole populated region of 20th century West Virginia with a matching portion of 1632 Germany?" Mix in a character focus repudiating the Great Man theory of history, making the whole town of Rednecked Hillbillies, hillbilly and German Rednecks your collective protagonists allowing plenty of scope for fast-paced parallel plot development, add two cups of calculating authoritarian noblemen who think social-class matters, a pinch of venile grasping clergymen, and a quart each of American law, American can-do elan, and half a pound of American attitudes and imagine the fun they'll have interacting in interesting times when High-Tech means just-invented flintlock rifles.

A unique departure

For an indepth account of this historical precise, see main article: Development history of the 1632 series

The book is a notable departure in another way as well in that it heralds a new era in writing series fiction by being set in an authors' milieu shared with other writers, but especially and uncharacteristicly by doing so without being safely somewhere off to the side of the main story threads which are usually under the tight fisted control of the milieu creator, its author. When borrowing a setting authors sharing the milieu are constrained and careful to not mess up their host with trend setting, significant events that would be unwelcome in the host authors future planning for its maturation and development. Flint, in explanation, has self-styled himself as something of a gambler, he demonstrated that by ignoring convention and went the opposite way, deliberately asking the other writers to share in creating the main threads and plot lines of the milieu so that this work and the large second full novel in the series, 1633, were written contemporaneously so that story threads started here intermingle and generate matching action or background there, and vice versa.

Flint is on record that large portions of 1633 were adjusted drastically, even thrown out and rewritten as later submissions in these collected stories impacted the various and diverse story threads. For a fuller precise on this interesting and historic literary development see Assiti Shards series. For the fullest enjoyment of all three books, it is best to read them in the order 1632, this work Ring of Fire, and then the largest novel to date in the set, 1633. Interchanging the last two has a relatively minor cost to understanding and in appreciation that can be avoided.

Story synopses by Title

In the Navy

by David Weber

To Dye For

by Mercedes Lackey

A Lineman For the Country

by Dave Freer

Between the Armies

by Andrew Dennis

Biting Time

by Virginia Easley DeMarce

Power to the People

by Loren K. Jones

A Matter of Consultation

by S. L. Viehl

Family Faith

by Anette M. Pedersen

When the Chips are Down

by Jonathan Cresswell and Scott Washburn

American Past Time

by Deann Allen and Mike Turner

Skeletons

by Greg Donahue

A Witch to Live

by Walt Boyes

The Three R's

by Jody Dorsett

Here Comes Santa Claus

by K. D. Wentworth

The Wallenstein Gambit

by Eric Flint

• This story is the basis for a major story line thread in the milieu.

Some Grantville people come to install a telephone system for Wallenstein, Duke of Friedland in his Prague premises. Additionally, a newly mega-rich grantvillean Jewish couple settles in Prague, gaining influential position in Josefov, the Jewish ghetto of Prague.

Texture of the story moves around the various Jewish families, their culture and pursuits.

Wallenstein plots together with his sidekick Pappenheim to expel imperial administrators from all of Bohemia and become its king while deposing the absent Ferdinand of Habsburg. The coup succeeds and Pappenheim too is elevated, becoming Duke of Moravia. Their need to consolidate leads to Wallenstein's main troops moving from Prague to conquer the emperor's invading war host in the so-called Second Battle of White Mountain.

Meanwhile, mercenary chief Heinrich Holk decides to rob Prague in the absence of most military protection. However, successors of religious hussites and the Jewish population emerge as citizen defenders of Prague and win the battle of the Bridge, led by elderly grantvillean American tycoon Morris Roth, who amazes himself by becoming a recognized popular leader: don Morris, hidalgo of Jews.

Victorious Wallenstein (newly King Vojtech) returns and guarantees freedom of religion in Bohemia. The country under his leadership is more positive towards Americans in Thuringia-Franconia than emperor Ferdinand II's government.

Ring of Fire, Publishers Data

ISBN 0-7434-7175-X, $23.00 Hardcover (January 2004)

ISBN 1-4165-0908-9, $7.99 Paperback (October 2005)

DOI:074347175X, $6.00 eBook (January 2004) Ring of Fire

Electronic version by WebWrights http://www.webwrights.com