Eric Flint (1947–2022)

1637: NO PEACE BEYOND THE LINE by Eric Flint & Charles E Gannon -- I am a great admirer of both authors, not merely for their success at crafting best-selling novels of politico-military SF, but for the gifted and generous men that they are. Both Eric Flint, of blessed memory, and, Dr. Charles E "Chuck" Gannon are menschen.

In this sequel to "1636: COMMANDER CANTRELL OF THE WEST INDIES" [2014], the 1632verse Caribbean storyline continues with the naval forces of the United States of Europe show more and their Dutch allies are reconstituting their strength following their disastrous losses at the Battle of Dunkirk and their loss of their Brazilian colonies. It is "uptime" 20th-century technology (observation balloons, military steamships, and advanced armaments) reconstructed in this alternate 17th-century by the displaced American Time refugees that prove decisive in their war with the longtime Spanish masters of the Caribbean Sea. Yet, Commander Eddie Cantrell and his allies learn the hard way, not to get cocky, since guile and intelligence -- not absent among their enemies--trumps technology and hubris.

There is great emphasis on the description and deployment of both adapted "uptime" (see above) and existing "downtime" (sailing) knowledge, technology, and skills. Eric and Chuck provide maps, and, thankfully, a Glossary of some (but not all) the relevant terms in the book. For the fans of the series, and history connoisseurs, this is delectable fodder. Yet, I can imagine this may overwhelm those more interested in the narrative rather than such technically and historically-accurate details.

One difficulty in conveying the horrors of modern technological warfare is its impersonality. Engaging an enemy from a distance, by cannon fire, bombs, and rockets lacks the emotional immediacy and intensity of direct face-to-face engagement. Thankfully, the climactic battle that occurs about the Isle of St. Maarten includes such immediacy. Before it, my favorite scenes were those that occurred on land by secondary characters, such as the confrontation with island slave holders attempting to publicly assert their dominance over their "human property," and a powerfully written scene, at gunpoint, between Eddie Cantrell's wife, Anne Carherine, and the wife of a slave holder while Anne Catherine investigated a friend's murder.

Our USE and Dutch heros continue to, both rapidly and at strategically-measured pace, advance 20th-century moral ideals of liberty, equality, and brother(and sister)hood over the false Divine Right supremacists of 17th-century Europe. Special emphasis is placed on correcting women's suffrage, and the book's women are some of my favorite characters.

The fate of the evacuated Jewish and Converso (Jewish converts to Christianity) refugees from Recife, Brazil (of particular interest to me) is not shared, however. Dr. Gannon shared with me, understandably, there was simply not room in this massive volume. Perhaps the next. 🙂 show less

1635: THE PAPAL STAKES by Eric Flint & Charles E. Gannon --

This is the third of four novels of Eric Flint's 1632 series' Southern European storyline, following 1634: THE GALILEO AFFAIR and 1635: THE CANON LAW. While much continues from the earlier novels, it is not, imho, essential to have read these first, for the authors aptly catches the reader up-to-date, and each novel has its own unique conflict.

The Southern Europe storyline is, for the most part, distinct from the "Main" storyline show more begun with the original novel "1632." Cardinal, now "Pope", Borja has usurped the papacy and the Vatican from the true Pope, Pope Urban VIII who has fled Rome with the United States of Europe Ambassador Sharon Nichols, her husband, and others, pursued by Borja’s assassins.

There is plenty of action (especially of the direct face-to-face type where tension is high amid the slash of swords and the volleys of firearms and artillery both on land and sea) and also political intrigues and betrayals, but what makes this Southern European storyline uniquely interesting -- at least to me -- are the ecclesiastical debates before Pope Urban performed in formal conclave fashion despite the participants being on the run and in hiding. Nothing less than the future of the Roman Catholic Church of the 17th-century is to be decided in light of the "Ring of Fire" transition of the 21st-century town of Grantville, West Virginia to the past -- with all its future knowledge, ideals and religious and ethical beliefs that conflict with those of the 17th-century.

(1) Was the time displacement of Grantville and its citizens an act of Satan or not?
(2) Are the decrees of the future ecumenical councils and future Popes, particularly those of Pope John Paul and Vatican II that, among other things, recognized religious freedom, and, in Nostra Aetate, "reveres the work of God in all the major faith traditions" (including Judaism and Islam) applicable to the Church and Christians of the 17th-century.

The debates regarding the meaning of the Ring of Fire and the Vatican II decrees for the Church’s future are, for this student of Judaism, nearly Talmudic in their formal, respectful discourse. The skill with which Flint and Gannon relate these "battles" of words and reasoning are intense and enthralling. These theological-philosophical discussions are relevant not only to the characters and the world of the story but also to the reader and our world today. That they are conducted under the threat of pursuit and murder, as the climactic action-filled battle at the novel's end engagingly depicts, elevates the import and infinite value of the discussions.

While the book started a bit slow, perhaps, by the end of the work, I was in awe in how Eric and Chuck brought all these elements of high stakes physical and theological-philosophical conflicts together. Well done. show less

I had rather hoped I would hate this book. Seriously. Many years ago, when I first purchased my Kindle, I downloaded dozens of books from the Baen free library. That included the first four books in this series. Those books, along with many other free/cheap books that I downloaded around that time period, have resulted in an overwhelmingly large list of books that I’m still trying to work my way through. So I thought, if I didn’t like this book, then I could delete the other three books show more and make a nice little dent in my list of unread books. Of course, I could have just deleted them anyway. Nobody is forcing me to read them. But it seems like, since I have them, I should at least make the attempt. Who knows? I might really like them.

As it turned out, I really liked this book! I didn’t expect to. I enjoy science fiction, but I’ve never read anything that would be classified as military science fiction and I’m not normally interested in military-types of stories. Furthermore, as I read, I found that the military aspect was quite pronounced whereas the science fiction element was barely there at all. The science fiction element has a major underlying influence, and it wouldn’t be the same story without it, but it’s not front-and-center in the story and so at times I almost forgot about it.

But I really enjoyed the story and, most of all, the characters. Their dialogue was funny -- often laugh-out-loud funny. I cared about the characters, and was always eager to find out what would happen next. I even enjoyed the military parts, because it wasn’t just death and mayhem. There were tactics and strategies and interesting character interactions. Maybe I like military stories after all.

I sometimes felt like things were a little over-the-top. There was a lot of black-and-white in the story and not many shades of gray. Brilliant, amazing heroes of great skill. Horrible, vile villains who couldn’t see past their own evil desires and whose evil desires brought about their ultimate downfall. It also seemed like everything Belisarius did worked out exactly as he planned. Of course, he was a brilliant, amazing general of great skill. And he had brilliant, amazing allies of great skill. And he had some additional advantages as well. But I kept expecting some missteps or setbacks. The lack thereof was unrealistic enough to sometimes pull me out of the story. These are the main reasons this book didn’t get a five-star rating from me. However, despite that, I always found myself rooting for everything to go well for the heroes.

The story may be a little lacking in realism and grit and despair, but it was a very fun story and it made for a good change of pace. I’m glad I gave it a try and didn’t just delete it with the assumption that I wouldn’t like it. It looks like I won’t be deleting those other three books, either! show less

1637: THE TRANSYLVANIA DECISION [2022] by Eric Flint & Robert Waters --This most recent book in the "main" Eastern Europe storyline is one of the best I have read in the series. Admittedly, I've read but a third of all the novels, but, as with 1636: CALABAR'S WAR, Robert Water's contributions on how great events impact common folk compose some of my favorite passages. Uptime Reform Jew Morris Roth continues his quest to fulfil the late King of Bohemia's Anaconda Project, expanding the show more territory of Bohemia eastward into Transylvania which seeks to throw off their Ottoman Empire yoke. All hopefully helping to effect the changes Morris seeks that will prevent the Chmielnicki massacres of ~100,000 eastern European Jews nine years in their future (in our timeline). Morris' Grand Army of the Sunrise includes the Joshua Corps, "green" soldiers composed of multitudes of Eastern European Ashkenazi Jews -- something unheard of in the 17th-century where many realms forbid Jews from bearing any arms. In this novel, they are tested, and, it is hoped, begin to earn the respect of their Gentile comrades-in-arms as well as their self-respect. The novel recounts a set of battles as Morris' Grand Army, and its chutzpah-driven vanguard traverse mountains, valleys, and steppes to the climactic battle against the more numerous Ottoman forces and its vainglory vassal state allies for the Transylvanian capital. Adapted future technology is utilized by both sides, but it is the characters in the story that determine the outcomes, for good and for ill, and give this story its strength and its heart.

A young Jewish army doctor, a young rabbi, a badly wounded and indomitable Christian calvary man, young women reconnaissance pilots, Ottoman Jewish dirigible pilots, lovers at risk and risking all, the tension and experience of the horrors of battle -- up-close and personal, stand out in this story by demonstrating all that such necessary struggles draw out of them as people. Moreso than the action scenes and the inventiveness of adapted future technologies, it is the experiences felt by the characters and so deftly relayed by the authors that make this an entertaining read.

There were a couple described medical events depicted that were slightly off (but few other than physicians would pick up on this). A passage from Deuteronomy was mistakenly attributed to the Talmud, but, overall, the depictions of Jewish characters and Judaism was mostly accurate, which I appreciated.

THE TRANSYLVANIAN DECISION is, sadly, the last novel in the eastern campaign written with Eric Flint. Where does Morris Roth and the Grand Army of the Sunrise venture next into Ruthenian lands? How will Morris prevent the future massacres of eastern European Jewry? How will the Ottoman Empire to this additional front in its battle for the European continent? The good news is that more is to come under the shepherdship of new 1632verse "showrunner" Charles E. Gannon. : ) show less