1634: The Bavarian Crisis

by Eric Flint and Virginia DeMarce

Book Overview

1634: The Bavarian Crisis This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1416542531
• ISBN13: 9781416542537
• Release Date: October 2007
• Publisher: Baen
• Length: 704 Pages
• Weight: 2.08 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.4" x 6.5" x 9.5"

Customer Reviews

The Bavarian Crisis

The Bavarian Crisis is the fifth book in the 1632 series created by Eric Flint that I have read. I am a fan of alternative history, and have read just about everything in the market from Fortschen to Turtledove, but Flint manages to capture the essence of 17th century Europe like no other author I have encountered. He and his collaborators have captured the character interaction between the uptimers from West Virginai with so many of the figures from history of downtime 1600's Europe. The stories are riveting with facinating tidbits of history thrown in with clever humorous interactions among the realistic characters. I highly recommend to anyone who has an interest in the history of Western Civilization who has a sense of humor to delve into this series - I have not been able to put any of the books down, at least without serious self discipline. After all, I do work and have a house and cat and all the other responsibilities of the world we live in.

The Nuptials of Maria Anna

1634: The Bavarian Crisis (2007) is the eighth work in the Assiti Shards series, following 1634: The Baltic War. In the previous volume, the United States of Europe sent warships and troops to relieve the siege of Luebeck. Then the warships sailed to Copenhagen and bombarded certain works. In this novel, Duke Maximilian of Bavaria loses his beloved wife, yet his advisors recommend that he remarry. They point out his duty as the head of the Catholic League. At first he firmly disagrees, but his advisors wear him down. They decide that he will marry Maria Anna of Austria. Maria Anna is a Hapsburg woman, trained to rule if only in a regency. She would prefer to marry an old man and become the regent for her son, but one has to take what comes. She would settle for becoming the bride of Don Fernando, the Cardinal-Infante and younger brother of the Spanish king. Don Fernando has chosen Maria Anna as his best choice for marriage. Of course, certain plans would have to mature in the Netherlands before he could make an offer. Besides, he has other candidates to consider. Mary Ward is the head of the "English Ladies" or "Jesuitesses" in Munich. The women of the former Institute of the Blessed Virgin Mary have set out to establish a new type of female religious order, working in the ordinary world to serve their God. The Vatican has not been acceptive of their goals and has ordered them to cease and desist. Veronica Dreeson -- formerly Veronica Richter -- has some family business to undertake in the Upper Palatinate. Mary Simpson decides to travel with her. They get a big sendoff in Grantville, but the rest of Europe is wondering what is their real mission. In this story, Ferdinand II -- Holy Roman Emperor -- consents to the marriage of his eldest daughter to Duke Maximilian. A great procession takes Maria Anna to Munich, where she is to wed the Duke. But she has a few reservations. Veronica makes some progress in straightening out family affairs in Amberg. Her brother-in-law, Kilian Richter, had arranged for his brother's family to be declared legally dead and then gained possession of much of their property. However, Veronica and family -- except for Hans -- are obviously not dead and a good lawyer could overturn the previous declarations. But what is she going to do about the Jesuit Collegium build around the location of her husband's shop? Meanwhile, Mike Stearns is thoroughly enjoying the confusion that the Richter/Simpson journey is causing within the capitals of Europe. He hopes that the ladies have a successful trip. This story tells of the consequences of the USE victory at Luebeck. The League of Ostend is definitely weakened by the loss of Denmark and the turmoil in France. Now attention is turned eastward toward Bavaria and the political marriage of the Archduchess Maria Anna of Austria. This novel continues the new history of Europe after the transfer of Grantville to seventeenth century Germany. The common folk

Fun multi-threading.

I enjoyed this book immensely. You could tell a lady had a strong hand in the writing, because romance and dynastic arrangements were far more important than battle. I found the relatively heavy multi-threading of plots both enjoyable and somewhat reminiscent of David Brin's work. As annoying as the proofreading errors were, they weren't much better or worse than the current poor standard. Maybe publishers should preview these books in some sort of a wiki editing format to stamp out more of these typos and spellchecking errors.

A good read

This was a good addition to the 1632 universe. Other than name overload at times, it was a good fun read. Lots of new characters, and familiar characters returning. Plenty of plot twists, chases, and all around good fun. If you are a fan of the 1632 series, go out and get this book.

The Butterfly Effect in the Ring of Fire

Take 17th century history, throw in some serious romance, add some derring-do, some fine upstanding skullduggery, and throw in a bunch of West Virginia hillbillies for flavor. Mix well, and what you have is the butterfly effect (stolen straight from chaos theory) as applied to the "new" history of Europe since the Ring of Fire deposited the village of Grantville in Thuringia in the middle of the Thirty Years' War. What happens if the most successful ruling family in all of recorded history (yup, those Habsburgs) decide to take a hand in changing the future they know from reading all those stolen books from Grantville? What happens if a Habsburg princess decides she's a liberated woman? What happens if a young Habsburg Cardinal decides he'd rather not be a priest? What happens if they fall in love by radio? What happens to these star-crossed lovers? And will the artillery drag their huge guns overland fast enough to matter, or will everything be decided by air power? If you want to know, read 1634:The Bavarian Crisis.