1634: The Ram Rebellion (6) (The Ring of Fire)

by Eric Flint and Virginia DeMarce

Book Overview

1634: The Ram Rebellion This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Mass Market Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1416573828
• Release Date: November 2007
• Publisher: Baen
• Length: 720 Pages
• Weight: 0.75 lbs.
• Dimensions: 6.8" x 1.2" x 4.2"

Customer Reviews

A solid addition to the series

This book is a frame tale: a collection of stories within an overall theme. They lead into each other, but are separate entities in themselves as well. Some stories on big themes, some on little ones, a lot of humor, and the bad guys get their just desserts. As the authors stipulate, history is random and contingent, and this is an excellent illustration of that concept. I've probably read this one six times, and it improves with every read. The only other author I can say that about is Bujold. Read it! Read it now! Buy copies for all your friends!!

It's an anthology!

Eric Flint, Main Writer in this book and author of the novel "1632" that started the whole shebang, claims this is a cross between an anthology and a novel. Bushwah! It's an anthology. As a novel, there are wayyyy too many protagonists, the plot wanders all over the landscape, the writing is too uneven--I'd have to say "thumbs down" and not recommend anyone buy it. But as an anthology, like "Ring of Fire" before it, I can enthusiastically wave "thumbs up." Another review said that the fact that most of the stories in the anthology were available in some form on the internet before being edited into their final published form in this anthology was a reason not to buy. Well, I read most of these stories in the rough at www.baensbar.com, in the 1632 slush conference, and the key word there is "rough." It was a privilege seeing the thought processes of the authors as they shared their unfinished stories. It was even more marvelous to see how the slush stories became the polished, interwoven chapters of this book, especially some of the "throwaway" stories never expected to become part of the canon of the 1632 universe. It's an anthology.

Thumbs Up!

If you are as addicted to this series of books as I am this is a must read. A series of short stories and novelettes combine to bring you a full length novel of how a ram named Brillo changed the course of history.

Common Sense and Revolution

1634: The Ram Rebellion (2006) is the second theme anthology in the Ring of Fire Series. Like the first such anthology, Ring of Fire, these collected stories are shaped around a common sequence of events; in this case, the stories depict the origins and episodes of the peasant revolt in Franconia. In contrast, the Grantville Gazette stories cover a wide variety of subjects within the general (fictionalized) history of the United States of Europe. This work is separated into four parts, containing one or more stories. The first three segments include everything from brief scenarios to longer stories. The last segment contains a novella length description of the actual revolt. The first segment, Recipes for Revolution, introduces the official and unofficial actions toward modernizing the 17th century. In Cookbooks, three short scenes between Mike Stearns and Melissa Mailey set forth the beginnings of an official policy. Yet, two other stories depict the efforts of Birdie Newsome to establish clear title to additional farm land. The second segment, Enter the Ram, contains three stories about the origins of an enhanced wool industry in Grantville. They also introduce the legends of Brillo the Ram, which somehow become entwined with the organization of the new League of Women Voters. The last tale presents these legends in the mode of a ballet, which leads to the formation of a professional ballet company in Grantville. The third segment, The Trouble in Franconia, illustrates the effects of these popular legends of Brillo among villagers in numerous hamlets within Franconia, leading certain people to read other up-timer publications. For example, the Frankenwinheim village school teacher, Constatin Ableidinger, is much impressed by the German translation of Common Sense, indeed to the point of becoming an activist. Tommy Paine is fully capable of stirring up trouble even prior to his own birth. The fourth segment, The Ram Revolution, consists of a single story tying all these diverse storylines into a single political movement. For the most part, the Grantville contingent stands back and watches the Ram organization take care of the opposition, with one exception. The town council of Gerolzhofen continues to provoke the up-timers to the point of a final solution. The editor of this work admits that classifying the volume is very difficult. In fact, it is much like history itself, which just doesn't fit into neat categories without some trimming here and there. The editor also admits his adversion to the Great Persons view of history, so the tales herein suggest an alternate viewpoint. The Ram revolution is sparked by a farmer who wants to use his talents more extensively, a school teacher inspired by a long dead (or not yet born) revolutionary, a Mormon who never did his youthful missionary service, and other ordinary people following their personal interests. Of course, no real revolt would have so many instigators leading by e

Another 1632 "side story"

Eric Flint and David Weber have promised that 1633: The Baltic War, the next "main line" novel about the adventures of Gustav Adolphus, Mike Stearns, and company will be out early next year. Until then, fans have been "making do" with the various side stories in The Galileo Affair, The Grantville Gazettes, and such. This, is another side story, the adventures of the crew of Americans tasked with administering the region of Germany called Franconia, which Gustav handed them at the end of "1632". Tasked with the nearly-impossible job of explaining to the various groups in Franconia that they were to spread the good word of "Mom, Apple Pie, Democracy, and Freedom of Religion," they discover in the middle of it all that, inspired by Thomas Paine, the peasents are revolting! With a good sense of humor, a feel for the complexities of real life, and a good sense of politics, The Ram Rebellion is a worthy addition to the 1632 canon. That said, I and everyone else I know who are fans of the series are anxious for the main story line to get moving again. Those poor people have been trapped in the Tower of London entirely too long.