Continuing Grantville's Struggle | 1634: The Galileo Affair (The Assiti Shards)

The 1632-vers at its best | 1634: The Galileo Affair (The Assiti Shards) | Eric Flint, Andrew Dennis

books:


	• 1634: The Galileo Affair (The Assiti Shards) Eric Flint, Andrew Dennis Baen, 2005 - 688 pages average customer review:based on 50 reviews view larger image
	for more information click here

Adequate at best

Pretty boring except for the Stone kids and puppy love. 1632 and 1633 were very good when I read them and I was excited about the whole series. Then the teo short story books came out and then Galileo Affair, Baltic War, and Bavarian crisis. Boring and virtually nothing but politics among way too many different characters. Very disappointing to me. I had kept 1632 and 1533 figuring the series would be good and I would reread it over time. No way ALL the series are now in my pile to trade at the used book store.

Continuing Grantville's Struggle

In this, the third installment to Flint's Assiti Shards series, Grantville's former president, and new prime minister of the United States of Europe (USE), Mike Stearns, sends a delegation to Venice, Italy, to set up firm trade and industrial ties with the city noted for its merchants. While establishing these ties, certain members of the USE delegation simulataneously begin to set up small economic empires of their own, fall in love with the locals, and develop hare-brained schemes to rescue (along with a clan of locals) a certain famous scientist from the shackles of the notorious Inquisition.

The Galileo Affair was certainly not a bad continuation of Flint's series. Indeed, the story continues to provide depth into the world Grantville now finds itself in since the Ring of Fire. However, the story takes much too long to really get going, and even when it does finally start to pick up, there are moments when things just don't feel "realistic". However, I do look forward to further installments in this series; despite the "slower-than-molasses" approach at times to the story, the characters and ideas presented are fundamentally interesting and I most thoroughly look forward to continuing the story of Grantville and its ever-broadening cadre of citizenry.

for more information click here

The 1632-vers at its best

With an average of three stars the novel is underrated. Andrew Dennis tells a good story, he tells it well and he has a strong cast of characters. Be assured "The Galileo Affair" bears no resemblance to filler novels like "The Bavarian Crisis". 4 Stars!

The Thirty Years War continues to ravage 17th century Europe, but a new force is gathering power and influence: the Confederated Principalities of Europe, an alliance between Gustavus Adolphus, King of Sweden, and the West Virginians from the 20th century led by Mike Stearns who were hurled centuries into the past by a mysterious cosmic accident. The democratic ideals of the CPE have aroused the implacable hostility of Cardinal Richelieu, effective ruler of France, who has moved behind the scenes, making common cause with old enemies to stop this new threat to the privileged and powerful. But the CPE is also working in secret. A group of West Virginians have secretly traveled to Venice where their advanced medical knowledge may prevent the recurrence of the terrible plague which recently killed a third of the city-state's population. At the same time, the group hopes to establish commercial ties with Turkey's Ottoman Empire, then at the height of its power. And, most important, they hope to establish private diplomatic ties with the Vatican, exploiting Pope Urban VIII's misgivings about the actions of Richelieu and the Hapsburgs. But a Venetian artisan involved with the West Virginians may cause all their plans to come to naught. Having read 20th century history books of the period, he has become determined to rescue Galileo from his trial for heresy. The Americans are divided on whether to help him or stop him-and whether he succeeds or fails, the results may be catastrophic for the CPE.

for more information click here