1634 : the Galileo affair

Format:

Book

Title:

1634 : the Galileo affair

Author:

Flint, Eric author

ISBN:

9780743488150

9780743499194

Publication Information:

Physical Description:

549 pages : maps ; 24 cm

Series title(s):

Ring of fire (Riverdale, N.Y.)

Number in series:

General Note:

"A Baen Books original"--Title page verso.

Cover art by Tom Kidd.

Summary:

As the Thirty Years War continues to devastate Europe, the inhabitants of the American town mysteriously transported from the twentieth century to the seventeenth century confront a new foe and try to rescue Galileo from a heresy charge.

Personal Subject:

Galilei, Galileo, 1564-1642-Fiction.

Galilei, Galileo, 1564-1642 (OCoLC)fst00029756

Subject(s):

Americans -- Italy -- Fiction.

Astronomers -- Fiction.

Time travel -- Fiction.

Fantasy fiction.

Italy -- History -- 17th century -- Fiction.

Geographic Term:

Italy -- History -- 17th century -- Fiction.

Italy.

Genre:

Alternative histories (Fiction)

Added Author:

Dennis, Andrew, 1971-

Kidd, Tom

Electronic Access:

http://www.ericflint.net/home.htm

Holds:

Available:*

Library	Call Number	Status
Searching... Independence Public Library	SCIENCE FICTION - FLINT	Searching... Unknown
Searching... Newberg Public Library	SCI-FI FLINT	Searching... Unknown

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Summary

As the Thirty Year's War continues to ravage Europe, the American town hurled from the 20th to the 17th century by a mysterious force has aroused the implacable hostility of Cardinal Richelieu of France, who has allied with his old enemies to stop this new threat to privilege and power. But the Americans and their Swedish allies are also moving behind the scenes, sending a medical team to Venice to prevent a plague, communicating with the Ottoman Empire, and reaching out to the Vatican, which has misgivings about Richelieu's lust for power. But a Venetian artisan may cause all their plans to come to naught. After reading a 20th century history book, 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.

Author Notes

Eric Flint was born in southern California in 1947. He received a bachelor's degree from UCLA in 1968 and did some work toward a Ph.D. in history, with a specialization in history of southern Africa in the 18th and early 19th centuries, also at UCLA. After leaving the doctoral program over political issues, he supported himself from that time until age 50 as a laborer, machinist and labor organizer.

In 1993, his short story entitled Entropy and the Strangler won first place in the Winter 1992 Writers of the Future contest. His first novel, Mother of Demons, was published in 1997 and was picked by the Science Fiction Chronicle as a best novel of the year. He became a full-time writer in 1999. He writes science fiction and fantasy works including The Philosophical Strangler and the Belisarius series.

(Bowker Author Biography)

Reviews (3)

School Library Journal Review

Adult/High School-Fans of 1632 (2000), 1633 (2002), and Ring of Fire (2004, all Baen) will find that while 1634 is long on political intrigue and romance, it lacks the fast-paced military action that was the highlight of those books. It's also clear from the ending that another one is in the works. The back story is the continuing adventures of the citizens of the small mining town of Grantsville, WV, transported to 17th-century Germany, then in the middle of the Thirty Years' War. This fourth installment centers around a trade mission to Venice that leads into an attempt to free Galileo from his trial and house arrest by the Inquisition. That Galileo turns out to be crotchety and unpleasant instead of a noble defender of truth only adds to the mix. This is a good choice for fans of alternative history, although those who prefer the more serious work of Harry Turtledove may find it too upbeat for their taste. Also, familiarity with previous titles is a must as the authors place readers right in the middle of the action.-Sallie Barringer, Walnut Hills High School, Cincinnati, OH (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Publisher's Weekly Review

After the emotionally draining tragedy that concluded Flint and David Weber's 1633 (2002), Flint (The Philosophical Strangler) and newcomer Dennis provide a more lighthearted interlude in Renaissance Italy. Grantsville, a West Virginia mining community that a black hole transported back to the Thirty Years War, now forms the kernel of a fledgling democratic Germany. An embassy to Venice is led by Grantsville's only Roman Catholic priest, whose revelations about Vatican II meet a surprisingly unhostile reception. When the pope appoints this priest advocate for Galileo at his trial for supporting the Copernican theory, teenagers from uptime, combined with local Italian sympathizers, are convinced by Cardinal Richelieu's agents to stage a rescue mission whose assured failure will discredit the Americans' efforts. In many ways this reads like a Tom Clancy techno-thriller set in the age of the Medicis with the Three Stooges thrown in for seasoning. In the tradition of Italy's commedia dell'arte, the rollicking plot serves to bring two lovers together despite formidable obstacles. It's refreshing to read an alternate history where the problems of two people do amount to a hill of beans, which isn't surprising, since all the installments in this popular series to date have focused as much on ordinary people as on kings and generals. The closing chase sequence is literally a riot. (Apr.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved

Booklist Review

Flint and a new collaborator take his successful alternate-history saga to Italy and, once again, shift focus to a new set of protagonists. Tom Stone travels to Venice to found a modern pharmaceutical industry, with some modern notions of financing introduced by his wife and Sharon Nichols. The latter, the most subtly drawn character, finds in Venice a vision of the future different from the one she conjured after her lover Hans Richter's death. Stone's boys ride and otherwise travel to the rescue of a Galileo much less endangered--and much less agreeable--than they have been led to believe, nearly causing a diplomatic disaster while behaving rather like theeystoneops. Meanwhile, Father Mazzare has to deal with the church hierarchy in a way that justifies his faith and brings on stage some of the complexities of seventeenth-century theology. If readers may be the better for having the shared-world anthology Ring of Fire0 (2004) at hand, they won't be the worse, nor less delighted, for plunging into this volume without it. --Roland Green Copyright 2004 Booklist