1635: Cannon Law (The Ring of Fire) | 
| Authors: Eric Flint, Andrew Dennis
Publisher: Baen
Category: Book
List Price: $7.99
Buy New: $3.00
You Save: $4.99 (62%)
New (34) Used (7) from $2.45
Avg. Customer Rating:  29 reviews
Sales Rank: 129606
Media: Mass Market Paperback
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 592
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.7
Dimensions (in): 6.7 x 4.1 x 1.3
ISBN: 1416555366
Dewey Decimal Number: 813.54
EAN: 9781416555360
ASIN: 1416555366
Publication Date: April 1, 2008
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Product Description
Rome, 1635, and Grantville's diplomatic team, headed by Sharon Nichols, are making scant headway now it has become politically inexpedient for Pope Urban VIII to talk to them any more. Sharon doesn't mind, she has a wedding to plan. Frank Stone has moved to Rome and is attempting to bring about the revolution one pizza at a time. Cardinal Borja is gathering votes to bring the Church's reformers to a halt in their tracks, on the orders of the King of Spain. Meanwhile, trouble is brewing in the streets, shadowy agitators are stirring up trouble and Spain's armies are massed across the border in the Kingdom of Naples, Cardinal Barberini wants the pamphleteers to stop slandering him and it looks like it's going to be a long, hot summer. Except that Cardinal Borja has more ambitions than his masters in Madrid know about, and has the assistance of Spain's most notorious secret agent to bring about his sinister designs.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 24 more reviews...
Starts slow, finishes storng. Better than the previous two books of the series. July 10, 2008
This book picks up where 1634: The Galileo Affair left off, with Frank and Giovanna starting up a Committee of Correspondence and Sharon Nichols heading up the United States of Europe's embassy in Rome. The primary focus of the book is the political machinations within the Catholic church, with Spanish cardinals led by Cardinal Borja attempting to disrupt the effectiveness of the USE-friendly Pope's reign. There are also the more personal stories of Sharon and Ruy's blossoming love and wedding plans, as well as Frank's initial exploits as a tavern owner and revolutionary.
The book starts out rather slowly, not grabbing the reader's attention and not progressing towards any obvious conflict or resolution. On its own, the first half of the book was quite disappointing, I'd say a weak 3-star rating. Luckily, the second half of the book really picks up the pace and develops into a very dramatic and exciting finale. More up-timers become involved, including Tom and Rita Simpson and Sharon's father. War breaks out in Rome, finally providing some action to a series that has lacked substantial excitement in the last couple of books. Covert operations to pull allies out of the way of impending disaster, fully displaying the utility of up-time weapons, make for a great ending. The book concludes without wrapping up the situation in Rome, demanding that a sequel be published sometime soon.
Overall, better than the previous couple of books and advances the story (at least in Italy) around the Ring of Fire. Recommended for fans of the series.
 Wonderful addition to the series- a real cliffhanger!! May 30, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
This is a splendid addition to the 1632 series, but as a standalone it may be a little confusing. Read The Galileo Affair first, especially. I have read this volume at least 5 times, and it improves with every reading. The characters come alive on the page like few other authors can do, and I can't wait to see what happens to Sharon and Ruy next! Buy it, buy many copies and force them on all your friends!!
 Strangely Flat November 28, 2007
1 out of 2 found this review helpful
I love the rest of the books of this series, but this one falls flat and basicaly makes little sense. I had to ploww my way through it hoping for something better. Some good fight scenes at end. But Whew! the rest!
1634: The Cannon Law September 20, 2007
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
Once you accept the premise in the first volume of this fun series (1632), following the many characters and how they affect history as we know it is fascinating and believeable. No wonder there are three volumes for 1634. How long can the authors keep this up? For a while more, I hope.
 Unworthy of a thrilling series August 4, 2007
4 out of 6 found this review helpful
If you can avoid this book, do so. It is boring, unreasonable, and doesn't even end well. I like this series in general, but this book stays in Rome the whole time, and swaps all the interesting plot implications for some characterization and mediocre action. Even if you have the rest of this series, this one isn't worth your time--if you can't avoid it, mine's selling cheap in the used book section.
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