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"In the year 1635, the Rhineland is in turmoil. The impact of the Ring of Fire which transported the small modern West Virginia town of Grantville to Europe has only aggravated the situation. Archbishop Ferdinand of Cologne shares the religious fanaticism of his older brother, Duke Maximilian of Bavaria. He is determined to restore the power of the Catholic Church over the middle Rhine. But that is the same territory which Landgrave William V of Hesse-Kassel wants for himself, under the guise of expanding the influence of the United States of Europe. Add to the witches brew the death of Duke Wolfgang of Julich-Berg and his son, which leaves his young pregnant widow Katharina Charlotte as the heir to those much prized territories. The wars for the Rhine have erupted, and only the devil knows how they will end."--… (more)
User reviews
In a few cases, story threads joined up. Others were connected by one character moving from Arc A to Arc B, for reasons in completely failed to notice. But basically it was like getting all the gossip of several extended families, without having any prior acquaintance with any of them. Approximately four people among these hordes even had coherent motivation.
I really didn't think this book could be as bad as other reviews I'd read suggested, but now I'm glad those reviews caused me to borrow it from the library rather than puchasing it. I'm somewhat of a read-everything-there-is fan of the 1632 series, and this nonetheless took me more than a month to drag my way through.
The author seems to be capable of writing decent short stories. My advice to her would be to stick with that format.
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