1636: The Vatican Sanction (24) (Ring of Fire) Hardcover – December 5, 2017

This is a continuation of the subthread that began with 1634: The Galileo Affair, and continued with 1635: The Cannon Law, and 1635: The Papal Stakes. A Spanish Cardinal of the Borja family invaded the Papal States in Italy and Pope Urban VIII, who had been somewhat sympathetic to the “religious liberty” that Grantville had introduced to 17th-century Europe, was forced to flee Rome in Cannon Law and to flee Italy entirely in Papal Stakes. As this one opens he is in Besançon, awaiting the arrival of assorted dignitaries of most of the varied religions of Europe of the day—not only Roman Catholic Cardinals, but representatives of the most important Protestant churches, Greek and Russian Orthodox prelates, and even a Jewish delegation. (Islam, however, is not included.) Urban had invited them for a “colloquium”: nothing is to be formally decided at the meeting, but the purpose is to allow representatives of all faiths to meet and converse with their counterparts from other faiths, with the idea of finding whether there might be common ground for mutual toleration. And the story develops as an intertwined tale of religious controversy and assassination plots, very well done. One of the most enjoyable books in the series from my standpoint, though others may disagree.

This book was difficult for me to assess properly, as it seemed to ebb and flow w/r to my interest level. But my overall takeaway was it's somewhat confused--or confusing in regards to many of the characters. Characters: too many of them with unfamiliar names, and needed to keep checking the list of dramatis personae. There were times where I felt myself dozing off during many of the myriad of conspiracies. The Grantville-based central characters were reasonably well presented and familiar, but several of the others--no so good.This tale is somewhat involved with a slow moving plot in the first 2/3 of the book, and after action initiates becomes less turgid and overall more appealing. Sorry I have to give this only 3 stars, since it's worthy of a bit more but not 4. Realistically it's a 3 1/2 star novel. It's essential reading to find something of a conclusion to the Galileo storyline in context of the 163X Universe.

This is clearly for fans of the 16xx series. Absent that connection its not worth the bother. The authors don't waste half the book explaining the intricate background, for which I am sincerely grateful. If this is your first 16xx book, the wikipedia articles should fill you in on what you need to know. What we get here is a nice police procedural set in the 17th century but with a lot of late 20th century memes and material. It works. It was a smooth read and enjoyable. I take off one star for more than a tad too much coincidence in the plotting. I'll accept it but some may find it annoying. There's also the question of how well this fits into the broader mythos, but I leave that to reviewers more into the series than myself.

The wonder of this series is the wide range of topics addressed and addressed not in a superficial way but with deep insight in to both history and the human condition. In this edition we see the events surrounding the fugitive Pope Urban as he host an ecumenical gab fest in the capital of the new state of Burgundy. And at the same time he tries to fend off the murderers sent by his rival. Long winded theological mutterings are not my thing but I can readily admire the scholarship that bringing them to paper entails. I and I think most fans like, support, read, and re-read the books in the series because of the characters. We like to spend time with the vast number-now-of people from West Virginia and the many many others be they high or low that we meet among the local folk. Eric Flint and his co-authors delve deeply into politics (in the big sense, how people orange affairs of large numbers of people), war, religion, economics and of course a detailed and specific dip into actual history and actual historical human beings. I finished it in three days but I had a lot of other stuff to do. I think I will re-read the Russia book while I wait for the next volume to come out.

Now I have to admit I got bored reading this book in the first three chapters, so I metaphorically turned it upside down and read it backwards chapter by chapter till I met it backup at the end if chapter three. It is wordy and though written around and about a fascinating premise it really needs to be edited even more, with big text cuts. It actually gets turgid at times.Now I really like the 1632 universe, but some of the themes explored get a bit bogged down now and then, and this is one of them. I think maybe a third and more ruthless co-writer needs to be added.The research for this series and these particular themes is obviously exemplary, and the knowledge of the theological arguments, and the schisms, and the various heresies, and associated historical characters and their motivations and choices and actions is truly awe inspiring. But it makes for a very cumbersome novel.Btw .. I do the reading backwards trick if I really want to finish the book but find it tough going. This way I find out stuff and then want to know how and why it happened. A bit like reading by flashback.

The reverend, reverend fathers and associated bishops took an inordinate number of words to split not just the motivational and religious hair, but the very molecules that made up the hair, nay, the very atoms that made up the hair and dissected the protons, neutrons, electrons, neutrinos and all other subatomic particles that made up that ecumenical hair. Luckily, I was able to skim over most of that BS.The flat, emotionless faces drained of all humanity of the guards Sharon Nichols observes time and again, I believe a quote can state my opinion on that subject. "Much Ado About Nothing". Have you actually known stone cold killers? Many pass you on the street. They are Soldiers who have survived combat. They look very ordinary, because they are. Or are you trying to force public opinion to distasteful revulsion against our country's heros?

Don't get me wrong, there's the usual strong writing and characterisation, particularly Ruy, Sharon and the Wild Geese, but against that we get to read several of the opening statements from the Papal Colloquium in full, and get lots of discussion about the lead assassin's "motivations" except that we don't because we never actually learn what the Spanish did that affected him so badly.

I bought this as I'd really enjoyed the earlier Ring of Fire books focussed on the Pope, but I thought this one was disappointing. I had really enjoyed some of the thinking about theology and the impact of the Ring of Fire in earlier books, but it is largely absent here.In its place is a lot of build up to an assassination attempt sequence which felt flat to me, and some elements of which broke my suspension of disbelief due to the number of coincidences involved.Not recommended.

Probably the most entertaining series of books in the last decade. I have read over 20 of the novels / short story collections / spin off's and I am eagerly awaiting the next installments.

Continuing the Papal thread of the Ring of Fire, this is a bit of a let down. Often confusing in keeping track of various groups, and with a fair amount of unlikely theological discussion it's still a fairly good read. Just not as good as most of the others.

Following the cosmic event known as the Ring Of Fire the knowledge from the future has led the pope to attempt to reconcile various religious groups. Needless to say not everyone wishes success. Part peace talks, part police procedural and part close protection detail blues. The assassins are out and intrigue is the order of the day. This isn't a entry level novel for this series. One of my favourite characters in this series is present, Ruy, a randy old goat with a floury turn of phrase and a hand for action. It will be interesting to find out what happens next.