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1632; Some thoughts I've had
Topic Started: Dec 25 2007, 01:56 PM (992 Views)
TR1
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Wyldstaar
Dec 30 2007, 07:18 AM
To be even more fair still, The Ram Rebellion was mainly written by Virginia DeMarce. Eric Flint got top billing credit because he's the known author, and creator of the series. He did contribute to the book's creation, but the majority of it's content didn't originate with Flint. And as TR1 said, it is indeed the least interesting book in the series. It's also the least influential. The events in the book are very isolated, and have little effect on the RoF universe as a whole compared to the other novels.

And then adding an addendum to the fairness--the other DeMarce Entry, The Bavarian Crisis was quite enjoyable.

Bignate, the best entries in the series, IMO, were 1632, and the two books co-authored by David Weber: 1633 and 1634:The Baltic War. There were some very good stories in Ring of Fire. 1634: The Galileo Crisis and 1635: The Cannon Law are fun, but not the most memorable of the series.
"Nobody's gay for Moleman." - Hans Moleman
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Makkabee
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The Ram Rebellion started off as a series of fanfics, and Eric Flint and Virginia De Marce gave them a unifying theme and structure by writing some short stories and a novlla that tied it all up. Remember that you're reading fanfic -- very good writing by fanfic standards, but fanfic nevertheless when you're reading that one.

As for where to start, I'd follow Rodgers and Hammerstein's advice: start at the very begining, a very good place to start. Read 1632, and decide based on that whether you like the characters and the premise enough to find out more.

One addendum to that-- the Simpsons, who get a cursory and very negative characterization in the first novel, come off much better from then on, largely due to the efforts of David Webber. Flint admits that he has a lot of trouble writing likable conservative characters.
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TR1
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Maybe Webber should handle the Henry Clay sections of the Rivers of War series going forward. I know Clay wasn't a conservative by our standards (or his), but Webber seems better at getting into the heads of people with different views than his, and writing them believably than Flint.

(So does HT, in many ways.)
"Nobody's gay for Moleman." - Hans Moleman
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Makkabee
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That is a strength of HT's. When he writes a Nazi, you believe the guy is a Nazi and he believes he's doing the right thing, even if HT will occasionally toss in a "but he's missing the point" type line.

And yeah, I wouldn't define Clay as conservative except in his desire to preserve the existing order (the Federal Union) against changes or destruction by either radical abolitionists or fire-eating secessionists. In his ideas about freedom through government he actually forshadowed much of the 20th century progressive movemnent.

And although he was a racists (as almost every American was at the time) he still believed in justice and legal rights for all people, even if he thought they were inferior to him. That put him miles ahead of most of his contemporaries.
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TR1
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Makkabee
Dec 30 2007, 03:20 PM
HT will occasionally toss in a "but he's missing the point" type line.

Which I often find irksome, actually. We usually "get" that said Nazi is an asshole. He's just telling us what he's already shown and told us.
"Nobody's gay for Moleman." - Hans Moleman
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Makkabee
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Agreed. We can figure out on our own that it doesn't occur to Jake Featherston to wonder how being treated like a "nigger" would make a black man feel.
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Wyldstaar
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I finished reading Ring of Fire II last night. It was okay. Not as good as the original RoF, that's for certain. It seemed more like an edition of The Grantville Gazette. The 'big' story of the book, "The Austro-Hungarian Connection" was a bit of a let down. While it's events and details may some day have a significant impact on the RoF universe, the tale itself wasn't nearly as good as "The Wallenstein Gambit" from the original RoF collection. I'd put this book in the 'for die hard fans only" category. Since I fall into that slot, it's just as well that I got it.
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Custer
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Are ROF and ROF2 fan-fic collections, or is that just the Gazette?
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TR1
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Custer
Jan 11 2008, 08:18 PM
Are ROF and ROF2 fan-fic collections, or is that just the Gazette?

Last time I looked, it's just the Gazette.
"Nobody's gay for Moleman." - Hans Moleman
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Makkabee
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RoF is an anthology but I'm pretty sure it only draws stories from people with professional writing credits (though some of them may have come up through the fanfic ranks). I haven't read RoF II, I'm still waiting for my copy to arrive. I have read "The Austro-Hungarian Connection" online and I didn't much care for the story either -- it felt like a very forced romance sub-plot meant to kick in the eastern thread, and it didn't particularly work for me. That story was by Flint himself though, so you can't blame the anthology concept for its weakness.
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Wyldstaar
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The Grantville Gazettes are almost strictly fanfics. The hardcover versions of the GGs all have an Eric Flint story at the beginning of the book to give them a boost. Recently, the online versions of the GG have also begun to have Flint stories in them as well. While they are fan fics, if they are published in the GG, they are considered to be canon.
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Custer
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Slightly off-topic, but I just wanted to point out for the record that the 1,632nd post of the board was made in the 1632 thread.
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TR1
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Custer
Jan 12 2008, 07:48 PM
Slightly off-topic, but I just wanted to point out for the record that the 1,632nd post of the board was made in the 1632 thread.

That's rather neat-o.
"Nobody's gay for Moleman." - Hans Moleman
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Makkabee
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The 1632niverse is the best currently ongoing AH series out there so I expect it to get a lot of play on these boards, though I doubt it will dominate the way TL-191 once did.

I wish we had some more European posters here, it'd be nice to get a more "local" perspective on a series that's been set primarily in Germany, with major arcs in England and Italy as well.

And of course an Australian or two to complain that their homeland is being ignored. :P
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The Guy from Fiji
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Oh great, so now Eric Flint is Australia-biased too? Must be something in the water at the old AH Writer's Club.
Sic Temper Molemannis!
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