[.ca] 1634: The Galileo Affair (ISBN 0743488156)

The Vatican Rag:
This volume in the alternate history series based on Eric Flint's 2000 novel "1632" follows "Ring of Fire" and "1633," and is the first of several planned "1634: ..." books to be published. Even though "Ring of Fire" is an anthology, it should be read before "1634: The Galileo Affair," since stories in it introduce and develop many of the main characters (Father Mazzare, the Stones, Mazarini) and set up much of the plot. "1632" and "1633" should be read as well, of course. At the beginning of "1634: The Galileo Affair," the new United States of Europe is not in the best strategic situation. Simultaneously at war with England, France, Spain, Denmark, Austria and various other polities, it is running short of allies - the Dutch Republic is in dire straights, while Bohemia has its hands full trying to break away from Austria. To try to break out of this encirclement and tap into Mediterranean trade, an embassy is sent to the Venetian Republic. At the head of the embassy are Father Mazzare and Reverend Jones, along with Sharon Nichols and Tom 'Stoner' Stone, a nurse and chemist (respectively), who will be sharing their medical knowledge with the Italians as a demonstration of good faith. Accompanying Stone are his three teenage sons, who (following their hormones and the lovely Giovanna) quickly fall in with a group of incompetent but enthusiastic revolutionaries hoping to Americanize Italy. They are sucked into a wacky, hare-brained scheme to free Galileo from the Inquisition and take him north to Grantville and Freedom. This plot would probably be harmless were it not receiving expert assistance from a French agent provocateur under orders to discredit the USE. Meanwhile, the copies of the Papers of the Second Vatican Council and related twentieth century Catholic theology that were sent to Pope Urban VIII in "Ring of Fire" have been creating quite a stir in the highest ranks of the Church. The Pope is carefully considering what to do about Galileo, as well as the USE and its curious religious toleration. "1634: The Galileo Affair" is quite a bit different from the other novels that have so far been published in the 163x series (and probably from those yet to be published, as well). This seems to be Flint's intention, and the reason he's writing the series with a large number of coauthors. In this volume, he is joined by English lawyer Andrew Dennis, with the result that military and political aspects of the story decrease dramatically, while more time is spent on romance and lawyerly discussion. Although I enjoyed the book overall, this is not my favorite approach. Another notable feature of this volume in the series is that it ignores all of the plot threads developed in "1633," focusing entirely on Italy. According to Flint, "The Galileo Affair" is only the first of several books that will take place in 1634, each pursuing only one story line at a time, though all still tying in with each other. Currently five volumes are planned for this "1634: ..." 'story explosion' - "The Baltic War" (with David Weber), "Escape from the Tower" (Eric Flint solo), "The Austrian Princess" (with Virginia DeMarce) and "Bohemia" (a tentative title, with Mike Spehar) in addition to "The Galileo Affair." While some may be frustrated by the lack of connection to "1633," I personally feel that this approach is much preferable to the 'Robert Jordan method' of trying to cover every plot line at once and ending up not advancing any of them. At any rate, if you enjoyed "1633" and "Ring of Fire," "1634: The Galileo Affair" should be worth checking out. If you're a fan of the series primarily because of Flint's military writing, the library may be the best choice.

an affair to forget:
the third novel in the series it is by far the least cohesive and boring of the three. The plots were rather thin and the dialogue rather weary. I ended up flipping through pages of the book which is never a good sign. Very disappointing after the very entertaining first 2 books in the series. There were some very funny parts (which is why I am not giving it a 1 star) but I expected more from this book. A rental if you have the time. A pass if you were going to purchase the book

Stop reading at once.:
I can't believe it, but I stopped reading this book at about the halfway point. I can't remember the last time I did that, but it was either stop reading or lose my mind. What a boring waste of time. It was like torture to read each page. Nothing happened, except discussion of religious theory and worthless dialogue.

Slow and steady wins absolutely nothing:
Well, I finally gave up. Page 322, if that information is worth anything. I'm not sure who Andrew Dennis is, but if this work is more his than Flint's I blame him. These 1632-series books are pretty much brain candy. They're fun if they flow quickly and are tightly written. Character development isn't what I read this franchise for which is just as well, since it's not the authors' strong point. This one is like brain taffy: sticky, glutinous and more an exercise for the jaw than the taste buds. I suspect that the authors wanted to flesh out the late Renaissance time period with details on the Counterreformation and the condition of the Papacy and the Italian states of the time. What we GET is a 540-some page intellectual taffy-pull about 17th Century commerce and papal politics. And yes, it's exactly as interesting as it sounds. Part of the problem is that we never get any real clarity regarding the opposing positions of the parties involved. Richelieu, Mazarin, Pope Urban, the Grantvillers (especially Fr. Mazzare) all sort of toss their ideas into the stew. None of the ideas are particularly well articulated, and nowhere is there any kind of dramatic tension in this war of ideas. I know that Richelieu was a master intriguer but it's not very interesting to the reader if his intrigues are opaque to us, too. The other problem is that the character development - which, based on the slow, expository pace of this dog, I'm guessing was supposed to be the selling point - isn't very developed. OR interesting. Mazzare, in particular, for all that he's supposed to be the crux of this volume, is a particularly bland and forgettable personality. Stoner is...stoned, his wife Magda is mercenary, the Stoner kids are less distinguishable than Alvin and the Chipmunks (Frank is horny for Giovanna, Ron and Gary are...well, I don't remember WHAT they are, which tells you something!), Sharon is...I'm not sure what Sharon is, either, since it's been 300 pages and all she's done is go shopping and begin a CREEPY affair with a 60-year-old Spaniard. Anyway, I haven't read RING OF FIRE, which may be a handicap, but I can't imagine that it would help that much. I you MUST read this, wait and check it out of the library. I did and I'm SO glad. I'd be really honked off if I'd have paid for it - even if I'd paid $7.99 for the paperback. So far I've kept up with this series, but this one has made me suspicious and I'll not buy another unread. Be warned.

Blah: Boring and plodding:
THis book is a poor addition to the series. It is dull and most of it is spent on pointless exposition. The characters are not nearly as interesting as in the other books, or even other Flint series. Sharon getting involved with some old Spanish guy months after her husband bought the farm is a stupid plot point. Especially since the guy is about 40 years older than her and from a country technically at war with hers. Waste of time!