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1634: The Galileo Affair | Rating | |
| B | |||
| Eric Flint and Andrew Dennis | |||
| Series | Related Books | ||
| Ring of Fire | 1632, 1633, 1634: The Baltic War, 1634: The Galileo Affair, 1634: The Ram Rebellion, 1634: The Bavarian Crisis, 1635: The Cannon Law, Ring of Fire, Grantville Gazette | ||
Mike Stearns, Grantville, and the United States of Europe have survived into another year. But that doesn't mean things aren't really any better than they ever were. Especially politically; the USE is at war with just about everyone. But one people they are not at war with is Venice, so Stearns sends a delegation to the city-state to foster trade and diplomatic relations. But Venice is a treacherous place, full of schemes, and some revolutionary zealots plan to free the astronomer Galileo from his imprisonment and trial in Rome - a move that would spell diplomatic disaster for the infant USE for any of various reasons, not least being that some of their number seems to be up to their necks in the plot.
Like the other books in the series, this is a very character-driven plot. The authors go into great detail of people's pasts and motivations and thought processes, so readers are never, ever asking why people do what they do. Their actions are consistent, too; never once did I think that a character should have done this instead of that because his motives were wrong. He might have been smarter to do something else, but that's a different matter. No, the characterization is not only rock solid, it is bedrock.
The plot, similarly, is also good, taken as a whole. Forcing up-time Americans to manuever through the twisted plots and schemes that seem to fill Venice of the era is a nice idea, as is having them try to do something regarding Galileo.
But the story takes amazingly long to get going. The first half of the book - literally half! - is consumed with arranging the expedition and settling into Venice, meeting people and first attempts at deals. Galileo is mentioned, but he is not a plot element until the second half. That first half is entirely setup, and while much is necessary for the latter part I definitely wish it had gone faster. Or at least that the authors had managed to add another subplot that matured earlier, to bridge the gap.
Once that second half rolls around, things do start moving along, I will admit. And the climax at the trial itself was excellently done, absolutely filled with tension. Will the breakout be attempted and foiled? Or foiled before the attempt? Will it happen in public, as it seems, or can this be done quietly? My only complaint there is that I'd have liked to have heard the testimony defending the astronomer, instead of skipping over it. But apparently the character's speechmaking skills exceeded the authors', and they knew it. It's a smart move, if a little disappointing.
I don't usually base my review on someone else's, but one thing someone else said about the book does make sense enough to repeat here. That is that another problem with the book is that the down-timers - 1634 natives, that is - seem to be overly receptive to twentieth-century ideas and technology. Nowhere is this more evident than during an impromptu surgery. The Venetian doctors were far more receptive to the American, a woman, than they had any right to be. This is especially true since their traditions as physicians are essentially being trampled on.
One small warning: this one has no military action. This is a book of politics and diplomacy, not warfare. Which isn't to say there's no shots fired, it's just done by a half-dozen people at most. I personally don't think this isn't a bad thing, but it is a change of pace from previous books and might turn off a few readers. Also unlike previous books, this one has a very narrow focus, taking place exclusively in Italy with only the rare foray back to Grantville to see official reaction to events. Other places in Europe are pretty much ignored.
But luckily the afterword goes into some detail explaining why. it seems that 1634 is the year that the universe explodes, individual plotlines becoming complex enough to dedicate entire books to. There's a lot more books in the series on the way, which certainly makes me happy. I do hope they have better first halves than this one, though.
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