The West Virginians from 20th Century America have changed the course of European history, landing as they did smack in the middle of Germany during the Thirty Years War. They've smashed the Spanish Armies marching across Germany, and averted Hapsburg coups in Northern Italy, but their toughest goal has been to establish the idea of religious tolerance. For a miracle, the Pope seems inclined to let toleration rule--but the Spanish Cardinal Borja wants to bring the full power of the church onto the side of using force to compell the Catholic faith.

The Americans in Rome can't believe that anyone would be stupid enough to try a military move against the Pope. First, the Spanish armies are needed in Naples, where unrest is everpresent. Second, using force against the Pope could splinter any hope for a Catholic alliance. Third, it could damage the relationship between the Spanish and Austrian branches of the Hapsburg family. Still, the Spanish are up to something and the American Ambasador's fiance does his best to find out what. The discovery that Cardinal Borja has hired a Spanish agent provacateur means that the danger is greater--but doesn't really explain what plans are under way--or what the Americans can do.

Author Eric Flint and Andrew Dennis combine in another step in a remarkable alternate history series. Flint's vision of an entire community, led by a rabble-rousing union organizer with firmly democratic motives thrust into the past creates a different kind of alternate history. Rather than the 'great man' approach common in alternate history classics, Flint stresses the social aspects. Following in this path, the books in the series examine individual Americans making a difference in their own way. 1635: THE CANNON LAW continues with this approach.

The basic concept remains solid, but since the first volume, the 1632 series has consistently fallen prey to long conversations with Americans telling each other what they already know and repeating themselves way too many times. 1635: THE CANNON LAW also suffered from its own problem--because the Americans cannot believe that Cardianal Borja will do anything as profoundly stupid as what he does, they don't do much to prepare for it. Nor do they do much else--other than wander around Rome, start soccer leagues, and plan for weddings and pregnancies. I understand that Flint wants to avoid the great man approach, but couldn't he have characters who are active, who have goals and who pursue them? In this story, Cardinal Borja is the active protagonist--the man with a plan. While we're given plenty of clues that he is a badguy (he looks down on others, etc.) it's hard not to be sympathetic to someone who's actually doing something rather than waiting around for someone else to act.

The whole purpose of an alternate history story is to show how things would be different if something had happened--if Andrew Jackson had not been injured, for example, in Flint's RIVERS OF WAR. An alternate history based on the supposition that the Spanish were even more stupid than they really were doesn't really excite me.

If you're hooked on this series, you'll want to grab this one. And it's certainly better than 1634: THE RAM REBELLION, but it falls a long way short of the best books in the series.

I am nuts about this "Ring of Fire" series. So crazy that I have purchased several sets of the other books in the series and forced them on my friends, hoping to get them half as excited as I am. Sad to say I have not succeeded in that so far, but nevertheless I have not been as enthusiastic about a science fiction series since I first read "Doc" Smith's stuff nearly 60 years ago. I have been carried away before but not to the ridiculous extent of trying to force others to read. That said, I was very disappointed in this latest volume. I fear Eric's heart is no longer in the series that he inadvertently created and which readers had to hold his feet to the fire until he agreed to write some more. The book starts slow, very slow, tediously slow, and stays that way at least until near the end. It then accelerates and ends in an overly rushed way. This may be related to the recent death of Jim Baen. But the book could have -should have - used another hundred pages to do justice to the material and follow up on many dangling threads. This is the first book in the series where I was ahead of the writer most of the way. Far ahead. The wonderful new character Ruy should have been allowed to show his wife the grave of his mother (His first name is a give away). That would obviously cause a major plot explosion. Flint even tries to weasel himself out the many year ignored cliff hanger he created at the Tower of London. (Coward?) So? In sum a worthy member of this fascinating, marvelous series, but not up to what it could have been or probably would have been had it been written a couple of years ago (as God intended) while Eric was frittering away his time on other projects. It seems that Eric has a lot in common with A. Conan Doyle and his creation Sherlock Holmes. Doyle also wanted to get on to something he thought would be more worthy of him. Or Sullivan of the Gilbert and Sullivan immortal Comic Operas. Please Eric, dona nobis pacem.

In the first months of the year 1635, Rome is a powder-keg, waiting to blow. The time-displaced town of Grantville, WV has completely upset the balance of power in Europe. Cardinal Borja of Spain is still angry at the up-timers' interference in the trial of Galileo the year before, and seeks to reassert Spanish influence over holy mother church by undermining Pope Urban VIII. In the meantime, up-timer Sharon Nichols, ambassador to Rome, is planning for her wedding day. Frank Stone is attempting to start to share the philosophy of revolution under cover of his pizza restaurant. But Borja's scheme puts everyone at risk.

After the ill-advised ''1634: The Ram Rebellion'' earlier this year, I feared Eric Flint's "Ring of Fire" might be running out of steam. However, "1635: The Cannon Law" has put those fears at ease. "The Cannon Law" is a fast-paced and action packed romp, as Sharon, Frank, and their friends and family hurdle head-long toward upheaval and crisis. The novel does have a slow start, as Borja moves various pieces into play, and our heroes attempt thwart the game. While the characters are well-developed, "The Cannon Law" is far more interested in action and intrigue. People riot, soldiers massacre, and heroes battle with villains to the death. The setting is also vividly realized, as the characters move in and out of revolutionary cells in the streets to the homes of clergy.

This book has two flaws. First, it references the events of "1634: The Baltic War", a book that has not been published yet. Certain plotlines of that book are revealed here. Second, this book is very open-ended, with some of the characters left waiting for the events of the next book.

On the whole, while "The Cannon Law" is not my favorite "Ring of Fire" book, I do recommend it to the fans of the series.

This volume picks up the plot line where the *Galileo Affair* left off. The principal players are young Frank Stone, his lovely young wife Giovanna (ex-Marcolli), Sharon Nichols, and the irrascable Ruy Sanchez. The *bad guys*, Cardinal Borjas and a lengthy cast of characters are seeking to neutralize pope Urban VIII, due to his acceptance of the USE and the *foreighn witches* from Grantville.

The first half of the book nearly put me off from finishing--lots of plotting in the back rooms. Conspiracy! But as time progressed, we find that the simple deposition of the pope by a political process was not to be! A violent plot to murder the pope and his supporters unfolds in a burst of exciting action. Ruy Sanchez, the new husband of Sharon Niichols, and Tom Simpson aid in rescuing the pope and providing political asylum. Much better, overall, than *The Galileo Affair*, which I felt was pretty contrived. A solid 4 stars.