1632

Eric Flint

2000

The time? Now.

The location? The West Virginian township of Grantsville.

The occasion? The wedding of an out-of-towner to the sister of the local president of the UMWA so most of the township is gathered in the local school hall as a bright light engulfs the town, making everyone wonder what had been sneaked into the punch.

When they got a chance to look around outside they're still too disorientated to really notice that the sun's in the wrong place, but they don't fail to notice the smoke swirling up into the sky. Piling into their cars, they rush off to aid their stricken neighbours. But the aid they render was not that which they anticipated giving! For they were no longer in a peaceful and stable United States, but on the vast Thuringian plains during the vicious 30 Years War!

Can a few thousand Americans affect what was happening, or would the massed armies that had laid ruin to Germany destroy them? One also has to wonder whether even a rural American town has the sheer quantity of ammunition that Grantsville seems to have in it's armouries.

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As anyone who has interacted with Eric on Newsnet will know, he's an intense sort of guy. This comes through quite clearly in this book. Not so much as to distract you from the story, but certainly sufficient to draw you in and make you want to know more! This was particularly impressive in my case when you consider that I was reading the book in e-format on the way into work.

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