From Library Journal
When a cosmic accident transports a West Virginia community back in time and space to 17th-century Thuringia, the citizens of Grantville find themselves thrust into the midst of the bloody and savage conflict that history books would call the Thirty Years War. Surrounded by warring armies and burdened by the prospect of diminishing resources, Grantville residents, under the leadership of a council that includes a union leader, a doctor, and a teacher, proceed to turn their new world upside down, beginning the American Revolution a century and a half before its time. Flint (Mother of Demons) convincingly re-creates the military and political tenor of the times in this imaginative and unabashedly positive approach to alternative history. A solid choice for fantasy collections. Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.


From Booklist
In Flint's novel of time travel and alternate history, a six-mile square of West Virginia is tossed back in time and space to Germany in 1632, at the height of the barbaric and devastating Thirty Years' War. Repelling marauding mercenaries and housing German refugees are only the first of many problems the citizens of the tiny new U.S. face, problems including determining who shall be a citizen. In between action scenes and descriptions of technological military hardware, Flint handles that problem and other serious ethical questions seriously and offers a double handful of memorable characters: a Sephardic Jewish family that establishes commercial and marital ties with the Americans, a cheerleader captain turned lethal master sniper, a schoolteacher and an African American doctor who provide indispensable common sense and skill, a German refugee who is her family's sole protector, and, not least, King Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden. Not, perhaps, as elegant as some time-traveling alternate histories, Flint's is an intelligent page-turner nevertheless. Roland Green


From Kirkus Reviews
From the co-author (with David Drake) of Destiny's Shield (p. 760) and a solo yarn, Mother of Demons (1997, not reviewed), a neat what-if that Flint barely troubles to justify: What if a six-mile-diameter chunk of 1999 West Virginia, complete with people, structures, and technology, were suddenly and instantaneously ripped away and inserted into East Germany in 1632? Well, Flints brawny cast of miners, union organizers, high-school footballers, ex-Marine physicians, etc. (along with their womenfolk), immediately set about promoting American-style law and order in the late-medieval hodgepodge of belligerent, barbaric, warring fiefs they find themselves surrounded by. What else did you expect? Tough UMWA boss Mike Stearns begins by rescuing a beautiful damsel in distress, Rebecca Abrabanel, and her ailing fatherboth Sephardic Jews fleeing persecution. Later, after bashing hordes of local thugs, Mike will have to accommodate an invasion force led by the pious and relatively benevolent Gustav II Adolf of Swedenafter everyone convinces the monarch that their womenfolk, though highly talented, arent witches. Not to mention persuading Adolf that democracy isnt such a bad idea after all. Sinewy shoot-em-up, with pikes and muzzle-loaders squared off against modern automatics and 20th-century tactics: a rollicking, good-natured, fact-based flight of fancy that should appeal to alternate-history buffs as well as military-fantasy fans. -- Copyright ©2000, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.


Book Description
FREEDOM AND JUSTICE -- AMERICAN STYLE 1632 And in northern Germany things couldn't get much worse. Famine. Disease. Religous war laying waste the cities. Only the aristocrats remained relatively unscathed; for the peasants, death was a mercy. 2000 Things are going OK in Grantville, West Virginia, and everybody attending the wedding of Mike Stearn's sister (including the entire local chapter of the United Mine Workers of America, which Mike leads) is having a good time. THEN, EVERYTHING CHANGED.... When the dust settles, Mike leads a group of armed miners to find out what happened and finds the road into town is cut, as with a sword. On the other side, a scene out of Hell: a man nailed to a farmhouse door, his wife and daughter attacked by men in steel vests. Faced with this, Mike and his friends don't have to ask who to shoot. At that moment Freedom and Justice, American style, are introduced to the middle of the Thirty Years' War.

FROM THE PUBLISHER

1632

And in northern Germany things couldn't get much worse. Famine. Disease. Religous war laying waste the cities. Only the aristocrats remained relatively unscathed; for the peasants, death was a mercy.

2000 Things are going OK in Grantville, West Virginia, and everybody attending the wedding of Mike Stearn's sister (including the entire local chapter of the United Mine Workers of America, which Mike leads) is having a good time.

THEN, EVERYTHING CHANGED....

When the dust settles, Mike leads a group of armed miners to find out what happened and finds the road into town is cut, as with a sword. On the other side, a scene out of Hell: a man nailed to a farmhouse door, his wife and daughter attacked by men in steel vests. Faced with this, Mike and his friends don't have to ask who to shoot. At that moment Freedom and Justice, American style, are introduced to the middle of the Thirty Years' War.

SYNOPSIS

1632: In northern Germany, thnings couldn't get much worse. 2000: In West virginia, everybody attending the wedding of Mike Stearn's sister is having a good time. Then Everything Changed...When the dust settles, Mike leads a small group of armed miners to find out what's going on, and finds a scene out of Hell; a man nailed to a farmhouse door, his wife and daughter screaming and surrounded by men in steel vests. Faced with this, Mike and his friends don't have to ask who to shoot, and Freedom and Justice, American Style, are introduced to the middle of The Thirty Years War.

FROM THE CRITICS

Starlog

...convincing historical detail...entertaining...it's hard not to cheer.

VOYA

Mike Stearns is speaking to his new brother-in-law, Tom Simpson, when a blinding flash and thunder bring the wedding reception to a standstill. The "Ring of Fire," as it came to be known afterwards, neatly cuts out Grantville, West Virginia, transporting it back in time and place to 1632 Germany. To complicate matters further, Europe is in the middle of the Thirty Years' War, and armed men are ravaging the adjacent farms, killing and raping residents. The balance of power is about to shift. Mike and the United Mine Workers organize an impromptu army, establish an independent republic, make provisions for maintaining industry and manufacturing, and secure the safety and well-being of the people. At first glance, readers might easily dismiss this book as the Dukes of Hazzard meet Tilly, Wallenstein, and Cardinal Richelieu. It is loaded with phrases such as "It's just a flesh wound," "One road kill coming up," and "So to hell with reading these guys their rights. We're just going to kill them." There is a wealth of historical information included, however, as well as a description of the fascinating political evolution of a tiny American republic developing within the boundaries of seventeenth-century Europe. The characters might be self-proclaimed rednecks, but they also represent the innate goodness of the American common people. Women are represented as beautiful, intelligent, and capable. The nonstop action will attract readers looking for an old-fashioned "shoot 'em up," but they will get a history lesson along with the fun. VOYA CODES: 4Q 4P S A/YA (Better than most, marred only by occasional lapses; Broad general YA appeal; Senior High, defined as grades 10 to 12; Adult and YoungAdult). 2000, Baen, Ages 16 to Adult, 504p, $24. Reviewer: Nancy K. Wallace

KLIATT

A small town of West Virginians is accidentally and irrevocably sent back in time to 1632. At first, nobody can figure out what happened. Then they come across a group of mercenaries torturing peasants and begin putting things together. Knowing that they have no hope of ever getting back home, they decide that they need to make their borders safe for democracy. They begin gathering allies and slowly changing the medieval outlook of their neighbors. This is a feel-good story, despite the fact that the Americans probably kill about 6000 people during the course of the book. (As readers, we can feel OK about this, because the dead guys were heartless mercenaries who were basically asking for it anyway.) The author has some real insight into the American psyche and how we as a people differ from our European forebears in attitude and perception. I enjoyed reading this book so much that I read it twice. Good characters, interesting historical perspectives, and a whole lot of good, old-fashioned redneck butt kicking. Plenty of violence, rape and mayhem, so younger YA readers might not be a good audience. KLIATT Codes: SA—Recommended for senior high school students, advanced students, and adults. 2000, Baen, 597p., $7.99. Ages 16 to adult. Reviewer: Susan Cromby; Acquisitions Dept., Mesa P.L., Mesa, AZ , September 2001 (Vol. 35 No. 5)

Library Journal

When a cosmic accident transports a West Virginia community back in time and space to 17th-century Thuringia, the citizens of Grantville find themselves thrust into the midst of the bloody and savage conflict that history books would call the Thirty Years War. Surrounded by warring armies and burdened by the prospect of diminishing resources, Grantville residents, under the leadership of a council that includes a union leader, a doctor, and a teacher, proceed to turn their new world upside down, beginning the American Revolution a century and a half before its time. Flint (Mother of Demons) convincingly re-creates the military and political tenor of the times in this imaginative and unabashedly positive approach to alternative history. A solid choice for fantasy collections. Copyright 2000 Cahners Business Information.\

Charles de Lint - Fantasy & Science Fiction

The history is well-researched, the ramifications of the situation are wonderfully thought through￯﾿ﾽat the heart of the book is just a fine, thoroughly engaging story about real people in an extraordinary situation.

WHAT PEOPLE ARE SAYING