A review by mousegoddess
1635: Papal Stakes by Charles E. Gannon, Eric Flint

3.0

I have a serious love for alternate histories in general and the ring of fire series in particular. That said...this was a rather disappointing entry in the series for me. The story itself had some great moments (particularly if you're like me and enjoy the stories with politics and the grey areas of war), but was a bit of a letdown compared to past novels. The pacing could have used a little work, some of the dialogue was iffy, some of the characterization seemed a little (emphasis) off from previous stories (not irredeemably so, may just be the result of the story telling voice), and it doesn't do well as a standalone novel. I would still recommend it to fans of the series because it has a lot of stuff that is going to influence the universe going forward (as always).