Eric Flint illustrates the first part of “Ring of Fire” where West Virginia is somehow transported into the past where none of the people wanted to be. It’s the middle of a war in Europe and the American city lands in the middle of all this with all its 20th-century treasures i.e technology. The situation of war chances entirely which means a change in the outcome is also expected. Future race cannot afford a change in the outcome because if something happens in the past the future would not be the same.
The existence of the future generation now depends on the people who have landed without any preparation in a savage world. George Guidall works with two different tones during narration to keep the difference between the past and the future generation. Creating a picture of two different worlds on the same landscape was difficult but it has been managed well.
The story moves at a quick pace and there is no pause anywhere to be found, not even romantic scenes delay the process of change which begins as the city travels back in time. 1632 and Fortune’s Stroke before this had such elements. In this novel, there also exist two different sorts of government on the same land. On one side there is tyranny in 17th century Europe and in the newly landed West Virginia democracy is in power. So the novel gives us a lot to compare between the two different worlds which the author has joined for a duel. For those folks who had gone through the history of America and Europe of the 17th century, this book will serve as a history lesson told in a new style.
