OK, for my first
Time-ly nomination this month, I'd like to nominate Eric Flint's wonderful
1632. This is an alternate history work that transports a coal-mining town from West Virginia to a Germany in the middle of the
30 Years War. This book spawned an entire eco-system of books based on this alternate history, all of them meticulously researched and consistent.
I simply can't recommend this book too highly. Not only does it have some fairly unusual protagonists -- Mike Stearns is the Organizer for the local UMWA chapter and he is by no means the only one -- we'll also learn and appreciate an historical period I knew NOTHING about before this book, the 30 Years War. Because of the level of historical and scientific accuracy and the consistency used throughout
all the books in the eco-system, we'll learn a lot while also having a great read. Really, it's a wonderful book!
This is a fairly long book: ~550 pages. And it's entirely
free. (There's a 2nd Edition, but no real reason to spend actually money for it when the 1st Edition is free and the additional material in the 2nd Edition is purely extra.) There is no DRM on the book, regardless of edition, so buy or obtain wherever you wish, you can convert in Calibre as required.
There is an Audible edition (19 hours!), but not available in the UK or AU. It's a good audio book, very well narrated, so if you prefer audio books, I recommend it. Narrated by George Guidall.
From Goodreads:
Quote:
Spoiler:
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.
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From Amazon:
Quote:
Spoiler:
"The Ultimate Y2K Glitch....
1632 In the year 1632 in northern Germany a reasonable person might conclude that things couldn't get much worse. There was no food. Disease was rampant. For over a decade religious war had ravaged the land and the people. Catholic and Protestant armies marched and countermarched across the northern plains, laying waste the cities and slaughtering everywhere. In many rural areas population plummeted toward zero. Only the aristocrats remained relatively unscathed; for the peasants, death was a mercy.
2000 Things are going OK in Grantville, West Virginia. The mines are working, the buck are plentiful (it's deer season) and everybody attending the wedding of Mike Stearn's sister (including the entire membership of the 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 small group of armed miners to find out what's going on. Out past the edge of town Grantville's asphalt road 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 Iying screaming in muck at the center of a ring of attentive 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.
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Baen eBooks:
http://www.baen.com/1632.html <--All formats, DRM-Free. FREE!
AmazonUS: https://smile.amazon.com/1632-Ring-F.../dp/B00BEQLQNE <--FREE!
AmazonUS: https://smile.amazon.com/1632-Second.../dp/B00BJ6T7NA <-- (2nd Edition) $5.38
AmazonUK: https://smile.amazon.co.uk/1632-Ring.../dp/B00BEQLQNE <-- FREE!
AmazonUK: https://smile.amazon.co.uk/1632-Seco.../dp/B00BJ6T7NA <-- (2nd Edition) £3.74
AmazonAU: https://www.amazon.com.au/1632-Ring-.../dp/B00BEQLQNE <-- FREE!
AmazonAU:
https://www.amazon.com.au/1632-Secon.../dp/B00BJ6T7NA <-- (2nd Edition) $5.38 AUD
Audible: https://www.audible.com/pd/Sci-Fi-Fa...ook/B007BF3IZ6 <-- 1 credit or $7.49 WhisperSync
Kobo: https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/1632-second-edition <-- (2nd Edition) $6.99
Length: 553 pages
Price: Free