1635: The Dreeson Incident by Virginia DeMarce

This is Book 21 started, book 18 finished

1635: The Dreeson Incident by Virginia DeMarce
Published by Baen Books, 2008

As I’m making my way slowly through the entire Ring of Fire alternate universe, I find myself sometimes enthralled, sometimes disbelieving and sometimes even a bit bored by it all.  In this book, I found all three.   I apparently skipped over the book the first time I read the main books in the series as I would have remembered it.  It connects the end of the Ram Rebellion to the start of the upcoming war against Brandenburg, Saxony and Poland.

The main piece I noticed I missed the first time through was the election in which Crown Loyalists – the nobility – take over the government.  It occurs in this book but by skipping it, when I got to 1635: The Eastern Front, it was fait accompli and the effects from that had already started rolling.  There were other pieces I didn't realize I was missing – mostly details in different character’s lives – that occur in this book but the election is the primary piece.

At the time, I think I skipped it because so many reviews were unfavorable.  They generally said that the book was just a slow telling of family histories and nothing much occurs – and that it’s fairly unreadable because of it.  Well, there is quite a bit of Grantville family history and a lot of character backstory and, compared to other books in the series, not as much happens to rearrange socio-political gameboard of 17th century Europe.   But, that’s not necessarily a bad thing.

The backstories at times read like so many separate short stories from the Gazettes simply because of the multiple storylines going on at once – but they were mostly very interesting and well-done.  They filled in gaps I didn't realize were there in the overall humanity of Grantville.  There were parts where the backstories and the current interpersonal relationships did get longwinded and somewhat repetitious; this was especially true with Vera Hudson playing the role of disapproving town gossip and general harpy.

In general, though, they were necessary.  They showed everyday life; something missing from the grandiose storylines in this series.

The book does end on a large note with a sweeping change to the Germanies and their philosophic future.  It’s not as large scale as defeating Denmark or redrawing the political landscape in the Low Countries, but it will do.

3.5 stars.