Eric Flint's Ring of Fire series

[Werner]

I'm surprised that I haven't put in a prominent plug before now (actually, I thought I already had!) for Eric Flint as an author of action-heroine fiction that seriously respects women and their abilities. The opening novel of his time-traveling/alternate world SF Ring of Fire series, 1632, features three major gun-toting female characters, who don't believe in leaving very many bad guys standing. :-) Readers should be warned that the book has a lot of bad language, including the f-word; but if that isn't a deal-breaker for you, and you like your fictional heroines strong, tough, gutsy, and not a bit bothered by using lethal force, this is definitely a read worth checking out. (I gave it four stars, and it would have gotten five from me but for the language; my review is here: www.goodreads.com/review/show/18227585 .)

[Rogue-van]

When I ran out of Honor Harrington books, I bought the Ring of Fire books that David Weber had written with Eric Flint. They both believe in women with guns. They both believe in plenty of action. Their collaborative effort leaps into a war-torn past where history is about to be changed. I gave the series a four-star start. The 17th century setting fascinated me for awhile. I may come back to it. (Profanity, Violence.)

[Werner]

1632, the series opener, and 15 of the other books in the original series, actually were written just by Flint himself; but the broader "1632 Universe" includes at least 137 books (counting the "spine" of the universe, the 17 original ones). And yes, many of these are collaborations between Flint and Weber (and/or possibly others at times? --I haven't seen a detailed list), or written by other writers; at least three books are short fiction anthologies written by various authors. So it's become very much a "shared world" franchise!

I really enjoyed the common read our group did last year of Weber's first Honor Harrington novel, On Basilisk Station, and definitely want to read more of the series. Honor's one classy lady!

[Marc]

Werner wrote: "I really enjoyed the common read our group did last year of Weber's first Honor Harrington novel, On Basilisk Station, and definitely want to read more of the series. Honor's one classy lady!"

The series was pretty good, up to a point. I think it stopped being so much fun after Honor Among Enemies, which I think is the best of the series. She's at her best in the formal environment of the fleet. When she's out in the world, Weber's inability to write convincing dialog shows.