1636: The Vatican Sanction

By: Charles E. Gannon, Eric Flint

Narrated by: George Guidall

Book 24 in the multiple New York Times best-selling Ring of Fire series.

Seven days in May, 1636

It's spring in Burgundy. The flowers are out and so are the cardinals - of Pope Urban's renegade papacy, now on the run from the Vatican's would-be usurper Borja. Most of the Church's senior leaders have converged upon the city of Besancon, where the Pope plans to offer an ecumenical olive branch to the other Christian denominations with which Rome has been at war.

Fortunately, Urban has up-time help. He can rely upon Cardinal-Protector Larry Mazzare's theological savvy, Sharon Nichols' medical skills, and her husband Ruy Sanchez's keen-eyed experience as a bodyguard-in-chief. And even though Urban has a new Papal Guard in the form of Owen Rowe O'Neill's Wild Geese, Mike Stearns has loaned the Pope a small contingent of the Hibernian Battalion - just in case.

Which is prudent, since Urban and his peace initiative are not merely at risk from Borja's assassins. There is another, more deadly, team of professional killers in town, directed by the man who almost killed the Pope before: lethal Spanish mastermind Pedro Dolor.

Dolor hasn't come to confess murder - he's come to commit it.

©2017 Eric Flint & Charles E. Gannon (P)2018 Recorded Books

Best of Series, By Far

Excellent story, wonderfully written. Gannon is The Man. Perfect balance of political intrigue, espionage and action. Highly recommended!

One of My Favorites of the Ring of Fire Series (so far)!!!

Love the challenges the Ring of Fire thrust on the religious politics of the 1630s World! And this one brings back a couple of my favorite characters, Sharon & Ruy! Big Fun!

Slow build up to a great finish.

At times the detailed discussion of theological matters caused me to be bored but in the second half it becomes worth the time to listen

Excellent, but minor audio issues.

Usual excellence expected from these authors and narrator. Sound quality had a problem in a couple of spots in the second half, especially around 3 hours from the end. Most noticeable was a cyclic variation in the volumn, similar to that heard on ageing cassettes near the end of the tape.

Very religion and politics focused

12 hrs of religion etc, 2 of assassination attempts, the rest cleanup and sleuthing. Not the best one in the series. Didn’t really feel connected to the characters. Narrator has great foreign language pronunciation but sounds like a boring grumpy old man...not my favourite narration style. Really wish they’d mix up narrators on these at least occasionally.

its great

its agreat political thriller set in the grantville universe. The characters are fun and interesting. The narrator as always makes his characters stand out and has a warm candor to his narration. I like the continuing theme of how its the ideas are more important than the tech that has long impact on the society.

Vatican II only 400 years sooner!

While there is some action and intrigue, it is primarily a political/ecumenical thriller. If you are not a history buff, or don't have a basic understanding of religious strife in Europe of the era, you will find yourself quickly lost. Even reading a few articles on the era and it's religious strife will help with background, as will an understanding of what Vatican 2 is and it's significance to the Catholic Church.

One of my greatest thrills is to dig deeper into elements of Eurpean and American History that I had not encountered before. Yet, I continue to see this as a continuing complaint by many readers. In a Google era such ignorance is inexcusable.

okay

best parts were when Cardinal and clergyman talk. the mystery was long and drawn out. secondary Spanish characters were hit or miss most time.

For established Ring of Fire fans this was a treat

An established fan may enjoy this as a continuation of one of my personal favorite spinoff, the ecumenical fallout of Grantville's appearance. it is slow at points but not enough to make me put the book down.

For newbies, recommend reading of previous books is a must to get the full potential of the story and implications.

Excellent

Another entertaining installments of th Ring of Fire saga.
Now for the next good read.