The Ram Rebellion by Eric Flint & others

I liked this, but only just. This isn't one of the better entries into the Ring of Fire series, but it is still interesting. The stories were of variable quality. As a farmer's daughter, I was very interested in the farming stories; though I think most people would have found Birdie's efforts to combine American and German farming and Flo's worries about wool quality interesting. The ballet story was fun too.

The Brillo fables need not have been printed, or not so many, in my opinion. Parts 3 & 4 had interesting moments, but were a bit laboured. I liked the accounts of the Mormons in the new world - I like the way religion is taken seriously as a motivating factor in this series - and I thought Johnnie F.'s sense of when to get involved and when to pretend he hadn't noticed a thing was great.

Flint's refusal to take the easy plot path of winning a few big battles and assuming that will then automatically win hearts and minds is the most interesting part of this series. Parts 3 & 4 are set in Franconia, a nearby area that the Americans are trying to administrate and make more democratic, or at least have less witch burning and disease, and more religious tolerance and voting. The path to revolution, especially when you are trying to have a low death toll, but know you can't help breaking some eggs, is always problematic, and the difficulties aren't made small and palatable. Worth reading just for the consideration of the problems of changing a society.