When an oil rig causes a volcanic eruption in a small town, it's not just an isolated event-as environmental activist Emily Booth and former oil company analyst Matthew Cooper fear. It's just the first in a series that could affect the dangerous Ring of Fire that contains most of the world's volcanos. Before the earth is swallowed whole by a cataclysmic series of eruptions, only Matthew knows how to stop it. It's a suicide mission, but the only alternative...

A mysterious cosmic force-the "Ring of Fire"-has hurled the town of Grantville from 20th century West Virginia back to 17th century Europe, and into the heart of the Thirty Years War. With their seemingly magical technology, and their radical ideas of freedom and justice, the time-lost West Virginians have allied with Gustavus Adolphus, King of Sweden, to form the Confederated Principalities of Europe, changing the course of history-in ways both small...

CONTAINS A STORY BY DAVID BRIN AND AN ALL-NEW STORY BY ERIC FLINT. Collection #4 of rollicking and idea-packed alternate history tales written by today's hottest science fiction writers and edited by New York Times best-seller Eric Flint. After a cosmic accident sets the modern-day West Virginia town of Grantville down in war-torn seventeenth century Europe, these everyday, resourceful Americans must adapt - or be trod into the dust of the past....

"She's raising her son on her own, but that's just fine with Lark Cantrell. Caribou Crossing's fire chief comes from a long line of strong, independent women--who have lousy luck with men. Lark's ex-husband walked out when Jayden was born with cerebral palsy. No matter--Jayden, now ten, is a bright, terrific kid, and the love of her life. When it comes to men, Lark is content with the occasional casual hookup; there's no room in her heart for more...

Ring was a Captain recently discharged from the Union Army after the war had come to an end. Intent on making his way home to Abilene, Kansas to be with his parents, he is confronted with danger from many sources including a town held captive and harassed by Confederate deserters. But it's not just deserters he must fight; next it's a woman with a gun, one who alters his life for good. During his travels Ring meets a mysterious gunman, a Haitian by...

Thaddeus Daniels, a former Confederate spy arrives in San Francisco in June 1866, with the intention of re-igniting the war. He revives a group of pro-Confederate conspirators (Knights of the Golden Circle) to help him carry out his plan of shelling the city from a ship outfitted with cannon. This will be the signal for the thousands of disgruntled Southern men to take up arms again. However, Daniels is recognized by a former foe, whom the spy subsequently...

Synopsis currently unavailable.

AMERICAN FREEDOM AND JUSTICE

VS. THE TYRANNIES OF

THE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY

The new government in central Europe, called the Confederated Principalities of Europe, was formed by an alliance between Gustavus Adolphus, King of Sweden, and the West Virginians led by Mike Stearns who were transplanted into 17th-century Germany by a mysterious cosmic accident. The new regime is shaky. Outside its borders, the Thirty Years War continues to rage.

...

"It has taken almost five years for the United States of Europe to stabilize its position in 17th-century Europe. Now it turns its attention to the New World, where the English have ceded their colonial claims to France. There are vast lands and rich resources across the Atlantic for any nations powerful enough to rule and control them-and equal incentive for other nations to block their path. The time-displaced Americans know about the future path...

"The newly formed United States of Europe, created by an alliance between the time-displaced Americans from the town of Grantville and the Swedish king Gustavus Adolphus, decides to send an embassy to the Chinese empire. One of the main purposes of the embassy is to establish trade in order to gain access to critical resources. The mission is a gamble--some might say, a long shot. The Ming dynasty is on the verge of collapse and China's rulers are...