Worlds [Hardcover]

Disclosure: I gave this five stars, but admit I was tempted to give it onlyfour. Bear with me here, I'll tell you why.

This book is a "sampler" of the universes in which Eric Flint has exercised his talents for superb storytelling, and every single one of them is wonderful either to read or re-read. Even I, who am a long-time fan, found some stuff in here I simply hadn't had time for, and was delighted with them all.

Contents and Comments:

PREFACE

From: THE BELISARIUS SERIES

Islands - This is a wonderfully romantic tale of Calopodius the Blind and his wife. They are two strangers, married for family reasons and forced to learn who they are before they can BE married. Good human drama salted with lots of humor.

THE 1632 SERIES

The Wallenstein Gambit - Wallenstein has been one of the deadliest enemies of Grantville. Now he offers peace and a greatly-desired change in history, but can his price be met?

THE ANNE JEFFERSON STORIES - Diplomacy is a subset of politics, and, like politics, it's frequently the "art of the possible." These are tales set in the Siege of Amsterdam, every single one a gem of short storytelling.

Portraits
Steps in the Dance
Postage Due

THE HONOR HARRINGTON SERIES

From the Highlands - Victor Cachat and Anton Zilwicki are probably the two most dangerous men in all of space, and enemies on opposite sides of the bitterest war in all history. So why are they working as allies? Because somebody managed to piss them both off at the same time.

THE JOE'S WORLD SERIES - These are two of Eric's light-hearted romps. The first is the original short story that later founded "The Philosophical Strangler" novel, and "The Realm of Words" is full of literary in-jokes and puns of astonishing strength, including one that would banjaxe Spider Robinson.

Entropy, and the Strangler
The Realm of Words

THE RATS, BATS & VATS SERIES

Genie Out of the Bottle - The "Vats" are humans grown in vats, and all but slaves, as are the "Rats" and "Bats", animals engineered and uplifted with cyber-implants to fight a war. But this story deals with a question of just how much, or how long, can you keep intelligent beings under your thumb. Like much of Eric's work, it's good storytelling, solid philosophy, and marvelous humor.

THE RANKS OF BRONZE SERIES

Cathargo Delenda Est - Humans weren't the only slave race in David Drake's universe, and not the only ones to want freedom, and risk whatever it takes to find it. The first time I read this story, I stared at the ending in puzzlement for several minutes before the light dawned, and then it was like the sun coming up. Even years later, I still remember that moment, and loved re-reading this one. It is a fitting end-piece for this collection of masterpieces.

APPENDIX:
Eric Flint Bibliography - A guide to where all the series above (and a lot more) can be found.

OK, I loved all the stories, laughed like hell at some and generally had a grand time with this book. And of course, the short form of all this admiring gush is, I loved it! So why, you ask, was I tempted to give it only four stars?

Because when I got to The Pun in "The Realm of Words," my wife complained about the screaming.

Worlds (2009) is a collection of ten SF and fantasy stories from the works of Erik Flint. Some are set in the shared universes of other authors, many are from collaborative series, and others represent his own creations. Naturally, these stories DO NOT span the whole of his writings, but are a sample of his various offerings (see the bibliography in the Appendix to this volume).

* The Belisarius Series is a collaborative series with David Drake.

-- Islands (The Dance of Time) is a story about the blinded Calopodius working as official historian for Belisarius on Bukkar Island in the Indus River. The fighting on the island is hot and furious.

* The 1632 Series is a shared universe created by Erik Flint.

-- The Wallenstein Gambit (Ring of Fire) is a tale about the payment that Wallenstein offers for medical treatment in Grantville. He is willing to stop the Chmielnicki Massacre from happening in 1648.

-- Portraits (Grantville Gazette) is the first segment about Anne Jefferson posing as a model for Pieter Paul Rubens. One day she "accidentally" leaves some papers in the house after the modeling session. Rubens promptly shows them to Don Fernando.

-- Steps in the Dance (Grantville Gazette II) is another tale about Anne Jefferson posing for Rembrant. Only, Rembrant also wants a male model in the painting. Harry Lefferts is selected to pose and his complaints are loud and unceasing. Naturally, Don Fernandro soon has other things than painting on his mind.

-- Postage Due (Grantville Gazette III) is the third story about Anne Jefferson posing for Rubens and Rembrant and the Hals brothers. She doesn't want to do it, but Gretchen Richter's offer to pose for the portraits has been vetoed by almost everybody. Anne just has a problem with having most of Europe staring at her half-naked body.

* The Honor Harrington Series is a shared universe created by David Weber.

-- From the Highlands (Changer of Worlds) relates the trials of Helen Zilwicki while being held for ransom. As the youngster is working on her escape, Havenite agents and her father are tracking down her prison.

* The Joe's World Series is a collaborative series with Richard Roach.

-- Entropy, and the Strangler (The Philosophical Strangler) is a tale of Greyboar -- the renown strangler -- and his agent Ignace. While Ignace craves money, Greyboar has discovered philosophy. When they are commissioned to eliminate a ruler, all goes well until Greyboar learns that the ruler is a fellow philosopher.

-- The Realm of Words is a short story that will be included in a future novel in this series (see bibliography). Zulkeh, Les Six and Wolfgang are drinking beer and talking about the Realm of Words. Things are getting tense in the Mutt and suddenly they are elsewhere.

* The Rats, Bats & Vats Series is a collaborative series with Dave Freer.

-- Genie Out of the Bottle (Rats, Bats & Vats) is the first story in this series. It describes the origins of the army defending the colony from the Magh' assaults. Maybe the biologists added a little too much Shakespeare to the vats.

* The Ranks of Bronze Series is a shared universe created by David Drake.

-- Carthago Delenda Est (Foreign Legions) is the first piece of commercially published short fiction -- with a minor exception -- by the author. In this story, Voivode Agayan determines that the humans have stolen a Guild ship. He sets out to intercept the transport, but runs into unexpected problems.

These stories show that Flint can write as well as he edits. Check out his other works in the bibliography. Enjoy!

Highly recommended for Flint fans and for anyone else who has not yet enjoyed his works. Anyone who has not read his previous works might want to start with his first novel: Mother of Demons.

-Arthur W. Jordin

Known for his alternate history novels, Flint's shorter fiction works are equally impressive - as demonstrated in the collection WORLDS. Several stories and a short novel are set in his Ring of Fire alternate history universes, while two stories from his Joe's World series displays an adept hand at fantasy humor. Prior fans of Flint will find this an outstanding collection demonstrating his diverse talents.