Eric Flints 1632/1633/Ring of Fire Discussion (spoilers)

Cafe Society
21

And at some point in the cycle of the birds and the bees ,these critters will be mated to some downtime cattle or horses. I get your point with more specialized , but 400 years in the past , they are going to have to cope with lesser breeds or inbreed like crazy.

Declan

22

Yeah, they will have to outbreed with the local animals, their genetic base will be too small otherwise, but as Baker says, it is mentioned that they are being careful about it. And they are starting with better source material, and a greater knowledge of what they are doing with the breeding program. Even the small number of animals in the town, (and it may be much more than you think, just one small dairy farm in the Ring would easily give them a couple of hundred milk cows) will have a large impact on the local animals. They will probably lose some quality for a few years from dilution of the bloodlines, but then it will probably quickly rise back to the same level of production if they are careful.

But their greatest contribution to the improvement of the local stock will be their knowledge base. Anyone that knows much about animal husbandry will have the same kind of impact in that area as minie balls and vaccines have in warfare and medicine. IMHO, of course. :slight_smile:

Lok

23

One more question. Do you suppose these books have been translated into other languages yet. Like, say, Swedish? Or maybe Dutch? I don’t know how happy the Germans or the Danes would be though.

24

I’d think it would be the French and English that would be more upset, as they are the bad guys…them and the Spanish of course. :slight_smile:

I doubt this series would have mass appeal in other countries to be honest. I seriously doubt its been translated or sold anywhere else, though thats just a guess on my part.

-XT

25

I know what I’m doing tonight! Just got a call from Barnes and Noble and my pre-ordered copy of 1634:The Galileo Affair has arrived.

I’ve already read two chapters, but I have to go out for a time. When I get back I’ll probably read about a third of it before I can put it down.

xtisme, have you ordered it, or were you going to pick it up when you saw it?

26

I honestly didn’t think it would be in until next month. I didn’t pre-order it, but figured I’d just run to B&N here in New Mexico and pick it up directly. I’m SO psyked that its in…can’t wait to read it!! Thanks for the tip Baker! :slight_smile:

-XT (sr)