David Carrico

Slow starting but an excellent finish. Lots of hooks for follow-on books. Characters flat to start but did start evolving nicely. One egregious error: the Mormons started in 1830 and were not even a gleam in Joseph Smith's family antecedents at this time. Not to worry though this era was rich in religious alternatives

The arrival of Granville changed things for everyone—both downtimers and uptimers. One side saw what could have been, the other lost future opportunities. Francesca Caccini wants a better life for her daughter and is willing to pay a very high price for it. The Bachs set out to live up to the heritage of J S Bach — who will not be born now.

I am not a fan of the journal entry construct for writing fiction. However, the story of how reprints came to this alternate world is well done. An engaging main character and a fledgling industry grow together quite nicely.

Three stories demonstrate that life in the 17th century could be as dangerous as it is today, A brutal assault leaves a talented musician to die in a snowstorm and a religious cult leader preys on a teenager. Justice does prevail, in fittingly appropriate ways, as the COC steps in to resolve the first and fellow teens support their bible study member. The music and religious aspects of the ROF continue to generate very interesting narratives.