The Empire of India could be the key to preventing religious unrest in the centuries ahead. But the rulers are isolated from the commoners and the situation is always volatile. ( )

I found “1636: Mission to the Mughals” (the umpteenth book in the Ring of Fire series) to be quite interesting. I felt that the time travellers were much more bit players than normal. Unlike most of the other stories in the series it is focused on the locals in India responding to the historic information about their country. Often the stories center around how the travellers in time use their knowledge to do things differently. While there are elements of that (mainly to do with childbirth, infections, and gunfire) mostly the story is the impact of the history knowledge from our time and how Indians are going to say “No. We will not become a part of the British Empire.” Of course this changes everything and India’s future has already become significantly different. I really hope that these characters and story are followed up on and expanded. ( )

Much about the Mughals and little about Grantville. Clearly, a book to create the timeline environment for a 1632 intervention. Great period and place for an inoculation of "upTime" skills and information. The current crew sent to seek opium and saltpeter are shallowly portrayed but the locals are appropriately full bodied and interesting. ( )