Conquistador by S. M. Stirling

[constant_reader]

ROC, 2003, 0-451-45908-3

Fans of alternate history remember S. M. Stirling's Nantucket Trilogy; Island in the Sea of Time, Against the Tide of Years, and On the Oceans of Eternity. The series started out strongly with the premise that the island of Nantucket and nearby boats, were transported back in time hundreds of years. There is the usual

Comments

[gilraen2]

I purchased Conquistador in hardback at Boscone the year it came out and read it avidly. I then tried to tell people about this really cool new book by a new (to me) author - at which point everyone who knew me told me it was absolutely impossible that i would like anything written my S. M. Stirling. Now I am not so much into blood and guts battle scenes, but Stirling hooked me with both his alternate history premise and with his large cast of well-drawn characters. I thought that Conquistator was one of the best new SF books that I had read in some time. Then just this spring I stumbled upon the Nantucketer trilogy and read it through back to back. I liked the first book better than the last, and was getting a bit tired of battle scenes, but was involved enough with the characters to really want to see how everything turned out. I found the deus ex machina ending a bit disappointing (but realistic enough, if lacking in drama) and was pleased that there were enough untied loose ends to warrant another book at some future time.