1636: The Ottoman Onslaught (21) (Ring of Fire)

The Ottoman Onslaught, the sixth main-line novel in Flint's Ring of Fire series, brings the long-feared Ottoman assault on Vienna to its crisis point in 1636. Murad IV leads a modernized army equipped with weapons inspired by the Grantville time-travelers, and the only force Emperor Gustav Adolf can send to Austria's defense is a single division under Mike Stearns, already stretched thin in Bavaria. The novel is a chess match on a continental scale, with enormous stakes on every front.

George Guidall's narration is authoritative and measured, exactly suited to epic military fiction. His pacing through the novel's tactical sequences is patient but never sluggish, and the twenty-hour runtime benefits from his ability to keep the strategic picture clear while making individual soldiers feel like people rather than chess pieces.