1636: The Vatican Sanction

Book #24 in the multiple New York Times best-selling Ring of Fire series.








SEVEN DAYS IN MAY, 1636


It’s spring in Burgundy. The flowers are out and so are the cardinals—of Pope Urban’s renegade papacy, now on the run from the Vatican’s would-be usurper Borja. Most of the Church’s senior leaders have converged upon the city of Besancon, where the Pope plans to offer an ecumenical olive branch to the other Christian denominations with which Rome has been at war.


Fortunately, Urban has up-time help. He can rely upon Cardinal-Protector Larry Mazzare’s theological savvy, Sharon Nichols’ medical skills, and her husband Ruy Sanchez’s keen-eyed experience as a body-guard-in-chief. And even though Urban has a new Papal Guard in the form of Owen Rowe O’Neill’s Wild Geese, Mike Stearns has loaned the Pope a small contingent of the Hibernian Battalion—just in case.


Which is prudent, since Urban and his peace initiative are not merely at risk from Borja’s assassins. There is another, more deadly, team of professional killers in town, directed by the man who almost killed the Pope before: lethal Spanish mastermind Pedro Dolor.


Dolor hasn’t come to confess murder—he’s come to commit it.


At the publisher's request, this title is sold without DRM (Digital Rights Management).


About 1635: A Parcel of Rogues:

"The 20th volume in this popular, fast-paced alternative history series follows close on the heels of the events in The Baltic War, picking up with the protagonists in London, including sharpshooter Julie Sims. This time the 20th-century transplants are determined to prevent the rise of Oliver Cromwell and even have the support of King Charles."—Library Journal


About 1634: The Galileo Affair:

"A rich, complex alternate history with great characters and vivid action. A great read and an excellent book."—David Drake


"Gripping . . . depicted with power!"—Publishers Weekly


About Eric Flint's Ring of Fire series:


“This alternate history series is . . . a landmark…”—Booklist


“[Eric] Flint's 1632 universe seems to be inspiring a whole new crop of gifted alternate historians.”—Booklist


“ . . . reads like a technothriller set in the age of the Medicis . . . ”—Publishers Weekly










Eric Flint is a modern master of alternate history fiction, with over three million books in print. He’s the author/creator of the multiple New York Times best-selling Ring of Fire series starting with first novel 1632. With David Drake he has written six popular novels in the “Belisarius” alternate Roman history series, and with David Weber collaborated on 1633 and 1634: The Baltic War and latest Honorverse series entry Cauldron of Ghosts. Flint's latest Ring of Fire novel is 1636: The Ottoman Onslaught. Flint was for many years a labor union activist. He lives near Chicago, Illinois.


Charles E. Gannon is the author of Compton Crook Award winning, Nebula nominated novels Fire with Fire, Trial by Fire, and Raising Caine, in the Caine Riordan series. He is the coauthor with Eric Flint of 1636: The Papal Stakes and 1636: Commander Cantrell in the West Indies in Eric Flint's best-selling Ring of Fire series. With best-selling Steve White, Gannon is the coauthor of Starfire series entries Extremis, and Imperative. Gannon is also the author of multiple short stories. He is a member of SIGMA, the "SF think-tank" which has advised various intelligence and defense agencies since the start of the millennium. Chuck lives near Annapolis, Maryland with his wife and children.