1637

The Peacock Throne (Ring of Fire, Book 31)

By: Eric Flint, Griffin Barber

Narrated by: George Guidall

The latest entry in the multiple New York Times best-selling Ring of Fire series created by Eric Flint

The emperor is dead; long live the emperors!

The assassinated Shah Jahan lies entombed beside his beloved wife in the Taj Mahal, while their progeny drag the Mughal Empire into a three-sided struggle over the succession to the Peacock Throne. The diplomatic and trade mission from the United States of Europe is openly siding with Princess Jahanara and her brother Dara Shikoh. The mission, made up largely of Americans transplanted in time by the Ring of Fire, is providing the siblings with technical assistance as they prepare to fight their rivals for the throne, Aurangzeb and Shah Shuja.

Meanwhile, the Afghan adventurer Salim Gadh Yilmaz, confidant of two emperors—Shah Jahan and now his son Dara Shikoh—has been elevated to the position of general. He has great challenges to face, not the least of which is resisting the fierce and forbidden mutual attraction between himself and Princess Jahanara. As the conflict deepens, the junior members of the mission are sent east to buy opium needed by the USE’s doctors. Their guide, merchant Jadu Das, has an agenda of his own, one entrusted to him by Jahanara: seek out her great uncle, Asaf Khan, and promise whatever is needed to bring his army over to Dara’s side. The USE’s mission was sent to India in search of goods needed in Europe. But now they find that straightforward task has become enmeshed in a great civil war—for control of The Peacock Throne.

©2021 Eric Flint and Griffin Barber (P)2022 Recorded Books

An excellent and interesting sequel.

This wonderful entry in the 1632 series succeeded in getting me interested in Indian history.

Good story but way to many subplots

It's a good story well told but way to many subplots and with the character complexity and naming complexity it was hard to follow and remain interesting, this needed to be about three books. This whole story line had very little to do with the up timers. Yes they played a part but they could have been left out and very little in the story would have changed, in opinion it felt that they were mostly an after thought put in to appease the ROF base.