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Summary: Historical SF
Review: Eric Flint has done a wonderful job of working through the issues of transporting a rural West Virginia village from the 20th century to Germany in the middle of the 30 years war. He treats the issues of sustainable technology and integrates it with political theory, expert characterization and a masterful understanding of the historical period and its participants. It is straight forward and hard hitting and won't let you put it down once you start it. Here's hoping that it is the first of a series.
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Summary: A Great Light Read
Review: Enjoyed this book. Like the characters. Not a deep thinking book, but something to read on a rainy day.
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Summary: Hey I enjoyed this one!
Review: Just a good old plain fun book! Yeah, some people might call it fluff, but it was good fluff. Not to heavy on the background history, just enough to let the reader know whats going on and why. This is the type of A.H. book I like, when I as the reader can hook into the characters, because their just plain old folks like you and I. Not some far fetched hero I can't picture, but folks. It this case Americans! A bunch of gun toting ones at that! Plop a whole town from modern day West Viginia in the middle of the Thirty Years War and see what happens, first a lot of heavy handed justice that's for sure, then we have to save the Princess, then we let everyone know that we will not be messed with, no sir! Cause we are by God Americans! I would very much like to see Mr. Flint write another story, a sequal (don't ya just hate that word), I would like to see where and how far this story line could go. I mean come on we aren't gonna let Richelieu get away with what he did are we?
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Summary: If you are looking for Adventure...
Review: I have read this book 4 times and stay up until the wee hours just like I did the first time. Eric Flint made me a part of the story. It became real and I wanted to be there. His central characters were amazing but human. They exhibited strong beliefs and acted on them. The masses were understandable. The history was so good that I found myself wanting to know more. I became friends with the King of Sweden. I laughed with Alex as he was pursued by Julie. I was so very proud of Gretchen. But most of all I was proud to be an American. Of the 1000's of books I own this one has moved into first place and I'll read it again and again.
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Summary: A great "Bootstrap" story
Review: 1632 is a "Bootstrap" story in the tradition of Lester Del Rey and Robert A. Heinlein. The story flows smoothly and the characters are three dimensional. After reading this story I put Flint in the same league as Bujold, Dickson, Del Rey, Heinlein, Stirling, and Turtledove.The town of Grantville, West Virginia is mysteriously transported to the year 1632. Yes, that particular gimick has been used before: S. M. Stirling's Island in the Sea of Time, Leo Frankowski's The Cross-Time Engineer, Harry Turtlesove's The Misplaced Legion, and William Forstchen's The Lost Regiment to name a few. But the story doesn't feel stale. The way Flint writes it the story still feels fresh and fun. The town finds themselves in the midst of Europe's "40 Years War" and reacts the way that we all hope we would. They pull themselves up by their own bootstraps and try to leave the world a better place than they found it. The story doesn't rely on super geniuses or spectacular achievements in science. It's about ordinary people taking what they have and doing their best. This is an enjoyable read that leaves you feeling like enough hard work really CAN make a difference.
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Summary: UMWA vs. Germany (1632) Let the fun begin!
Review: 1632 is not my favorite "alternate history" "time travel" novel but it is one of my top 10! Mr. Flint does an excellent job getting the feel of the age onto the pages and a more than passable job of dealing with the language issue. (Dropping a small town full of modern day West Virginians into 17th century Europe causes many Language barriers!) The introduction of the United Mine Workers and having the Main character as the local Union Leader is a nice twist. Moreover, the author's treatment of History is excellent and his integration of "real world" historical figures into the story a pleasure to read! His battle scenes are clean and engrossing and the pace of the book is excellent. If I could voice one gripe about this book, I would ask it to be longer. (I tend to like more background story and deeper character development!) I recommend this novel if you are at all entertained by this sub-genre for Mr. Flint definitely delivers the goods! If you enjoyed S.M. Stirling's "Island in the Sea of Time," you will enjoy this book!
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Summary: 1632, A Book For Those Who Like Alternate History
Review: 1632 is the best alternate history book I have read. The situation depicted is pretty realistic for what might happen if time travel were possible. The characters in 1632 are all three dimensional. It was easy for me to identify with most of them. In response to another critic's review that this book advocated vigilantism,I heartily dissagree. The main characters, especially Mike Stearns, did not start the fighting. They only fought in order to defend themselves. Mike avoided fights whenever possible. In conclusion, I recommend this book to anyone who likes alternate history.
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Summary: Bad Book
Review: The idea behind the book - time displacement - is unique and creative. But the way the book was written leaves something to be desired. Blood thirsty vigilantism is justified in this book. I wonder if the ... financed this book. In brief horrible book.
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Summary: He Does Better with Drake
Review: I loved Flint's books about Belisarius with David Drake, so I rushed out and bought 1632 in hardcover. Don't. Wait for the paperback. 1632 is good, but not in the same league as the Belisarius books. I guess David Drake was really bringing something to the table, besides just his name. Don't get me wrong, 1632 is a good romp, but it's not worth hard cover prices.
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Summary: A frothy wrapping on a solid book
Review: This is an unusual book, particularly in the time-travel/alternate history field, which is littered with winning Confederate States and the like, reflecting attitudes which would have suited Adolf Hitler. Many of the reviews have pointed out the one superb feature of this book: it's told from the point of view of the ordinary citizen. And it is relatively free of gratuitous violence. Unfortunately, it is not quite free of gratuitous sex, but at least the sort of abuse you come across in this sub-genre is absent. Still, the author was obviously attempting something very difficult: This is not just the usual 'we Americans can beat them' sort of book. It's a book about why the Americans, who are outnumbered, can win. It is a book about what is valuable in Western Democracy. Essentially this is a book about politics behind history, made pleasant and easy to read, by giving it a good story-line. It's one of the few sf books you'll buy this year that will give you a good read and give some uplift and some insights. A few reviewers have complained about the short sentences and simple vocabulary. I can't say I find this a fault: if anything one of the problems with 'new wave' Science Fiction was that authors tried to show it was 'literature' with Dickensian sentences. This just highlights these authors' ignorance about the trend in great literature since Conrad: the more difficult the concept, the simpler the English. The length of the sentence has been getting shorter for the all of the twentieth century. Try Dickens compared to Henry James if you don't believe me! Flint is trying to write about something complex and dry as dust: the politics behind history. He succeeds remarkably well in a very readable story. He does have a very annoying habit of using the same phrases again and again, and his Battle of Breitenfeld chapter was the one time he let his 'history professor' persona out of the closet. Fortunately it is a very short chapter or I'd take a star away from him. But, on the whole: definitely a 'Buy'. You won't find a book on the effects of socio-political evolution in a more attractive package.
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