1632 (Ring of Fire)

I'd categorize 1632, and Eric Flint's resulting book series following 1632, as one of the most unique Historical Sci Fi Books out there. Unlike most other alternate history books, Flint's novel mixes in Sci Fi by having a mysterious alien civilization (Assiti), transporting a West Virginian town back in time into Germany during the 17th-century Europe's 30 Years' War. As you might imagine, many challenges ensue. An enjoyable read.

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.

This is not traditional alternate history (how did things develop on a different line?) so much as it is transposed history--analyzing the impact of a transplanted culture. The time/place of both were shrewdly chosen. As a Ph.D in early modern Europe, I like it; as someone who works in coal mine workers' compensation programs (and wanted to name our oldest son Gustavus Adolphus!), my husband liked it after I insisted that he read it; as a man who stayed home to keep a rural community running, my brother liked it also, after I insisted that he read it. It's not just a remarkably good story -- though that is the case. As a possible history, it works.

Time travel stories have been a staple of Science Fiction essentially forever. The plot device of a modern man displaced into a historical era is a popular one, and traces its immediate lineage to Mark Twain's A CONNETICUTT YANKEE IN KING ARTHUR'S COURT. While always great fun these stories tend to push the bounds of credulity when it come to the introduction of modern technology, and they frequently fall apart toward the end for that reason. 1632 manages to remain faintly plausable throughout. Just how historically reasonable its plot may be is open to question, but it manages not to jar the reader too badly while he is engrossed in the tale. The characters are mostly well drawn, with the exception of one cardboard cut-out whose presence does not materially detract from the book. the action is brisk and (at least to my non-military eye) believable in context. Most importantly the book is just plain fun to read. The author has a good command of human emotion and motives, as well as seeming to know his history. If this sub-genera is one that you like I heartily recommend this example. If you are unfamilliar with the whole time-traveler gig you could do much worse than this book as an introduction.

I love time-travel stories... particularly when they're done well. In "1632" Eric Flint shows solid research, believable characters and gripping action, all combining in a tasty stew. He makes his people -- both 21st-century West Virginians and 17th-century Germans -- live and breathe. The plight of the castaways will keep you glued to the page, and the action will bring you to the edge of your seat. Bravo! Buy this book!

What if...a modern West Virginia mining town ended up in the middle of Germany during the Thirty-Years war? That's what happens in this well-written, well plotted book by Eric Flint.Eric Flint has taken well-drawn characters, an excellent plot, and a good understanding of human nature to create what is going to be one of my all-time favorite books. He is now on my "automatic buy everything he writes" list.I highly recommend this book to anyone who likes to read.