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Loading... 1633by Eric FlintLibraryThing recommendationsMember recommendationsLoading...
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will love Sign up for LibraryThing to find out whether you'll like this book. libraryofus | Dec 8, 2008 |   Similar to the first, though I didn't care for the ending that much. (  )TadAD | May 31, 2008 | The sequel to Eric Flint's 1632. Another great Alt. Hist. book. I enjoyed this book very much. While continuing the story of 1632, this book goes more into politics and real history of the time. A good look at 17th century politics even if this is an alternate history book. I cannot recommend this book enough. (  )tcgardner | Apr 7, 2008 | 1633 is a fun book, but it's slightly less enjoyable than the original (1632). The basic plotline -- a small West Virginian town is transported to Germany during the Thirty Years' War and must survive and attempt to civilize Europe -- remains the same. A few new characters are introduced, though some of the protagonists from the first book get short shrift (e.g., Julie Sims) this time around. The book is probably about a hundred pages too long, and it goes into unnecessary detail on the creation of the (new) U.S. Air Force and Navy. Military hardware nuts will love that added level of detail, but for the rest of us, it's superfluous. An inordinate amount of time is spent on the initial flight training of a couple of new pilots and the construction of the first ironclads. That would be fine if, for example, the ironclads ever saw action in the book -- they do not, however. Presumably, Flint will have them play a significant role in one of the sequels. Flint still uses way too many lengthy expository passages for my taste (even more so than in 1632). That's a real weakness. You get the impression from reading the book that Flint sees 1633 as being just an opening chapter in a much larger story rather than as a coherent, stand-alone book. While many "epic" series suffer from this problem (I hesitate to even begin to compare 1633 to a Robert Jordan book), I do wish that 1633 had been a little more self-contained. All that being said, 1633 *is* an enjoyable read, and if you enjoyed the first book in the series, you should definitely take a look at this one, you won't be disappointed. Review copyright 2008 J. Andrew Byers (  )bibliorex | Apr 2, 2008 | Read Online: http://webscriptions.net/10.1125/Baen... khms | Oct 10, 2007 | 0.034 seconds to build listing  no reviews | add a review
Amazon.com Book Description (ISBN 0743435427, Hardcover)American Freedom and Justice vs. The Tyrannies of the Seventeenth CenturyThe new government in central Europe, called the Confederated Principalities of Europe, was formed by an alliance between Gustavus Adolphus, King of Sweden, and the West Virginians led by Mike Stearns who were transplanted into 17th-century Germany by a mysterious cosmic accident. The new regime is shaky. Outside its borders, the Thirty Years War continues to rage. Within, it is beset by financial crisis as well as the political and social tensions between the democratic ideals of the 20th-century Americans and the aristocracy which continues to rule the roost in the CPE as everywhere in Europe. Worst of all, the CPE has aroused the implacable hostility of Cardinal Richelieu, the effective ruler of France. Richelieu has created the League of Ostend in order to strike at the weakest link in the CPE's armorits dependence on the Baltic as the lifeline between Gustav Adolf's Sweden and the rest of his realm. The greatest naval war in European history is about to erupt. Like it or not, Gustavus Adolphus will have to rely on Mike Stearns and the technical wizardry of his obstreperous Americans to save the King of Sweden from ruin. Caught in the conflagration are two American diplomatic missions abroad: Rebecca Stearns' mission to France and Holland, and the embassy which Mike Stearns sent to King Charles of England headed by his sister Rita and Melissa Mailey. Rebecca finds herself trapped in war-torn Amsterdam; Rita and Melissa, imprisoned in the Tower of London. And much as Mike wants to transport 20th-century values into war-torn 17th-century Europe by Sweet Reason, still he finds comfort in the fact that Julie, who once trained to be an Olympic marksman, still has her rifle... (retrieved from Amazon Fri, 24 Apr 2009 07:58:12 -0400) The first test round has been closed. Visit the Open Shelves Classification group for details. |
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Well, you can read much of my 1632 review over again (complete with comments, for full picture) when it comes to this one. It's a good sequel to the former book, and preserves its tone, merits and flaws pretty much intact, despite the addition of a co-writer to this one.
In another sense, it's also a good sequel to 1632 inasmuch as, given the premises and events of 1632, it plays out very well as a logical extrapolation of the events depicted in the prior book and their consequences, especially as the European powers of the time start gaining access to information relating to their future history and acting in accordance with what they've learned.
(As as a side note, I was especially pleased to see one of the antagonists of the prior book quote-redeemed-unquote in a manner consistent with his character and talents.)
Overall: good book. Recommended for those who enjoyed 1632, and vice versa.
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