1632 (novel)

Last updated

1632
1632-Eric Flint (2000) cover.jpg
First edition
Author Eric Flint
Cover artist Larry Elmore
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Series 1632 series
Genre Alternate History, Novel
Publisher Baen Books
Publication date
February 1, 2000
Media typePrint (hardback & paperback) & ebook
Pages512 pp (first edition, hardback)
ISBN 0-671-57849-9 (first edition, hardback)
OCLC 42786188
813/.54 21
LC Class PS3556.L548 A616 2000
Followed by 1633  

1632 (2000) is an alternate history novel by American author Eric Flint, the initial novel in the best-selling [1] series of the same name. [2]

Contents

The flagship novel kicked off a collaborative writing effort that has involved hundreds of contributors and dozens of authors. The premise involves a small American town of three thousand, sent back to May 1631, in an alternate Holy Roman Empire during the Thirty Years' War.

Plot summary

The fictional town of Grantville, West Virginia (modeled on the real West Virginia town of Mannington) and its power plant are displaced in space-time, through a side effect of a mysterious alien civilization. [3]

A hemispherical section of land about three miles in radius measured from the town center is transported back in time and space from April 2000 to May 1631, from North America to the central Holy Roman Empire. The town is thrust into the middle of the Thirty Years' War, in the German province of Thuringia in the Thuringian Forest, near the fictional German free city of Badenburg. This Assiti Shards effect occurs during a wedding reception, accounting for the presence of several people not native to the town, including a doctor and his daughter, a paramedic. Real Thuringian municipalities located close to Grantville are posited as Weimar, Jena, Saalfeld and the more remote Erfurt, Arnstadt, and Eisenach well to the south of Halle and Leipzig.

Grantville, led by Mike Stearns, president of the local chapter of the United Mine Workers of America (UMWA), must cope with the town's space-time dislocation, the surrounding raging war, language barriers, and numerous social and political issues, including class conflict, witchcraft, feminism, the Reformation and the Counter-Reformation, among many other factors. One complication is a compounding of the food shortage when the town is flooded by refugees from the war. The 1631 locals experience a culture shock when exposed to the mores of contemporary American society, including modern dress, sexual egalitarianism, and boisterous American-style politics.

Grantville struggles to survive while trying to maintain technology sundered from 21st century resources. Throughout 1631, Grantville manages to establish itself locally by forming the nascent New United States of Europe (NUS) with several local cities even as war rages around them. But once Count Tilly falls during the Battle of Breitenfeld outside of Leipzig, King Gustavus Adolphus rapidly moves the war theater to Franconia and Bavaria, just south of Grantville. This leads to the creation of the Confederated Principalities of Europe (CPoE) and some measure of security for Grantville's up-timer and down-timer populations.

Reception

F&SF reviewer Charles de Lint received the novel favorably, describing it as "a fine, thoroughly engaging story about real people in an extraordinary situation." [4]

Kirkus Reviews called the book a "[s]inewy shoot-'em-up, with pikes and muzzle-loaders squared off against modern automatics and 20th-century tactics: a rollicking, good-natured, fact-based flight of fancy that should appeal to alternate-history buffs as well as military-fantasy fans." [5]

A reviewer for the Tech Republic called the book "relentlessly positive, celebrating honest, hardworking folk of two eras who come together to make a better world" and should "appeal to fans of many subgenres". [6] The reviewer also wrote that "Flint succeeds at making the whole adventure palatable by populating his tale with thoughtful, likeable, fallible characters with well drawn motivations."

RT Book Reviews called the novel "an outstanding, positive reading experience for those who appreciate living history, indomitable courage and the unsung gallantry of the everyday man." [7]

Library Journal praised the author, saying he "convincingly re-creates the military and political tenor of the times in this imaginative and unabashedly positive approach to alternative history." [8]

A reviewer for SFRevu wrote "1632 is a fun read and marks Flint as an author to watch for". [9]

In contrast to the other reviews, the reviewer for The New York Review of Science Fiction criticized the book for being "almost pure mind candy" by appearing to be a comedy at times and later appearing to be very serious work by "seriously explore anachronism shock by injecting highly dramatic, life-altering decisions filled with much introspection" at other times. [10]

1632 was listed on the Locus Hardcovers Bestsellers List for two months in a row during 2000, topping at number 4, [11] [12] and also later on the Paperbacks Bestsellers List for a single month in 2001 at number 3. [13]

As of February 2020, twenty years after it was first released, the book has remained in print while still generating small annual royalty payments to the author for print copies sold even though free electronic copies have also been available directly from the publisher for most of that time. [14]

Legacy

The book generated an unusual amount of fan involvement. When first contemplating a sequel, Flint decided to throw open the universe—perhaps instigated by reception of fan-fiction on 1632 Tech Manual—and invited other authors to help shape the series milieu and fictional canon and began putting together the anthology Ring of Fire.

The market for anthologies in fiction is but a small percentage of the market for novels, and the alternate history genre is a smallish niche to begin with—leading publisher Jim Baen to "hold up" the Ring of Fire collection to see if the series would get a boost from New York Times best selling author David Weber, who had just contracted to do five novels with Flint. Flint had to set aside several planned projects (the Assiti Shards novels were in outline form at the time) and do some additional co-writing with Weber as Ring of Fire gestated.

Release details

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Eric Flint</span> American author and editor (1947–2022)

Eric Flint was an American author, editor, and e-publisher. The majority of his works are alternate history science fiction, but he also wrote humorous fantasy adventures. His works have been listed on The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, and Locus magazine best seller lists. He was a co-founder and editor of the Baen Free Library.

<i>1632</i> series Novel series

The 1632 series, also known as the 1632-verse or Ring of Fire series, is an alternate history book series and sub-series created, primarily co-written, and coordinated by American author Eric Flint and published by Baen Books.

<i>1633</i> (novel) 2002 novel by David Weber and Eric Flint

1633 is an alternate history novel co-written by American authors Eric Flint and David Weber published in 2002, and sequel to 1632 in the 1632 series. 1633 is the second major novel in the series and together with the anthology Ring of Fire, the two sequels begin the series hallmarks of being a shared universe with collaborative writing being very common, as well as one that, far more unusually, mixes many canonical anthologies with its works of novel length. That is because Flint wrote 1632 as a stand-alone novel, though with enough "story hooks" for an eventual sequel, and because Flint feels "history is messy" and the books reflect that real life is not a smooth, polished linear narrative flow from the pen of some historian but is instead clumps of semi-related or unrelated happenings that somehow sum up how different people act in their own self-interests.

<i>1634: The Ram Rebellion</i> 2006 novel by Eric Flint

1634: The Ram Rebellion is the seventh published work in the 1632 alternate history book series, and is the third work to establish what is best considered as a "main plot line or thread" of historical speculative focus that are loosely organized and classified geographically. The initial main thread is called the "Western and North-Central Europe thread" ; the second plot line, encompassing events in Italy, Spain, the Mediterranean region, and France, the "South European thread", and this book can be considered the starting novel of the "South-Central/South-East thread" being set in southern Germany, Austria, Bavaria, and Bohemia. This geographically organized plot thread actually began in Ring of Fire in Flint's novelette "The Wallenstein Gambit" which is set in Bohemia, Austria, and Germany, which tied into stories in various Grantville Gazettes.

The Grantville Gazettes were a series of anthologies of short stories set in the 1632 universe introduced in Eric Flint's novel 1632 that was published as a bi-monthly electronic magazine from 2003 until shortly after Flint's death in 2022.

<i>Grantville Gazette II</i> 2006 anthology of fan fiction stories

Grantville Gazette II is the third collaborative anthology published in print set in the 1632-verse shared universe in what is best regarded as a canonical sub-series of the popular alternate history that began with the February 2000 publication of the hardcover novel 1632 by author-historian Eric Flint. Baen Books and Flint decline the distinction, counting this book as the sixth published work. Overall it is also the third anthology in printed publication in the atypical series, which consists of a mish-mash of main novels and anthologies produced under popular demand after publication of the initial novel, which was written as a stand-alone work.

<i>1634: The Galileo Affair</i> 2004 novel by Eric Flint

1634: The Galileo Affair is the fourth book and third novel published in the 1632 series. It is co-written by American authors Eric Flint and Andrew Dennis and was published in 2004. It follows the activities of an embassy party sent from the United States of Europe (Grantville) to Venice, Italy, where the three young Stone brothers become involved with the local Committees of Correspondence and the Inquisition's trial of Galileo Galilei.

<i>1635: The Cannon Law</i> 2006 novel by Eric Flint and Andrew Dennis

1635: The Cannon Law is the sixth book and fifth novel published in the 1632 series by Eric Flint and Andrew Dennis. It is the second novel in the French-Italian plot thread, which began with 1634: The Galileo Affair and was published by Baen Books in 2006. The book explores the reactions of the Roman Catholic hardliners to Pope Urban VIII's actions in tolerating the new freedom of religion taking root in Central Europe during the climax of The Galileo Affair.

<i>1634: The Baltic War</i> 2007 novel by David Weber and Eric Flint

1634: The Baltic War is a sequel to both the first-of-type sequels, Ring of Fire and 1633, co-written by American authors Eric Flint and David Weber published in 2007. It had to await schedule co-ordination by the two authors, which proved difficult and delayed the work by nearly two years. It continues theMain or Central European thread centered on the newly organized United States of Europe birthed in Central Germany under the protection-by-arms of Emperor Gustavus Adolphus and in particular, the role of the citizens of Grantville, now of Thuringia, and the capital city of Magdeburg have to play on the world stage. With the stability imposed by the protection of Gustavus's armies, up-timers began migrating to other locales in the "neohistories" world as the year 1633 closed.

<i>1634: The Bavarian Crisis</i> 2007 novel by Virginia DeMarce and Eric Flint

1634: The Bavarian Crisis is a novel in the alternate history 1632 series, written by Virginia DeMarce and Eric Flint as sequel to Flint's novella "The Wallenstein Gambit"; several short stories by DeMarce in The Grantville Gazettes; 1634: The Ram Rebellion; and 1634: The Baltic War. The novel's first draft was completed in 2005, before work on The Baltic War began. Many chapters of that "early draft version" were available on line, but the final production reached print on October 1, 2007.

<i>Ring of Fire II</i>

Ring of Fire II is a 2008 anthology created by editor-author-historian Eric Flint. It is the second anthology in the 1632 series following after Ring of Fire (2004).

The Assiti Shards series is a fictional universe invented by American author Eric Flint. It is a shared universe concerning several alternate history worlds, related to a prime timeline. The defining characteristic of the fictional universe is the existence of the "Assiti Shards effect", and the impact that strikes by Assiti Shards have on characters in the stories. The series is rather large and expansive, having started publication in 2000, and as of 2008, consisting of 15 print books, and 21 e-magazine anthologies, in two different published timelines of the same multiverse.

<i>1635: The Dreeson Incident</i> 2008 novel by Eric Flint

1635: The Dreeson Incident (2008) is a novel in the alternate history 1632 series, written by Virginia DeMarce and Eric Flint, as a sequel to Flint's novella 1634: The Bavarian Crisis.

<i>1635: The Tangled Web</i> 2009 novel by Virginia DeMarce

1635: The Tangled Web is a novel in the alternate history 1632 series, written by Virginia DeMarce.

<i>1636: The Saxon Uprising</i> 2011 novel by Eric Flint

1636: The Saxon Uprising is an alternate history novel by Eric Flint in the 1632 series, first published in hardcover by Baen Books on March 29, 2011, with a paperback edition following from the same publisher in March 2012. It is a direct continuation of 1635: The Eastern Front. The threads mentioned in this novel are taken up in 1637: The Polish Maelstrom.

<i>1635: The Eastern Front</i> 2010 novel by Eric Flint

1635: The Eastern Front is an alternate history novel by Eric Flint in the 1632 series, first published in hardcover by Baen Books on October 5, 2010, with a paperback edition following from the same publisher in November 2011. It is a sequel to 1635: The Tangled Web and is directly continued by 1636: The Saxon Uprising.

<i>1636: The Kremlin Games</i> 2012 alternative history novel

1636: The Kremlin Games is a novel in the 1632 series written by Gorg Huff and Paula Goodlett along with Eric Flint. It is the fourth book in the series to be listed on the New York Times bestseller list for hardcover fiction. This book reached number 30 on the NY Times list during a single week in June 2012. Besides being listed on the NY Times Best Seller list, 1636: The Kremlin Games was also listed on the Locus Hardcovers Bestsellers List for the month of September in 2012 at number 6.

<i>1635: The Papal Stakes</i> 2012 novel by Eric Flint

1635: The Papal Stakes is novel in the 1632 series written by Charles Gannon and Eric Flint. It was published in 2012 and is the direct sequel to 1635: The Cannon Law published in 2006. This book is the third in the South European fork to the main 1632 series storyline. The story follows the exploits of younger members of the Stone family in Italy and describes the impact of Grantville on the Roman Catholic church and on the patchwork of independent countries in the Italian peninsula.

<i>1636: The Devils Opera</i> 2013 novel by David Carrico and Eric Flint

1636: The Devil's Opera is a stand-alone novel in the alternative history 1632 series with minor character overlaps. Published on October 1, 2013 the book is written by David Carrico and Eric Flint. It is a semi-detective novel set in a growing industrial city that is a continuation of two series of stories that David Carrico had originally written in the electronic versions of the Grantville Gazette that were serialized over several issues and later compiled into the compilation 1635: Music and Murder, one series involving criminal investigation and crime fighting and other series involving music and social revolution.

This is complete list of works by American science fiction and historical fiction author Eric Flint.

References

  1. "Publisher's Web Books Spur Hardcover Sales". The New York Times . March 19, 2001.
  2. "Uchronia: The Assiti Shards (1632) Series". www.uchronia.net.
  3. Eric Flint (2000). 1632.
  4. De Lint, Charles (September 2000). "Books to Look For". F&SF . Vol. 99, no. 3. p. 32. ISSN   1095-8258.
  5. "1632". Kirkus Reviews . Vol. 67, no. 24. December 15, 1999. ISSN   1948-7428.
  6. Garmon, Jay (April 5, 2007). "Required Reading: '1632' by Eric Flint". Tech Republic .
  7. Helfer, Melinda (May 2000). "1632". RT Book Reviews (195). ISSN   1933-0634.
  8. Cassada, Jackie (February 15, 2000). "1632 (Book Review)". Library Journal . Vol. 125, no. 3. p. 201. ISSN   0363-0277. Archived from the original on April 13, 2014. Alternate Link via EBSCO (institutional library access).
  9. "1632 by Eric Flint". SFRevu. March 2001.
  10. Appleton, Matthew (December 2000). "1632 by Eric Flint". The New York Review of Science Fiction . No. 148.(reprinted on the Some Fantastic 2.0 website)
  11. "Locus Bestsellers, May 2000". Locus . May 2000.
  12. "Locus Bestsellers, June 2000". Locus . June 2000.
  13. "Locus Bestsellers, May 2001". Locus . May 2001.
  14. Flint, Eric (March 2020). "The Story So Far..." Grantville Gazette. Vol. 88.
  15. Flint, Eric (2014). 1632 Leatherbound Edition. Simon & Schuster. ISBN   978-1-4767-3641-9.
  16. "1632, Second Edition, Now with a new Afterword by Eric Flint (publisher page)". Baen Books.