5 Stars
In Eric Flint's 2000 book "1632," the town of Grantville is ripped from modern-day and dropped in the middle of Germany, in the middle of the Thirty Years' War. Thanks to its citizens' modern knowledge and weapons, a lot of luck, and an alliance with the powerful King of Sweden, the town was able to keep from being wiped out in its first year in the seventeenth century. So we move on to "1633."
But in the 1630s, there are few European countries as powerful as France, which is controlled by the capable and ruthless Cardinal Richelieu. When stolen history books from Grantville make their way into his hands and show him the future development of France, Richelieu is not pleased. Along with the kings of England and Spain, Richelieu organizes the forces of absolute monarchy and established religion to stamp out the representative government, rule of law and religious pluralism that threaten to cast them into the dustbin of history. In their sights are potential revolutionary Oliver Cromwell, the insufferable Dutch Republic and, of course, Grantville.
Even though "1633" is a sequel to Eric Flint's "1632" (and incorporates a few of the short stories in the "Ring of Fire" anthology), it is really the first book in the series that Flint eventually decided to set in the "1632" universe. "1632" was originally designed to be a stand-alone novel, and it was only its unexpected success that led Flint to consider writing the full-blown series, collaborating with a series of coauthors, of which David Weber is the first.
Thus "1633" is a very different beast than "1632." Instead of being a fully self-contained novel, "1633" sets up several of the various plot strands that will be pursued in the 1634 books currently being written and published. There is much more character development, which fleshes out some of the characters who were relatively one-dimensional in 1632 (a good thing, in my opinion). On the other hand, there are fewer battles and a generally slower pace (which I did not mind). Despite leaving several threads hanging for future volumes, the book does have a solid conclusion.
If you read and enjoyed "1632," I would definitely recommend going on to "1633," though you may want to read "Ring of Fire" first -- several of the short stories in that anthology were written before "1633" and incorporated into it by Flint and Weber, even though "1633" was published first. The uncertain should know that Baen offers the book for free on its Web site. I encourage them to check it out. "1633" kicks off what promises to be a thoroughly enjoyable alternate history series. Flint's decision to write with a number of different coauthors should keep the series from falling into a rut, making each book fresh and approached from a slightly different angle. I'm looking forward to reading them.
(8 June 2004)
