1632

Eric Flint’s 1632 is a refreshing take on alternate history (or it would have been when it was published in February 2000). If you are looking into it for the first time it can be found as either the “Ring of Fire” series, as it has come to be known, or the “Assiti Shards” which I believe must have been dropped as that title is really only a passing reference to something that never really developed. Both series titles refer to the mechanism by which the story is begun.

A perfect sphere of modern West Viriginia surrounding the town of Grantville is uprooted and hurled back through time into 1630’s Germany. This drops the “up-streamers” as they are later dubbed into the middle of the Thirty Years War, quite literally as several battles take place nearly on the territory they now occupy. This time traveling is dealt with neatly by also transporting the people and land to a parallel history or universe so that the readers and characters are not plagued by the old tired problem of worrying about tampering with history and thus causing your own extinction. Due to this choice the readers are able to experience an interesting look at the 1630s.

Flint mixes the points of view that the reader is treated to between up-streamers and people from the, lets call it, local time. This combined with the fact that there is obvious depth to the amount of actual history involved (by that I mean we have important historical figures who are not just the famous ones) gives the story more of a real feeling. We experience the struggle to understand several distinct cultures from most of the sides involved. Some of the characters accept these cultural differences and use them to improve the situation, other’s reject them and as per usual respond with hatred and violence.

Key to the success of this story as something beyond the average is how characters from both timelines come to work together. Through this togetherness we can see the character development as well as the plot development as it is actually influenced by the differences in characters background, technological levels, and how they choose to integrate these radical changes into their lives and actions. Furthermore the scope of what this novel takes on itself works. It doesn’t try to be grand, it merely answers the immediate questions brought on by the massive change in its character’s situation. It worked as a stand alone, but also lead nicely to a larger body of work, which now encompasses several novels and shor t story collections.

I like this novel because it feels like it could be genuine. There are characters with many levels of gradation between good and bad, and the bad characters are not necessarily “evil” just on the wrong side of a bad situation. There is a bit of a thrill at the technological superiority of the “Americans” and the bringing of the boots to the oppressors. What makes this novel stand out is how the characters recognize the situation and work together to improve their world, not just kick ass and take names indiscriminantly. Flint has done a great job of creating a vibrant setting with characters that you can actually care about. I give it a 4/5