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especbooks's review
4.0
History heavy
I know, makes sense. You can't write alternate history without the history part...but there were times my eyes crossed trying to stay focused and immersed in the book because the historic elements were more action driven rather than character driven so at times I found it difficult to keep things straight. Don't get me wrong, though. I loved the book, especially the Grantville sections. All of it was well written, but it was the characters that made it shine.
I know, makes sense. You can't write alternate history without the history part...but there were times my eyes crossed trying to stay focused and immersed in the book because the historic elements were more action driven rather than character driven so at times I found it difficult to keep things straight. Don't get me wrong, though. I loved the book, especially the Grantville sections. All of it was well written, but it was the characters that made it shine.
mschlat's review
4.0
I just reread this, and it's still an excellent guilty pleasure. I love the idea of a society building back up (a la the middle third of [b:The Stand|149267|The Stand|Stephen King|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1213131305s/149267.jpg|1742269]) and when you mix in the touch of time travel (a la [b:Lord Kalvan of Otherwhen|676235|Lord Kalvan of Otherwhen (Paratime Police)|H. Beam Piper|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1177031983s/676235.jpg|1430769]), I'm pretty much hooked. What seals the deal, however, is the emphasis on American egalitarianism and the Bill of Rights in the midst of 17th century Germany --- it's an immensely patriotic work.
namulith's review
2.0
A tough read. I really liked the idea behind the book, but actually reading it was not very entertaining. I don't mind that the book does not subscribe to a grimdark POV, but instead has the heroes win it all. It's just that I find the Americans to be very annoying. And overall I guess I wouldn't mind some darker events. All in all an OK book, but not more.
zhelana's review
5.0
Thank you Pietro and Tall David for this book recommendation. I loved it! This book asks the question of what would happen if a small rural 20th century American town were plopped down in the middle of 1632 Germany. I think the author might have been a little overly optimistic, because they surely went through too many bullets for one small town to actually have available, but for the most part it was believable, and well thought out. The author brings some real life characters to life: the Abrabanels and King Gustav II Adolf, amongst others and I think he does a good job of being realistic and believable with these characters. I didn't quite realize when I started that there were more than 70 sequels, and I probably won't read all of them, but I do intend to read a few more in this series.
k5tog's review
3.0
I love historical fiction, and I love time-travel novels, so what could be better than a book where a whole town and its surrounding area is sent back in time to 1600s Germany? ... Well, I imagine a lot of books could have been better... 1632 is light reading and enjoyable, and I will probably read the next one in the series (1633 I think). But it's not very well written, and the love relationships are hard to swallow - it's all about the "eyes, those eyes..." and it's all love at first sight (or love after just meeting a couple of times). The relationships were particularly annoying about the book.
Plus, the whole town of Grantville, VA is transported to Germany, but there is no concern about the effects that the American's actions will have on the future (other than, hopefully, changing the path of Hitler and the Nazis). I mean by changing the past, aren't these Americans also changing their ancestors and, hence, themselves. Nobody disappears because their ancestors didn't make it due to the changes the Americans have wrought... Sigh! I guess that's always the problem with time travel...
Plus, the whole town of Grantville, VA is transported to Germany, but there is no concern about the effects that the American's actions will have on the future (other than, hopefully, changing the path of Hitler and the Nazis). I mean by changing the past, aren't these Americans also changing their ancestors and, hence, themselves. Nobody disappears because their ancestors didn't make it due to the changes the Americans have wrought... Sigh! I guess that's always the problem with time travel...
darylnash's review
3.0
The good guys are easy to cheer for, and it's fun to imagine that American democracy and ingenuity could triumph in such a setting.
After reading some of President Mike's concerns for their nascent nation, I was interested to discover that this was written before 9/11. I wonder if that lens would have changed the novel. It certainly makes this reader wonder if a bunch of isolated, scared Americans could choose freedom over defense. I hope so.
After reading some of President Mike's concerns for their nascent nation, I was interested to discover that this was written before 9/11. I wonder if that lens would have changed the novel. It certainly makes this reader wonder if a bunch of isolated, scared Americans could choose freedom over defense. I hope so.
sblackone's review
4.0
As some reviewers noted there is a bit too much of "America, f*ck yeah!" and completely over the top patriotism without looking at the dark sides of American society. But if you can look past that and suspend disbelief somewhat it's a very enjoyable time travel story with a lot of historical detail
carolynf's review
5.0
I avoided this book for too long due to its ridiculous premise - a whole town (and natural resources underneath) is plucked up from West Virginia in the year 2000 and dropped into the German province of Thuringia in 1632. Why this happened doesn't matter - the story isn't about that. It is about this town of 3K or so inhabitants, mostly United Mine Workers and their families, forming a new United States of America in the middle of the 30 Years War. They have to figure out protection, resources, trade, and most of all, a new Constitution. The tone of this novel is perfectly balanced, moving easily from suspenseful battles to political wrangling to jokes about the quality of American beer. One of the most interesting aspects of the book for me was the women's lib angle. There is a lot of debate about equal rights and the concept of sexual consent and how much of these ideas can even be communicated to people who live in rigidly hierarchical society.
The one criticism I have is that the characters don't have a whole lot of moral ambiguity. Both the Americans and the Europeans are overwhelmingly portrayed as good guys, even when they disagree about the best way to go about doing things. The only bad guys in the story are REALLY bad - mustache-twirling mercenary leaders who exploit others for sex, money, power, and plain bloodlust. These guys are few and far between. Most of the mercenaries are shown as simple folk who have been forced to serve and are just as happy to go back to blacksmithing or farming or whatever once their leader/captor has been killed off. But that aspect is not brought up in the scenes where Americans are using 20th century weaponry and tactics to slaughter the mercenaries in numbers that terrify their European allies.
This is a very fun read, a little heavy on the melodrama but with lots of interesting survivalist stuff thrown in. I'm curious whether the later books in the series show these characters becoming more complicated.
The one criticism I have is that the characters don't have a whole lot of moral ambiguity. Both the Americans and the Europeans are overwhelmingly portrayed as good guys, even when they disagree about the best way to go about doing things. The only bad guys in the story are REALLY bad - mustache-twirling mercenary leaders who exploit others for sex, money, power, and plain bloodlust. These guys are few and far between. Most of the mercenaries are shown as simple folk who have been forced to serve and are just as happy to go back to blacksmithing or farming or whatever once their leader/captor has been killed off. But that aspect is not brought up in the scenes where Americans are using 20th century weaponry and tactics to slaughter the mercenaries in numbers that terrify their European allies.
This is a very fun read, a little heavy on the melodrama but with lots of interesting survivalist stuff thrown in. I'm curious whether the later books in the series show these characters becoming more complicated.