Reviews

1634: The Baltic War by David Weber, Eric Flint

cj13's review against another edition

adventurous fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

markkaj's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny lighthearted fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.25

amyiw's review

4.0

This answers all the questions of the last book. It takes a while to get there but is fun once it does. Lots of history with a little modern era escapes and fights. Politics of the day start merging.

kalmdown's review against another edition

4.0

Fun. But gets bogged down in details

I enjoy the historical aspects...up a point. Then they cause the story to drag. At some points there are too many characters. Until books have interactive maps and characters that can be summoned up as you read this amount of detail can derail enjoyable reading.

squirrelfish's review

3.0

Lots of lead up, very little action. Somewhat interesting, but too long for what it was... I know world-building and exploring the potential spreading consequences of the American arrivals is what the series is about, but this just didn't have enough action to really justify the length. I also hated a specific sentence at the end, something along the lines of "The group at the table was all men, except for the two women". It felt amateur.

meganz's review

adventurous lighthearted medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

rajathon's review

adventurous medium-paced

4.0

Very fun book. I really enjoyed how it focused on main characters again. 

beaker's review

reflective slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

julis's review

adventurous funny slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

Would it kill them to cut some explanations? I don’t care how planes work! I’m not here to learn how planes work! If I wanted to know how planes work, I would’ve gone into aerospace engineering! But I didn’t, because I don’t care how planes work. Quit talking about the technology and talk more about the personal drama (weirdly rapidly resolved this book) and the politics (largely off screen).

However in the last half of the book, my irritation with the pacing was overshadowed by my irritation with Weber and Flint’s romance between a) Eddie Cantrell, a 20 year old American lieutenant POW and b) Anne Cathrine, the 15 year old daughter of the king of Denmark (Eddie’s captor).

I absolutely do not believe that the political dynamics outweigh the five year age gap–and THOSE five years too? Hands up, all college students who want to date high school sophomores. Not to mention, but Eddie has a 1990s/2000s high school education and all the access to culture that implies, while Anne has, um, 17th century tutors…and a protective father…

Yeah I definitely buy that Anne can give informed consent, totally. Hands up everyone who thinks marrying their sophomore crush would’ve worked out well for you (mine wouldn’t, and mine was only 2 years older and the musical lead).

And what is with Eddie (and Mike Stearns, and Simpson) that he thinks acting on his crush is a good idea? Dude, no. Put it back in your pants and remember that she has no idea what the world is like outside her tiny royal early Modern bubble. Ugh.

sgtbigg's review

3.0

This is the third book in the "1632" series. Ok, it's not really, but it's the third of what could be called the main plot novels. There are any number of books in the series that follow events outside of Northern/Central Europe, written by several other authors either with Flint or on their own. I've read a few of the non-main plot books and eventually gave up on the series entirely primarily because I didn't really enjoy the minor plots that had been elevated to book status. I recently decided to give the series another try but only the main plot books, the result is "1634: The Baltic War." Perhaps in a few years I'll read the next book, perhaps the novelty of the series has worn off but I had a difficult time getting into this book. I hit a wall about have way through and had to force myself to continue on. There was nothing particulary wrong with the book or story, I was just uninterested in the characters and what happened to them. I gave it three stars but it's really 2.5.