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A review by absentminded_reader
1633 by David Weber, Eric Flint
2.0
This book missed the mark for me. Certainly, it had strengths. There were more concrete details in the story than you could find in a parking garage, but the characters lacked heart. Perhaps if I had cared more for the characters, I wouldn't have minded the history dump truck that barreled its way through the story.
And that's really the key issue. If I felt that way about the constant references to history, I was the wrong reader for this story. It is an alternate history fiction where the history is being altered throughout the entire novel. True, I enjoyed 1632 more, and considering that Flint and Weber swapped chapters, I suspect that that would account for why I cycled through liking or disliking the story depending on the plotline and characters. But the characters in 1632 helped move the story along. The characters in 1633 just kept coming and coming like a sea of immigrants on the shores of the plot. The story ended up moving the characters along. It felt more distant and less engaging for me at times. Even overwhelming.
Judging by the wide range of ratings for this book here on GoodReads, I suspect that those who loved the geeky history bits rated this book highly. Everybody else accounts for the the 2-3 star ratings. Therefore, if you dislike milieu books where the setting is the main character, you probably won't like this book very much. But if you do like milieu books enriched with hundreds of pages of concrete details, especially as they work out how to recreate technologies, you will likely thrill to read every page of 1633.
And that's really the key issue. If I felt that way about the constant references to history, I was the wrong reader for this story. It is an alternate history fiction where the history is being altered throughout the entire novel. True, I enjoyed 1632 more, and considering that Flint and Weber swapped chapters, I suspect that that would account for why I cycled through liking or disliking the story depending on the plotline and characters. But the characters in 1632 helped move the story along. The characters in 1633 just kept coming and coming like a sea of immigrants on the shores of the plot. The story ended up moving the characters along. It felt more distant and less engaging for me at times. Even overwhelming.
Judging by the wide range of ratings for this book here on GoodReads, I suspect that those who loved the geeky history bits rated this book highly. Everybody else accounts for the the 2-3 star ratings. Therefore, if you dislike milieu books where the setting is the main character, you probably won't like this book very much. But if you do like milieu books enriched with hundreds of pages of concrete details, especially as they work out how to recreate technologies, you will likely thrill to read every page of 1633.