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A review by jonathanpalfrey
1632 by Eric Flint
3.0
This book has an unmistakable general similarity to [b:Island in the Sea of Time|99702|Island in the Sea of Time (Nantucket, #1)|S.M. Stirling|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1340627722l/99702._SY75_.jpg|96121] by [a:S.M. Stirling|14002|S.M. Stirling|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1440541452p2/14002.jpg].
Both books describe a small chunk of the modern USA, populated by thousands of people, being hurled into the past by some unknown agency and left there. In both cases the Americans are of course well in advance of current science and technology, and use their advantages to defeat enemies, make friends, acquire more territory, convert locals into American citizens, and spread American social and political ideas around.
Stirling's book was published two years earlier. Did Flint deliberately copy the idea, or was it coincidence? I don't know.
The main difference is that Stirling's Americans are flung back to 1250 BC without changing their geographical location, while Flint's Americans are flung back to 1631 AD (not 1632, despite the book's title) and find themselves in Germany, in the middle of the Thirty Years War.
In both books, the characters tend to be rather too good to be true, as though the author decided on their basic characteristics and then added saturation in Photoshop. I'd say the effect is a bit more blatant in Flint's book; in fact, Stirling is a significantly better writer and I rate his book higher.
However, Flint's book is quite entertaining if you like this kind of story, and I enjoyed it well enough. Don't expect high literature: this is an unpretentious adventure story, lacking in subtlety.
Military events are quite prominent in both books, but more so in Flint's, as his characters are actually dropped into the middle of a war, whereas Stirling's characters are under no immediate military threat, and get involved in fighting only after they start exploring.
Stirling's characters fairly soon run out of ammunition for their 20th century weapons, and have to start designing and making their own weapons and ammunition. Flint's characters, however, seem to have remarkably large stocks of ammunition.
Both books show evidence of substantial research and taught me something about the respective time periods, neither of which I'd previously studied.
So far, I haven't felt the urge to read any sequels to this book. This one is quite fun, but the quality of writing leaves something to be desired, and the sequels seem to be lower rated by other readers.
Both books describe a small chunk of the modern USA, populated by thousands of people, being hurled into the past by some unknown agency and left there. In both cases the Americans are of course well in advance of current science and technology, and use their advantages to defeat enemies, make friends, acquire more territory, convert locals into American citizens, and spread American social and political ideas around.
Stirling's book was published two years earlier. Did Flint deliberately copy the idea, or was it coincidence? I don't know.
The main difference is that Stirling's Americans are flung back to 1250 BC without changing their geographical location, while Flint's Americans are flung back to 1631 AD (not 1632, despite the book's title) and find themselves in Germany, in the middle of the Thirty Years War.
In both books, the characters tend to be rather too good to be true, as though the author decided on their basic characteristics and then added saturation in Photoshop. I'd say the effect is a bit more blatant in Flint's book; in fact, Stirling is a significantly better writer and I rate his book higher.
However, Flint's book is quite entertaining if you like this kind of story, and I enjoyed it well enough. Don't expect high literature: this is an unpretentious adventure story, lacking in subtlety.
Military events are quite prominent in both books, but more so in Flint's, as his characters are actually dropped into the middle of a war, whereas Stirling's characters are under no immediate military threat, and get involved in fighting only after they start exploring.
Stirling's characters fairly soon run out of ammunition for their 20th century weapons, and have to start designing and making their own weapons and ammunition. Flint's characters, however, seem to have remarkably large stocks of ammunition.
Both books show evidence of substantial research and taught me something about the respective time periods, neither of which I'd previously studied.
So far, I haven't felt the urge to read any sequels to this book. This one is quite fun, but the quality of writing leaves something to be desired, and the sequels seem to be lower rated by other readers.