Helpful Score: 6
A fun time-travel book, wherein a contemporary West Virginia town is transported to 17th-century Germany, in the middle of the Thirty Years' War. I enjoyed finding out more about this period of history, and the author comes up with some very entertaining ideas about how this clash of cultures might play out. The rest of the series is less entertaining, but this first book is really enjoyable.
Helpful Score: 3
This book is a fantastic alternate history of Germany- or what happens when the small town of Grantville, West VA, of the 20th Century, suddenly appears smack in the middle of the history of Germany in the 1600s.
Helpful Score: 3
I read the free electronic version (from Baen's Free Library) of this, and it's a fun read. There is some death, mayhem, and destruction, so if that'd ruin your fun, don't read it. Warning: due to the slim price I paid for this, I may be biased in favor of it.
A nice riff on what might happen if nearly an entire town with reasonably modern weapons got thrown into the civil wars and such that ravaged much of the Old World. It occasionally breaks off for a quick history lesson, which I liked. If you've read Tolkien, which is very violent in places, you'll probably like this one, or at least, I did.
A nice riff on what might happen if nearly an entire town with reasonably modern weapons got thrown into the civil wars and such that ravaged much of the Old World. It occasionally breaks off for a quick history lesson, which I liked. If you've read Tolkien, which is very violent in places, you'll probably like this one, or at least, I did.
Helpful Score: 1
This started a series of books by Flint that seem to have no end at the present time. This was an excellent start and a good read in of itself. A West Virginia town is transport thru time to 1632 amid warfare and social upheaval...of course causing even more social upheaval. Mr. Flint is definitely a pro-labor writer as his main "hero" is the union head and the ideas espoused support this bias. This is only an observation not a real criticism of the storyline. Good characters from both the upstream side of things as well as the normal time characters are used and used well. A good read recommended. Book is also available online.
Helpful Score: 1
Creative and well written. An interesting alternate history scenario.
Helpful Score: 1
This is a guy book, most definately!!
Helpful Score: 1
Great book! I have already added 1633 to my wish list. I can't wait to check out the next book in this one! I recommend this book!
Helpful Score: 1
I absolutely love this book. An interesting story of "What if...", with engaging characters and a well-written plot.
Helpful Score: 1
A very good combination of time-travel and historical fiction. The characters are believable and you can easily lose yourself in their world. It can bog down just a little in parts if you are not a military history buff, but for the most part it's a really fun read!
Helpful Score: 1
This book is AWESOME! Having never read alternate history, I wasn't sure what to expect, but it opened my eyes to a whole new genre! My family history includes West Virginia coal miners so that aspect had me picking up the book--the thoroughly researched history of the Thirty Years' War kept me reading until I was finished. Now I collect the series. Eric Flint is a genius and all his co-authors as the series expands are well-known with sci-fi of their own. At least the first three books benefit from being read in order so the characters develop properly; the books then splinter those characters into situations of their own. Mr. Flint, please keep them coming!
Helpful Score: 1
This book started off great but quickly devolved into a history lesson. Some people will enjoy that, but I like my books to have more plot/imagination/character development, etc.
Helpful Score: 1
A friend gave this book to me. She really liked it and thought I would too. Reading the back, I kept putting it off. It really did not sound that interesting to me. I read about 10 pages and put it down again. Then I finally picked it up & read it. I absolutely loved it. There are some hard to believe areas, but over all a brilliant read. Just ordered 1633.
Helpful Score: 1
Introduced me to a whole new genre. This alternative history is fantastic. Mr Flint takes you to a believable place in time (or perhaps best said as out of time.) I totally enjoyed the story and was pleased that the author had done his homework on both American history and that of western Europe. A great read.
Not exactly a literary masterpiece but very entertaining. Better than I expected.
Fantastic beginning to a time travel/alternate history series.
A treat for lovers of action-SF or alternate history
I decided to get it based on member reviews, and i really really enjoyed it!
An interesting, little-known time illuminated in this alternate history. Not the greatest writing, but held my interest in terms of plot.
An entire West Virginia town is transplanted through time and space to 1632 Germany in the midst of a war. As you'd assume, their superior firepower makes quick work of the armies they face.
I picked this up because I'd read another alternate history book, Weapons of Choice, and a friend recommended it. I'd agree with the reviewer who says it bogs down in places - the descriptions of battles got a little tiresome sometimes. However, unlike Weapons of Choice, Flint does a GREAT job of getting you hooked on his fun, believable characters, both the West Virginians and the Germans (a young boy from 17th Century Germany who LOVES the 20th Century vehicles ends up having to drive a school bus in an emergency situation - one of the funniest parts of the book).
There were times I wasn't sure I wanted to continue this series after I finished this one, but I will definitely read at least 1633, which was written by Flint. The rest of it seems to get muddled with different authors writing and co-writing, and the timeline is screwy (not chronological from book to book and story to story, in the case of the short story ones). That being said, my husband has really enjoyed the first four.
I picked this up because I'd read another alternate history book, Weapons of Choice, and a friend recommended it. I'd agree with the reviewer who says it bogs down in places - the descriptions of battles got a little tiresome sometimes. However, unlike Weapons of Choice, Flint does a GREAT job of getting you hooked on his fun, believable characters, both the West Virginians and the Germans (a young boy from 17th Century Germany who LOVES the 20th Century vehicles ends up having to drive a school bus in an emergency situation - one of the funniest parts of the book).
There were times I wasn't sure I wanted to continue this series after I finished this one, but I will definitely read at least 1633, which was written by Flint. The rest of it seems to get muddled with different authors writing and co-writing, and the timeline is screwy (not chronological from book to book and story to story, in the case of the short story ones). That being said, my husband has really enjoyed the first four.
I was sort of dreading picking this up, and half expected to not finish it given its length of 500+ pages. But the writing drew me in immediately as the main characters are introduced. The âeventâ occurs pretty quickly and follows the townsmen as they discover they â⦠don't think we're in West Virginia anymore, Toto.â (which is a quote from the book.)
Then we are given a brief but somewhat confusing history lesson about Swedish king Gustavus Adolphus and the war ravaging Germany at the time. (I looked up this period on Wikipedia for more background, and portraits of some of the historical characters, although this hit me with what I thought was a sort of spoiler, so take care.) Then we return to the modern town and follow how they adapt to the whole mess.
There is a little too much of the romance involved between modern and 1632 characters as we follow along on how the âAmericansâ plan to survive in their new world. I skimmed over some pages telling us about the July 4th parade and the first wedding in the new world â neither of which moved the plot along, but helped pad the book. I also skipped over the long and tedious descriptions of battles, and came to the realization that my initial feeling was in fact correct and this was way too long and filled with unimportant details and romantic couplings, and did I mention battles?
If you are familiar with the Butterfly Affect, you might wonder, as I did, how killing hundreds of men who might have been great, great, great, great, great grandfathers of 20th century people would change the world that the Americans came from. Maybe even cause many of them of German ancestry to not exist. I kept expecting some of the modern characters to simply disappear as their ancestors were obliterated.
Since there are many sequels available I assume readers find out how this new United States impacts history, but I don't plan to find out.
Again, if you are into the 30 Years War, go for it; but Wikipedia will get you quicker to reading the next book on your list.
Then we are given a brief but somewhat confusing history lesson about Swedish king Gustavus Adolphus and the war ravaging Germany at the time. (I looked up this period on Wikipedia for more background, and portraits of some of the historical characters, although this hit me with what I thought was a sort of spoiler, so take care.) Then we return to the modern town and follow how they adapt to the whole mess.
There is a little too much of the romance involved between modern and 1632 characters as we follow along on how the âAmericansâ plan to survive in their new world. I skimmed over some pages telling us about the July 4th parade and the first wedding in the new world â neither of which moved the plot along, but helped pad the book. I also skipped over the long and tedious descriptions of battles, and came to the realization that my initial feeling was in fact correct and this was way too long and filled with unimportant details and romantic couplings, and did I mention battles?
If you are familiar with the Butterfly Affect, you might wonder, as I did, how killing hundreds of men who might have been great, great, great, great, great grandfathers of 20th century people would change the world that the Americans came from. Maybe even cause many of them of German ancestry to not exist. I kept expecting some of the modern characters to simply disappear as their ancestors were obliterated.
Since there are many sequels available I assume readers find out how this new United States impacts history, but I don't plan to find out.
Again, if you are into the 30 Years War, go for it; but Wikipedia will get you quicker to reading the next book on your list.
I just couldn't get into this book. There was too much of a damsel-in-distress and knight-in-shining-armor kind of thing going on. I was expecting more of a "Turtledove" experience and was disappointed.
