It is difficult, if not impossible, to review
Eric Flint's 1632 without referring to S.M. Stirling's Island
in the Sea of Time and sequels. As with the Stirling
novels, Flint takes a large piece of American real estate and sends it
back in time. While Stirling opted to send Nantucket back to a
prehistoric period, Flint has opted to send his characters back only as
far as the Thirty Years' War. Another major difference is his choice
of characters.
The town of Grantville, West Virginia is an unlikely
setting for a science fiction novel. Most science fiction authors
who have played with time dispersal focus their novels on universities or
laboratories or other places which provide them with intellectuals who can
discover what their situation is and act accordingly. Even the
recent Judith Tarr and Harry Turtledove collaboration, Household
Gods, focuses on an attorney, although one without much apparent
education outside her field. The time travelers in 1632
are mostly coal miners and others from a definitely blue collar
background. Flint's characters, led by Michael Stearns, the former
head of the local United Mine Workers of America chapter, demonstrate that
they are as able to live in a strange time as any other science fiction
characters.
Flint uses multiple viewpoints, presenting both the
displaced Americans and the indigenous Europeans in equal measure and with
equal care. Although the Americans have the benefit of an extra
three-and-a-half centuries of history and technology to draw on, Flint
makes it clear that much of that technology is a nonrenewable resource.
Furthermore, the Europeans have direct knowledge of the period and events
that the Americans can only learn from books.
One of Flint's shortcomings is the complexity of many
of the relationships, mostly historical, but also some of the fictional
ones. It is not always immediately clear how characters relate to
each other or whose sides they are on, especially when new characters are
introduced, which frequently occurs en masse. Eventually,
these relationships do straighten out by the simple expedience of
determining who is aligned with Stearns and the other Grantvillians and
who is opposed to them.
While 1632 could easily have become a war
story, Flint is always careful to return the story to his characters,
providing a focus for the reader and also presenting his workers in the
best possible light. The Grantvillians are not monolithic in their
approach to the situation, but they are able to come to consensus opinions
through debate. Furthermore, they bring a post-Viet Nam loathing of
actual war and battle to their situation. At the same time, they are
willing to resort to violence when necessary and have the skills they need
in the characters of Viet Nam war veterans and characters who are skilled
in hunting.
At times Flint's story moves a little slowly, and he
takes his time setting up the first meeting between the Grantvillians and
the forces who will eventually become their allies. However, this
leisurely plotting is necessary because it allows Flint to create the
necessary situation and the characters who drive the remainder of the
story.
Flint has apparently agreed to publish more books set
in the aftermath of 1632, which will allow his characters to branch
out and explore/conquer the world outside of Thuringia. Given the
characters Flint has already created, it will be interesting to see their
use of market forces and social ideas in their conquest rather than force
of arms.
Those of you following the adventures
of Grantsville, the American town ISOTed back to 16th century Germany,
will be glad to know that you can download a free and legal copy of 1632 here,
get sample chapters of 1633 here
and three complete short stories here.
