1632 Review

Author: Eric Flint

Publishers: Baen Books (available free on their website)

Quick Synopsis: American town sent back in time recreates the American Revolution in 1700's Germany.

Quick Review: The book that'll make you believe in American Exceptionalism

It's a hard time for America these days. Regardless of your opinion as to the cause, the country's prestige and reputation has disintegrated over the last decade. American Exceptionalism is an ideal dying in the streets, fatally injured by war, greed and corruption. The concept has been distorted and twisted, until the very idea is under debate. No longer is the US the ideal every other country looks too for inspiration and encouragement

Perhaps that's why I find myself returning to 1632, by Eric Flint. While 1632 may be, by definition, a science fiction story, in reality it's an exploration of what America means when it's placed against the ropes, when its prestige and power are destroyed and forgotten. 1632 sits down and explores how hard it is to be what America believes itself to be. And frankly, it works very well.

Plot: The town of Grantville, a small mining town in West Virginia, is sent back in time by a cosmic accident (called the Ring of Fire by the witnesses), to 1630's Germany, mired in the midst of the Hundred Year War. The populace are forced to adapt themselves to this new world as they try to maintain their own beliefs against the powerful empires that surround them.

The core of 1632 is the argument between the various characters of Grantville as they try to forge their own opinions into a coherent government as they face the severe challenges of living in the midst of a sprawling war. Core to this is their relationship with their downtime German neighbours (in 1632 parlance, downtime refers to someone from the 17th century while uptime refers to the immigrants from the 21st century), with the debate revolving around how much influence the German populace should be allowed within the government. Basically the argument devolves to whether this new America will be run by the uptimers or whether it should be open to all. Flint's opinions on this are fairly clear (option two) with the opposing faction being shown to either racist or afraid. Where the book really works though is in the difficulties shown. Being the multicultural society is never portrayed as easy or calm and the challenges are clearly portrayed. Most notably, being an open society is portrayed as far, far harder than the safer alternatives.

It helps that 1632 is written with a clear knowledge of history and politics. Flint's a historian and it shows constantly. I suspect that 1632 may have to be one of the most accurate alternate-history books ever, which is all the more impressive when you realise it's set in a very unknown area of history (seriously, how often does 17th century politics and leadership come up in daily conversation?). Famous historical figures like Cardinal Richlieu and Gustav Adolf are integral to the plot and allowed to be both characters and famed historical figures. Indeed, one of the most horrible moments in the series is the moment when the down-time Jews discover about the Holocaust.

Another delight is the characters. Flint allows himself a number of liberties in the composition of the cast (the Ring of Fire occurs during a wedding with the wedding guests trapped in Grantville) and the resulting diversity definitely adds to the story. There's a likeable set of easily recognisable characters from both timelines in the novel and they all receive the attention and time they need to develop over the course of the novel. Among my favourite characters has to be the town's token liberal activist Melissa Mailey who spends much of the novel scathingly eviscerating the male cast. The other fun one has to be Julie Simms, the head cheerleader of the local school and potential ski-and-shoot olympiad, who takes the role of chief sniper for the proto-US military. In addition most of the villain characters are allowed to be human beings, rather than capering cliches. About the only one who fails in this regard is the token up-time villain, who manages to be consistently dislikeable throughout the book (it should be noted that he gets a believable re-write in 1633 and onwards, becoming one of the country's top military leaders).

1632 features a wide and inventive story line that really hits the ground running. While much of the story revolves around Grantville's efforts to remain independent and free, it doesn't shirk on the personal development. There are several weddings, political conversions and unintended consequences for all the cast with much debate revolving around them. The internal debates of how to organise and rule are given a lot of credence during the course of the story. One of my favourite elements is the amount of time given to the Grantville constitutional convention (frequently a lot more than the battles are given). Flint's clearly interested in the morality of these political positions and likes to emphasis the difficulty of doing the right thing. A consistent theme is the 'American Aristocracy', the idea that, because the Grantvillians have so much more future knowledge, they should be protected and served by the down-time Germans. Flint's opinion of this is fairly pungent.

Despite the seriousness of the novel, there's plenty of fun to be had within. There's a strong vein of culture shock humour on both sides, a lot of which is due to American incomprehension of the relative tech/ culture levels. There's also a consistent array of hill-billy jokes, mostly cracked by the hill-billies themselves. Much fun is made of American and German mores as well as dress styles. There's a screamingly funny moment involving music as psychological warfare and a great scene where a number of up-time characters compare which one of their relatives was the most villainous.

1632 is a good novel for a number of reasons. Firstly, it's a good novel, with a host of interesting and fun characters facing a number of intertwining dilemmas. Secondly, it's a good sci-fi novel, with a clever and intriguing premise that the author handles well. Finally, and most importantly, it speaks to the reader. This is a book that is about who you want to be. The Up-time Americans have to face the sudden loss of all that makes America powerful and have to decide how to get it back. It's a tribute to Flint's writing and passion that you find yourself fully believing in his opinion of what makes truly America great.