1632 (novel)
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 First edition cover |
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| Author | Eric Flint |
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| Country | USA |
| Language | English |
| Series | 1632 series |
| Genre(s) | Alternate History, Novel |
| Publisher | Baen Books |
| Released | February 1, 2000 |
| Media type | Print (Hardcover & Paperback) & ebook |
| Pages | 512 pp (first edition, hardback) |
| ISBN | ISBN 0-671-57849-9 (first edition, hardback) |
| Followed by | 1633 |
1632 is the initial novel in the best selling alternate history genre 1632 book series set in the Holy Roman Empire by historian, writer and editor Eric Flint. The flagship novel kicked off a remarkable collaborative writing effort that has involved hundreds of contributors, dozens of authors, and has published works now numbered well into the double digits—and if anything—is adding new titles at an increasingly fast pace (see: the two main articles). The premise involves a small American town of three thousand 'Hillbillies' sent back to April 1631, during the Thirty Years' War.
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[edit] Plot summary
The fictional town of Grantville, WV (modeled on the real town of Mannington, West Virginia) and its power plant are displaced in space-time, through a side effect (an accident, in truth) of an alien technology (The Assiti Shards).
A hemispherical section of land about three miles in radius measured from the town center is transported back in time from April of 2000 (our time line 'OTL') into the middle of the Thirty Years' War, in the German province of Thuringia in the Thuringer Wald in May of 1631, near the fictional German free city of Badenburg. This Assiti event occurs during a wedding reception, accounting for the presence of a few characters not native to the town, including an extra doctor and his daughter, a nurse. Real Thuringian municipalities located close to Grantville are posited as Weimar, Jena, Saalfeld and the more remote Erfurt, Arnstadt, and Eisenach; all located in the valley of the Saale River East of the Palatinate (Rhine) well to the south of Halle and Leipzig.
Grantville, led by Mike Stearns, president of the local United Mine Workers of America (UMWA), and a supporting cast of characters widely diverse in background and viewpoint cope with the town's space-time dislocation, the surrounding raging war, language barriers, and numerous social and politician issues, including class conflict, witchcraft, feminism, the reformation and the counter-reformation, among many other factors. One complication is a compounding of the town's food shortage when the town is flooded by refugees from the war. Flint also addresses the culture shock experienced by the 1631 locals exposed to the mores of contemporary society, including modern dress, sexual liberation, and boisterous American-style politics.
In a more practical vein, the plot covers short-term survival of the town, as well as the long-term question of how to maintain technology sundered from twenty-first century resources. Throughout 1631, Grantville manages to establish itself locally forming the nascent United States of Europe (USE) with several local free cities (and a couple which aren't) while the war-clouds dog the northern German plain. But once Count Tilly falls during the Battle of Breitenfeld outside of Leipzig, King Gustavus Adolphus rapidly moves the war theater to Grantville's south into Franconia and Bavaria, both of which are on Grantville's doorstep. The events of 1632 thereafter qualify as interesting times leading up to the creation of an awkward Confederated Principalities of Europe (CPoE) and some measure of security for Grantville's up-timer and down-timer populations.
[edit] Characters in "1632"
[edit] Historical figures in the book
Several historical figures occupy prominent or supporting roles in the novel include King Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden, Count Tilly, and Albrecht von Wallenstein, all general officers of note and fame, Cardinal Richelieu, takes on the role of the ultimate villain forced by circumstance in the later third of the work.
[edit] Characters of more than minor note
To the historical personalities, Flint adds fictional characters of local origin (down-timers) including some with a real historical basis like the various members of the Abrabanel family (composite characters), or the holder of this or that office. He then creates action by introducing up-time Americans (i.e. those caught by the Ring of Fire from the future) in conversations large and small:
- Balthazar Abrabanel – Jewish Doctor, Spy, Financier to Kings
[edit] Release details
- 2000, USA, Pocket Books (ISBN 0-671-57849-9), Pub date ? February 2000, hardcover (First edition)
- 2001, USA, Baen Books (ISBN 0-671-31972-8), ? February 2001, paperback
- 2001, ?, Rebound by Sagebrush (ISBN 0-613-36671-9), ? October 2001, hardback (Library binding)
- 2006, USA, Baen Books (ISBN 1-4165-3281-1), 30 June 2006, paperback
- The full text of the novel is available from the Baen Free Library as an e-book: February 2000, DOI:0671578499
For Publishing data on all books in the series, see Publishing History.
[edit] External links
| 1632 series | ||
| Web page links: | Comments and Content notes | |
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| Baen Books in the 1632 series | List of 1632 Series Books grouped by the series by Baen Books. Includes the first few chapters of each. |
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| http://bar.baen.com/ | Baen's Bar is an official fan-forum with several specific sections (sub-forums) dedicated to the 1632 universe. These are: 1632 Tech Manual, and 1632 Slush for manuscript submission (Slushpile in publishing: Stack of manuscripts for vetting) and 1632 Comments where Peer review feedback, suggestions, and comments on the slushpile submissions are posted. The two together form a collective collaborative workshop for wannabe authors. |
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| http://ericflint.net/ | Eric Flint's website, which has much about his work currently in progress or upcoming (in publication, in planning, under contract, in process) matters in the publication cycle. |
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| http://www.1632.org | The official web site by Eric Flint's 1632.org on and about the 1632 universe and related matters. It is run by the 1632 Research Committee in conjunction with the 1632 Editorial Board. It includes the canonical references for the entire book series available for browsing and download by any participating in the collaborative writing process in the series. Eric's partners that are also professional writers use the same data. If you want to write a contribution to The Grantville Gazettes, this is a must-visit site. Additional Technical articles resulting from 1632 Tech Manual discussions and the Research Committee are also posted here. |
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| klaus-leiss.de/1632Tech | 1632 universe dedicated German Wikiproject organized to cross reference and encyclopediatize matters and characters pertaining to the 1632verse. Another must-browse site for would-be contributors to The Grantville Gazettes and students of Collaborative writing projects. | |
| 1632 parallel universe (1632-verse) series by Eric Flint, et.al. |
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Main threads: | 1632 | 1633 | Ring of Fire | The Galileo Affair | The Ram Rebellion | The Cannon Law | The Baltic War | The Bavarian Crisis The Grantville Gazettes: | Grantville Gazette I | Gazette II | Gazette III | Gazette IV | Gazette V | Gazette VI | Gazette VII | |
