# Book series I just discovered-1632 **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [December 31, 2002, 4:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/book-series-i-just-discovered-1632/145817 "2002-12-31T04:41:53Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Baker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2002, 4:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/book-series-i-just-discovered-1632/145817/1 "2002-12-31T04:41:53Z")
So I go to the bookstore on the day after Christmas, with gift certificates in my hot little hands. On a rack of “New Releases” I notice a book titled 1633 . The cover has an odd picture of a knight on horseback with an armored ship in the background. OK. I pick it up and start reading the blurb and it seems it is a sequel to a novel titled(suprise) 1632 . So I go buy that one, leaving the newer one for later. It’s one of those transposed in time/alternate history novels. Most of these have just one person, or very few, with limited resources, being transported. This has a whole town, with all it’s paraphenalia and technology, being plunked down into the middle of Germany during the Thirty Year’s War. Sounds wild, but to me it’s been great. Always did like history, and this one is extremely detailed. Great basis for a "What \*would \* you do sort of discussion. The author of 1632 is Eric Flint, and he co-wrote 1633 with David Weber. And there will be more books in the series, and an anthology of short stories that take place within the main plotlines of the books. I love it when I find a great new(to me) series! These books are great and I highly recommend them. Me, if I could keep just **one** luxury from “uptime” in the past that the town goes to, it would be an unlimited supply of toilet paper! ---
**Author:** ![Mephisto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/48db29/32.png) [@Mephisto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mephisto)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2002, 5:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/book-series-i-just-discovered-1632/145817/2 "2002-12-31T05:02:01Z")
I’ve never heard of this series, but it sounds interesting. I will check this series out next time I’m at the bookstore. Thanks. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2002, 5:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/book-series-i-just-discovered-1632/145817/3 "2002-12-31T05:34:51Z")
I read the first one, which was great. Haven’t read the second one yet. After Weber’s disappointing _The Shiva Option_ and the reports of the poor quality of the latest Honor Harrington book (which I still haven’t read), I’m a little gunshy about putting up the dough for a new Weber hardback. The only other Eric Flint I’ve read, his Belisaurius series, started out strong, but stumbled badly by the third book. I didn’t finish the series. Yeah, I think I’ll wait for paperback for _1633._ ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2002, 5:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/book-series-i-just-discovered-1632/145817/4 "2002-12-31T05:47:45Z")
I’ve read both books and be warned the overall tone of the series changes noticably between the first and second books. _1632_ was fairly light and action packed while _1633_ seemed to be taking itself more seriously. I have to assume this is Weber’s influence as co-author. I’m not saying that either book is better or worse, but you might find you don’t enjoy both equally. If you like the idea of a modern American town being sent back into the past, I’d very highly recommend S.M. Stirling’s Nantucket trilogy. ---
**Author:** ![Goofus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/7feea3/32.png) [@Goofus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Goofus)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2002, 5:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/book-series-i-just-discovered-1632/145817/5 "2002-12-31T05:49:11Z")
I liked _1632_, but haven’t read _1633_ yet. When I heard that a sequel was being worked on, I was hoping they would go forward a generation or two and explore the long-term historical and political results of the first book, like Harry Turtledove does with the _How Few Remain/Great War/American Empire_ series. I haven’t kept up with that series either. I’m not saying it’s bad, I just don’t have the inclination to plow through stories that span multiple novels anymore. I would have liked to have seen something like a _1685_ instead. ---
**Author:** ![Ephemera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8baadc/32.png) [@Ephemera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ephemera)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2002, 6:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/book-series-i-just-discovered-1632/145817/6 "2002-12-31T06:07:50Z")
I’ll have to give this book a look… alternative history’s probably my favorite genre. Thanks! 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Baker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2002, 6:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/book-series-i-just-discovered-1632/145817/7 "2002-12-31T06:08:00Z")
The next one will be 1634, The Baltic War . And while I do think 1685 would be a good book I really want to see what the short story anthology does. It will be able to deal with the supporting stories that the main novels don’t have space for. For example, what does a Catholic priest from uptime do, or to whom does he owe allegiance, in a world where the Inquisition is still in operation? One minor character in the second book(named Stoner, tee hee) has a greenhouse in which he has been growing all _kinds_ of interesting plants. Now he is popular with the two doctors and the pharmacist because of course they have run out of anesthetics and antibiotics, and some of what he has will help them out. They’ve even managed to “cook up” one of the older antibiotics, chloramphenicol. Yes, the tone did change some between the two books, but so did the situation of the people, as time passed. I took it as more of an adjustment they were making to really living in a different world. Still liked them both.