1632

1632
Author: Eric Flynt 2000 597 pp
My rating: 2*
Started February 23 2009, Finished February 28 2009.

This work of “alternative history” compels as an historical/military work, but repels as a literary undertaking -- it is the first book I’ve read since I started blogging in which I did not find a single passage worth highlighting or commenting upon. The basic story is that for reasons not relevant to the plot, a 6 mile diameter circular section of West Virginia circa 2000 AD is instantly and without warning relocated to central Germany in the midst of the 30 Years War. The worthwhile parts of the book provide some insight into the tactics and depredations of the 30 Years War or depict battle scenes between the West Virginians and the pike wielding infantry of 350 years earlier. The pleasures these aspects of 1632 provide are offset by the total lack of any humanly believable characters (all the main characters find love at first site, usually in the midst of battle with a person centuries removed) and the general implausibility of how events transpire once the West Virginians have accepted their new reality -- basically the Americans never make a wrong move and virtually everyone gets along perfectly and agrees with everyone else on all major issues. The head cheerleader who is also an utterly cold-blooded killer is a particularly eye-rolling creation.