1634: The Baltic War

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1634: The Baltic War is the direct novel sequel to 1633 in the collaboratively written alternate history shared universe 1632 series by David Weber and Eric Flint. Flint has stated it is really the second half of one big novel.^[2]

A sequel to both the first-of-type sequels, Ring of Fire and 1633, it had to await schedule co-ordination by the two authors, which proved difficult and delayed the work by nearly two years. It continues the 'Main' or 'Central European thread'^[2] centered on the newly organized United States of Europe birthed in Central Germany under the protection-by-arms of Emperor Gustavus Adolphus (in the previous novel 1633) and in particular, the role of the citizens of Grantville, now of Thuringia, and the capital city of Magdeburg have to play on the world stage. With the stability imposed by the protection of Gustavus's armies, up-timers began migrating to other locales in the neohistories world as the year 1633 closed.

This "second half novel" neatly wraps up two plot threads left hanging in Flint and Weber's 1633 (2002): the resolution of the captive Grantville diplomatic mission that Charles I is holding in the Tower of London, and how Admiral Simpson's awkward looking fleet of ironclad warships managed to get out of the Elbe past the Imperial Free City of Hamburg to effect the lifting of Siege of Luebeck. The book also details ground battles as the Americans have been busy upgrading Gustavus's army into a highly trained professional army at the expense of the mercenaries so prevalent in the era.

Main (Central Europe) thread

• Novel: 1632, 2000.
• Novel: 1633, 2003.
• Anthology: Ring of Fire, 2004.

Literary significance and reception

Publishers Weekly in their review said that "While the technology that the modern Americans employ is decidedly useful, Flint and Weber emphasize the effect that the ideas of liberty, equality and the rule of law have, and not just on the peasantry and middle classes. The authors contrast those princes who try to forestall the judgment of history with those striving to achieve a transition from absolutism to democracy without bloodshed. Readers will eagerly look forward to further installments in this richly imagined alternate history series."^[3]

References

External links

• An excerpt of 1634: The Baltic War is available for download or reading online at the Baen Free Library here. The whole novel can be found here.