1635: The Eastern Front

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1635: The Eastern Front
1635 The Eastern Front.jpg
First edition cover
Author Eric Flint
Cover artist Tom Kidd
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Series 1632 series
Genre Alternate History
/Science fiction
Publisher Baen Books
Publication date
October 5, 2010
Media typePrint (hardback)
Pages369 p.
ISBN 978-1-4391-3389-7
OCLC 555638250
813.6
LC Class PS3556.L548 A61866 2010
Preceded by 1635: The Tangled Web  
Followed by 1636: The Saxon Uprising  

1635: The Eastern Front is an alternate history novel by Eric Flint in the 1632 series, [1] first published in hardcover by Baen Books on October 5, 2010, with a paperback edition following from the same publisher in November 2011. [2] It is a sequel to 1635: The Tangled Web and is directly continued by 1636: The Saxon Uprising .

Contents

Plot summary

In the alternative history scenario of the novel and series, Swedish king Gustavus Adolphus, has with the aid of the time-displaced citizens of Grantville, West Virginia, tipped the balance in the Thirty Years' War and become emperor of much of Germany, now reorganized as the United States of Europe. Having at least temporarily sidelined Austria and France, the main enemies of the new state, he is free to turn his attention to the rebellious states of Brandenburg and Saxony and pursue his dream of conquering Poland. The former are duly reconquered and the latter invaded.

West Virginian Mike Stearns, former prime minister of the USE and now a major general in command of the army's third division of the USE army, acquits himself well in the campaign, but atrocities committed by some of his men lead him to establish the Hangman Regiment to police his own forces, under the command of new-minted Light Colonel Jeff Higgins.

Meanwhile, on the home front, other sequences of events involve Mike's wife Rebecca Abrabanel and the Swedish royal family. French Huguenots attempt to assassinate Gustavus's daughter Princess Kristina and her betrothed Prince Ulrik in an attempt to provoke the wrath of the Swedes and Danes against Cardinal Richelieu and the government of their Catholic-ruled country. The prince and princess escape, though her mother, the queen Maria Eleonora, is murdered.

Gustavus's eastern war is stalled in the battle of Lake Bledno, in which he gains a strategic victory but receives a life-threatening wound. His hitherto-loyal chancellor Axel Oxenstierna takes the opportunity to seize power in an attempt to reverse the democratizing influence of the West Virginians, endangering the USE at a critical juncture.

Literary significance and reception

The reviewer for SFRevu gave a positive review and wrote "One of the best things about Flint’s writing is the smooth flow of his battle descriptions. He presents the majesty and the horror without getting bogged down in a blow by blow recounting of the action. He seamlessly meshes the multitude of points of view into a coherent tale that spans the limits of the USE. It is enjoyable to read the way he brings action in the side books into the main plot. That has always been one of the hallmarks of the series." [3] The reviewer for a Shiny Book Review wrote that the "story takes awhile to get going" while also praised the author by writing that "with typical deftness, Eric Flint can usually create a great story" and "this is an Eric Flint novel, so you know the editing is going to be sound." [4]

1635: The Eastern Front barely missed getting listed on the Locus Hardcovers Bestsellers List in 2011, but did well enough to be labeled as a runner-up. [5]

Related Research Articles

<i>1632</i> (novel) Alternate history novel by Eric Flint; first in the 1632 series

1632 is the initial novel in the best-selling alternate history book series, "1632", written by American historian, writer, and editor Eric Flint.

<i>1632</i> series Novel series

The 1632 series, also known as the 1632-verse or Ring of Fire series, is an alternate history book series and sub-series created, primarily co-written, and coordinated by American author Eric Flint and published by Baen Books.

<i>1633</i> (novel)

1633 is an alternate history novel co-written by American authors Eric Flint and David Weber published in 2002, and sequel to 1632 in the 1632 series. 1633 is the second major novel in the series and together with the anthology Ring of Fire, the two sequels begin the series hallmarks of being a shared universe with collaborative writing being very common, as well as one that, far more unusually, mixes many canonical anthologies with its works of novel length. That is because Flint wrote 1632 as a stand-alone novel, though with enough "story hooks" for an eventual sequel, and because Flint feels "history is messy" and the books reflect that real life is not a smooth, polished linear narrative flow from the pen of some historian but is instead clumps of semi-related or unrelated happenings that somehow sum up how different people act in their own self-interests.

<i>1634: The Ram Rebellion</i>

1634: The Ram Rebellion is the seventh published work in the 1632 alternate history book series, and is the third work to establish what is best considered as a "main plot line or thread" of historical speculative focus that are loosely organized and classified geographically. The initial main thread is called the "Western and North-Central Europe thread" ; the second plot line, encompassing events in Italy, Spain, the Mediterranean region, and France, the "South European thread", and this book can be considered the starting novel of the "South-Central/South-East thread" being set in southern Germany, Austria, Bavaria, and Bohemia. This geographically organized plot thread actually began in Ring of Fire in Flint's novelette "The Wallenstein Gambit" which is set in Bohemia, Austria, and Germany, which tied into stories in various Grantville Gazettes.

The Grantville Gazettes are anthologies of short stories set in the 1632 universe introduced in Eric Flint's novel 1632 that is primarily published as a bi-monthly electronic magazine.

<i>Grantville Gazette II</i>

Grantville Gazette II is the third collaborative anthology published in print set in the 1632-verse shared universe in what is best regarded as a canonical sub-series of the popular alternate history that began with the February 2000 publication of the hardcover novel 1632 by author-historian Eric Flint. Baen Books and Flint decline the distinction, counting this book as the sixth published work. Overall it is also the third anthology in printed publication in the atypical series, which consists of a mish-mash of main novels and anthologies produced under popular demand after publication of the initial novel, which was written as a stand-alone work.

<i>1634: The Galileo Affair</i>

1634: The Galileo Affair is the fourth book and third novel published in the 1632 series. It is co-written by American authors Eric Flint and Andrew Dennis and was published in 2004. It follows the activities of an embassy party sent from the United States of Europe (Grantville) to Venice, Italy, where the three young Stone brothers become involved with the local Committees of Correspondence and the Inquisition's trial of Galileo Galilei.

<i>1635: The Cannon Law</i> Book by Eric Flint and Andrew Dennis

1635: The Cannon Law is the sixth book and fifth novel published in the 1632 series by Eric Flint and Andrew Dennis. It is the second novel in the French-Italian plot thread, which began with 1634: The Galileo Affair and was published by Baen Books in 2006. The book explores the reactions of the Roman Catholic hardliners to Pope Urban VIII's actions in tolerating the new freedom of religion taking root in Central Europe during the climax of The Galileo Affair.

<i>1634: The Baltic War</i>

1634: The Baltic War is a sequel to both the first-of-type sequels, Ring of Fire and 1633, co-written by American authors Eric Flint and David Weber published in 2007. It had to await schedule co-ordination by the two authors, which proved difficult and delayed the work by nearly two years. It continues theMain or Central European threadcentered on the newly organized United States of Europe birthed in Central Germany under the protection-by-arms of Emperor Gustavus Adolphus 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.

<i>1634: The Bavarian Crisis</i>

1634: The Bavarian Crisis is a novel in the alternate history 1632 series, written by Virginia DeMarce and Eric Flint as sequel to Flint's novella "The Wallenstein Gambit"; several short stories by DeMarce in The Grantville Gazettes; 1634: The Ram Rebellion; and 1634: The Baltic War. The novel's first draft was completed in 2005, before work on The Baltic War began. Many chapters of that "early draft version" were available on line, but the final production reached print on October 1, 2007.

<i>Ring of Fire II</i>

Ring of Fire II is a 2008 anthology created by editor-author-historian Eric Flint. It is the second anthology in the 1632 series following after Ring of Fire (2004).

<i>1635: The Dreeson Incident</i>

1635: The Dreeson Incident (2008) is a novel in the alternate history 1632 series, written by Virginia DeMarce and Eric Flint, as a sequel to Flint's novella 1634: The Bavarian Crisis.

<i>1635: The Tangled Web</i>

1635: The Tangled Web is a novel in the alternate history 1632 series, written by Virginia DeMarce.

<i>1636: The Saxon Uprising</i>

1636: The Saxon Uprising is an alternate history novel by Eric Flint in the 1632 series, first published in hardcover by Baen Books on March 29, 2011, with a paperback edition following from the same publisher in March 2012. It is a direct continuation of 1635: The Eastern Front. The threads mentioned in this novel are taken up in 1637: The Polish Maelstrom.

<i>Ring of Fire III</i>

Ring of Fire III is an anthology created by editor-author-historian Eric Flint, first published in hardcover by Baen Books in July 2011. It is the third anthology in the 1632 series following after Ring of Fire II (2008).

<i>1636: The Kremlin Games</i>

1636: The Kremlin Games is a novel in the 1632 series written by Gorg Huff and Paula Goodlett along with Eric Flint. It is the fourth book in the series to be listed on the New York Times bestseller list for hardcover fiction. This book reached number 30 on the NY Times list during a single week in June 2012. Besides being listed on the NY Times Best Seller list, 1636: The Kremlin Games was also listed on the Locus Hardcovers Bestsellers List for the month of September in 2012 at number 6.

<i>1635: The Papal Stakes</i>

1635: The Papal Stakes is novel in the 1632 series written by Charles Gannon and Eric Flint. It was published in 2012 and is the direct sequel to 1635: The Cannon Law published in 2006. This book is the third in the South European fork to the main 1632 series storyline. The story follows the exploits of younger members of the Stone family in Italy and describes the impact of Grantville on the Roman Catholic church and on the patchwork of independent countries in the Italian peninsula.

<i>1636: The Devils Opera</i>

1636: The Devil's Opera is a stand-alone novel in the alternative history 1632 series with minor character overlaps. Published on October 1, 2013 the book is written by David Carrico and Eric Flint. It is a semi-detective novel set in a growing industrial city that is a continuation of two series of stories that David Carrico had originally written in the electronic versions of the Grantville Gazette that were serialized over several issues and later compiled into the compilation 1635: Music and Murder, one series involving criminal investigation and crime fighting and other series involving music and social revolution.

<i>1636: Commander Cantrell in the West Indies</i>

1636: Commander Cantrell in the West Indies is a novel in the 1632 series written by Eric Flint and Charles E. Gannon and published on June 3, 2014.

Ryk E. Spoor is an American science fiction and fantasy author, who also writes research grant proposals for a technology firm. He published his first novel, Digital Knight in 2003, and has gone on to publish over a dozen more novels, often in collaboration with author Eric Flint on their Boundary series. He is nicknamed "seawasp" or "Sea Wasp", an online handle he has been using since 1977 in venues such as Livejournal, Dreamwidth and Usenet.

References

  1. "Uchronia: The Assiti Shards (1632) Series". www.uchronia.net.
  2. 1635: The Eastern Front title listing at the Internet Speculative Fiction Database
  3. Lawhorn, Bill (October 5, 2010). "1635: The Eastern Front (The Ring of Fire) by Eric Flint". SFRevu.
  4. Cordova, Jason (January 21, 2011). "The Eastern Front – A Primer of Things To Come". Shiny Book Review. Archived from the original on April 27, 2014.
  5. "Locus Bestsellers, January 2011". Locus . January 2011.