1634: The Ram Rebellion

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Title 1634: The Ram Rebellion
Hardcover anthology cover art.
Author Eric Flint, Virginia DeMarce, et al.
Country United States
Language English
Series 1632 series
Genre(s) Science fiction
Publisher Baen Books
Released April 25, 2006
Media type Print (Hardback)
Pages 512 pages
ISBN ISBN 1-4165-2060-0
Preceded by 1634: The Galileo Affair
Followed by 1635: The Canon Law

1634: The Ram Rebellion is the seventh published work in the 1632 series, and is the third work to establish what is best considered as the third mainline thread of historical speculative focus in the 1632 alternative-history universe (colloquially, the 1632-verse, or first 'Assiti Shards Universe'). It is an anthology with several longer Novelettes and one of five planned works set in the year 1634 in the parallel universe established in the first novel, 1632 (novel). Historians Eric Flint and Virginia DeMarce are the editors, as well as contributors of the essential story thread that begins in this work (See below: Authors Foreword).1634: The Ram Rebellion is currently available as an ebook and a hardcover novel.

As of this writing, the 1632 lead novel article contains a (draft) detailed description of the underlying history before the Assiti Shard event plunged the contemporary fictional town of Grantville, WV into heart of the conflict known as the Thirty Years' War. While in most of the works in this series where much of the story impact and attraction takes place in the halls of power inhabited by real historical figures, and their likely machiavellian realpolitik as the ideas and knowledge of Grantvilles residents impact the actions of historical figures— The first third of this book is written from the standpoint of the common man in the street, some of it Germans trying to cope with Grantville, WV, some of it from up-timers trying to cope with their new world around Grantville, and some of it a mix of both where the story focuses on the problems of two widely different cultures trying to adapt to each other in the new United States of Europe. These merging dynamics are the milieu shaping stories Flint felt necessary to include despite the fact they are all in the period 1631–1632, but their impact extends to the second two sections of the book and thus into 1634.

Contents

[edit] Story Line Premise

The reader engaging premise posed in the book series by historian/author Flint is what might happen in one of history's most turbulently vile and machiavellian periods if modern political thought backed by some modern knowledge and technology (rapid fire firearms, power plant, computers, modern library, internal combustion, flight... et al.) were to land smack in the middle of the most troubled region during what might be aptly called 'The Real First World War'.

Flint creates the fictional town of Grantville, West Virginia (modeled on the real town of Mannington) and drops it and its powerplant abruptly into the new time-space, through a side effect of an alien technology ( The Assiti Shards), transported back in time into the middle of the Thirty Years' War, in the German province of Thuringia during the middle of a wedding (accounting for the presence of a few characters not native to the town). Action, conflict, reaction, humor, and extremely interesting character development quickly follow in the fast paced tale as Grantville led by Mike Stearns, president of the local United Mine Workers of America (UMWA) suddenly have to cope with the raging war, its armies, language barriers, religious suppression (A pretext for the less noble machiavellian affairs of state by the eras superpowers that killed millions)

There are many actual historical figures occupying prominent or supporting roles in the novels as they react to the ripples of change as they radiate from Grantville, WV. The main article covering this aspect is currently List of Fictional Characters.

[edit] The Ram Rebellion Theme

With the example of future Grantsville, U.S.A., a peasant revolt becomes a revolutionary movement in the fractured Holy Roman Empire south and east of Thuringia while the Machievillian manevers in the neohistorical governments and various field armies now dance to counter-act those aimed at the Americans' new heartland. Up-timers, from the original USA space-time want the serfs to succeed and liberate themselves--but also know what a bloodbath the French Revolution became and various individuals act to help one and prevent the others. Avoiding that path will take all sorts of resources and efforts, and Americans from both uptime and down-time act resolutely to mitigate the problems, diplomacy to head off wars headed by authoritarians threatened by the new American ideals, and a deft appreciation of when not to fight and dangle an irresistible carrot instead.

[edit] 1632 as a Shared-World Series

1632, the tenth and lead novel in the complex series, is an upbeat science fiction alternate history novel. Originally intended to be a single story, it has grown into an open-ended series of seven published books with at least five books under advanced contract, plus three related ebooks likely to follow later in print.

Published about the same time Baen Books launched an author-to-fan forum (Baen's Bar), a thread quickly led to discussions of likely subsequent events. These removed the burden upon Flint to research the likely outcome and limiting circumstances within the timeframe. The author invited other authors to 'play in his milieu', and help define it (as was done in C. J. Cherryh's Merovingen Nights series, based on her novel Angel with the Sword (1985)). The initial result was the novel 1633, co-written with David Weber, and the anthology Ring of Fire, modified to be consistent across all the storylines within both. Each helped shape the other in the early development of the shared world.

Before 1970, such joint efforts were usually side stories careful not to complicate the main storyline of the hosting author, but the growth of the "shared world" concept since then has accustomed authors wishing to do it to juggling planning and editing cooperatively. Flint, apparently thinking it new and unique, inadvertently went Old School, inviting not only other professionals but his fans to participate, as Marion Zimmer Bradley had done for her Darkover series many years ago (apparently he was unaware of how this eventually resulted in a plagiarism suit by a fan fiction writer which prevented the publication of one of MZB's own novels and made fanfic controversial). Fans wrote 10 book-length works (ebooks included) in less than four years (by April 2006), which is not notable in fan fiction, compared with those produced by popular movies. With a firmly established and outlined milieu, the storyline expanded into many threads. This complexity and participation is part of 1632's fan appeal, and its continuation.

As well, many short stories have developed under Flint's editorship, anthologies collected as integral parts of the milieu development (reminiscent of the 1970s "shared world" of the Thieves' World series edited by Robert Asprin). This permits in-depth looks at the milieu from the viewpoint of Flint's minor characters at movers and shakers of the main storyline (the Novels). Flint has said that some of these will become major characters in later novels.


[edit] The Series Thus Far

1633 continues the story first in print, one of two co-developed and closely related sequels in the series. The other jointly developed work is an anthology called The Ring of Fire. The whole series will interleave anthologies with novels, where the former generally provide richer background, while the latter carry the many main story threads.

For main article and in depth discussion of series wide matters, see: 1632 series.

This material is organized in order of print publication, with no consideration until an ebook release reaches actual print publication. Such ebook cases are currently covered only in the blanket Wikipedia article The Grantville Gazettes — (Anthologies) ed. by Eric Flint; all available as eBooks, Volume I as PB edition, Volume II as Hardcover, Volume III scheduled release December 2006 as Hardcover, as well. Similar to the Ring of Fire, these stories also shape the general development of the shared world. The difference is ROF is a compilation of stories by established authors invited to contribute by Mr. Flint, while the GG-I—GG-VII anthologies are primarily by new authors with occasional contributions by established writers. As noted by the author's forward quoted in full above, they are germane to the series of the whole as their e-book publication establishes canon for the milieu and is incorporated into the copious 250+ page writer's guide 'Virginia's Grid[1]' thereafter.

[edit] See also

NOTE: All the below listed eBooks are produced in multiple unencrypted formats on Webscription.net, including RTF suitable for most word processor  applications software.
Free reading but partial version of the Ring of Fire (anthology), the co-sequel to the novel 1633.

Copyright© 2006 by Eric Flint

[edit] External links

1632 series
Web page links: Comments and Content notes
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.


Links to other books in the series


1632 parallel universe (1632-verse) series by Eric Flint, et.al.

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 |
 
Book Covers


1632 parallel universe (1632-verse) series by Eric Flint, et.al.

Main threads: | 1632 (All) | 1633 (All) | Ring of Fire (All) | The Galileo Affair (All) | The Ram Rebellion | The Cannon Law (eB) | The Cannon Law (HC) | The Baltic War | The Bavarian Crisis

The Grantville Gazettes: | GG I (Eb) | GG I (PB) | Gazette II (eB) | GG II (HC) | GG III (eB) | GG III (HC) | GG IV (eB) | GG V (eB) | GG VI (eB) | GG VII (eB)|
 
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