1632 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 Eric Flint and published by Baen Books. The series is set in 17th century Europe in which the small fictional town of Grantville, West Virginia, in the year 2000 was sent to the past in central Germany in the year 1631, during the Thirty Years' War.

Contents

Series overview

The 1632 series began with Flint's stand alone novel 1632 (released February 2000). It is, excepting the lead novel and the serialized e-novel The Anaconda Project (2007), virtually all collaboratively written, including some "main works" with multiple co-authors. However, Flint has mentioned contracts with the publisher for at least two additional solo novels he has in planning on his website. Flint, whose bibliography is dominated by collaborative work, claims that this approach encourages the cross-fertilization of ideas and styles, stimulating the creative process and preventing stale, formulaic works.[1]

As stated in the first Grantville Gazette and on his site, Flint's novel 1632 was an experiment[2] wherein he explores the effect of transporting a mass of people through time.

1632 occurs in the midst of the Thirty Years' War (1618—1648). The plot situation allows pragmatic American union-oriented political thought to grind against the authoritarian religion-driven societies of an unconsolidated Germany barely out of the Middle Ages. Flint explores examples of suffering due to the petty politics of self-aggrandizement and self-interest on the one hand, and the irreconcilable differences of the schism in Christianity such as the Protestant Reformation and the Counter-Reformation on the other. Despite the fact that the shift puts Grantville in May 1631 initially, because of the ongoing war and the primitive transportation networks of the day Grantville's arrival has something of a delayed impact, so the bulk of the book's action takes place in 1632, hence the name.

The series was initially continued with two collaborative works that were more or less written concurrently: 1633 (with best selling novelist David Weber) and an anthology called Ring of Fire (with other established science-fiction writers, including long "deep background" stories by both Weber and Flint).

Overall, the narratives are not oriented on one group of protagonists with a strong lead character, but instead is carried by an ensemble cast — though most books or short stories do have several strong characters who carry the action and plot forward. Flint had intended from the outset that the whole town would be the collective protagonist; a reflection of his philosophy that historic forces are not centered in the main on the actions of one or two key individuals, but on the many small independent actions of the many going about their daily lives and coping as best they can.

By late in 1632, the New United States-led coalition of the Confederated Principalities of Europe had become the arsenal and financier (through Jewish connections of real historical interest) for Swedish King Gustavus Adolphus. This leads the scheming Cardinal Richelieu, who'd been previously financing him to spite and weaken the Habsburgs, to turn on the Swedes. Various books from up-time Grantville, especially history books, had found avid readers amongst Europe's ruling elites, changing the plans and strategies of major players of the time.

Richelieu forms a four way alliance, the League of Ostend, to oppose the New United States, Gustavus' expeditionary army, and allied princes of the German states. After the first book, the series begins multiple plot lines or story threads reflecting this independence of action by a multitude of characters. The sequel 1633 spreads the Americans out geographically over Central Europe. Next, the novel 1634: The Galileo Affair, and the first of the anthologies called the Grantville Gazettes introduced new strong characters. The former begins what is called the South European thread, and some of the stories in the latter and Ring of Fire began the Eastern European thread (Austria-Hungary northwards to Poland).

Co-author of 1633, New York Times best-selling author David Weber was contracted for no less than five books in the series in what is called the Central European or Main thread of the series, but there was a lengthy delay before the two busy authors could synchronize schedules to write that next mainline sequel together, 1634: The Baltic War, released in May 2007.

Without waiting for Weber, other sequels such as 1634: The Ram Rebellion, 1635: The Cannon Law, and the Grantville Gazettes continue in one thread or another with in-depth looks at societal ramifications from technology, religion, and social unrest as Europe deals with the outlandish ideas of Grantville's influential presence, to machinations of Europe's elites trying to maintain their hold on power, or leverage off of Grantville triggered events or knowledge for reasons of self-interest.

Collective collaborative effort

Fans are encouraged to contribute to the series though an online message board known as Baen's Bar. The entire Grantville Gazette and large portions of the Ring of Fire anthology, both of which are considered canonical, are paid, fan-written (albeit edited by Flint) works, and have directly contributed material to the main novels. The author also worked with other established authors to develop new stories and plot lines for further novels which are also published in the two Ring of Fire anthologies.

"Ring of Fire" has several levels of meaning: First it is the eponymous reference to what the town-folk themselves (and the few outside German witnesses) have come to call the observed phenomenon of their time-space juxtaposition. Secondly, it is a disparaging reference to the effects on the population of Germany at large, suffering under the war's environment outside American-controlled territory, used by Mike Stearns addressing a town meeting:

Then to the crowd: "According to Melissa Mailey, we now live in a world where kings and noblemen rule the roost. And they've turned all of central Europe—our home, now, ours and our children's to come—into a raging inferno. We are surrounded by a Ring of Fire. Well, I've fought forest fires before. So have lots of other men in this room. The best way to fight [such] a fire is to start a counterfire. So my position is simple. I say we start the American Revolution—a hundred and fifty years ahead of schedule!"

The beginning

1632 is the lead novel in the 1632 series. It is a science fiction (alternate history) novel originally released in November 2000, but atypically, continues to actually increase in quarterly sales, as are most of the sequels.[3] Originally a single stand-alone story, the novel is now the first of an open-ended series with over twenty-six works of all kinds including e-published only works (e-books) of which twelve are standard trade printed books (Three of eighteen of the bi-monthly Gazettes, and counting) are the printed canonical Grantville Gazettes (I, II, and III, the first of which is almost entirely longer fiction Flint couldn't put in the already lengthy Ring of Fire shared universe collection, the de facto first sequel antedating collaborative work on 1633, and of which two have been best sellers) published in print and an additional rapidly growing number related Grantville Gazettes e-books or e-zines (not in print).

In writing 1632, Flint's web forum "Mutter of Demons" at Baen's Bar was soon taken over by exploratory posts as captivated readers commented on the E-ARC released book, creating a ground swell of interest ("internet Buzz") in the months before its hardcover release. So strong was the response, especially after the release of the printed work, that a new 1632 Tech Manual sub-forum was created for discussions about it in early 2000, for the discussions had also spilled over into Weber's "Bu-ships" tech forum, and Weber joined the bandwagon by suggesting a sequel was in order. In the event, the two co-wrote 1633 and collaborated further on integrating the short fiction (much of it, unsolicited) into the de facto Ring of Fire sequel.[4] It was followed by two other related forums: 1632 Slush and 1632 Comments within the next two years.

The Grantville Gazettes are a series of short stories in the collaborative fiction experiment, which started life as an online serialized magazine with an inconsistent and sporadic publication history. After the death of Jim Baen and with the publication of Grantville Gazette X by Baen Books, the last under contract with Baen, the Gazettes were again reconstituted as a subscription e-zine, now published regularly at six per year (bi-monthly) and paying above standard rates for submissions. They are a "boiler room" powering the collaborative synergy by the people involved with the 1632 Tech Manual and have developed into a repository for new ideas and themes in the series, although most explore the personal experiences of minor characters in the series or examine in depth some aspect (e.g. a multi-part serial explores and details Grantville's impact on public health in general, and the establishment of twin teaching hospitals as a joint project of the University of Jena and Grantville's new hospital, the Lahey Clinic.) In general, the anthologies in the series depict deep background canonical to future tales, but which are not in the main stream "action" of the novels focus. A group of stories have on several occasions produced a new plot thread.

Series

Novels
Title Publication date Author Co-Author ISBN Notes
1632 2000 Eric Flint N/A 0-671-57849-9 This is the first work in the Assiti Shards fictional universe and the 1632-verse
Grantville, West Virginia, in the 1990s, is transposed within an area of southern Thuringia of Germany in the 1630s. Grantvillers subsequently take on the Holy Roman Empire's troops in the Thirty Years War, in order to maintain their own town's integrity.
1633 2002 Eric Flint David Weber 0-7434-3542-7 This is the direct sequel to 1632
Grantville joins sides with Gustavus Adolphus, and tries to recreate the Germanies in the image of the United States.
1634: The Galileo Affair 2004 Andrew Dennis Eric Flint 0-7434-8815-6
A diplomatic and trade mission to the Italies goes awry when youngsters attached to the mission decide to rescue Galileo from the Inquisition, and end up in a plot to assassinate the Pope. The plot is hatched by a French operative turned rebel, who wishes to destroy France to allow the rise of the Huguenots.
1635: The Cannon Law 2006 Andrew Dennis Eric Flint 1-4165-0938-0 This is the direct sequel to The Galileo Affair
Cardinal Borja incensed with the behavior of Pope Urban, decides to assassinate the Pope, and his political allies, and have himself declared the new Pope. Though managing to take over the Vatican and establish quorum with cowed Cardinals, the old Pope escapes, leading to Borja being declared an Anti-Pope, with only Spain and its satellites recognizing his authority as the new Pope.
1634: The Baltic War 2007 David Weber Eric Flint 1-4165-2102-X This is the direct sequel to 1633
Western Europe maneuvers to contain Gustavus Adolphus, resulting in a naval battle in the Baltic, and the conquest of Denmark by Sweden, and victory for Grantville's navy of ironclads.
1634: The Bavarian Crisis 2007 Eric Flint Virginia DeMarce 978-1-4165-4253-7 This is the direct sequel to The Baltic War
The Prince Cardinal Infante of Spain, takes on vice-regal duties in the Spanish Netherlands, decides to separate from Spain and declare himself King. With the aide of Grantvillers, he acquires a bride in the rebellious daughter of the Holy Roman Emperor, Duchess Anna Maria.
1635: The Dreeson Incident 2008 Virginia DeMarce Eric Flint 1-4165-5589-7 This is a sequel to The Cannon Law
The French Huguenot rebel plots to destroy Grantville, by assassinating the heads of Grantville. This leads to plots to oppose vaccination and destroy the Jews, as covers for assassination, which ends in the deaths of two of Grantville's leaders, and a violent purge of all anti-semitic forces in the area controlled by Grantville's allies.
1635: The Eastern Front 2010 Eric Flint 1-4391-3389-1 This is a sequel to The Baltic War
1636: The Saxon Uprising 2011 Eric Flint 978-1439134252 Direct sequel to The Eastern Front
1636: Symphony for the Devil TBA David Carrico Eric Flint TBD sequel to the short story "Sweet Strings" by David Carrico
1636: The Anaconda Project N/A Eric Flint N/A N/A serial publication; This is a direct sequel to the novellette "The Wallenstein Gambit" by Eric Flint, as found in the anthology collection Ring of Fire I.
This serialized novel covers the plot by Wallenstein, King of Bohemia, to acquire an empire in Eastern Europe, by the conquest of Ruthenia with Ashkenazi and Cossack help.
1635: A Parcel of Rogues Andrew Dennis Eric Flint Sequel to The Baltic War, following characters left in Britain
1635: The Papal Stakes Chuck Gannon Eric Flint Direct sequel to The Cannon Law
1636: Drums Along the Mohawk Walter Hunt Eric Flint Working title for novel set in French North America
163x: Stoned Souls Mercedes Lackey Eric Flint
163x: The Viennese Waltz Gorg Huff & Paula Goodlett Eric Flint Sequel to 'Barbie Consortium' stories
Anthologies
Title Publication date Editor ISBN Notes
Ring of Fire I 2004 Eric Flint 0-7434-7175-X sequel to 1632 and 1633
1634: The Ram Rebellion 2006 Virginia DeMarce & Eric Flint 1-4165-2060-0 This is called a "melded novel"
Several intertwining short stories combine to form a narrative that covers the overthrow of the ruling order by the common people, in a democracy drive, led by a political newspaper featuring a political cartoon starring a ram.
Ring of Fire II 2008 Eric Flint 1-4165-7387-9
1635: The Tangled Web 2009 Virginia DeMarce 978-1-4391-3308-8 This is called a "melded novel"; it is the sequel to The Ram Rebellion
Several intertwining short stories combine to form a narrative that covers the development subsequent to the Ram Rebellion in Franconia.
Ring of Fire III 2011 Eric Flint 9781439134481
1636: The Wars on the Rhine TBA Eric Flint et al. TBD This is called a "melded novel";
Other works
Title Publication date Editor/Author ISBN Notes
Eric Flint's 1632 Resource Guide and Role Playing Game 2004 Jonathan M. Thompson 0-9721419-4-4
Time Spike 2008 Marilyn Kosmatka & Eric Flint 9781416555384 Sequel to 1632
This novel deals with events in the timeline that the timeshifted Grantville left behind.

1632 plot threads

1632 plot threads refers to the overall story arches or sequences within the 1632 series. Flint has opined he thinks in terms of plot threads in terms of major protagonists. But most web chatter devolves around geographical "spheres of influence", locations, or where protagonists have a general effect. As a series focused on displaying a believable neohistory given the series beginning—of being as realistic as possible given the initial series premises—the two approaches both fail equally in covering all the cases by any strict measure, because the character set who is starring in one thread will almost invariably appear in one or more other story lines as a personal departure point for that characters personal biographical history, or as a supporting role for events depicted in a book mainly covering events in another thread.

"Real history is messy," Flint has written in the foreword to Ring of Fire in explaining why he took the unusual step of opening a universe consisting of a single novel at the time into a shared universe. A champion of the common man, Flint disdains the "Strong Man theory of History", where big figures of heroic scope define events, but instead lays claim throughout the entirety of works in the series, that history is the small actions of common men acting in their own self-interest who in the aggregate determine historical forces and force events and responses from those in power, who might lay some claim to being a giant of history—the statesmen and power brokers who dot the I's and cross the T's and add occasional curlicues to the historic march of events—riding the torrent far more often than leading it in Churchillian or Rooseveltian fashion. That some persons of that mold have existed is not disputed, but that the narrative report that makes up historical reporting tends to overstate their impact and role, is Flints theme.

No matter what approach one takes to classifying a plot sequence in the series—be it geographical or character based—the key element of the series to comprehend is that the events depicted in its now voluminous works are not taking place in a vacuum, but in most cases are concurrent with developments in other parts of the European center.

Main/North-Central and Western European thread

The "Central European thread" or more correctly, the "Central and Southwest Central European thread", is the "main plot thread" of the series. It concerns events in the region from west to east of the Kingdom of England and Kingdom of Scotland, Northern France, the Spanish Netherlands, French Netherlands and the Dutch Republic, and the whole of western Germany eastwards to Brandenburg and the Electorate of Saxony, and southerly to the northern reaches of Bavaria. Bavaria proper, Switzerland, Austria, Bohemia and points easterly and north are properly geographically part of the Eastern European thread.

South European thread

The "Southern European thread", or "Western South Europe and South Central European thread", or perhaps more appropriately, the "South-central and southwestern European thread" involves characters introduced in the short story "To Dye For" by Mercedes Lackey but the thread plot action proper continued in the second published novel sequel of the series, the best selling 1634: The Galileo Affair and its direct sequel, 1635: The Cannon Law, both co-written by Flint and Andrew Dennis. The main characters are in part, Lackey's The Stone Family, combined with Flint's Sharon Nichols and Larry Mazzare.

Eastern European thread

The Eastern European thread is taken to be east of the East Central European thread, the later of which may be understood as the base line through eastern parts of modern day Germany, Austria, western Hungary. The first fiction written within this thread was the novelette "The Wallenstein Gambit" and the prequel short stories leading up to it, all published in Ring of Fire but subsequent long fiction planned in the setting had to await authors scheduling issues, so the plot begun by Flint and finished in outline took a back seat to southern, western and central European events which both had ready collaborating authors and themes of their own to explore in the neohistory. In June 2006, Paula Goodlett and Gorg Huff wrote the "Butterflies in the Kremlin, Part 1: A Russian Noble", part of the serialized novel Butterflies in the Kremlin.

Naval thread

David Weber and Eric Flint in 2002 (writing 1633 and Ring of Fire) originally contracted together and with Baen's Books to co-write five "main series" books—the first two and perhaps some as yet unrevealed others being known as the Naval thread. When working on the long delayed 1634: The Baltic War novel and with the prolonged and ongoing demand for the series sequels, and considering the already experienced delays imposed by the difficulty of getting schedules between themselves synchronized (It took three planned "windows-of-opportunity" before one worked in The Baltic War[5]) well enough for the two to have the three to six months or so needed to collaborate successfully,[6] the two decided to alter their original planning and spin off a new thread—one based on the United States of Europe as a naval power.

The Americas thread

This agreement for Weber to leave aside European threads likely will follow up foreshadowings of overt dislike evinced by various Grantville natives for both the African slave trade and the Amerindian encounters with colonizing Europeans—and Flint has already written a very sympathetic two volume alternate history from the American Native's viewpoint in his Arkansas Wars series—and he'd written similar foreshadowings into the series' earlier works that were spun into pro-democracy and anti-anti-Semitic social themes now manifesting in the series in the Eastern Europe thread in particular, as well as an overall muted sub-theme. This revised author's decision released a log-jam of backup up other novels in the series, so that since rehashing their arrangement 1632 series books have been released regularly 4–6 months since.

Stories in 1632 Slushpile regarding obtaining strategically important materials and some which have reached publication in regard to the Essen Steel Corporation and Essen Chemical are foreshadowing activities (mining Chromium for one) in North America, and others are pursuing latex Rubber in South America. In addition, the three books contracted between Flint and David Weber will in part involve expeditions sent by Gustavus and Mike Stearns to American shores.

Short fiction in the series

When the novel 1632 was written in 1999, it was conceived as an experiment in the literary genre alternate history by Flint, without intentions of writing any immediate sequel. He had in fact, several other years of writing projects planned, which subsequent developments were to delay as late as publication in 2006–2007. Flint—as a relatively new writer at the time, following the popular demand for a sequel elected to invite other established authors in the Baen's stable of writers to share the universe in order to rapidly develop its potential—in this he traded on his experience as an editor. This went on concurrently with a great deal of reader input in what became the 1632 Tech sub-forum on Baen's Bar. In this initiative, he became the editor (He was already a Baen editor for the Baen Free Library) and together with fan input on Baen's Bar, and collaboration with established best-selling author David Weber on the first long sequel, 1633, concurrently put together the Ring of Fire anthology to inaugurate the short fiction in the series.

The novel and anthology shaped one another, all filtered through and also shaped by the discussions on Baen's website. This process continues to this day, primarily in the form of The Grantville Gazettes. Initially an experimental e-magazine of fan fiction, the first volume was successful enough to be released as a paperback. Subsequent Gazettes have also been released in print form.

Flint, as editor of all the short fiction, also maintains the series canon (co-ordinated by the 1632.org Web site) and all copyrights to the alternate history universe per se, and with Flint as the controlling editor, the consequence is semi-pro or professional payment rates aside, Baen doesn't publish anything in the series which is not canonical.

In point of fact, the short fiction in the series frequently provides a more in-depth background and foreshadows larger events that are the meat of the long fiction in the series. The longer works are replete with mentions to events covered in the shorter works, and with characters and the history and events unfolded in such materials. Flint always publishes one of his own stories within the short fiction collections, or in the case of 1634: The Ram Rebellion, considerably more, as it introduces several important background factors that are central to further series developments as the altered history is to unfold to the reader.

The Grantville Gazettes

The Gazettes began as an experimental semi-professional online magazine featuring fan fiction and non-fiction edited by Flint and (eventually) a volunteer editorial board. At the time of Jim Baen's death in the summer of 2006 ten Grantville Gazettes were under contract and they had (with some fits and starts) settled into a new version roughly and irregularly three times a year. Baen's production staff was somewhat overworked by the deadline and the serialized magazine gave way to an E-book release from the sixth volume onward—though this was explained by Flint as primarily being due to Flint's other commitments, such as editing the new science fiction magazine Jim Baen's Universe. Earlier on, he'd explained the production delays in terms of overworked proofreaders, executive editors, and so forth. Issues VI through X, after being released as E-books seem unlikely to see print, where Jim Baen has been releasing (all but the first) issues some months later as hardcover books, the last he bought has yet to appear. Flint has explained that the market for anthologies is always very soft, no matter the genre, and it seems likely that any new print version from the Gazettes will be a "Best of The Grantville Gazettes".

In the meanwhile, Grantville Gazette X was jointly published as an e-book by Baen, but also as the first foray of "Eric Flint Enterprises" at www.grantvillegazette.com/ which looks to be a joint venture of Baen Books and Flint where the new incarnation of the e-zine also pays SFWA rates and maintains a bi-monthly (six per year) publishing schedule. It is modeled very much on the same lines as Jim Baen's Universe, which is edited by Flint.

Beginning in early 2007, the Gazette's publishers added an online web-based edition published quarterly and moved the paper series to an annual "best of" volume. Additionally, the publishers moved to paying full professional rates instead of the semi-pro rates that had been paid. After one year, the Gazette expects to be an SFWA qualifying market.

1632-verse glossary of terminology

1632 Tech Manual, Slush and Slush Comments

1632 Tech Manual, 1632 Slush, and 1632 Slush Comments are each specialized sub-forums of a specific sub-community of the general online community known as Baen's Bar which is a web site focused on the publishers works and forums to let fans interact with writers. The first sub-form, 1632 Tech Manual (from early 2000—generally known just as "1632 Tech") is dedicated to developing the background for collaborative fiction in the first Assiti Shards type fictional universe — 1632 universe or "1632-verse" — that began in the novel 1632 by Eric Flint, and the second two are spin-offs related to the fact that the series generated a lot of solicited fan-fiction, which has become a hallmark of the series, when such is accepted as canon. That process is ongoing at grantvillegazette.com and in part explains the synergy of the series as literally hundreds of well educated people and experienced people have worked together to put together a logical and likely chain of events and societal impacts given the departure point postulated in the initial novel—a town of thirty-five hundred from a blue-collar rural community characteristic of the town where Eric Flint's mother called home.

The later two forums were eventually created and set aside as a submission venue and talk forum about such submitted work for the initial anthology Ring of Fire and the eventual series of serialized e-zines, The Grantville Gazettes all of which resulted from (originally) unsolicited manuscripts plus Flint's decision to make the milieu a Shared universe by inviting in other writers. About that time, Flint was contributing a short story and contracting for a novella to the Honorverse spin-off series "Crown of Slaves" and had become good friends with David Weber, who has opened that sub-series in similar fashion to other writers. Weber expressed an interest in writing within 1632-verse, and that discussion may have given Flint the idea of soliciting manuscripts from other writers on the huge infant canvas. It is certain, he had no plans for a sequel beyond the initial novel.

As the collaborative effort evolved, the Grantville Gazettes — along with 1632 Tech where technical aspects are hammered out and discussed to a surprising thoroughness — became a seed stock of new ideas and developments which give the rich verisimilitude to the background and plotting of the longer fiction in the series. Another distinction (sometimes very indistinct) is that stories in the Gazettes are normally told from the viewpoint of the common resident living through the international repercussions that the influence of Grantville's knowledge has caused on the larger stage. In seeming contradiction, about half the fiction in the Gazettes is merely emotive—amusing, tragic or dramatic, sometimes taking on many aspects of the popular soap opera—which is to say commercially successful and desirably entertaining to its subscribers. Even though those kinds of tales have little importance save as "color" or deep background, they serve to gradually illuminate the society coming into being and are valuable to the reader in illuminating the dissonances between our modern era and the emerging Europe of the fictional neohistory, as well as the practices and life of the Europe in our real history. Quite frequently a character developed in a minor soap opera-ish story will appear elsewhere in the series in a more important role, including as main protagonist anchoring a major work. (e.g. Nowell Murphy and others in about half the book 1634: The Ram Rebellion).

The 1632 Slushpile

"Slushpile" is publishing trade jargon referring to the pile(s) of unsolicited submissions to a periodical. In the "Continuing adventure"[7] of the Grantville Gazettes according to Flint, the unsolicited stories began shaping the background thought in the series milieu, and the magazine "idea" was born whilst he tried to recoup some of the time costs involved in examining the fan-fiction.[8] Also, he judged some of the tales to be professional quality, and indeed, incorporated many of them into about half of Ring of Fire. The flagship novel was written as a stand-alone literary work, an experiment with the new Assiti Shards story premise, and was but one of three such universes planned by Flint in 2000. However, the sensation and interest engendered by the 1632 novel's publication subsequently caused the other works to be delayed while the 1632 series was developed. The other books in the overall Assiti Shard series currently under contract are

1776 supposes George Washington and Frederick the Great are transposed to ancient Rome's Crisis of the Third Century; By Any Other Name, takes place in several different time frames including a transposition of the Assiti themselves into Elizabethan England; and Time Spike involves transpositions of various populations into the unpopulated late Cretaceous era (145–65.5 million years ago).

The "1632 Tech Manual" forum has had a large role in developing the overall series as its discussions revolve around the course of likely events, reactions and developments as the fictional town of 3,000 souls transplanted into the middle of the religious based Thirty Years' War.

Historical characters

Fictional characters

See also

References

  1. ^ Flint, Eric (March 2006). "forward and afterwords". In Eric Flint (hardcover). Grantville Gazette II. 1632 (1st, Hardcover ed.). afterword: Baen Books. p. 324. ISBN 978-0-4165-2051-1. "pp316-317 beginning with "Which is the way I intended things, from the moment I decided to turn 1632 from a stand-alone novel it was originally written to be into a series." ... through "where revolutions have typically been depicted as the product of magical hand waving by a handful of big-shot heros. They decree, and therefore it is done."" 
  2. ^ Flint, Eric (March 2006). "afterword". In Eric Flint (hardcover). Grantville Gazette II. 1632 (1st, Hardcover ed.). afterword: Baen Books. p. 324. ISBN 978-0-4165-2051-1. "pp316: "...which has to do with the way I see this entire story in the first place—and did from the beginning. 1632 was written as much as an American novel as a science fiction or alternate history novel. More precisely, as a novel that fits within that loosely defined literary category known as Americana. In particular, it was written from a desire on my part to make a relatively ordinary small American town the collective protagonist of the story. And then, as the story unfolded, to keep the focus as much as possible on what you might call the level of the common man and woman—understanding that, as the story unfolded, more and more seventeenth-century Europeans would become an integral part of that collective protagonist." (hyper links added herein)" 
  3. ^ Flint, see footnote table in Eric Flint
  4. ^ Flint, in "Editors Forward" to Ring of Fire
  5. ^ Flint, Eric. Grantville Gazette II. Baen Books, 2005, Afterword.
  6. ^ "How it all started (Baen Bar Authors forum post 2 March 1999)". http://homepage.mac.com/msb/163x/faqs/how_it_started.html. Retrieved 12 June 2008. "I'm posting a new topic in a shameless bid to enlist aid and assistance in my next book. Y'all understand this is a serious and solemn project and there'll be none of the usual badinage, disrespect, wild-eyed-opinion-spouting, surly remarks and the other stuff that routinely transpires in the Bar. (Yeah, sure. And pigs will fly.)

    OK, here's the problem. The novel I'm starting on, Fire in the Hole, requires a wide range of knowledge to write properly. Some of that I have (the history of the period, for instance). Some I can get, from friends. But some of it requires me to scramble like a monkey. Any help I can get will be appreciated.

    The setting of the novel is as follows: For reasons I won't go into here (read the book when it comes out, heh heh), a small town in West Virginia finds itself transposed in time and place into Germany in the middle of the Thirty Years War. The time is spring/summer of l630 AD. The place is Thuringia, in central Germany. The Americans are in the middle of one of history's worst wars and they have to survive (and hopefully, prosper). In order to do that, they have the resources available to them which would be in any small town in the area. I'm going to be leaving in three days to spend some time there (I used to live in the area – near Fairmont and Morgantown — but it was twenty years ago; things change). One of the things I'll be doing is to catalog the resources available. But the kind of problems the West Virginians will face include:

    ...[Several paragraphs and lists omitted]

    The basic rule is: NO CHEATING. There will not be any "convenient" stuff that wouldn't likely be in a small town. (No military convoys which just "happen" to be parading through town, for instance). On the other hand, the population of the town (which includes a lot of coal miners from the area who are in town that day for a wedding) are the type of blue-collar folks who can jury-rig damn near anything if the stuff is either there or can be obtained.

    Finally, a TIP. Alternate history novels have a tendency (for obvious dramatic reasons) to focus too narrowly on the military dimension of the problem. I want to cast a broader net. ... (more)"
     
  7. ^ "Grantville Gazette homepage". http://www.grantvillegazette.com. Retrieved 17 October 2007. 
  8. ^ Flint, Eric, (ed.); and various others. The Grantville Gazette (anthology, volume I). p. 2 (of 361). "But, in the meantime, the fan-fic kept getting written, and people kept nudging me—okay, pestering me, but I try to be polite about such things—to give them my feedback on their stories. ... Once I realized how many stories were being written—a number of them of publishable quality—I raised with Jim Baen the idea of producing an online magazine which would pay for fiction and factual articles set in the 1632 universe and would be sold through Baen Books' Webscriptions service. Jim was willing to try it, to see what happens." 
  9. ^ "Forthcoming" at ericflint.net (accessed 26 October 2007). "May 2008 will see the publication of TIMESPIKE by Eric and Marilyn Kosmatka, a different branch of the "Assiti Shards" universe."
  10. ^ "Known scheduled for writing during 2007". http://www.ericflint.net/index.php/forthcoming/. Retrieved 26 October 2007. "[Eric has scheduled his writing for and the] "First draft is in Eric’s hands from Collaborators... By any other name (with Sarah Hoyt" 

External links

BAEN Free e-library