Previous 1632con Since 2003, the 1632 universe has gathered every year, in Mannington, within another convention, or online. Here’s where we’ve been the past few years: 2020 ROFCON virtual 2021 Capclave Rockville, Maryland 2022 Mannington […]
Previous / Next The Mannington MinuteJackie Britton Lopatin Small town and rural life is unsurprisingly different from life in bigger cities. It has a different rhythm to it. Not that the people have different likes or dislikes, but events have to be cognizant of all the other events going on around them and how well […]
Previous / Next The Brezelgeist RomanceDavid Hankins Summer 1631 So far, life as Herr Abrabanel’s spy primarily involved walking too many miles without a horse. As a career coachman, Dominik wasn’t used to traveling on his own feet over long distances. He missed his horses. He missed his coach. But he understood the need to […]
Previous / Next Adieu AnversMarc Tyrrell Adieu Anvers Adieu Anvers, adieu la noble ville. Contraint je suis, de toi me separer non pour mal faict, et non pour chose vile, mais las pour une’a qui point comparer on ne devroit Venus ni Helaine, tant est la grace, qui gist en elle dont le partir me […]
Previous / Next The Grand Adventure Of Baron Münchhausen In The Land Of The AmericansRobert F. Lowell Friends, you have never known me, Hilmar Ernst Freiherr von Münchhausen, to lie or exaggerate. Indeed, while certain vile, slanderous calumnies portray members of my noble family as prevaricators and fabulists, we von Münchhausens have always held ourselves […]
Previous / Next Dagnabit, Belle!Chuck Thompson Belle had been wanting, for a long time, to go north of the cabin to see what happened there. Her best friend, a Burmese-Hound mix named Barry, lived about two miles away in that direction. Ever since the big flash, she had not been able to catch any scent […]
Previous / Next Something OldBethanne Kim Author’s Note: My all-new 1632 novel Red Shield is being released in January 2026 by Baen Books. The story of Harry and Betty Ruth in the post-RoF world is a minor story woven into the novel. This takes place after those events, but it tells their backstory from the […]
Previous / Next When Jimmy Met BarbieEdith Wild Downtown GrantvilleFebruary 6, 1636, Wednesday Jimmy rode his Harley up to Market on East Main just as the traffic light flicked from yellow to red. He cursed and braked, steadying the bike out of a skid into a stop, thankfully not entirely in the crosswalk. He glared […]
Previous Movies And Television The Year Before The Ring Of Fire Tracy S. Morris Sometimes, I’d like to time travel to the day that I came up with the idea for Betsy Springer with my co-writer Brad Sinor and make her a little less rooted in late ’90s pop culture. It wasn’t a problem when […]
Previous / Next The Guardians of Germany Bjorn Hasseler This story pulls together Wilhelm Reuber (“The Slasher,” Grantville Gazette 61), Christoph von Hessler (“The Saale Levies,” Grantville Gazette 56), and Sunshine Moritz (Security Solutions). JenaJuly 1636 Johann Markus Schrön warily pushed open the door of the inn in Jena. It seemed clean enough. In fact, […]
Previous / Next Green, Blue, and Bruises Natalie Wood Zaborstadt Dora shifted the heavy basket on her left arm to be more comfortable and looked over at Anya, her niece—who was obediently standing behind her—before knocking on the simply made door. She tucked a wayward black curl back into her cap just as she heard […]
Previous / Next Artists from Afar John R. Deakins This story is the sequel to “Chiaroscuro” in Grantville Gazette 89 1635 It always seemed to be damp in Venice. Giorgio Fabrini, the former Father Benedetto, clambered from the gondola. The boat’s rocking would have bothered anyone new to the city, but he was sufficiently used […]
Previous / Next More McDonalds Terry Howard This story follows “Bremen or Bust” in Issue 9 and “Clan McDonald” in Issue 11. Officer Lyndon Johnson walked through the green front door of Club 250 in the middle of the lunch rush. The bar was not half as full as it used to be. More and […]
Previous / Next The Arabian Queen Virginia DeMarce This story begins right after “The Play’s The Thing” in Issue 11. Butzbach, Province of the MainApril 1637 “Are you going to start mining The Black Rose pretty soon, Master Massinger?” Dick asked. “You really should,” Tom urged. “We can get another ‘noble evil; common man good’ […]
Previous / Next The Abrabanel Rescue David Hankins This story begins alongside Chapter 4 of 1632. Dominik Wagner was not a brave man on his best days, and today was definitely not his best day. Yet still he followed the tracks of his stolen coach through the budding Thuringian forest, escaping the carnage behind him […]
A Puritan Voice by Michael Lockwood A multi-part saga of travel and betrayal by Michael Lockwood that eventually finds its way, as so many things do, to Grantville. A Puritan Voice, Part 1 (Grantville Gazette 86) A Puritan Voice, Part 2 (Grantville Gazette 87) A Puritan Voice, Part 3 (Grantville Gazettee 88) A Puritan Voice, Part 4 (Grantville Gazette […]
The Aethers of Magdeburg (series) David Carrico and Mark Huston A tale of radio, industrial espionage, and love set in post-Ring of Fire Magdeburg. The Aethers of Magdeburg, Part 1 (Grantville Gazette Volume 90) The Aethers of Magdeburg, Part 2 (Grantville Gazette Volume 91) The Aethers of Magdeburg, Part 3 (Grantville Gazette Volume 92)
Nihonmachi (series)Garrett W. Vance The first part of this was published in a Baen anthology and is not available online, so we are providing a slightly longer summary of that story. This is essentially a tale of three friends. Retired samurai Nishioka Yoriaki, now a humble boatman selling his wife’s delicious bento lunches up and […]
Previous Grantville Gumshoe in a 17th Century World’s FairTom Kidd Spring 1637 What was once a fleeting dream is now a reality. I have an office with my name burnished in gold foil on the door: Schinkenspeck & Mackie Investigations. I’m tickled pink at being an accomplished private eye with many extraordinary tales. Not to […]
Previous / Next The Young Lady of the LakeEdith Wild It was the summer of 1636, I think in late June, maybe in early July. I believe the framework of events leading up to what happened might have been as long as several weeks. The edges blur and memories of events change. Even so, I […]
Previous / Next Miss RedbirdBethanne Kim The Bridal SaloonEarly November 1635 “Look, Carole, I’m not saying the Miss West Virginia pageant isn’t great. It is! We have rented a lot of dresses over the years and you got a nice bump in business for doing hair, but the truth is we’re both stuck. In a […]
Previous / Next Late May 1636 Riding the cog rail up to the Redbird Institute, USE Dorothea Weise breathed in the cool spring air, savoring the sweet scents of lilies of the valley, forget-me-nots, daisies, and cowslips growing in the open space alongside the cog rail’s steep tracks and spiced by the resinous aroma of […]
Welcome to our September 2025 issue. We hope you enjoy it! Next Table of Contents Note: You can open a copy of the Redbird Map with this link. Redbird Reader (fiction) 1. Life List Garrett W. Vance 2. Miss Redbird Bethanne Kim 3. The Young Lady of the Lake Edith Wild Paris Post (more fiction) […]
Previous / Next Letters of Trade Written by David Dingwall October 1630Downham Market, Norfolk To John Paulet, Winchester To my good friend John, and to your lady wife Jane, we congratulate you at the glad news of the birth of your first son, Charles. We hope both mother and child are well, and his auspices […]
Previous To Kill A Redbird Marc Tyrrell A townhouse in Hamburg Monday, February 11, 1636, 8:25 p.m. “So, that is my proposal, meine Herren. What do you think?” Hans Geisel looked around the well-lit, wood paneled room at the five other men seated there, watching their body language. Predictably, Wilhelm van den Berg was relaxed, […]
Previous / Next I used to be a stately tree, tall and straight, dominating my neighbors in the forest. Until Grantville came to town. My name is Chris, and I used to be a European chestnut tree, but Grantville brought the chestnut blight with it when it came back from the year 2000. I had […]
Previous / Next A Flask and a Handshake Natalie Silk Spring 1636 “Wife!” Danel Nahon rushed through the door of his small home and saw that Dora wasn’t there. Dora’s favorite stool by the hearth had her mending basket resting on top of it. With three young growing children, the basket was always filled with […]
Previous / Next Escaping The What-Ifs Mike Knopp Redbird Institute Construction Site North of Röblitz, West Virginia County, Thuringia-Franconia October 6, 1635 Pierre Petit stood at the top of the hill, watching the train steadily move up the incline. A metallic pinging of the pinion on the rack and safety catches rang distinctively under the […]
Previous / Next Renamed Bethanne Kim Redbird Institute Early July 1635 Phil Bartolli fished a plain red handkerchief out of his pocket to wipe his brow. Reconsidering, he wiped his whole face. “I keep hearing that we’re in the middle of the Little Ice Age, but it sure doesn’t feel like it on a day […]
Previous / Next But Will It Play In Peoria? Tracy S. Morris March 1635 “Eeeeh, what’s up, Paul?” Betsy Springer held a carrot between two fingers like Bugs Bunny pretending to hold a cigar as she pingponged into Managing Editor Paul Kindred’s office at the Grantville Times with her usual high energy. Today, his star […]
Previous / Next Chautauqua, Disney, And The World’s Fair Bjorn Hasseler Rudolstadt, Rudolstadt-Schwarzburg County, SoTF August 1634 Countess Emelie of Oldenburg-Delmenhorst was nineteen, six months pregnant, and distracting herself with the most marvelous idea. She and her fifty-three-year-old husband Count Ludwig Guenther of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt had returned to Rudolstadt from Magdeburg just a few days ago. […]
Previous / Next What is Redbird? Bethanne Kim Why is this in nonfiction when Redbird is fictional? It’s not a story. It’s the story behind the story. Most of what is written in this universe is solidly built on the foundation of what is real. Grantville isn’t real, but Mannington (the town Grantville is based […]
Previous / Next The Mannigton Minute: The Impact Of Mannington On Grantville And Grantville On Mannington Jackie Britton Lopatin My husband, Leonard Lopatin, and I feel so blessed to be living in historic Mannington, a small town in the West Virginia mountains on Highway 250. When people here would ask us how or why we […]
