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 / Next Better Foundations, Part 2: Putting Concrete to Work Written by Iver P. Cooper In the world the up-timers left behind, the most widely consumed substance on Earth was water. What came second? Concrete. Indeed, concrete can be said to be, quite literally, the foundation of modern society. We depend upon it for […]
Previous / Next An Analysis of the Effect of Evangelical Missions on the 1632verse Written by John Davis Technology is usually thought of in terms of understanding of the physical world and the ability to manipulate it. However, ideas and methodology can also be thought of as a form of technology in which society is […]
Previous / Next Turn Your Radio On, Episode Two Written by Wood Hughes Chapter Four “Good morning, Europe. Guten Morgen, Europa! You’re listening to Voice of America as we begin another broadcast day from our studios on Mountaineer Lane in Grantville, New United States. Today is September tenth, Gregorian; August thirty-first Julian and at the […]
Previous / Next Hallelujah, Part Two Written by David Carrico November 1634 “Thus saith the Lord . . .” “Stop.” Andrea Abati closed his eyes. When he opened them again, Dietrich Fischer was still looking at him with that same placid but confused expression he’d been wearing all evening. Andrea scrubbed his hands over his face, then took […]
Previous Fire Breathing Hogs Written by Kevin H. Evans Prologue Engineer Lothar Schneider walked into the crew office. Glancing up he checked out the assignment boards and spotted his name. Yeah, there it was. He had received the first run. He turned and saw his fireman hang up his time card. “Otto, are you ready?” […]
i Previous / Next In the Army Now Written by Gorg Huff and Paula Goodlett David Bartley and Johan Kipper got off the train at Camp Saale and looked around. It wasn’t the first time they had been here, but it was their first time as regular army instead of weekend warriors. The camp was […]
Previous / Next Dafydd and Goliath Written by Terry Howard North Anglesey Coast of Wales, August 1635 Squire Dafydd Jones sat at dinner wearing a new velvet jacket over a shirt of the finest linen. The silver on the table sparkled from having been polished and repolished. The finest of everything he had graced the […]
i Previous / Next Daedalus’ New Wings Written by Kerryn Offord Magdeburg, September, 1634 Tracy Kubiak stared at the shop window, not really seeing anything. She was in Magdeburg to inspect the local division of her company, Grantville Canvas and Outdoor, but she was finding it hard to stay motivated. Maybe it was just because […]
Previous / Next A Bell for St. Vasili’s Written by Keith Robertsson November, 1633 “Ux Te!” Kseniya hadn’t at all expected what she was seeing. When Princess Natalia Petrovna hired Father Gavril to come to Grantville and set up a church for the people who were coming to study, she’d mentioned that her brother Vladimir […]
Previous / Next One Fine Day Written By John Zeek Dec. 23, 1633 “Where is it? It’s late,” Heinrich muttered under his breath as he waited impatiently for the tram. Soon he would be out of this nest of heretics. Soon he would far away from this cursed city, this Grantville, the so-called city from […]
Previous / Next An Electrifying Experience Written By Jack Carroll Somewhere in the eastern Harz mountains, 1635 Something’s burning! Stefan Leichtfuss stopped in his tracks to sniff, and began slowly scanning his eyes all around. There! A wisp of smoke was rising out of that new wooden cabinet mounted on the post! Before he could move, there was […]
Previous / Next By Hook or By Crook By Victoria L’Ecuyer Hamburg, January 1633 Someone grabbed Annabet Nutsch and covered her eyes. “Guess who!” Annabet stiffened. She recognized the voice and jabbed her elbow into her brother’s ribs. “Grow up, Johann.” She wrestled free and shook her finger at the tall, gangly young man with […]
Previous Wingless Wonders Written by Kevin H. Evans Lighter-than-air technology is a lot like the game Go. It is easy to learn, but very hard to master. Many countries tried the technology, but only a few managed to master it. By far the largest number of rigid airships were built by Germany. On the other […]
Previous / Next Plausibility Denial or Truth is Stranger Than Fiction Written by Gorg Huff Predictions and Reality Some years ago the barflies who frequent the 1632 Tech Manual, after much debate, came up with the number of computers in Mannington, West Virginia. Which was also the number of computers in Grantville. At the most […]
Previous / Next Better Foundations, Part 1: An Introduction to Concrete Written by Iver P. Cooper Concrete—”Liquid Stone”—has made possible many innovations in architecture. Yet concrete is no Space Age wunderkind; it has its roots in antiquity. Concrete, albeit of a kind inferior to the modern product, was used by the Romans in the construction of […]
Previous / Next Hallelujah, Part One Written by David Carrico Magdeburg – July, 1634 “It’s here! It’s here!” The three men looked around as Marla Linder burst through the door. Next moment, she laid an oblong package on the table in front of them. “What is here?” Franz Sylwester asked his wife. The inevitable smile […]
Previous / Next Turn Your Radio On, Episode One Written by Wood Hughes Prologue April 1634, Grantville, State of Thuringia-Franconia, United States of Europe “Der Kronz” was in an exuberant mood as he walked into the Voice of America offices, whistling an up-timer tune by the name of “Do the Hustle” and without a care […]
Previous / Next High Road to Venice Written by Gorg Huff and Paula Goodlett Merton Smith rolled his wheel chair over to the phone and called up the weather service. “Hi, Dan. How’s it look for a flight to Venice?” “Not horrible. The reports from the weather stations are mostly in. There is a warm […]
Previous / Next The Royal and Ancient Game Written by Mark H. Huston St Andrews Scotland, Winter 1634 James O’Fehl, the butler of Ramsay Manor, wearily tugged open the heavy wooden door to Andrew’s bedchamber. He could see faint streaks of morning light through gaps in the drawn draperies. Andrew was sleeping soundly in the […]
Previous / Next A Gentile in the Family? Written by Terry Howard Late winter 1635 “Sarah? Just what do you think is going to happen when your father finds out?” Rivka asked as they left the grade school. She was one of those precocious little girls who behave like they were born twenty years old […]
Previous / Next First Impressions Written by Iver P. Cooper The pickpocket thought he had spotted an easy mark. First of all, he could tell from the fellow’s clothing that he was a foreigner. So he wouldn’t get the same kind of help if he raised a hue and cry that a citizen would. Secondly, […]
Previous / Next The Creamed Madonna Written by Kerryn Offord Late summer 1635, Jena Dr. Phillip Gribbleflotz was at a bit of a loose end. He’d finally concluded that there was something fundamentally wrong with the theory that pyramid power could be used to invigorate the Quinta Essentia of the human spirit, and had regretfully given up […]
Previous / Next The Anaconda Project, Episode Eight Written by Eric Flint After they left the restaurant—or “café,” rather—Piccolomini glanced up at the sky, which had grown leaden. “Snowing soon,” he said, reaching up and drawing his cloak around him more tightly. Von Mercy followed suit. The temperature wasn’t too bad, but there was something […]
Previous / Next The Anaconda Project, Episode Seven Written by Eric Flint “So, what you think?” asked Piccolomini. The Italian general from Florence who was now in Austrian service raised his cup. The man sitting across from him at the round little table in the small but very crowded restaurant frowned down at the cup […]
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 […]
