Eric Flint's 1632 & Beyond: Alternate History Stories

Volume 11 #15: Adventures in Transportation

Previous Adventures in Transportation: An Examination of Drags, Carts, Wagons and Carriages Available in the 17th centuryWritten by Karen BergstralhThe intention of this piece is to acquaint the 1632 aficionados with the types of wheeled and non-wheeled land transport available for moving heavy and bulky items. Considering that the up-timers will have a variety of […]

Read More

Volume 11 #14: Steam: Taming the Demon

Previous / Next Steam: Taming the DemonWritten by Kevin H. EvansDISCLAIMERThis article is not intended to provide all the information needed to design and build actual boilers. Many skills and cross checks are needed to ensure the safe design and construction of pressure vessels. This article is to promote the understanding of steam technology, and […]

Read More

Volume 11 #12: Butterflies in the Kremlin Part Four

Previous / Next Butterflies in the Kremlin, Part FourWritten by Gorg Huff and Paula GoodlettYaroslavich Dacha, outside of MoscowA Dissertation on the Valueof Freedom and Security“Those that give up their freedom for a little temporary security deserve neither freedom or security and ultimately will lose both.” So goes an up-time quote. This humble writer doesn’t […]

Read More

Volume 11 #11: Stretching Out, Part One: Second Starts

Previous / Next Stretching Out, Part One: Second StartsWritten by Iver P. CooperGrantville, May 2, 1632“Race time ten minutes,” blared the speaker. The murmur of the fairground crowd rose, and then subsided.“I can’t believe you talked me into this,” Maria Vorst said. Maria had come to Grantville with her brother Adolph, the curator of the […]

Read More

Volume 11 #10: Trommler Records

Previous / Next Trommler RecordsWritten by Gorg Huff and Paula Goodlett“Just sign right there.” The blond man, Contz Beckenbauer, indicated the space for her signature and handed her the pen. “Right there, as I said. Then we’ll talk about what you will sing for the record.”Els hesitated a moment. She was just about to move […]

Read More

Volume 11 #10: Wish Book

Previous / Next Wish BookWritten by Gorg Huff and Paula Goodlett“Gary Jordan!”Gary Jordan Burke flinched. He almost always flinched when Joyce got to screeching. It was an automatic response to her high-pitched, overly-loud voice. You’d think the woman thought everyone was deaf.“Gary Jordan!”“Yes, dear?”“Go downtown and get some more paper scrap. We’re nearly out.”“Yes, dear.” Gary […]

Read More

Volume 11 #9: Bootstrapping

Previous / NextBootstrappingWritten by Kerryn OffordWinter 1631-32, JenaCatherine Mutschler made her way carefully through the winter mud. She was tired and listless after being kept up most of the night by Maria, her three-year-old daughter. She’d finally managed to settle Maria only by feeding her the last of the bread mixed with thin soup, but […]

Read More

Volume 11 #8: Bathing with Coal

Previous / Next Bathing With CoalWritten by Russ RittgersFall, 1633“Barnabas Kitchner! Wake up! It’s Tuesday morning and you have to buy wood for the bathhouse fire.”The thirty-eight year-old man rolled over in bed and opened one eye. His wife, Margarete Lutsch, was already dressed and standing in the doorway with her hands on her hips.Tuesday. […]

Read More

Volume 11 #7: O For a Muse of Fire

Previous / Next O For a Muse of FireWritten by Jay RobisonO for a muse of fire, that would ascendThe brightest heaven of invention!—Shakespeare, Henry VAndreas Gryphius, born Greif, waited outside the door to Amber Higham’s office. He knew he hadn’t done anything wrong, knew that that was not why the high school’s drama teacher wanted […]

Read More

Volume 11 #6: The Treasure Hunters

Previous / Next The Treasure HuntersWritten by Karen BergstralhMarch, 2000The librarian stamped the book and handed it across the desk. “This is a grown-up book, Mikey. It came all the way from a library in Richmond and you can only have one renewal on it. It must be back by April sixteenth.”Michael Arthur Tyler grabbed the book […]

Read More

Volume 11 #5: A Gift of Blankets

Previous / NextA Gift of BlanketsWritten by Kerryn Offord and Vincent ColjeeQuarantine House Alpha, Grantville, 1632“How do we feel today?” Katharina Anna Schrey asked Quarantine House Alpha’s most important patient.John Thompson Sims looked up from his sick bed. “Lousy!”Katharina smiled down at the elderly doctor. He’d been her friend and mentor since she started the […]

Read More

Volume 11 #3: Azrael’s Bargain

Previous / Next Azrael’s BargainWritten by Terry HowardDownload this Podcast Episodehttp://www.grantvillegazette.com/img/pod/bargain.mp3“Hey, Jimmy. Why don’t I ever see you down at the rail yard anymore?” It was a cold winter night and Club 250 had its every-night regulars and as many more folks who weren’t. The young man talking to Jimmy Dick was one of the latter.Jimmy […]

Read More

Volume 11 #2: Lessons in Astronomy

Previous / Next Lessons in AstronomyWritten by Peter Hobson“Your Eminence, I’m fluent in Latin, German and Italian. My French is passable. My Greek is a little weak and I’ve forgotten most of the smattering of Hebrew the seminary inflicted on me.” Father Scheiner knew he shouldn’t be taking that tone with a prince of the […]

Read More

Volume 11 #1: Pilgrimage of Grace

Previous / NextPilgrimage of GraceWritten by Virginia DeMarce“They’re not taking what happened in Suhl last January out on Johnny Lee’s family because they can’t. His dad’s been dead for thirty years. His mother wasn’t from around here to start with and she moved back to Ohio after a while. Mary Fern–that’s his sister, you probably […]

Read More

Volume 10 #19: The Feast

Previous THE FEASTby Anette PedersenGuildmaster B in a fair-sized northern European town is giving a party to celebrate his second son’s engagement to the daughter of another guildmaster. Come and let me show you what’s going on.The StreetThe street leading past the house is not one of the main streets through the town, so it’s […]

Read More

Volume 10 #18: All Roads Lead to…

Previous / Next ALL ROADS LEAD. . . .By Iver P. CooperA seventeenth-century visitor might well think that all roads lead to Grantville, not Rome, because down-time roads pale by comparison. “Captain Gars,” riding on Route 250, noted its “perfect flatness,” and considered it to be “the finest road he had ever seen in his life.” (1632, Chap. […]

Read More

Volume 10 #17: Herd Immunity

Previous / Next Herd ImmunityBy Vincent W. ColjeeLife, disease and death in the 1630sImagining life in a small town in Germany in the 1630s is difficult for the average twenty-first century dweller. Picture awaking from an interrupted night’s sleep, courtesy of the local swine brawling in the alley below your bedroom window. Extracting yourself carefully […]

Read More

Volume 10 #16: Crude Peniccilin

Previous / Next Crude Penicillin: Potential and LimitationsBy Kim Mackey“That which we know frequently impedes us in acquiring new knowledge.” Claude Bernard (1813-1878), French physiologist.Background and Early History of PenicillinThe Age of Disinfection began with the work of Pasteur and Lister in the 1860s and 1870s. While this initial work focused on external disinfection, doctors and […]

Read More

Volume 10 #15: Butterflies in the Kremlin, Part 3

Previous / Next Butterflies in the Kremlin, Part 3:Boris, Natasha . . . But Where’s BullwinkleBy Gorg Huff and Paula Goodlett“Order Kameroff to take his battalion to the west.” The barely bearded Russian wearing two stars on his collar moved his finger along the map, over a set of hills then northwest along a river. “He is to take […]

Read More

Volume 10 #14: The Doctor Phil Chronicles: Doctor Phil’s Family

Previous / NextThe Doctor Phil Chronicles:Doctor Phil’s FamilyBy Kerryn OffordDr. Gribbleflotz’ office, HDG Enterprizes, JenaPhillip took the next letter from his inbox. It was marked personal, and checking the back, he could see it was from his American friend, Jonathan Fortney. He broke the seal and started reading. He had to smile. Jonathan could be […]

Read More

Volume 10 #13: Franconia! Part 1

Previous / NextFranconia! Part 1by Virginia DeMarceGrantville,February 1634“No, no, no, no, no, no, n-o-o-o-o.” Amber Higham threw both of her hands up in the air.The class came to a stop.“This unit worked last year. It worked like a charm. Why isn’t it working this year?” She glared at her students. “So, tell me! We’re using […]

Read More

Volume 10 #12: Little Angel

Previous / NextLittle AngelBy Kerryn OffordGrantville,January 1634Maria Helena Kolb slowly searched the line of trees. Somewhere, hidden in the shadows, she was sure Benji Matheny was hiding in ambush. Time to send in the cannon fodder. “Daisy, Regina, when I give you the word, I want you to run around that tree over there and, if you […]

Read More

Volume 10 #11: The Prepared Mind

Previous / NextThe Prepared MindBy Kim Mackey“Chance favors the prepared mind.” —Louis PasteurGrantville, May 1632When Amy Kubiak walked into the biology classroom, Lori Fleming had her head on her desk. Amy smiled. Pete Farmer had been a good biology teacher when Amy had had him in high school. But now that she was working to […]

Read More

Special Issue 2 #11: The View from Nakatomi Tower

Previous The View from Nakatomi TowerWalt Boyes and Bjorn Hasseler December 24, 1635The last strains of the soundtrack played, and the credits rolled. The very old, squeaky VHS tape cassette managed to make it through another showing. Out in the auditorium, first the up-timers in the audience started to cheer, then the slightly more reserved […]

Read More

Special Issue 2 #10: Sad Spectacles of Deceitful Iniquity at Christmastime

Previous / Next Sad Spectacles of Deceitful Iniquity at ChristmastimeEric Flint and Lucille RobbinsNuremberg Nadler’s Apothecary November 21, 1637Hearing the bell on the door of his apothecary ring, Ulrich Nadler came out of the workroom to see who had entered. He was still working the pestle in the mortar because the concoction he was making […]

Read More

Special Issue 2 #9: One Night Only

Previous / Next One Night OnlyMichael LockwoodMagdeburg Opera House December 24, 1635Gunther Wagner nervously popped his knuckles as he paced behind a dropped curtain. On the other side of the curtain, a mindless buzz droned from the audience as they made their way to their seats. He pulled the curtain open just enough to catch […]

Read More

Special Issue 2 #8: A Christmas Stollen

Previous / NextA Christmas StollenEdith WildGrantville High School 1636The bell rang as Amalia skidded into the locker room. She rushed over to her assigned locker. She quickly undid her padlock, opened her locker, pulled out her PE uniform and sneakers. Amalia placed them on the bench that ran between the rows of lockers. It amused […]

Read More

Special Issue 2 #5: No Proper Carol

Previous / Next No Proper Carol Sarah HaysNovember 29, 1638“Mama,” Marty Haag Ballantine said. “Have you ever heard the song about the herd of haunted cattle?”Alyse Ballantine, surprised at the breakfast table, asked, ” ‘Ghost Riders in the Sky’?”He nodded.“Sure,” Alyse said. “I like Roy Clark’s instrumental best, but my favorite singer for that song […]

Read More

Special Issue 2 #4: Christmas at the Schickelmans

Previous / Next Christmas at the SchickelmansJohn Deakins1637The misplaced Pequot/Englishman Eliezer St. Clair had homesteaded as a blacksmith on a creek short of West Point. The Dutch patroon Kiliaen van Rensselaer had given his family more than a dozen acres on the river’s north side.Gerhard Schickelman and his wife Anke Janssen had acquired trade goods […]

Read More

Special Issue 2 #3: At Christmas Time

Previous / Next At Christmas TimeMark HustonBased on the Anton Chekov story“What shall I write, old woman?”“A letter to my daughter. And her husband,” replied Hilde. They were sitting in the smoky common room of the village inn. “For Christmas,” she added with a stiff nod to the young man who sat across from her. […]

Read More

Special Issue 2 #2: The Gift

Previous / Next The GiftChuck ThompsonGrantville December, 1636Most mornings, before rising, Inez Wiley liked to warm her brain by going over her plans for the next few days. She had gotten halfway through tomorrow when a sound interrupted her thoughts. Skritch skritch. Skritch skritch. “Better be that tabby alley cat scratching at my door and […]

Read More

Special Issue 2 #1: Grantville’s Secret Santa

Previous / NextGrantville’s Secret SantaJackie Britton Lopatin“Oh, I remember my first Grantville Christmas.” The elderly woman spoke to her large audience from the podium. “It was amazing.”“I had recently started working part-time at the newspaper office so I was able to earn some rent money while learning more about journalism. The year was 1634, and […]

Read More

1632 & Beyond Special Issue 002

Welcome to our Special Issue #2, Christmas 2024. We hope you enjoy it!NextIntroduction and Table of ContentsBjorn HasselerIntroductionMagdeburg Messenger (1632 Fiction)1. Grantville’s Secret Santa Jackie Britton Lopatin2. The Gift Chuck Thompson3. At Christmas Time Mark Huston4. Christmas at the Schickelmans John Deakins5. No Proper Carol Sarah Hays6. Santa’s Lapp George Haberberger7. Natala Iver P. Cooper8. […]

Read More

Special Issue 1 #8: Nobody’s Going Home

Previous / Next Nobody’s Going HomeVirginia DeMarceAmberg, Upper Palatinate December, 1636“I didn’t expect that I wouldn’t be able to go home for Christmas this year.” Madeline Clinter pouted, half-serious and half-not-so-serious. “The way things have turned out, we’d have been better off if they’d left the normal school in Grantville.”“Nope.” Lizzy Reardon leaned back and […]

Read More

Special Issue 1 #6: The Glad Game

Previous / Next The Glad GameBethanne KimCroat Raid, Grantville August, 1632Adam Holst fought to keep his horse under control. At twenty-four, Adam fancied himself hardened to battles and their aftermath, but his horse was a different story. Storm just didn’t have the instincts, or personality, of a war horse in spite of his impressive strength […]

Read More

Special Issue 1 #5: A Christmas for Kjell

Previous / NextA Christmas for KjellGeorge GrantAllgutsrum Kyrka, Allgutsrum, Öland, Sweden December 13, 1632, Julian Calendar (December 24, Gregorian Calendar) The Winter SolsticeHindric Carlsson could see that his sister, Gertrud, was nervous about the lit candles on her head. She was playing Saint Lucia in the procession, so she was wearing a white dress with […]

Read More