I have driven past signs for “this “The Frontier Culture Museum” off Interstate 81 in Virginia many times and have often thought about stopping there, but we were always in a rush to get somewhere. Finally, on the way home from DragonDon 2024, we had the time. As an added bonus, we had perfect weather.The […]
Previous Mail From Up-Time, Episode 2: Atlantic GiantBy George GrantEditor’s Note: “Mail From Up-Time” appeared in Issue 5. The stories are connected by the discovered mail but do not share any characters. In “Mail From Up-Time”, the author established that some mail for people left up-time was set aside for later delivery on the day […]
Previous / NextSummer’s KitchenMarc TyrrellEditor’s Note:sVarious combinations of Sandy, Summer, Bob, Paul, and Helmut previously appeared in:“Schrödinger’s Spouse,” Grantville Gazette 102“A Meeting at Midsummer, Part 1,” Eric Flint’s 1632 & Beyond, Issue 2“A Meeting at Midsummer, Part 2,” Eric Flint’s 1632 & Beyond, Issue 3“Making Hay While the Sun Shines,” Eric Flint’s 1632 & Beyond, […]
Previous / NextStilettosBethanne KimGrantville High School CafeteriaOne Month Before Prom, Spring 1636Ryan Bonnaro couldn’t help but grin. His friend looked like a lovelorn Italian straight out of a movie. The fact that the lovelorn Italian in question had become one of his best friends since he arrived in Grantville was the only reason Ryan wasn’t […]
Previous / Next Trudi’s TrenchersGorg HuffEditor’s Note:Trudi von Bachmerin was previously seen in 1636: The Viennese Waltz.Grantville High SchoolMonday, November 3, 1631 Trudi von Bachmerin looked at the high school in something close to terror. This was her first trip to Grantville and the wide, blacktopped Route 250 had been only the first shock. Well, perhaps […]
Previous / Next Ceaseless, The River RunsBy Garrett W. VancePreviously in this storyline:Retired samurai Nishioka Yoriaki and his wife Nishioka Momo fled fled the Nihonmachi Japanese enclave in Ayutthaya for Safety in Phnom Phen, Cambodia with help from their friend and Dutch captain Blom Coneliszoon. Five years later, Blom returns to take them to the greater […]
Previous Harnessing The Iron Horse: Railroad Locomotion In The 1632 UniverseBy Iver P. CooperRailroading in 1632 CanonAt the first “cabinet meeting,” Mike Stearns says, “We got rail tracks leading most of the way from the mine to the power plant, but as far as I know there isn’t a locomotive anywhere around. We may have […]
Previous / NextRailroading In GermanyBy Carsten Edelberger“The railroads are about to make a big comeback in the world.”Eric Flint, 1632.IntroductionThe railroads will be the steel backbone of the inter-modal rail/water transportation system of the United States of Europe (USE). The first rail line will provide a link for Grantville into the existing road-and-river transportation network and […]
Previous / Next Mass Media In The 1632 UniverseBy Gorg Huff and Paula GoodlettThis article is to run in conjunction with Chris Penycate’s discussion of the material technology required to produce down-time records and record players. In addition to Chris’ hardware, this article discusses the software of the media industry down-time, the challenges and the […]
Previous / Next The Mechanical Reproduction Of Sound: Developing A Recorded Music Distribution IndustryBy Chris Penycate and Rick BoatrightPart 1. Preparing pre-recorded material for distributionSound, no matter how complex, is just waves like the ripples in a pond. It can be considered as the displacement of molecules from their place of rest. A more technical […]
Previous / NextEssen Steel, Part 1: CrucibellusBy Kim MackeyChapter OneBy early morning they had passed beyond the siege lines and lay hidden in a copse of woods four miles from the Magdeburg gates.“We will travel only at night for the first few days,” Henri said, “and hide during the day. Best not to tempt fate.”That […]
Previous / NextDr. Phil Zinkens A BundleBy Kerryn OffordJena, 1633The new chemical “battery” was most interesting. Just by adding two electrodes of different metal into a glass container of weak oil of vitriol one could generate enough of the new electricity to light the small light bulb.Dr. Phillip Theophrastus Gribbleflotz returned his attention to the […]
Previous / Next The Dr. Gribbleflotz Chronicles, Part 2Dr. Phil’s Amazing Essence Of Fire TabletsBy Kerryn Offord and Rick Boatright1633, Jena, Dr. Gribbleflotz’s officeDr. Phillip Theophrastus Gribbleflotz took another look at the bill. He was spending that much on candles? Surely not. “Frau Mittelhausen. This bill for candles. Who has been using wax candles so wastefully?”Frau Mittelhausen […]
Previous / Next Not At All The TypeBy Virginia DeMarceSummer 1634, Grantville, State of Thuringia-Franconia“That was the year I broke my nose at the demolition derby.”Tina Marie Hollister pointed to the knot. She’d never bothered to have it repaired. Never had the money, to tell the truth. Probably wouldn’t have bothered even if she’d been […]
Previous / NextSeasonsBy Mark H. HustonMay, 1631The old Buick slowly made its way through the dark countryside, headed away from the high school. The couple inside was elderly, cautious, and tentative on the road. It had been daylight when the meeting at the high school started, now it was well after eleven PM. John’s eyes […]
Previous / NextThe Misadventures of T & VMama Mia, That’s A Good Pizza Pie!By Jon and Linda SonnenleiterEarly October 1634, NaplesThe ash dust flew up when Vince fell flat on his face. They had just left the main entrance to the mission’s rented villa and Vince had tripped in a hole he hadn’t been able […]
Previous / NextGrantville’s Greatest Philosopher?By Terry HowardKen looked up when the door opened. When he saw the men who were entering, he moved down to the cash register. Once there, he put his hand on the sawed-off shotgun that hung in a rack on the underside of the bar. “Julio,” he called.“Yeah?” Julio Mora replied.“Nine […]
Previous / NextBurgers, Fries, And BeerBy John and Patti FriendJulio sat with Odetta and Fenton. The Club was empty. None of the regulars were in and, as usual, Fenton was opening. It was early yet—just past two in the afternoon—and the three had nothing to do.Julio Sanabria looked at his two co-workers. “For two bits, […]
Previous / NextVon GrantvilleBy Russ RittgersChad sat on the front porch swing staring blankly ahead. He held a tumbler of Kentucky’s smoothest bourbon and water. It was like a cruel joke. I have some good news and some bad news. The good news is, those thirty-five new cars you have on your lot? You won’t […]
Previous / NextMule ‘Round The WorldBy Virginia DeMarceNovember, 1633, Wednesday morning before Thanksgiving“It was well done of you, Henry. It really was.” Enoch Wiley looked rather doubtfully at a pile of yellowish mush on the cracker in his hand. “What is this stuff?”“Cora makes it out of mashed chickpeas. Some kind of a substitute for […]
Previous / NextCanst Thou Send Lightnings?By Rick BoatrightIn like manner the lightning when it breaketh forth is easy to be seen; and after the same manner the wind bloweth in every country. (Deuterocanonical Apocrypha, The Epistle of Jeremiah:61)To: The Provincial of the Society of Jesus in RomeFrom: Adolph Wise S.J., University of Eichstaett.Enclosed with this […]
Previous / NextA Puritan Voice, Part 4by Michael LockwoodChapter 4: Outside AmiensPhillippe looked around him trying to gauge if Gerard was where he needed to be before Phillippe could begin his part of the plan. Gerard was to circle quietly around the Englishman’s campsite to intercept him should he try to flee. Phillippe would openly […]
A Puritan Voice, Part 2by Michael LockwoodPrevious / NextChapter 2: RouenNicholas ducked into a random shop door just as the skies opened up with a sudden icy blast of sleet. Sharp, familiar smells wafted into his nose on swirling eddies of warm air mixing with the cold from the door as he looked about. It […]
NextA Puritan Voice Part 1by Michael LockwoodChapter 1: Le HavreNicholas Knapp, known aboard the ship by the stolen name of Jean-Marc Crevier, stood at the bow of the ship, enjoying his first taste of freedom from his cramped cabin in months. His first taste of cold freedom, he thought as he wrapped his cloak tighter […]
Previous The Jews of 1632Douglas W. JonesForewordWith Jewish characters occupying such a prominent place in the 1632 story universe, it is important to accurately recreate the Jews of that era. What I have written in the following is intended as a handy resource for anyone contemplating using Jewish characters in fiction they set in this world. I […]
Previous / NextOn the Design, Construction and Maintenance of Wooden AircraftJerry Hollombe, Private Pilot (ASEL), Airframe & Powerplant MechanicIntroductionThis essay started out to be about what it takes to build an airplane using wood, wire, dope and fabric. It’s still about that, but it’s also about why there shouldn’t be a down-time aerospace industry, nor […]
Previous / NextBouncing Back: Bringing Rubber to GrantvilleIver P. CooperChemistry Professor Joe Schwarcz writes, “It’s hard to fight an effective war without rubber. Fan belts, gaskets, gas masks, and tires are critical to the war effort.” While he had modern warfare in mind, Grantville’s war machines—modified cars and trucks—need rubber to remain functional. In 1633, Quentin […]
Previous / Next Non-fictionExegesis and Interpretation of Up-timer Printed MatterFrancis TurnerDerived from my Hobson’s Choice story, this article is about a subject that I think people frequently think is simpler than it actually is. It is my belief that down-timers who get their hands on purloined up-time books will generally have a hard time figuring […]
Previous / Next Dr. Phil’s Aeolian TransformersKerryn Offord and Rick BoatrightJenaIt had been a hard day of almost wasted discussions with the scholars at the university. John Grover and Ken Butcher, accompanied by Derrick Mason, a young radio operator on loan from the army, had been trying to identify the materials and skills available down-time […]
Previous / NextDr. Phil’s Amazing Lightning CrystalKerryn OffordJena, Freedom ArchesTasha Kubiak tried to tune out the pompous ass who was still pontificating. Somehow both Tracy Kubiak and Danielle Kowach, the two other members of the Kubiak Country partnership who could speak competent German, had managed to be needed elsewhere when this trip had come up. […]
Previous / NextCONTINUING SERIALSThe Doctor Gribbleflotz Chronicles, Part 1: Calling Dr. PhilKerryn OffordSunday. After Church Lunch, Drahuta PropertyDeep in the middle of “Kubiak Country” the extended Kubiak clan had gathered at the home of Belle and Ivan Drahuta for Sunday lunch. Grown men and women were messing about playing touch football in the yard with […]
Previous / NextPublisher’s Note: This story held the record for shortest published story in the 1632 universe until George Grant’s “The Small Crisis” was printed in Issue 5 of “Eric Flint’s 1632 & Beyond” in May 2024. This story was published in March 2006. The Dalai Lama’s Electric Buddhaby Victor Klimov“Respectful greetings from His Majesty […]
Previous / NextLive FreeKaren BergstrahlTom Musgrove peered carefully around the door. This close to midnight few of the staff should be around. Down at the end of the hallway he could hear moaning. “That’s the way, Stan, get the nurses’ attention,” Tom muttered under his breath before he remembered that Stan Zaleski had been dead […]
Previous / Next THE WOMAN SHALL NOT WEAR THATVirginia DeMarceSummer, 1634No. Pastor Ludwig Kastenmayer put it out of his mind. His eyes must have deluded him. The cleaning woman at Countess Katharina the Heroic Lutheran Elementary School, here on the outskirts of Grantville, could not have been wearing . . . that.He put it out of his mind […]
Previous / NextGrantville is DifferentRuss RittgersIt was late August, 1632, when Georg Bauer climbed out of the ditch he’d been digging for Jena’s new sewer line. Sweat was still pouring off him when he first heard about Grantville.Almost twenty-two, with dark hair and a strong build, Georg was the fourth son of a farmer who […]
Previous / NextMightier than the SwordJay RobisonMagdeburg, Early winter, 1634Frank Jackson looked out across Magdeburg from the window of his office. Under a blanket of snow, the capital of the months-old United States of Europe looked deceptively tranquil. Underneath the blanket, though, Frank knew there was a dynamic city, still growing, still filling out. A […]
Previous / NextOld Folks’ MusicGorg Huff and Paula GoodlettJuly 1, 1633“You reckon we could afford to do something special for the Fourth?” Ella Mae Jones was sipping iced chamomile tea and making faces at it at the same time. “Lord above, I wish a person could afford sugar,” she muttered.Nancy Simmons ignored the comment. Ella […]
Previous / NextRECYCLINGPhilip C. Schillawski and John Rigby“Hey! Watch it with that broom.” Officer Preston Richards hastily pulled his feet back away from the stiff bristles that threatened the shine of his newly polished shoes. He glanced up from the night sheets he was going over, and looked over the unprepossessing figure before him. The […]
Previous / NextFederico and GingerIver P. CooperFederico Ballarino stopped his mule and studied the guards at the roadblock. They were too well uniformed to be brigands, but it wasn’t unheard of for a local lord to decide to boost his income by imposing a toll. Or even robbing travelers outright. Indeed, it was out of […]
