Eric Flint's 1632 & Beyond: Alternate History Stories

Volume 18 #7: Butterflies in the Kremlin, Part Seven

Previous / Next SERIALS: Butterflies in the Kremlin, Part Seven, The Bureaucrats are Revolting Written by Gorg Huff and Paula Goodlett July 17, 1634 “Oh!” Judy the Younger Wendell heaved a great sigh. “She’s beautiful.” The bride was beautiful. Brandy Bates wore a flowing white angora/wool gown with a Chinese silk veil. The veil was […]

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Volume 18 #6: And That’s How the Money Rolls In

Previous / Next And That’s How the Money Rolls In Written by Terry Howard Hours later, after the poker game broke up, Janos was still waiting in the kitchen. Arch Pennock thought he’d gone on home after all the dumplings had been finished by the ravening horde that was his poker buddies. “Mister Pennock,” Janos […]

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Volume 18 #5: The Bloody Baroness of Bornholm

Previous / Next The Bloody Baroness of Bornholm Written by Kerryn Offord May 1634, 0430 hrs, in the shadow of HammershusCastle, Island of Bornholm, the Baltic “Get ready to jump,” the man at the rudder called. Jesper Hansen tugged his cap down tight and slung his duffle bag over his shoulder. There was a gentle […]

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Volume 17 #14: Scraps of Fashion

Previous / Next Scraps of Fashion Written by Lisa Satterlund Something to keep in mind when writing fashion into your 1632verse stories is that the down-timers don’t think their fashions are ugly. From the point of view of the twentieth century, the up-timers will see many of the garments the highest classes wear as stiff, […]

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Volume 17 #13: Food Preservation in 1632

Previous / Next The Importance of Having a Pig: Food and Preservation in 1632 Written by Anette Pedersen The Importance of Storage Self-sufficiency was the alpha and omega of housekeeping in the 1632 era, and no matter how rich or poor a household was, it was the responsibility of the housewife or housekeeper to ensure […]

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Volume 17 #11: Sonata, Part Three

Previous / Next Note: This is a story of Marla Linder, Franz Sylwester, and their music. It consists of Sonata, Part One (Grantville Gazette Volume 15), Sonata, Part Two (Grantville Gazette 16), Sonata, Part Three (Grantville Gazette 17), and Sonata, Part Four (Grantville Gazette 18). This touching story is part of 1635: Music and Murder, published by Baen. Sonata, Part […]

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Volume 17 #10: Homage to Etruria, Part One

Previous / Next Homage to Etruria,Part One: The Patron’s Plight Written by Jay Robison I. May 1635, Outside Rome Giulio Gentileschi paused to re-tie the kerchief around his nose and mouth to keep out the dust. His companion, a hulking lefferto named Carlo Belzoni did the same. If only cloth could keep the smell of panic out […]

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Volume 17 #9: Comedy of Error

Previous / Next Comedy of Error Written by Mark H. Huston “Oh. My. God. They have those damned things down-time too?” “What things Flo?” Anna followed Flo’s icy glare toward a temporary stage erected in the Grantville market. On it, a group of Italian traveling players were performing a broad, ribald and highly improvised show. […]

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Volume 17 #8: Lost In Translation

Previous / Next Lost In Translation Written by Iver P. Cooper Spring 1634Grantville “Hans, you fool, where are you!” Hans hurriedly entered the room. The master’s face was red, and his eyes were bulging, making him look rather like a choleric bullfrog. Uh-oh, he thought. What is it this time? He lowered his eyes. “Yes, Master?” […]

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Volume 16 #5: Feng Shui for the Soul

Previous / Next Feng Shui for the Soul Written by Kerryn Offord Grantville, 1633 Kurt Stoltz ignored the rumbling of his stomach and continued his careful scanning of the pages of the newspaper. He well knew that they censored everything. So one had to read everything to detect the tiny inconsistencies that hinted at what they had removed. He […]

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Volume 16 #4: Silver Age

Previous / Next Silver Age Written by Virginia DeMarce Grantville, March 1635 Pam Hardesty squatted down next to a set of encyclopedias in the National Research Center. Tuesday. Cross-training for would-be librarians. Someone, somewhere up the food chain, had decided that they would be better-prepared to help researchers in the future if they had some […]

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Volume 17 #2: The Anaconda Project, Episode Six

Previous / Next The Anaconda Project, Episode Six Written by Eric Flint When Jozef finished with his presentation, the immediate reaction of his two listeners was about what he’d expected. Silence. Total, complete silence. After a few seconds, Lukasz Opalinski sighed faintly and leaned back a little further in his heavily-upholstered armchair. He gave the […]

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Volume 18 #3: Too Late for Sunday

Previous / Next Too Late for Sunday Written by Michael Badillo December, 1633, Grantville “Roberta Allene Haggerty! Come here for a minute, please.” “What is it, Momma?” Allie answered, entering her parents’ room. The “please” didn’t fool her a bit. Nobody called you by your full name unless you were in trouble. “We need to […]

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Volume 17 #1: The Anaconda Project, Episode Five

Previous / Next The Anaconda Project, Episode Five Written by Eric Flint As he watched the archer bringing his horse around again for another run at the target, Lukasz Opalinski leaned toward the man standing next to him. “So, tell me, Jozef. Is Grantville as exotic as its reputation?” Jozef Wojtowicz didn’t answer immediately. He […]

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Volume 18 #2: Quintessentially Blonde

Previous / Next Quintessentially Blonde Written by Virginia DeMarce Grantville, January 1635 “Why are you asking, Missy?” Debbie Jenkins asked. “You know Pam Hardesty. In the going-to-be-a-librarian-someday classes with me. She’s thinking about when she comes to get married. If she does. And what she’s going to tell a respectable down-time man about that blank […]

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Volume 16 #13: Unintended Consequences: Dealing with the Population Density Explosion

Previous Unintended Consequences: Dealing with the Population Density Explosion Written by Walt Boyes The reconstruction of Magdeburg brings to mind issues in population density. Although relatively large cities existed in 1634 in OTL, none of them qualifies as a really modern city, as the up-timers would recognize them. The up-timers will cause an unparalleled population […]

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Voume 16 #12: Seeing the Heavens

Previous / Next Seeing the Heavens Written by Iver P. Cooper “The soul without imagination is what an observatory would be without a telescope,” according to Henry Ward Beecher. In the seventeenth century, solar system astronomy lay at the center of the debates as to place of mankind in the universe, and the relationship of […]

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Volume 16 #9: Tell Me What You Eat, and I’ll Tell You Who You Are

Previous / Next Tell Me What You Eat, and I’ll Tell You Who You Are Written by Anette Pedersen Food and Cooking According to Class in 1632 Introduction In the Germany of 1632 the difference between the food available to the rich and to the poor was immensely bigger than it is today. Not so […]

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Volume 16 #8: Sonata, Part Two

Previous / Next Note: This is a story of Marla Linder, Franz Sylwester, and their music. It consists of Sonata, Part One (Grantville Gazette Volume 15), Sonata, Part Two (Grantville Gazette 16), Sonata, Part Three (Grantville Gazette 17), and Sonata, Part Four (Grantville Gazette 18). This touching story is part of 1635: Music and Murder, published by Baen. Sonata, Part […]

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Volume 16 #8: Stretching Out Part Four Beyond the Line

Previous / Next Stretching Out, Part Four:Beyond the Line Written by Iver P. Cooper Trinidad, April, 1634 It was a lake, but one unlike any other they had seen. This was the famous Pitch Lake of Trinidad. A hundred acres of tar. David Pieterszoon de Vries, captain of the fluyt Walvis, studied it for a few […]

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Volume 16 #5: The Galloping Goose

Previous / Next The Galloping Goose Written by Herbert and William Sakalaucks “Okay, guys, very carefully, peel the logo stencils and coverings off the doors and I’ll get the big one on the back end,” Arlen instructed. The sharp smell of drying paint hung in the air, a fine mist shrouding the gathered crowd, as […]

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Volume 15 #15: Tennis: The Game of Kings

Previous Tennis: The Game of Kings Written by Iver P. Cooper Many of the stories of the 1632 Universe relate to the flow of ideas—technological and social—from the up-timers to the down-timers. But the flow can be in the other direction, too. My story “The Chase” (Ring of Fire 2) relates how the up-timers learn […]

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Volume 15 #14: The Theobroma Shell Game

Previous / Next The Theobroma Shell Game Written by Karen C. Evans Chocolate, that magical substance that smoothes out the rough parts of our lives. Those of us who have been living with the Grantville “disaster” these past years are reconciled to the fact that we will never have chocolate again. It isn’t available in […]

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Volume 15 #13: The Geared Locomotive or What Wood You Shay To?

Previous / Next The Geared Locomotive or What Wood You Shay To? Written by Kevin H. Evans Geared locomotives were developed to handle rough track industrial applications. Most notable were logging short lines, and mining short lines. The traditional steam locomotive has cylinders parallel to the ground with the effort of those cylinders transferred to […]

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Volume 15 #12: Soundings and Sextants,Part Two

Previous / Next Soundings and Sextants,Part Two, Celestial Navigation Methods Written by Iver P. Cooper According to Marx’s book on the Spanish flota, ship’s navigators were regarded with scorn and, on many occasions, the denouement to the stranding of a ship’s crew was the assassination or execution of the navigator (71). Up-time celestial navigation methods may […]

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Volume 15 #11: Butterflies in the Kremlin, Part Six

Previous / Next Butterflies in the Kremlin,Part Six: The Polish Incident or The Wet Firecracker War Written by Gorg Huff and Paula Goodlett Third Lieutenant Boris Timrovich, Tim to his friends, was savoring the victory. Right up to the time he was called into the commandant’s office. He had beaten Third Lieutenant Igor Milosevic in […]

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Volume 15 #10: Sonata, Part One

Previous / Next Note: This is a story of Marla Linder, Franz Sylwester, and their music. It consists of Sonata, Part One (Grantville Gazette Volume 15), Sonata, Part Two (Grantville Gazette 16), Sonata, Part Three (Grantville Gazette 17), and Sonata, Part Four (Grantville Gazette 18). This touching story is part of 1635: Music and Murder, published by Baen. Sonata, Part […]

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