Eric Flint's 1632 & Beyond: Alternate History Stories

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Introduction and Table of Contents

by Bjorn Hasseler

1632 & Beyond Issue 3

Introduction

Magdeburg Messenger (1632 Fiction)

1. Cassini Rounds Third by Robert E. Waters

2. A Fitting Tribute by Bethanne Kim

3. A Meeting at Midsummer, Part 2 by Marc Tyrrell

4. Disturbance at the Nishioka House by Garrett W. Vance

The State Library Papers (Non-Fiction)

5. Something Old, Something New: A Materials of Construction Survey by Iver P. Cooper

Acknowledgements

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Introduction

The Magdeburg Messenger (1632 Fiction)

This issue’s cover story is “Cassini Rounds Third.” Robert Waters continues the saga of Giovanni Cassini. Up-time, he was a famous astronomer. Down-time, he’s a kid who wants to play ball. He might get to stay in Grantville, but is it really for the love of the game?

Next is Bethanne Kim’s “A Fitting Tribute.” The Ugolinis make memorial stones and other markers. That’s not something the average down-timer is used to. Is there a way to save the family business?

Marc Tyrrell concludes “A Meeting at Midsummer” with Part 2. Paul, Gagnrad, Helmut, Captain von Thieren, and the Inquisitor Father Salazar are all on different missions. As most of their paths cross near Klettbach, which of them will succeed?

An evening at a very good restaurant leads to “A Disturbance at the Nishioka House.” Garrett W. Vance’s tale takes place immediately after “Ill-Met in the Marshes” from Issue 1. Plus, there’s a cat.

The State Library Papers (1632 Non-Fiction)

Iver P. Cooper’s article “Something Old, Something New” is about construction materials and their availability (or lack thereof) in the new timeline.

Editor’s Notes

Baen Books is starting to reissue 1632 books originally published by Ring of Fire Press. I have received editorial corrections for my first three books, and as I reviewed those, some thoughts came to mind.

First, the Grantville Gazette and Ring of Fire Press had style guides that were different from the 1632 series style guide that Baen Books maintains. A style guide provides precedent: “We did it this way in 1632, so that’s what we’re going to keep doing.” We published Eric Flint’s 1632 & Beyond Issues 1 and 2 using largely the same style as The Grantville Gazette. After approving lots of editorial changes, one at a time, I want to regularize styles across the series.

So, beginning with this Issue 3 of Eric Flint’s 1632 & Beyond:

AM and PM will become a.m. and p.m.

Spaced ellipses (. . .) will become the ellipsis character (…). In case you’d like to incorporate this yourself, it’s alt0133.

We will continue to italicize foreign words…except when they are used in names or in direct address.

Names ending in -s will form the possessive with just the apostrophe: Joe’s horse, but Lukas’ horse.

The following words are not capitalized: basic training, tech center, tech school.

Gun belt and musket ball are each two words, but gunmaker and gunmaking are each one word.

The general format for bibliography entries is: Author. Title. Edition. City: Publisher, Year. Where cited in 1632 canon or on Baen’s Bar. Comments.

In-line citations are simpler: either (“Short Work,” Author, Longer Work it’s in, Chapter or page number) or (Title, Author, Chapter or page number).

I am going to draw the line at the serial comma (Oxford comma). Eric Flint’s 1632 & Beyond will use the serial comma for clarity, consistency, and to avoid confusion. (Do you see what I did there?)

Copyright

ERIC FLINT’S 1632 & BEYOND ISSUE #3

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters places, and events portrayed in this book are fictional or used fictitiously. Any resemblance to real people (living or dead), events, or places is coincidental.

Editor-in-Chief Bjorn Hasseler Editor and Webmaster Bethanne Kim Editor Chuck Thompson Cover Artwork by Garrett W. Vance Art Director Garrett W. Vance

1. Science Fiction-Alternate History 2. Science Fiction-Time Travel

Copyright © 2023 Flint’s Shards Inc.

All rights reserved, including the right to copy, reproduce and distribute this book, or portions thereof, in any form.

eBook ISBN: 978-1-962398-04-6 Paperback ISBN: 978-1-962398-05-3

Distributed by Flint’s Shards Inc.  339 Heyward Street, #200 Columbia, SC 29201

Printed in the United States of America

Other 1632 Universe Publications

 1632 by Eric Flint created the universe. Free download available at Baen.com/1632.html. All listed books available at Baen.com.

Short-List of Titles to Jump into the Series:

Ring of Fire anthology edited by Eric Flint

1633 by Eric Flint and David Weber

1634: The Baltic War by Eric Flint and David Weber

All books available through Baen.com, booksellers, and used bookstores.

Also Available:

Grantville Gazette Volumes 1 – 102, magazine edited by Eric Flint, Paula Goodlett, Walt Boyes, Bjorn Hasseler. Available on 1632Magazine.com.

1632 Universe novels and “Eric Flint, Ring of Fire Series” on Baen.com

Recently Released:

A Diogenes Club for the Czar by Gorg Huff and Paula Goodlett

Forthcoming:

February 6, 2024: An Angel Called Peterbilt by Eric Flint, Gorg Huff, and Paula Goodlett

Ongoing: Baen is re-releasing select 1632 books originally released by Eric Flint’s Ring of Fire Press, starting with Bjorn Hasseler’s NESS books. Please check the Baen.com e-arc bundles and new releases regularly!

Odd numbered months: New issues of Eric Flint’s 1632 & Beyond

Key Storyline Points

by Bjorn Hasseler, Editor-in-Chief

This section is both orientation and review for readers and writers. It necessarily contains spoilers. If you don’t like spoilers, we recommend skipping to the next article or downloading a copy of 1632 from the Baen Free Library: https://www.baen.com/1632.html

Timeline

Sunday, April 2, 2000/Sunday, May 25, 1631 – The Ring of Fire takes place.

Fall 1632 – Gustav II Adolf and Mike Stearns organize the Confederated Principalities of Europe.

June 1634 – Congress of Copenhagen. Additional USE provinces are organized.

September 1634 – The Ram Rebellion concludes when the Ram takes von Bimbach’s schloss.

September 1634 – Báner captures Ingolstadt via bribery.

January 1635 – Completion of the Capital Line railroad from Schwarza Junction to Magdeburg.

February 22, 1635 – United States of Europe and State of Thuringia-Franconia elections

– The Crown Loyalists win the election so Wilhelm Wettin will become the prime minister of the USE.

– Bamberg becomes the SoTF capital.

March 4, 1635 – The Dreeson Incident.

June 1635 – Wettin takes office; Gustav II Adolf appoints Mike Stearns a major general..

June 1635 – Krystalnacht – The Committees of Correspondence attack antisemites and witch hunters throughout the USE.

August 1635 – USE Army under Torstensson defeats the Saxons at Zwenkau; Swedish Army under Gustav II Adolf takes Brandenburg without a fight.

October 1635 – Swedish, Hessian, and USE forces invade the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth.

– After atrocities at the Battle of Swiebodzin, Stearns forms the Hangman Regiment under Jeff Higgins.

– Battles of Zielona Gora, Warta River, and Lake Bledno – Gustav II Adolf is injured.

October 1635 – Assassination of Queen Maria Eleanora.

January 1636 – Bavaria retakes Ingolstadt and invades the Oberpfalz.

February 1636 – Stearns and Third Division defeat Báner at the Battle of Ostra.

February 1636 – Gustav II Adolf recovers.

Terms, Concepts, and Groups of People

Committees of Correspondence (CoC) – organized to spread up-time ideals, leaders include Gretchen Richter, Gunter Achterhof, and Joachim von Thierbach (“Spartacus”).

Confederated Principalities of Europe (CPE) – confederation of German states allied to Sweden, lasted from roughly October 1632 to October 1633.

Krystalnacht – The June 1635 NTL Committees of Correspondence campaign against antisemites and witch hunters. It’s a deliberately ironic name meant to contrast with Kristallnacht, the 1938 OTL Nazi attack on Jews in Germany. While the series has not been completely consistent, we try to use a specific spelling for each.

New United States – Government of the Ring of Fire and adjoining areas. By August 1632, included all of southern Thuringia. Became part of the CPE in Fall 1633. Name changed to State of Thuringia in December 1633. Following elections in Franconia, name changed to State of Thuringia-Franconia (SoTF) in February 1634.

United States of Europe – successor to the CPE, although it is a nation rather than a confederation.

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