Welcome to our March 2024 issue. We hope you enjoy it!
Introduction and Table of Contents
by Bjorn Hasseler
Introduction
Magdeburg Messenger (1632 Fiction)
1. Fire on the Mountain Bjorn Hasseler
2. A Knight’s Tale – Therapies Edith Wild
3. Another Country Heard From Jack Carroll
Assiti Shards
4. The Birds of the Muses Iver P. Cooper
News & New Books
1632Con
Available Now
Coming Soon
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:
Security Threats Bjorn Hasseler
An Angel Called Peterbilt Eric Flint, Gorg Huff, and Paula Goodlett
Missions of Security Bjorn Hasseler
A Matter of Security Bjorn Hasseler
A Diogenes Club for the Czar Gorg Huff and Paula Goodlett
Forthcoming:
Odd numbered months: New issues of Eric Flint’s 1632 & Beyond
Security Solutions Bjorn Hasseler (April 2, 2024)
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!
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.
Copyright
ERIC FLINT’S 1632 & BEYOND ISSUE #4
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