The Magdeburg Messenger

(1632 Fiction)

This issue’s theme is ongoing adventures. Once we come to the end of a story, our characters don’t just stop; they go on about their lives. Four of our stories center around characters you already know, and the authors of the other two already plan to revisit their characters.

The cover art is from “How Lovely Are Thy Branches” by Garrett W. Vance. It’s romance and finding a Christmas tree in the Wonderland Isles.

“Rites of Passage” is Edith Wild’s fourth story about Amalia von Herbert and Maggie Vogel. Their previous story, in 1632 & Beyond Issue 4, ended on a cliffhanger. We’re sorry about that. Come see what happens next!

“A Week Together” by Bjorn Hasseler finds Reed and Kathy Sue Burroughs is home while Reed is between wars.

Aaron Jamieson Greso’s first 1632 story is “The Diablo Is In The Details.” A merchant and a knight, both Portuguese, are trying buy compasses and sell a donkey, two tasks that are harder than anticipated.

The new timeline is so different that sometimes a problem is exactly the opposite of what we expect. “Emancipation and Education” is Terry Howard’s story about a boy who wants to stay in school against his father’s wishes.

Skip has given the girl a stiletto. Now it’s catching on, and in Bethanne Kim’s “Stilettos, Part 2,” he’s got a plan to make more.

Editors’ Notes

With this issue, we’re extending Eric Flint’s 1632 & Beyond to 50,000 words, at the same cost.

We’ve got something else for you, too. After Ring of Fire Press closed, Baen Books acquired a couple dozen of the 1632 books published there. Those have been coming out monthly. The Available Now and Coming Soon columns will keep you up to date.

One of the books that was not acquired is A 1632 Christmas. We have approached those authors, and all have agreed: Eric Flint’s 1632 & Beyond will publish two special issues. Each will have ten of the stories from A 1632 Christmas. Our goal is to publish the first in November and the second in December. The twenty-first story is a Marla and Franz story by David Carrico, and that’s going to be included with the other Marla & Franz stories in the reissue of 1635: Music and Murder, also coming in December.

Characters from the first three stories in this issue also appear in stories in the Christmas issues.