Previous Wingless Wonders Written by Kevin H. Evans Lighter-than-air technology is a lot like the game Go. It is easy to learn, but very hard to master. Many countries tried the technology, but only a few managed to master it. By far the largest number of rigid airships were built by Germany. On the other […]
Previous Movies And Television The Year Before The Ring Of Fire Tracy S. Morris Sometimes, I’d like to time travel to the day that I came up with the idea for Betsy Springer with my co-writer Brad Sinor and make her a little less rooted in late ’90s pop culture. It wasn’t a problem when […]
Previous / Next The Guardians of Germany Bjorn Hasseler This story pulls together Wilhelm Reuber (“The Slasher,” Grantville Gazette 61), Christoph von Hessler (“The Saale Levies,” Grantville Gazette 56), and Sunshine Moritz (Security Solutions). JenaJuly 1636 Johann Markus Schrön warily pushed open the door of the inn in Jena. It seemed clean enough. In fact, […]
Previous / Next Green, Blue, and Bruises Natalie Wood Zaborstadt Dora shifted the heavy basket on her left arm to be more comfortable and looked over at Anya, her niece—who was obediently standing behind her—before knocking on the simply made door. She tucked a wayward black curl back into her cap just as she heard […]
Previous / Next Artists from Afar John R. Deakins This story is the sequel to “Chiaroscuro” in Grantville Gazette 89 1635 It always seemed to be damp in Venice. Giorgio Fabrini, the former Father Benedetto, clambered from the gondola. The boat’s rocking would have bothered anyone new to the city, but he was sufficiently used […]
Previous / Next More McDonalds Terry Howard This story follows “Bremen or Bust” in Issue 9 and “Clan McDonald” in Issue 11. Officer Lyndon Johnson walked through the green front door of Club 250 in the middle of the lunch rush. The bar was not half as full as it used to be. More and […]
Previous / Next The Arabian Queen Virginia DeMarce This story begins right after “The Play’s The Thing” in Issue 11. Butzbach, Province of the MainApril 1637 “Are you going to start mining The Black Rose pretty soon, Master Massinger?” Dick asked. “You really should,” Tom urged. “We can get another ‘noble evil; common man good’ […]
Essen Chronicles Kim Mackey Essen Chronicles, Part One: Crucibellus (Grantville Gazette #7) Essen Chronicles, Part Two Louis de Geer (Grantville Gazette #8) Essen Chronicles, Part Three Trip to Paris (Grantville Gazette #9)
A Puritan Voice by Michael Lockwood A multi-part saga of travel and betrayal by Michael Lockwood that eventually finds its way, as so many things do, to Grantville. A Puritan Voice, Part 1 (Grantville Gazette 86) A Puritan Voice, Part 2 (Grantville Gazette 87) A Puritan Voice, Part 3 (Grantville Gazettee 88) A Puritan Voice, Part 4 (Grantville Gazette […]
The Aethers of Magdeburg (series) David Carrico and Mark Huston A tale of radio, industrial espionage, and love set in post-Ring of Fire Magdeburg. The Aethers of Magdeburg, Part 1 (Grantville Gazette Volume 90) The Aethers of Magdeburg, Part 2 (Grantville Gazette Volume 91) The Aethers of Magdeburg, Part 3 (Grantville Gazette Volume 92)
Nihonmachi (series)Garrett W. Vance The first part of this was published in a Baen anthology and is not available online, so we are providing a slightly longer summary of that story. This is essentially a tale of three friends. Retired samurai Nishioka Yoriaki, now a humble boatman selling his wife’s delicious bento lunches up and […]
Previous Grantville Gumshoe in a 17th Century World’s FairTom Kidd Spring 1637 What was once a fleeting dream is now a reality. I have an office with my name burnished in gold foil on the door: Schinkenspeck & Mackie Investigations. I’m tickled pink at being an accomplished private eye with many extraordinary tales. Not to […]
Previous / Next The Young Lady of the LakeEdith Wild It was the summer of 1636, I think in late June, maybe in early July. I believe the framework of events leading up to what happened might have been as long as several weeks. The edges blur and memories of events change. Even so, I […]
Previous / Next Miss RedbirdBethanne Kim The Bridal SaloonEarly November 1635 “Look, Carole, I’m not saying the Miss West Virginia pageant isn’t great. It is! We have rented a lot of dresses over the years and you got a nice bump in business for doing hair, but the truth is we’re both stuck. In a […]
Previous / Next Late May 1636 Riding the cog rail up to the Redbird Institute, USE Dorothea Weise breathed in the cool spring air, savoring the sweet scents of lilies of the valley, forget-me-nots, daisies, and cowslips growing in the open space alongside the cog rail’s steep tracks and spiced by the resinous aroma of […]
Welcome to our September 2025 issue. We hope you enjoy it! Next Table of Contents Note: You can open a copy of the Redbird Map with this link. Redbird Reader (fiction) 1. Life List Garrett W. Vance 2. Miss Redbird Bethanne Kim 3. The Young Lady of the Lake Edith Wild Paris Post (more fiction) […]
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 […]
Previous To Kill A Redbird Marc Tyrrell A townhouse in Hamburg Monday, February 11, 1636, 8:25 p.m. “So, that is my proposal, meine Herren. What do you think?” Hans Geisel looked around the well-lit, wood paneled room at the five other men seated there, watching their body language. Predictably, Wilhelm van den Berg was relaxed, […]
Previous / Next I used to be a stately tree, tall and straight, dominating my neighbors in the forest. Until Grantville came to town. My name is Chris, and I used to be a European chestnut tree, but Grantville brought the chestnut blight with it when it came back from the year 2000. I had […]
Previous / Next A Flask and a Handshake Natalie Silk Spring 1636 “Wife!” Danel Nahon rushed through the door of his small home and saw that Dora wasn’t there. Dora’s favorite stool by the hearth had her mending basket resting on top of it. With three young growing children, the basket was always filled with […]
Previous / Next Escaping The What-Ifs Mike Knopp Redbird Institute Construction Site North of Röblitz, West Virginia County, Thuringia-Franconia October 6, 1635 Pierre Petit stood at the top of the hill, watching the train steadily move up the incline. A metallic pinging of the pinion on the rack and safety catches rang distinctively under the […]
Previous / Next Renamed Bethanne Kim Redbird Institute Early July 1635 Phil Bartolli fished a plain red handkerchief out of his pocket to wipe his brow. Reconsidering, he wiped his whole face. “I keep hearing that we’re in the middle of the Little Ice Age, but it sure doesn’t feel like it on a day […]
Previous / Next But Will It Play In Peoria? Tracy S. Morris March 1635 “Eeeeh, what’s up, Paul?” Betsy Springer held a carrot between two fingers like Bugs Bunny pretending to hold a cigar as she pingponged into Managing Editor Paul Kindred’s office at the Grantville Times with her usual high energy. Today, his star […]
Previous / Next Chautauqua, Disney, And The World’s Fair Bjorn Hasseler Rudolstadt, Rudolstadt-Schwarzburg County, SoTF August 1634 Countess Emelie of Oldenburg-Delmenhorst was nineteen, six months pregnant, and distracting herself with the most marvelous idea. She and her fifty-three-year-old husband Count Ludwig Guenther of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt had returned to Rudolstadt from Magdeburg just a few days ago. […]
Previous / Next What is Redbird? Bethanne Kim Why is this in nonfiction when Redbird is fictional? It’s not a story. It’s the story behind the story. Most of what is written in this universe is solidly built on the foundation of what is real. Grantville isn’t real, but Mannington (the town Grantville is based […]
Previous / Next Nothing’s Ever Simple Written by Virginia DeMarce Grantville, December 1633 “That’s probably about the best we can do.” Roberta Sutter looked at the stacks of paper on the table in front of her with considerable dissatisfaction. “We’ve interviewed everyone in town,” Sandra Prickett said. “We’ve made them look for family Bibles and […]
Previous / Next The Mannigton Minute: The Impact Of Mannington On Grantville And Grantville On Mannington Jackie Britton Lopatin My husband, Leonard Lopatin, and I feel so blessed to be living in historic Mannington, a small town in the West Virginia mountains on Highway 250. When people here would ask us how or why we […]
Previous / Next Economics Are Not Abstract Gorg Huff We act like they are. We assume that they are. But they are not. The economics of Grantville are not the economics of Amsterdam. The principles are the same, but the details are different, and the devil, the weather, and economics are in the details. In […]
Previous / Next Introduction: Baen Books will publish the novel Red Shield sometime next year. In it, the up-time Scouting organizations merge (mostly to keep down how many volunteers they need) into a single down-time organization called Pioneer Scouts, after the American pioneers. Among other changes, the top award is named the Golden Eagle Award, […]
Previous / Next Marianne previously appeared in “Marianne,” Grantville Gazette 97 and “Finding Her Way,” Grantville Gazette 101. A Troubled Journey Mark Roth-Whitworth Paris Late Spring, 1637 A very young woman loitered in an alley by the street crossing, turned so as not to show the muck-spattered side of her dress, watching the squad of […]
Previous / Next Cittadino In Villa Or The Economy Of The Citizen In The Country Lancelot Schaubert Vincenzo Tanara was currently stuck in a tree trying to not get caught stealing said tree. He liked growing wealth through stealth, preferably long-term stealth wealth. So he was stuck in the tree he was stealing, waiting for a […]
Previous / Next This story follows “Bremen or Bust,” in 1632 & Beyond Issue 9. It originally appeared in The Legend of Jimmy Dick from Ring of Fire Press. Clan MacDonald Terry Howard A Tale of Charles and Charles March 1635 Lyndon Johnson entered Club 250, the most infamous bar in Grantville, across the street […]
Previous / Next The Quiney brothers have previously appeared in: “Franconia! Part 1,” Grantville Gazette 10 “Franconia! Parts 2 and 3,” Grantville Gazette 25 “Ya’ Gets Yer Money and Ya’ Gets Yer Choice,” Grantville Gazette 26 “Et Docere Et Rerum Exquirere Causas,” Grantville Gazette 92 “One To A Customer,” Grantville Gazette 95 “If You Want […]
Previous / Next Rural Grantville October 1636 George McClenannan Grant It was a cool day for October. Of course, October days tended to be cool since the Ring of Fire. That was fine with Curtis Maggard. He was used to being outdoors in worse. He spent as much time hunting, fishing, and trapping as he […]
