The Grantville Gazette

Rating:
Summary: Hooray! Feed my 1632 habit.
Review: An anthology, the dead tree version of the electronic edition of the Grantville Gazette brought out by Baen about a year ago.

First, don't be off put by Amazon's poor copy of the cover, they've promised to fix it eventually.

Second, for any 1632 fans, this is a must-have.

Virginia DeMarce's "Rudolstadt Collequy" alone is worth the price of the book.

Loren Jones' "Anna's Story" is a romance that equals Eric Flints handling of adult romance.

Gorg Huff's "The Sewing Circle" was the introduction of major characters in the 1632 universe which are finding their way not only into other stories, but the next novels.

All in all, a good example of the cooperative world building that Eric Flint has been attempting to use the 1632 universe as an example of. Eric pointed out in his comments on the "Ring of Fire" anthology that the real world is messy and complex, and that one of the problems with much alternate history is, the single creator of the universe misses out on a lot of that messiness and complexity that flavor the real world. By allowing both professional writers and fans to actually contribute to the development of characters and background for the 1632 universe, Flint has attempted to overcome that and produce an alternate history with the flavor of real history.

But don't be deceived, these are fully professional stories, not a "fan fiction" collection. The Grantville Gazette is not to be missed, except for those people who think that alternate history is battle scene after battle scene, gunshot after gunshot.

Includes:

Portraits - Eric Flint's vingette of Rubens interaction with uptimers.
Anna's Story - Loren Jones romance for grown ups.
Curio and Relic - Tom Van Natta gives the firearms fans something to be happy about
The Sewing Circle - Gorg Huff introduces some of the most interesting characters in the 1632 universe.
The Rudolstadt Collequy - Virginia De Marce intrigues around the intersection of politics, religion, and folk music.

And Non Fiction pieces by the 1632 tech crew:

Radio in the 1632 Universe - Rick Boatright
They've got bread mold - why can't they make penicillin? - Robert Gotlieb
Horse Power - Karen Bergstralh

In the interest of full disclosure, the radio article is mine. But that did not change my evaluation of the other pieces.

Get it.

Rating:
Summary: The Gazette is great
Review: Except for the article on horses every story and article is top notch. "The Portrait" by Flint and "Anna's Story" by Hoff are the two best. The cover comes from the story "The Portrait" and is supposedly a Rueben potrait of an uptime American nurse. Anna'a story tells of what happens to the family of farmers who were raped and pillaged at the start of 1632, the novel that started it all. I really hope the the rest of the internet published issues of the Gazzette are printed as well. Books read in bead are better than on a computer screen.

Rating:
Summary: How Good the 1632 saga is
Review: I am a native West Virginian. I first read Eric Flint's Book in 2002. I became quite involved in the process because I believe that the story is one of the most accurate protrayals of the people of West Virginia I have ever seen.
When I read the books and Gazettes I saw people I grew up with, my neighbors and friends. Mostly I saw the West Virginia I knew not as presented by a majority of the media.
I want to see this image to replace the negative stereotypes that is most common.
It meant enough to me to host two research conferences for the series at the cost of my own health.
when you read these stories know that this is the real West Virginia.

Rating:
Summary: What Sir AC Doyle never thought of
Review: If Sir Arthur and his publishers had thought of (probably not because of the technology for it didn't exist) having a Baker Street Gazette, there would be more stories in the world of Sherlock Holmes. I see a long and fruitful future for the 1632 universe.

Rating:
Summary: mostly intellectually rigorous
Review: The last chapters of this book are unusual. They are not set in the fictional world of this series, as are the earlier chapters. Instead, they describe the scientific logic underpinning a lot of the already published plots, and well as upcoming stories. Leaving aside the actual transportation in time, as a deux ex machina, of course.

Instead these chapters are mostly the results of long discussions in a newsgroup hosted by the publisher, Baen Books, for fans of the series. One chapter talks about the serious difficulty in establishing long range radio communication in 16xx. Due to the Maunder Minimum. It also goes into the problems of maintaining the 20th century equipment, and what simple repairs might be effected. Another chapter goes into how hard it is to make penicillin. It is easy for someone not versed in biology to underestimate the level of technology needed.

Perhaps the most interesting item to come from the chapters is the decision to base what Grantville has on what an actual town in West Virginia had, around the postulated time of the transition, which was circa 1999. This gives an intellectual rigour to the exercise that forces the authors to be really creative, and yet plausible. So that, for example, they can't invoke the presence of unrealistic items of technology, and amounts of those items, whenever the plot might find it useful.

An excellent contrast to Wyss' "Swiss Family Robinson". Where whenever the characters needed some artifact, they could swim to the boat and, lo!, fetch it.

This book also shines light on a very American mindset - the blue collar gun owner. Apparently, a realistic depiction of the attitudes of many in West Virginia. But in one chapter, this attitude verges on self parody. Where the Americans are asked to contribute any spare guns to the collective defense. But there is no compulsion. And the citizens are emphatically asked to retain one gun for each of them.

In this respect, the book, and the series, is a straw dummy. Flint and the other authors waved their hands to transport Grantville into a time and place where indeed guns would be immediately needed. While it makes for an enjoyable series, this plot device is not intellectually rigorous, if you want to argue for gun ownership.

Rating:
Summary: Grantville Gazette - what a fun book!
Review: What would happen if a West Virginia mining town were translated into the middle of the Thirty Years War? _1632_ by Eric Flint is an unusual time travel novel based on that premise. Further books in the series (Ring of Fire, 1633, and 1634: The Galileo Affair) deepen the premise.

The Grantville Gazette doesn't just deepen the fun - it widens the fun. Although most of the stories were first printed in Baen's electronic edition, "Portraits" (by Eric Flint) is new to the paper edition. The stories moved me to laughter ("Rudolstadt Colloquy") and tears ("Anna's Story".) The non-fiction articles on technology transfer possible with a realistic assessment of what could be done with a mish-mash of twentieth-century and seventeenth-century technology.

I'm hard put to decide which my favorite story was. For me, a good story is one with characters that will stick around in my head for years.

Benny will fiddle away in Rudolstadt, as a missionary for old-time music to the seventeenth century. Sarah will forever be exasperated as her father discusses fiscal policy in terms of Federal Reserve Fairies that only work if people believe. Pete Santee will be showing yet another crop of dam'fool kids that a gun only does what it's supposed to when....

The non-fiction is a wonderful bonus. It adds a depth to the fiction, as you realize what constraints the fiction authors were operating under.

Eric Flint's experience as an editor of short story collections shows. The whole of this book is greater than the sum of the parts. If you enjoy alternate history, this is a book to pick up. But beware. Don't pick it up in the evening, as it will be hard to put down in time to get a good night's sleep.