As of 2019, the series has seven published novels propelling the main plot and over ten published novels moving several subplots and threads forward.[citation needed][original research?] The series also includes fan-written, but professionally edited, collaborative material which are published in a bi-monthly magazine titled The Grantville Gazettes and some collaborative short fictions.[2]
In terms of the history of Time Travel literature, the 1632 series can be considered an extension and modification of Mark Twain's A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court, in which a 19th-century American engineer, finding himself in 5th-century England, is able, all by himself, to introduce into the past society the full range of his time's technologies. In Flint's version, a whole modern community is transplanted into the past, in possession of a considerable amount of the material and written resources of modern society, making their success in changing the past more plausible.
Since both The Grantville Gazette and the Ring of Fire Press had ceased operations just shortly after Eric Flint's death in 2022,[3][4] the series was originally expected to be concluded after manuscripts that had already been submitted to Baen prior to Flint's death were published in the upcoming year or so.[5] In June 2023, it was announced that a new company, Flint's Shards Inc., had signed a contract with Lucille Robbins, Eric Flint’s widow and heir, to produce a new electronic magazine called Eric Flint’s 1632 & Beyond that will be released bimonthly on the first day of odd-numbered months with Bjorn Hasseler as Editor-in-Chief starting September 2023.[6]
Series overview
Map of the Holy Roman Empire divisions (c. 1512)Europe in 1648.Map of today's Germany where the dark green shows Thuringia (compare with Holy Roman Empire map above).
The 1632 series began with Flint's stand alone novel 1632 (released February 2000). It is, excepting the lead novel and the serialized e-novel The Anaconda Project (2007), virtually all collaboratively written, including some "main works" with multiple co-authors. However, Flint has mentioned contracts with the publisher for at least two additional solo novels he has in planning on his website. Flint, whose bibliography was dominated by collaborative work, claims that this approach encourages the cross-fertilization of ideas and styles, stimulating the creative process and preventing stale, formulaic works.[7]
As stated in the first Grantville Gazette and on his site, Flint's novel 1632 was an experiment[8] wherein he explores the effect of transporting a large group of people back in time, in this case an entire American town.
1632 occurs in the midst of the Thirty Years' War (1618–1648). The modern town of Grantville is transported from West Virginia back to 1632 Europe. The plot allows pragmatic, American, union-oriented, political thought to grind against the authoritarian, religion-driven societies of an unconsolidated Holy Roman Empire barely out of the Middle Ages. Flint explores examples of suffering due to the petty politics of self-aggrandizement and self-interest on the one hand, and the irreconcilable differences of the schism in Christianity such as the Protestant Reformation and the Counter-Reformation on the other. Despite the fact that the shift puts Grantville in May 1631 initially, because of the ongoing war and the primitive transportation networks of the day Grantville's arrival has something of a delayed impact, so the bulk of the book's action takes place in 1632, hence the name.
The series was initially continued with two collaborative works that were more or less written concurrently: 1633 (with best selling novelist David Weber) and an anthology called Ring of Fire (with other established science-fiction writers, including long, "deep background" stories by both Weber and Flint).
Overall, the narratives are not oriented on one group of protagonists with a strong lead character, but instead are carried by an ensemble cast—though most books or short stories do have several strong characters who carry the action and plot forward. Flint had intended from the outset that the whole town would be the collective protagonist; a reflection of his philosophy that historic forces are not centered in the main on the actions of one or two key individuals, but on the many small independent actions of the many going about their daily lives and coping as best they can.
By late in 1632, the New United States-led coalition of the Confederated Principalities of Europe had become the arsenal and financier (through Jewish connections of real historical interest) for Swedish King Gustavus Adolphus (the displaced Americans' intervention in history already had the effect of saving Gustavus from being killed in the Battle of Lützen). This leads the scheming Cardinal Richelieu, who had previously been financing him to spite and weaken the Habsburgs, to turn on the Swedes. Various books from up-time Grantville, especially history books, had found avid readers amongst Europe's ruling elites, changing the plans and strategies of major players of the time. The readers, not understanding the chaotic nature of events (i.e., trivial-seeming changes can have large effects, and vice versa), often believe that these histories give them a strong idea of how they can guide events in a different direction. The "players" sent back through time have no intention of strongly guiding events, but understand how key forces (democracy, sanitation, medicine, egalitarianism, etc.) affect things in the long run to the betterment of mankind, and intend to promote and spread those even if they themselves are not "in control" of what results.
Richelieu forms a four-way alliance, the League of Ostend, to oppose the New United States, Gustavus' expeditionary army, and allied princes of the German states. After the first book, the series begins multiple plot lines or story threads reflecting this independence of action by a multitude of characters. The sequel 1633 spreads the Americans out geographically over Central Europe. Next, the novel 1634: The Galileo Affair, and the first of the anthologies called the Grantville Gazettes introduced new strong characters. The former begins what is called the South European thread, and some of the stories in the latter and Ring of Fire began the Eastern European thread (Austria-Hungary northwards to Poland).
Co-author of 1633, New York Times best-selling author David Weber was contracted for no less than five books in the series in what is called the Central European thread or Main thread of the series, but there was a delay before the two authors synchronized their schedules to write that next mainline sequel, 1634: The Baltic War, released in May 2007.
Without waiting for Weber, other sequels such as 1634: The Ram Rebellion, 1635: The Cannon Law, and the Grantville Gazettes continue in one thread or another with in-depth looks at societal ramifications from technology, religion, and social unrest as Europe deals with the outlandish ideas of Grantville's influential presence, to machinations of Europe's elites trying to maintain their hold on power, or leverage off of Grantville-triggered events or knowledge for reasons of self-interest.
When the novel 1632 was written, Flint did not intend to write an immediate sequel. However, following popular demand for a sequel Flint (a relatively new writer, but an experienced editor) invited other authors contracted to Baen to share the universe to rapidly develop its potential. As a result, while the first long sequel was being written, Flint concurrently put together the Ring of Fire anthology of short fiction by a wide range of authors.
In parallel, the online message board Baen's Bar received a strong response from fans following the release of the digital advance copy of 1632. The forum rapidly evolved into several sub-communities, some act as technical consultant to Flint - for example on how modern technology could be implemented within the series. The high quality of fan fiction submitted to the message board prompted to creation of the official Grantville Gazette magazine that publishes short stories and factual articles as part of the official 1632 series canon, reviewed by Flint. Originally released sporadically, the Gazette eventually evolved to become an online subscription magazine, published every 2 months, with authors paid for their submissions. Several volumes of the Gazette were released in print form by Baen Books, and serialized stories that were originally published in multiple issues of the Gazette have been released in print form by The Ring of Fire Press. The Ring of Fire anthologies of commissioned short fiction also continue, with one volume approximately every 4–5 years.
The end result had become a collaborative alternative history series consisting of interlinked novels and short stories, that can be regarded as adding additional layers of depth into the canon - the first level consisting of the "mainline" novels; the second level consisting of novels that take place in parallel "threads" (usually representing events in separate geographic regions); the third level consisting short fiction that has been published in print form (either drawn from the Grantville Gazette, or commissioned separately as part of the Ring of Fire anthology series); and the fourth level consisting of the stories published in the Grantville Gazette. The third and fourth levels frequently provided more in-depth background, and showed the impact of the events in the novels on the ordinary population. The entire series canon was maintained by Flint.
1632 & Beyond (2023–present)
A year after the demise of the Grantville Gazette, some of Flint's fellow 1632 co-authors got together to form a new company called Flint's Shards Inc., which is dedicated in producing a new electronic magazine called Eric Flint's 1632 & Beyond (colloquially referred to as 1632 & Beyond) that would specialize in publishing short stories in the 1632 and other Assiti Shards universes on a bimonthly basis.[6][9]
The first issue was released in September 2023 and it included short stories by Jody Lynn Nye, S.M. Stirling, Virginia DeMarce, Vance Garrett, and Chuck Thompson that are set in the 1632 universe, while Iver Cooper contributed a short story set in the Queen of the Seas universe and George Grant wrote a non-fiction piece.[10]
The second issue was released in November 2023 and it included short stories by Sean Little, Marc Tyrrell, George Grant, Iver Cooper plus the writing team of Gorg Huff and Paula Goodlett are all set in the 1632 universe with Bethanne Kim contributing a nonfiction article.[11]
The third issue was released in January 2024 and it included short stories by Robert E. Waters, Bethanne Kim, Marc Tyrrell, and Garrett W. Vance, all set in the 1632 universe, with Iver Cooper contributing a nonfiction article.[12]
Th forth issue was released in March 2024 and it included short stories by Bjorn Hasseler, Edith Wild , and Jack Carroll set in the 1632 universe, while Iver Cooper contributed another short story set in the Queen of the Seas universe.[13]
1632 plot threads
The "mainline" novels (many of which are written by Flint alone) focus on the principal political developments within the series, along with several key characters. However, the opening of the canon to other writers allows for plot threads in other geographical regions to be explored in more details. As with real history, none of these are in isolation, and plot threads converge and diverge according to the needs of the story.
Anthology: Ring of Fire (2004), includes "The Wallenstein Gambit" with Mike Spehar which begins the Eastern Europe thread, "In the Navy" by David Weber, and other stories antedating 1633 in the neohistory.
Novel: 1634: The Ram Rebellion (2006) with Virginia DeMarce, crafted as a collection of related "key developmental events". This is structured more as an anthology and includes substantial material from Paula Goodlett and other authors, but classed as a novel by the publishing trade since the stories all come together as having a related overall story arc.
Novel: 1634: The Bavarian Crisis (2007) with Virginia DeMarce, chronological sequel to 1632, but continues the Eastern European thread.
The Southern European thread, or Western South Europe and South Central European thread, or perhaps more appropriately, the South-Central and Southwestern European thread, involves characters introduced in the short story "To Dye For" by Mercedes Lackey but the thread plot action proper continued in the second published novel sequel of the series, the best-selling 1634: The Galileo Affair[citation needed] and its direct sequel, 1635: The Cannon Law, both co-written by Flint and Andrew Dennis. The main characters are, in part, Lackey's The Stone Family, combined with Flint's Sharon Nichols and Larry Mazzare.
The Eastern European thread is taken to be east of modern-day Germany, Austria, and western Hungary, to include mainly modern-day Poland, Lithuania, Latvia, and parts of Ukraine and Belarus, but not Russia. The first fiction written within this thread was the novelette "The Wallenstein Gambit" and the prequel short stories leading up to it, all published in the 2004 anthology Ring of Fire.[citation needed]
Serialized novel (discontinued): The Anaconda Project by Eric Flint, directly continues "The Wallenstein Gambit" and follows the establishment of a new empire with its capital at Prague. The serial was interrupted (and ultimately discontinued) in late 2009 due to the author having an unscheduled medical procedure that caused serious problems to his writing schedule.[14] Ultimately, only 10 episodes were published in the Gazette with only eight episodes incorporated into two Baen novels.
The Russian thread was started by authors Paula Goodlett and Gorg Huff in the eighth issue of the Grantville Gazette with their introduction of the serial Butterflies in the Kremlin, which later became the novel 1636: The Kremlin Games. Goodlett and Huff has since written at least 5 novels within this thread with more on the way. The latest Russian novel, 1638: The Sovereign States, was released in September 2023.[18]
H&G Novel: A Diogenes Club for the Czar (2023) by Gorg Huff and Paula Goodlett
Publishing notes: RoFP Novels are books that were first published by the defunct Ring of Fire Press (2013-2022) and might be republished later by a different company under contract. H&G Novels are books that was first privately published by Gorg Huff and Paula Goodlett via Amazon (new company yet to be named). Other novels listed are books published by Baen Books.
Naval thread
This line of stories begins with the naval actions in the English Channel, North Sea and Baltic Sea and the connecting straits between the bodies of water in 1633. With the conclusion of the northern European sea actions at the end of the novel 1634: The Baltic War, the action moves to the Caribbean Sea and Western Atlantic coast of North America. At the conclusion of 1637: No Peace Beyond the Line, the naval forces are recalled to serve in the conflict with the Ottoman Empire in a forthcoming 1638 novel about the naval battles in that war.
This agreement for Weber to leave aside European threads likely will follow up foreshadowings of overt dislike evinced by various Grantville natives for both the African slave trade and the Amerindian encounters with colonizing Europeans—and Flint has already written a very sympathetic, two-volume alternate history from the American Native's viewpoint in his Arkansas Wars series—and he'd written similar foreshadowings into the series' earlier works that were spun into pro-democracy and anti-anti-Semitic social themes now manifesting in the series in the Eastern Europe thread in particular, as well as an overall, muted sub-theme. This revised author's decision released a logjam of backup of other novels in the series, so that since rehashing their arrangement, 1632 series books have been released regularly every four to six months.[citation needed][original research?]
Stories in 1632 Slushpile regarding obtaining strategically important materials, and some that have reached publication in regard to the Essen Steel Corporation and Essen Chemical, are foreshadowing activities (mining chromium for one) in North America, and others are pursuing latex rubber in South America. In addition, the three books contracted between Flint and David Weber will in part involve expeditions sent by Gustavus and Mike Stearns to American shores.[citation needed][original research?]
Ring of Fire Press (RoFP) novel: The Danish Scheme (June 2013) by Herbert Sakalaucks and Eric Flint
Stretching Out: the United States of Europe seeks out oil, rubber and aluminum ore. Pioneers cross the Atlantic and found a new colony in South America.
Rising Sun: the changes caused by the Ring of Fire are reaching Japan. The Shogun, impressed by samples of up-time technology and influenced by information about Japan's possible future, decides to end a policy of isolation and change his country's fate forever.
Novel: 1636: Calabar's War (April 2021) by Charles E. Gannon and Robert E. Waters
Novel: 1637: The Coast of Chaos (December 2021) by Eric Flint, Paula Goodlett, and Gorg Huff, plus authors of seven related and intertwining short stories.
East Asia thread
RoFP Novel: The Chrysanthemum, the Cross, and the Dragon (August 2018) by Iver P. Cooper
In June 2013, Ring of Fire Press was created to reissue certain materials originally published online in the Grantville Gazette.[19] First, it would publish certain stories that were serialized across several issues of the Gazette, so they can be read without hunting through the various Gazette issues. Second, it would publish several themed collections of fact articles.[20]
In 2018, the scope of Ring of Fire Press expanded, with the hiring of managing editor Walt Boyes and Joy Ward, and graphic artist Laura Givens. The release schedule was increased to two books per month, including original novels in the 1632 series (the first being 1635: The Battle for Newfoundland), collections of serialized 1632 stories, and non-1632 related novels - both new and reprinted.[21]
The initial volumes were made available through Amazon as Kindle editions or print on demand paperback books. Later Baen began distributing selected titles for Ring of Fire Press through their web store and their other distribution channels.[22]
On August 16, 2022, Lucille Robbins, the widow of Eric Flint, officially announced the immediate shutdown of both The Grantville Gazette and the Ring of Fire Press. Without a huge infusion of new cash, it was determined that both business ventures would not be economically viable without Flint's participation.[3][4]
Following the success of the 1632 series, two other alternative history series were started by Eric Flint, following the same concept as 1632—that there was a time displacement caused by an "Assiti Shard".
Almost all of the books in the series sold well enough to get listed on the various Locus Bestsellers Lists, with some titles listed multiple times, and a few even reached the top spot for the month.[29][30][31]
1635: The Papal Stakes is the first book in the series to get listed on the Wall Street Journal Best-Selling Books list.[32]
Eric Flint was an American author, editor, and e-publisher. The majority of his works are alternate history science fiction, but he also wrote humorous fantasy adventures. His works have been listed on The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, and Locus magazine best seller lists. He was a co-founder and editor of the Baen Free Library.
1632 (2000) is an alternate history novel by American author Eric Flint, the initial novel in the best-selling series of the same name.
The Grantville Gazette is the first of a series of professionally selected and edited paid fan fiction anthologies set within the 1632 series inspired by Eric Flint's novel 1632. The electronically published the Grantville Gazettes, which are reaching long novel length with regularity, now make up the majority of the series in terms of words in print. Flint as series owner and editor accounts all as canonical. The Science Fiction Writers of America (SFWA) recognizes published stories within the Gazettes as qualified credentials for membership—which membership requires a writer to have three published works as prerequisites.
Ring of Fire is the third published book by editor-author-historian Eric Flint of the 1632 series, an alternate history series begun in the novel 1632. The Ring of Fire is both descriptive of the cosmic event as experienced by the series' characters, but also is at times used as the name for the series itself. The series is set in war-torn Europe during the middle of the Thirty Years' War.
1634: The Ram Rebellion is the seventh published work in the 1632 alternate history book series, and is the third work to establish what is best considered as a "main plot line or thread" of historical speculative focus that are loosely organized and classified geographically. The initial main thread is called the "Western and North-Central Europe thread" ; the second plot line, encompassing events in Italy, Spain, the Mediterranean region, and France, the "South European thread", and this book can be considered the starting novel of the "South-Central/South-East thread" being set in southern Germany, Austria, Bavaria, and Bohemia. This geographically organized plot thread actually began in Ring of Fire in Flint's novelette "The Wallenstein Gambit" which is set in Bohemia, Austria, and Germany, which tied into stories in various Grantville Gazettes.
The Grantville Gazettes were a series of anthologies of short stories set in the 1632 universe introduced in Eric Flint's novel 1632 that was published as a bi-monthly electronic magazine from 2003 until shortly after Flint's death in 2022.
Grantville Gazette II is the third collaborative anthology published in print set in the 1632-verse shared universe in what is best regarded as a canonical sub-series of the popular alternate history that began with the February 2000 publication of the hardcover novel 1632 by author-historian Eric Flint. Baen Books and Flint decline the distinction, counting this book as the sixth published work. Overall it is also the third anthology in printed publication in the atypical series, which consists of a mish-mash of main novels and anthologies produced under popular demand after publication of the initial novel, which was written as a stand-alone work.
1634: The Baltic War is a sequel to both the first-of-type sequels, Ring of Fire and 1633, co-written by American authors Eric Flint and David Weber published in 2007. It had to await schedule co-ordination by the two authors, which proved difficult and delayed the work by nearly two years. It continues theMain or Central European thread centered on the newly organized United States of Europe birthed in Central Germany under the protection-by-arms of Emperor Gustavus Adolphus and in particular, the role of the citizens of Grantville, now of Thuringia, and the capital city of Magdeburg have to play on the world stage. With the stability imposed by the protection of Gustavus's armies, up-timers began migrating to other locales in the "neohistories" world as the year 1633 closed.
Virginia Easley DeMarce is an American historian who specializes in early modern European history, as well as a New York Times Best Selling author in the 1632 series collaborative fiction project. She has done genealogical work on the origins of the Melungeon peoples.
Ring of Fire II is a 2008 anthology created by editor-author-historian Eric Flint. It is the second anthology in the 1632 series following after Ring of Fire (2004).
The Assiti Shards series is a fictional universe invented by American author Eric Flint. It is a shared universe concerning several alternate history worlds, related to a prime timeline. The defining characteristic of the fictional universe is the existence of the "Assiti Shards effect", and the impact that strikes by Assiti Shards have on characters in the stories. The series is rather large and expansive, having started publication in 2000, and as of 2008, consisting of 15 print books, and 21 e-magazine anthologies, in two different published timelines of the same multiverse.
1635: The Tangled Web is a novel in the alternate history 1632 series, written by Virginia DeMarce.
1636: The Saxon Uprising is an alternate history novel by Eric Flint in the 1632 series, first published in hardcover by Baen Books on March 29, 2011, with a paperback edition following from the same publisher in March 2012. It is a direct continuation of 1635: The Eastern Front. The threads mentioned in this novel are taken up in 1637: The Polish Maelstrom.
1635: The Eastern Front is an alternate history novel by Eric Flint in the 1632 series, first published in hardcover by Baen Books on October 5, 2010, with a paperback edition following from the same publisher in November 2011. It is a sequel to 1635: The Tangled Web and is directly continued by 1636: The Saxon Uprising.
Ring of Fire III is an anthology created by editor-author-historian Eric Flint, first published in hardcover by Baen Books in July 2011. It is the third anthology in the 1632 series following after Ring of Fire II (2008).
1636: The Kremlin Games is a novel in the 1632 series written by Gorg Huff and Paula Goodlett along with Eric Flint. It is the fourth book in the series to be listed on the New York Times bestseller list for hardcover fiction. This book reached number 30 on the NY Times list during a single week in June 2012. Besides being listed on the NY Times Best Seller list, 1636: The Kremlin Games was also listed on the Locus Hardcovers Bestsellers List for the month of September in 2012 at number 6.
1636: The Devil's Opera is a stand-alone novel in the alternative history 1632 series with minor character overlaps. Published on October 1, 2013 the book is written by David Carrico and Eric Flint. It is a semi-detective novel set in a growing industrial city that is a continuation of two series of stories that David Carrico had originally written in the electronic versions of the Grantville Gazette that were serialized over several issues and later compiled into the compilation 1635: Music and Murder, one series involving criminal investigation and crime fighting and other series involving music and social revolution.
This is complete list of works by American science fiction and historical fiction author Eric Flint.
↑ Flint, Eric (March 2006). "Afterword". In Eric Flint (ed.). Grantville Gazette II. 1632. Baen Books. p.316. ISBN978-1-4165-2051-1. Beginning with 'Which is the way I intended things, from the moment I decided to turn 1632 from a stand-alone novel it was originally written to be into a series.' ... through 'where revolutions have typically been depicted as the product of magical hand waving by a handful of big-shot heros. They decree, and therefore it is done.'
↑ Flint, Eric (March 2006). "Afterword". In Eric Flint (ed.). Grantville Gazette II. 1632. Baen Books. p.316. ISBN978-1-4165-2051-1. ...which has to do with the way I see this entire story in the first place—and did from the beginning. 1632 was written as much as an American novel as a science fiction or alternate history novel. More precisely, as a novel that fits within that loosely defined literary category known as Americana. In particular, it was written from a desire on my part to make a relatively ordinary small American town the collective protagonist of the story. And then, as the story unfolded, to keep the focus as much as possible on what you might call the level of the common man and woman—understanding that, as the story unfolded, more and more seventeenth-century Europeans would become an integral part of that collective protagonist.
↑ Hasseler, Bjorn (June 23, 2023). "FAQ". Flint’s Shards Inc.
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