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Grantville Gazette: Print Version #2
Grantville Gazette II
The new United States in central Germany launches a one-plane Doolittle Raid on Paris, France. The target: their arch-enemy, Cardinal Richelieu. Meanwhile, an ambassador from the Mughal Empire of northern India is being held captive in Austria by the Habsburg dynasty. Mike Stearns decides to send a mercenary company to rescue him, led by two seventeenth-century mercenary officers: an Englishman and a Irishman, who seem to spend as much time fighting each other as they do the enemy.
Stories include:
* Steps In The Dance by Eric Flint
* Collateral Damage by Mike Spehar
* Euterpe, Episode 1 by Enrico M. Toro
* The Company Men by Christopher James Weber
* Just One Of Those Days by Leonard Hollar
* God's Gifts by Gorg Huff
* Bottom-Feeders by John Zeek
* An Invisible War by Danita Lee Ewing
* A quick and dirty treatise on historical fencing by Enrico M. Toro
* So You Want To Do Telecommunications In 1633? by Rick Boatright
* Mente Et Malleo: Practical Mineralogy And Minerals Exploration In 1632 by Laura Runkle
* The Secret Book Of Zink by Andrew Clark
Stories include:
* Steps In The Dance by Eric Flint
* Collateral Damage by Mike Spehar
* Euterpe, Episode 1 by Enrico M. Toro
* The Company Men by Christopher James Weber
* Just One Of Those Days by Leonard Hollar
* God's Gifts by Gorg Huff
* Bottom-Feeders by John Zeek
* An Invisible War by Danita Lee Ewing
* A quick and dirty treatise on historical fencing by Enrico M. Toro
* So You Want To Do Telecommunications In 1633? by Rick Boatright
* Mente Et Malleo: Practical Mineralogy And Minerals Exploration In 1632 by Laura Runkle
* The Secret Book Of Zink by Andrew Clark
336 pages, Hardcover
First published October 1, 2003
24 people are currently reading
213 people want to read
About the author
Eric Flint
250 books873 followersEric Flint was a New York Times bestselling American author, editor, and e-publisher. The majority of his main works were alternate history science fiction, but he also wrote humorous fantasy adventures.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 30 reviews
June 15, 2019
Whew! Okay, another Gazette down. And a decent affair again. Not quite as good as the first gazette or the Ring of Fire anthology, but passable and entertaining to a point.
I wouldn't rag on it so much except that a large portion of this one is taken up by a well written, but honestly very boring story, The Invisible War. I don't know. I just can't get into the whole medical drama thing and this is over 150 pages of it.
Most of the rest of the stories are pretty good though. I oddly enjoyed the shortest ones probably the most though. Just One Of Those Days and God's Gift are just really well done. The former is just amusing as you work towards what is essentially a punch line ending and the latter is a very thought-provoking tale when you get down to it. It really made me think about some things that I hadn't before, and I'm not even the religious type usually, hehe.
I think my favorite story is the one that pisses me off the most though. Euterpe is a story that is being broken up and told in parts across the gazettes, probably to make the authors life easier, but dammit, I want to just have it all in one chunk to read. That's not gonna happen though, and I just have to hope that it finishes before the gazette goes to all digital editions (after volume 8 if I recall correctly). I really don't like buying and reading digital books. I may have to if this particular story continues to be good though.
I'll say basically what I felt with the previous gazette in regards to the nonfiction material. It's godawful boring stuff to read, and I really don't care about it that much. I get why it's there, but damn, it's like reading a textbook, which I don't overly enjoy.
Overall, it's a decent collection though, and while probably not required reading for the series, it does add a little something to the world, which is nice when you have one as big and involved as this one.
I wouldn't rag on it so much except that a large portion of this one is taken up by a well written, but honestly very boring story, The Invisible War. I don't know. I just can't get into the whole medical drama thing and this is over 150 pages of it.
Most of the rest of the stories are pretty good though. I oddly enjoyed the shortest ones probably the most though. Just One Of Those Days and God's Gift are just really well done. The former is just amusing as you work towards what is essentially a punch line ending and the latter is a very thought-provoking tale when you get down to it. It really made me think about some things that I hadn't before, and I'm not even the religious type usually, hehe.
I think my favorite story is the one that pisses me off the most though. Euterpe is a story that is being broken up and told in parts across the gazettes, probably to make the authors life easier, but dammit, I want to just have it all in one chunk to read. That's not gonna happen though, and I just have to hope that it finishes before the gazette goes to all digital editions (after volume 8 if I recall correctly). I really don't like buying and reading digital books. I may have to if this particular story continues to be good though.
I'll say basically what I felt with the previous gazette in regards to the nonfiction material. It's godawful boring stuff to read, and I really don't care about it that much. I get why it's there, but damn, it's like reading a textbook, which I don't overly enjoy.
Overall, it's a decent collection though, and while probably not required reading for the series, it does add a little something to the world, which is nice when you have one as big and involved as this one.
September 5, 2017
Le premier recueil ayant rencontré un succès suffisant, un deuxième est édité alors même que la suite de 1633 ne l’est pas totalement. C’est d’ailleurs l’occasion pour Eric Flint de rassurer le lectorat dans une postface et faire état des projets en cours, soulignant le dynamisme de l’entreprise, tout en imposant quelques limites à la créativité des auteurs enthousiastes trop prompts à introduire de nouveaux personnages américains et leurs technologies collatérales.
Bien que la peu intéressante nouvelle « Collateral Damage » de Mike Spehar respecte ce code de conduite puisque elle est consacrée à un personnage important de 1633, le colonel Wood, et fait d’ailleurs suite à la conclusion de ce roman, cela ne signifie nullement que de nouveaux personnages américains n’apparaissent pas dans ce volume. Outre celui de Curtis Maggard, dont l’adresse avec un arc et son talent à se camoufler peuvent peut-être paraître dans les normes d’une communauté rurale de Virginie occidentale pour Eric Flint mais semblera moins crédible au lecteur européen, dans « Just One of Those Days » par Leonard Hollar, il faut surtout citer celui de Beulah MacDonald, infirmière que le Cercle de feu a sorti de sa retraite et qui est chargée d’organiser une formation médicale conjointement avec l’Université de Iéna dans la novella « An Invisible War » de Danita Lee Ewing. Cette dernière réussit l’exploit d’accrocher son lecteur sur la distance avec un sujet qui pourrait sembler aride, en ayant su parfaitement appréhender les différences de mentalités entre les deux époques du XVIIe et du XXe siècles, particulièrement fortes dans le très rigide milieu universitaire, et en les faisant s’opposer, le tout sans avoir besoin de recourir à des scènes d’action.
Sur une thématique très proche, puisqu’il s’agit de la question de l’impact du Cercle de feu sur le XVIIe siècle, « God’s Gifts » de Gorg Huff met en scène dans un récit à la première personne l’appréhension du phénomène du Cercle de feu sur un plan religieux, par un pasteur luthérien lui aussi de Iéna, perturbé dans ses certitudes théologiques assurant que l’ère des miracles s’était achevée avec Jésus. La nouvelle est des plus intéressante que la théologie ne pourrait le faire craindre. Elle illustre aussi le fait que les histoires accordent une plus grandes importances au point de vue des contemporains du XVIIe siècle.
« Bottom-Feeders » de John Zeek a pour personnage principal Jurgen Neubert, un Moderne devenu auxiliaire de police et menant une enquête sur le meurtre d’un Futurs. Outre son originalité de modeste nouvelle policière, elle permet de relativiser le manichéisme dont les récits de la saga sont largement empreints en rappelant que certains Futurs sont moralement douteux.
Toujours centré sur les Modernes, « The Company Men » de Christophe James Weber est de loin la nouvelle la plus humoristique du recueil puisqu’elle raconte les aventures très rocambolesques de deux capitaines d’une compagnie de mercenaires engagée par le gouvernement de Grantville pour délivrer la mission diplomatique envoyée par l’Empire moghol des mains des Autrichiens. Non seulement les deux protagonistes sont un Anglais et un Irlandais, ce qui entraîne une amitié que l’on qualifiera d’amour vache, mais en plus l’auteur a multiplié dans son récit les clins d’oeil cinématographiques dont le plus explicite fait référence à De l’or pour les braves (Brian G. Hutton, 1970).
Enfin, The Grantville Gazette II apparaît clairement se construire sur la durée puisque deux récits s’inscrivent dans la continuité. D’une part, Eric Flint livre une courte nouvelle, « Steps in the Dance », sympathique mais qui offre peu d’intérêt, qui fait suite directement à sa nouvelle « Portraits » parue dans le tome précédent en mettant en scène les manoeuvres diplomatiques et picturales autour du siège d’Amsterdam. D’autre part, « EUTERPE, Episode 1 » inaugure une série de nouvelles sous forme de lettres, écrite ici pour la première par un compositeur italien désireux de se rendre en voyage d’études à Grantville. Stylistiquement ratée parce que personne n’écrirait une lettre ainsi - il n’est qu’à considérer les romans épistolaires anciens comme Les Liaisons dangereuses ou plus récents comme Inconnu à cette adresse - le récit est pour sa part très intéressant et instructif quant à la musique du XVIIe siècle et la suite sera donc lue avec plaisir.
L’organisation générale manifeste aussi la volonté de faire durer la série. Le livre est ainsi divisé en deux parties. Après la partie fiction qui rassemble les textes évoqués ci-dessus dans l’essentiel du recueil vient une partie "fact" où est fait le point sur la techonologie et son transport au XVIIe siècle. S’y retrouvent un trait sur l’escrime par Enrico M. Toro (« A Quick and Dirty Treatise on Historical Fencing »), un nouvel article de Rick Boatright sur les télécommunications (« So You Want To Do Telecommunications in 1633 ? », un autre sur les minerais (« Mente Et Malleo : Practical Mineralogy And Minerals Exploration In 1632 » de Laura Runkle et, à la limite de la fiction parodique et du sérieux scientifique, Andrew Clark imagine l’écriture d’un traité d’alchimie par le docteur Faust à la lueur des apports de la science future.
Après avoir un peu peiné à me plonger dedans, les deux premières nouvelles (« Steps in the Dance » et « Collateral Damage » étant peu intéressantes selon moi), j’ai succombé à Euterpe et à l’humour de « Company Men » et dévoré le livre, bien qu’ayant lu deux de la série avant.
Je recommande vivement de lire ce livre avant 1634 The Baltic War.
Bien que la peu intéressante nouvelle « Collateral Damage » de Mike Spehar respecte ce code de conduite puisque elle est consacrée à un personnage important de 1633, le colonel Wood, et fait d’ailleurs suite à la conclusion de ce roman, cela ne signifie nullement que de nouveaux personnages américains n’apparaissent pas dans ce volume. Outre celui de Curtis Maggard, dont l’adresse avec un arc et son talent à se camoufler peuvent peut-être paraître dans les normes d’une communauté rurale de Virginie occidentale pour Eric Flint mais semblera moins crédible au lecteur européen, dans « Just One of Those Days » par Leonard Hollar, il faut surtout citer celui de Beulah MacDonald, infirmière que le Cercle de feu a sorti de sa retraite et qui est chargée d’organiser une formation médicale conjointement avec l’Université de Iéna dans la novella « An Invisible War » de Danita Lee Ewing. Cette dernière réussit l’exploit d’accrocher son lecteur sur la distance avec un sujet qui pourrait sembler aride, en ayant su parfaitement appréhender les différences de mentalités entre les deux époques du XVIIe et du XXe siècles, particulièrement fortes dans le très rigide milieu universitaire, et en les faisant s’opposer, le tout sans avoir besoin de recourir à des scènes d’action.
Sur une thématique très proche, puisqu’il s’agit de la question de l’impact du Cercle de feu sur le XVIIe siècle, « God’s Gifts » de Gorg Huff met en scène dans un récit à la première personne l’appréhension du phénomène du Cercle de feu sur un plan religieux, par un pasteur luthérien lui aussi de Iéna, perturbé dans ses certitudes théologiques assurant que l’ère des miracles s’était achevée avec Jésus. La nouvelle est des plus intéressante que la théologie ne pourrait le faire craindre. Elle illustre aussi le fait que les histoires accordent une plus grandes importances au point de vue des contemporains du XVIIe siècle.
« Bottom-Feeders » de John Zeek a pour personnage principal Jurgen Neubert, un Moderne devenu auxiliaire de police et menant une enquête sur le meurtre d’un Futurs. Outre son originalité de modeste nouvelle policière, elle permet de relativiser le manichéisme dont les récits de la saga sont largement empreints en rappelant que certains Futurs sont moralement douteux.
Toujours centré sur les Modernes, « The Company Men » de Christophe James Weber est de loin la nouvelle la plus humoristique du recueil puisqu’elle raconte les aventures très rocambolesques de deux capitaines d’une compagnie de mercenaires engagée par le gouvernement de Grantville pour délivrer la mission diplomatique envoyée par l’Empire moghol des mains des Autrichiens. Non seulement les deux protagonistes sont un Anglais et un Irlandais, ce qui entraîne une amitié que l’on qualifiera d’amour vache, mais en plus l’auteur a multiplié dans son récit les clins d’oeil cinématographiques dont le plus explicite fait référence à De l’or pour les braves (Brian G. Hutton, 1970).
Enfin, The Grantville Gazette II apparaît clairement se construire sur la durée puisque deux récits s’inscrivent dans la continuité. D’une part, Eric Flint livre une courte nouvelle, « Steps in the Dance », sympathique mais qui offre peu d’intérêt, qui fait suite directement à sa nouvelle « Portraits » parue dans le tome précédent en mettant en scène les manoeuvres diplomatiques et picturales autour du siège d’Amsterdam. D’autre part, « EUTERPE, Episode 1 » inaugure une série de nouvelles sous forme de lettres, écrite ici pour la première par un compositeur italien désireux de se rendre en voyage d’études à Grantville. Stylistiquement ratée parce que personne n’écrirait une lettre ainsi - il n’est qu’à considérer les romans épistolaires anciens comme Les Liaisons dangereuses ou plus récents comme Inconnu à cette adresse - le récit est pour sa part très intéressant et instructif quant à la musique du XVIIe siècle et la suite sera donc lue avec plaisir.
L’organisation générale manifeste aussi la volonté de faire durer la série. Le livre est ainsi divisé en deux parties. Après la partie fiction qui rassemble les textes évoqués ci-dessus dans l’essentiel du recueil vient une partie "fact" où est fait le point sur la techonologie et son transport au XVIIe siècle. S’y retrouvent un trait sur l’escrime par Enrico M. Toro (« A Quick and Dirty Treatise on Historical Fencing »), un nouvel article de Rick Boatright sur les télécommunications (« So You Want To Do Telecommunications in 1633 ? », un autre sur les minerais (« Mente Et Malleo : Practical Mineralogy And Minerals Exploration In 1632 » de Laura Runkle et, à la limite de la fiction parodique et du sérieux scientifique, Andrew Clark imagine l’écriture d’un traité d’alchimie par le docteur Faust à la lueur des apports de la science future.
Après avoir un peu peiné à me plonger dedans, les deux premières nouvelles (« Steps in the Dance » et « Collateral Damage » étant peu intéressantes selon moi), j’ai succombé à Euterpe et à l’humour de « Company Men » et dévoré le livre, bien qu’ayant lu deux de la série avant.
Je recommande vivement de lire ce livre avant 1634 The Baltic War.
November 15, 2021
2.75 for enjoyment and novelty. Almost DNF, not that it was bad per se, but just a little boring and uninspired compared to the other Ring of Fire anthologies. There's more of a focus on down-timers, but a lot of it seems to be fixing holes in the world-building from glaring (how can they serve so many patients with just two doctors and a nurse) to minute (shouldn't there be US-aligned mercenary companies. Most of the stories don't stand out. Euterpe, part 1 could be interesting with young virtuoso going off to find new music, but it's short. The Invisible War has interesting characters, but it's mostly adminsitrative wrangling in medical education. The Company Men is at times a fun action adventure, but way over the top for my taste. Just One of Those Days is kind of fun, but short. The fact essays are short too, but very dry.
April 29, 2025
Many shorter pieces. Discussion of their individual qualities follows:
Steps in the Dance, Eric Flint
3 star short story
Another short story about portraits with Rembrandt during the Amsterdam siege. There's a bit of plot development here, but it's pretty light.
Collateral Damage, Mike Spehar
3.5 star short story
A bombing attack on Paris provides an opportunity for character development for the affects of Hans Richter's death on his flight instructor. Too short and too scattered for a really affecting story, and the decisions about his actions were at best unusual.
Euterpe, Episode 1, Enrico M. Toro
3 star short story
The start of a story about composer Giacomo Carissimi traveling to Grantville to study uptime music. This could become a really interesting story, but there's not enough here to tell much of a tale.
The Company Men, Christopher James Weber
3.5 star short novella
A downtime mercenary company is employed to rescue a Mughal ambassador from Austria. There are some quite good moments here, and the story is entertaining enough (if not as well written as Flint's writing), but the ending is scattered and damages the impact.
Just One of Those Days, Leonard Hollar
2 star short story
Set during the Croat attack on the high school, this tells a story of a bow hunter and a Finnish cavalryman. Too dependent on coincidence to be satisfying.
God's Gifts, Gorg Huff
2.5 star short story
Strawman ecumenical apologetics minimally disguised as a narrative by a downtime pastor. It's not terrible for what it is, but what is isn't something I especially want and it's not particularly well-handled.
Bottom-Feeders, John Zeek
2.5 star novelette
A murder investigation in Grantville with an uptime/downtime police partnership. Some nice details of life among the less-tolerant part of the uptime population. The mystery is weak and solved without much action. At best mildly interesting.
An Invisible War, Danita Ewing
3.5 star short novel
Setting up an entire health education system in 17th century Europe is fraught with complications. This story has a nice examination of the conflicts between uptime medical personnel and downtime academics, in particular examining sex roles at universities and in hospitals. There is some decent character work, mostly on the uptime side. The best part of the story is the examination of the technical difficulties and the solutions that might be available.
Non-Fiction
A Quick and Dirty Treatise on Historical Fencing, Enrico M. Toro
3 stars
This is what it says it is, but it's both short and lacking in interesting details. As an overview for a naive audience, it's fine.
So You Want to Do Telecommunications in 1633?, Rick Boatright
4 stars
A relatively deep dive into the history of telecommunications in our time and the difficulties that might be faced in the 17th century. Possibly too deep for a general audience, but I found it quite good.
Mente et Malleo: Practical Mineralogy and Minerals Exploration in 163, Laura Runkle
3.5 stars
An interesting article on the problems of mining and metallurgy, both practical and social, in the 17th century.
The Secret Book of Zink, Andrew Clark
2 stars
A very short piece about the uses of zinc. The attempt using period language was not a benefit to the piece.
Steps in the Dance, Eric Flint
3 star short story
Another short story about portraits with Rembrandt during the Amsterdam siege. There's a bit of plot development here, but it's pretty light.
Collateral Damage, Mike Spehar
3.5 star short story
A bombing attack on Paris provides an opportunity for character development for the affects of Hans Richter's death on his flight instructor. Too short and too scattered for a really affecting story, and the decisions about his actions were at best unusual.
Euterpe, Episode 1, Enrico M. Toro
3 star short story
The start of a story about composer Giacomo Carissimi traveling to Grantville to study uptime music. This could become a really interesting story, but there's not enough here to tell much of a tale.
The Company Men, Christopher James Weber
3.5 star short novella
A downtime mercenary company is employed to rescue a Mughal ambassador from Austria. There are some quite good moments here, and the story is entertaining enough (if not as well written as Flint's writing), but the ending is scattered and damages the impact.
Just One of Those Days, Leonard Hollar
2 star short story
Set during the Croat attack on the high school, this tells a story of a bow hunter and a Finnish cavalryman. Too dependent on coincidence to be satisfying.
God's Gifts, Gorg Huff
2.5 star short story
Strawman ecumenical apologetics minimally disguised as a narrative by a downtime pastor. It's not terrible for what it is, but what is isn't something I especially want and it's not particularly well-handled.
Bottom-Feeders, John Zeek
2.5 star novelette
A murder investigation in Grantville with an uptime/downtime police partnership. Some nice details of life among the less-tolerant part of the uptime population. The mystery is weak and solved without much action. At best mildly interesting.
An Invisible War, Danita Ewing
3.5 star short novel
Setting up an entire health education system in 17th century Europe is fraught with complications. This story has a nice examination of the conflicts between uptime medical personnel and downtime academics, in particular examining sex roles at universities and in hospitals. There is some decent character work, mostly on the uptime side. The best part of the story is the examination of the technical difficulties and the solutions that might be available.
Non-Fiction
A Quick and Dirty Treatise on Historical Fencing, Enrico M. Toro
3 stars
This is what it says it is, but it's both short and lacking in interesting details. As an overview for a naive audience, it's fine.
So You Want to Do Telecommunications in 1633?, Rick Boatright
4 stars
A relatively deep dive into the history of telecommunications in our time and the difficulties that might be faced in the 17th century. Possibly too deep for a general audience, but I found it quite good.
Mente et Malleo: Practical Mineralogy and Minerals Exploration in 163, Laura Runkle
3.5 stars
An interesting article on the problems of mining and metallurgy, both practical and social, in the 17th century.
The Secret Book of Zink, Andrew Clark
2 stars
A very short piece about the uses of zinc. The attempt using period language was not a benefit to the piece.
January 3, 2022
I have found as I've made my way through the "Ring of Fire" series that the short-story collections are a bit stronger than the full novels, especially those of the main line of the series. I have found that those volumes ("1632," "1633," and especially "1634: the Baltic War") try to do too much though I do believe that they keep getting progressively better.
The second volume of "The Grantville Gazette" are collected short stories written by various authors that further push the boundaries of the world. As noted in the introduction this volume, what I think makes this collection worth reading is that most of the stories are from the perspective of down-timers reacting to the Ring of Fire. I liked "The Company Men" (for raising the notion of interest in Grantville from Mughal India), "Bottom Feeders" (a police procedural featuring a new down-time police detective), and "God's Gifts" (a down-time pastor trying to understand the Ring of Fire theologically).
I want to give special praise to "An Invisible War," a novella that looks at heath and medicine as uptime and downtime medical professionals try to create a new medical school that combines the best of both knowledge bases. This was such a strong read because it shows the actual mechanics of how individuals from both sides would need to navigate the ripple effects the Ring of Fire wrought.
The second volume of "The Grantville Gazette" are collected short stories written by various authors that further push the boundaries of the world. As noted in the introduction this volume, what I think makes this collection worth reading is that most of the stories are from the perspective of down-timers reacting to the Ring of Fire. I liked "The Company Men" (for raising the notion of interest in Grantville from Mughal India), "Bottom Feeders" (a police procedural featuring a new down-time police detective), and "God's Gifts" (a down-time pastor trying to understand the Ring of Fire theologically).
I want to give special praise to "An Invisible War," a novella that looks at heath and medicine as uptime and downtime medical professionals try to create a new medical school that combines the best of both knowledge bases. This was such a strong read because it shows the actual mechanics of how individuals from both sides would need to navigate the ripple effects the Ring of Fire wrought.
November 8, 2022
Grantville Gazette, v. II is a collection of short stories set in the Ring of Fire Universe. I found the stories charming, and an excellent reflection on the Gazette's editors.
A quick background: The Ring of Fire series take a small (pop. 3200) West Virginia mining town and plops it into the middle of Germany in the 30 Years War. Don't worry about how it got there: simply accept that it happened, and now everyone has to deal with it. If you're noping out at this point, I understand. But, really, it's a lot of fun.
This edition of the Gazette, another volume of short stories by writers intrigued with the Ring of Fire's premise and wanting to play in that particular sandbox. They include tales of a mercenary company contracted to rescue a Moghul Ambassador to the "uptimer" community, a bunch of kids stumbling upon the need to create their new time's first mutual fund, and a wizened teaching nurse tasked with creating a new School of Health Sciences while managing the prejudices of her West Virginian contemporaries and the faculty of the nearest 17th Century German university.
These stories share a sense of fun with their premise, hopefulness about the human condition, and carefully considered imagination. In short, they're a delight. A hearty well done to editor Eric Flint and his staff!
A quick background: The Ring of Fire series take a small (pop. 3200) West Virginia mining town and plops it into the middle of Germany in the 30 Years War. Don't worry about how it got there: simply accept that it happened, and now everyone has to deal with it. If you're noping out at this point, I understand. But, really, it's a lot of fun.
This edition of the Gazette, another volume of short stories by writers intrigued with the Ring of Fire's premise and wanting to play in that particular sandbox. They include tales of a mercenary company contracted to rescue a Moghul Ambassador to the "uptimer" community, a bunch of kids stumbling upon the need to create their new time's first mutual fund, and a wizened teaching nurse tasked with creating a new School of Health Sciences while managing the prejudices of her West Virginian contemporaries and the faculty of the nearest 17th Century German university.
These stories share a sense of fun with their premise, hopefulness about the human condition, and carefully considered imagination. In short, they're a delight. A hearty well done to editor Eric Flint and his staff!
February 5, 2024
I've been listening to a history of the 30 years war on Audible recently and it got me motivated to pick back up with the Ring of Fire/1632 series that I have off again, on again been trying to reread and move forward into new books. By my records, I had not yet read GG#2, but after digging up a digital copy, it became very clear that I did actually do so at some point last year. So I briefly read bits of each short story just to make sure and moved on to The Tangled Web.
The Grantville Gazette series are collection of short stories that exist in the 1632 universe. In that universe, a small West Virginia town is transplanted through space and time to directly in the middle of Germany during the 30 Years War. Their technology makes some waves, but their modern ideology and knowledge of the future do even more so. While Eric Flint has authored or co-authored most of the main novels built in this universe, he has very much open-sourced the concept so that anyone can contribute to this world's expansion and continuation. The GG is a collection of short stories based on peripheral characters within this universe created by either other authors or talented fans. These stories vary in both length and quality but they help flesh out this world and on occasion, they even introduce individuals or storylines that will become incorporated into the main storyline.
The Grantville Gazette series are collection of short stories that exist in the 1632 universe. In that universe, a small West Virginia town is transplanted through space and time to directly in the middle of Germany during the 30 Years War. Their technology makes some waves, but their modern ideology and knowledge of the future do even more so. While Eric Flint has authored or co-authored most of the main novels built in this universe, he has very much open-sourced the concept so that anyone can contribute to this world's expansion and continuation. The GG is a collection of short stories based on peripheral characters within this universe created by either other authors or talented fans. These stories vary in both length and quality but they help flesh out this world and on occasion, they even introduce individuals or storylines that will become incorporated into the main storyline.
July 25, 2023
I stopped reading 1632 books for a while after Eric Flint died. I'm back. This book was just the thing to remind mee of the real like people who inhabit this alternate history. Good absorbing stories. Several I had read before, and they stand up well. Several became books in longer form as put out by Ring of Fire Press, so it was good to see the original concept. This book put me on a Ring of Fire reading binge. Very good selection of stories.
May 6, 2025
I really like this series and I like the thought and methodology behind it. I love that Eric Flint was like, with about 5000 people and a whole town popping through, there are lots and lots of stories of all different kinds, so let's get help writing them.
This collection includes a novella about how they came up with a training school to train more health care people.
This collection includes a novella about how they came up with a training school to train more health care people.
May 4, 2017
re-Read was great.
The "Main-Line" story is perfect. The stories about what else is going on..how the big story touches everyone else or is touched by everyone else is delicious.
The "Main-Line" story is perfect. The stories about what else is going on..how the big story touches everyone else or is touched by everyone else is delicious.
April 2, 2018
very cool short stories with some of the characters we know and love
June 24, 2020
Another collection of short stories set in the Assiti Shards universe.
July 8, 2022
The Company Men by Christopher James Weber 5 stars, An Invisible War by Danita Lee Ewing 1 star (yawn). Rest of the book 3 to 4 stars. The Company Men was worth the whole book on its own :)
December 14, 2022
The second in the serialized Grantville Gazette series. The best serial is the Novella concerning the health care system being created.
March 3, 2024
The pacing isn't bad at all, and it holds your interest.
April 12, 2024
I liked most of the stories. The one about organizing a medical school was a little to 'board room'-fiction for me.
March 15, 2025
More fiction than technical information (which is primarily right at the end of the book.
January 19, 2015
The Grantville Gazettes are collections of short stories set in Eric Flint's Ring of Fire universe (much like the Ring of Fire anthologies, though most of these are drawn from the same-name web magazine). I know this is actually the second volume, but my library didn't have the first volume. The book is a mix of fiction and non-fiction (I didn't actually read the latter, mostly technical essays on how to make various modern technologies work in 17th century Europe). As with the Ring of Fire anthologies, Eric Flint doesn't do much of the writing (just a preface and the short but amusing "Steps in the Dance", which provides some background for the Dutch plot-line in the main series) and it's a mixed bag, but for the most part, fairly entertaining. I particularly enjoyed Mike Spehar's Collateral Damage (some version of that would've been a nice way to end 1634: The Baltic War, since it involves using airpower to give Richelieu a very clear message on the consequences of further war with the USE) and Christopher James Weber's The Company Men (which introduced North and Donovan and the Hibernian Mercenary Company (who make several appearances in later RoF books, particularly the Italian series) as they try and rescue a wayward Mughal (the Muslim Empire that ruled India in the 17th century) diplomat on a mission to Grantville) though the longer Invisible War by Danita Ewing was an excellent culture-clash story (if less entertaining than the other two) of the problems incurred when the up-timers try and collaborate on a medical school with the University of Jena. Not a must-read but if you're a Ring of Fire junkie like me, it's something to tide you over until the next major release, and given that this is essentially fan-fiction, it's actually all very well-written and edited.
May 16, 2011
This is the dead tree edition of the second volume filled with “user generated content” in the Assiti Shards Universe. It continues Flint’s experiment with not only opening his universe, but letting other writers actually add to the stories and developing landscape in a major way. Flint does not set strict guidelines, allowing other writers to take his own creation in totally unexpected directions.
The book is a mixed bag. Some of the stories are cute, some are more serious. The novelette about setting up a medical school that fills a large part of the compilation is engaging but fails to pull out all the stops and ends up rather flat. The non-fiction is mostly interesting. None of the content is bad but there isn’t really anything that stands out as particularly good either. It’s interesting if you’re into the other books, but cannot be read as a standalone.
http://www.books.rosboch.net/?p=723
The book is a mixed bag. Some of the stories are cute, some are more serious. The novelette about setting up a medical school that fills a large part of the compilation is engaging but fails to pull out all the stops and ends up rather flat. The non-fiction is mostly interesting. None of the content is bad but there isn’t really anything that stands out as particularly good either. It’s interesting if you’re into the other books, but cannot be read as a standalone.
http://www.books.rosboch.net/?p=723
August 13, 2007
This is another collection of stories and articles by assorted authors set in Flint's 1632 universe. It's a very thoughtful group, carefully considering the possibilities and ramifications of 21st century technology in the 17th century in fields as diverse as health care and telecommunications.
September 2, 2008
Steps in the Dance and An Invisible War were especially good.
I read it at the following two online locations:
Webscriptions.net
Grantville Gazette
I read it at the following two online locations:
Webscriptions.net
Grantville Gazette
December 23, 2019
The Grantville Gazette, Volume 2 is yet another fine read in the 1632 world of Eric Flint et al. I'd read it again, probably individual stories and especially for the terrific historical information included in the non-fiction part of the book.
April 4, 2023
Another fun collection of short stories and articles set around Europe in the 1632 series. Lots of good stories and articles on the subjects of fencing, telecommunications and mineralolgy. Good entry in the series.
Read
January 9, 2010baen ebook
November 3, 2010
Second in the series of fan-created gazettes based on Eric Flint's 1632 universe.
March 12, 2013
I'd like to read the whole thread about the musician now, but I guess I can wait.
November 14, 2018
More stories that continue the action and development of the 1632 universe including the start of a medical university training program shared with the university at Jena.
May 20, 2020
Same deal as with Vol. 1.
May 1, 2016
I enjoyed this collection. As with any short story collection, there are always hit and misses. I did like the raid story and I always enjoy the science articles at the end of each book.
January 29, 2016
Good addition to the 1632 series.
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