Customer Reviews

Grantville Gazette

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

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.

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.

Grantville, West Virginia, is thrown back into Germany during the 100 Years War and the Americans need to figure out how to survive one of the most destructive conflicts of all time--and spread the wisdom of American democracy as well. GRANTVILLE GAZETTE collects several stories and articles about this alternate history universe, adding detail to the main novels written by Eric Flint.

The first of the stories, 'Portraits,' by Eric Flint, deals with the Grantville decision to smuggle a drug-making formula to the Catholic enemies of the new U.S. of Europe as well as the interesting historical figure of Pieter Paul Rubens--the famous artist. This story inspired the somewhat odd cover and deals with an intriguing social and ethical issue--the responsibility of the Americans to share some of their knowledge with the entire world, rather than merely with their allies.

The second story, 'Anna's Story' by Loren Jones is a simple tale of an aging American as he deals with the changes, including creation of a new family based on local 'downtime' Germans. It's a pleasant enough story with a bit of emotion but doesn't really deal with the alternate history or larger social issues Flint touches upon.

The third story, 'Curio and Relic' by Tom Van Natta, suggests that the transportation of Grantville to the medieval past might have been a lifesaver to a Viet Nam veteran who was disaffected and displaced in an America that neither understood nor respected his work. Paul Santee's dilemma seems real and convincing.

The fourth, and longest story, 'The Sewing Circle' by Gorg Huff, is also the most rewarding. Recognizing Grantville's need to create rather than merely sell it's capital, a group of high-school students (high school students play a key role in 1632 as well) decide to create pedal-driven sewing machines. The discussions of economics, sourcing, and trade, as well as the family and social dynamics are solid alternate history.

The fifth story, 'The Rudolsadt Colloquy' by Virginia De Marce tells of a religious gathering. Not much happens. We don't care about the characters involved. Students of religious history might find some value in this but although I'm interested in just about everything, I just couldn't find any reason why this needed to be here.

After the stories, three articles, 'Radio in the 1632 Universe' by Rick Boatright, 'They've Got Bread Mold, So Why Can't They Make Penicillin?' by Robert Gottlief, and 'Horse Power' by Karen Bergstralh deal with the obvious topics. Anyone interested in writing alternate history will do well to read these as examples of the type of questions that can come up and that can be dealt with.

A common problem with anthologies connected with novel-series is that the primary series author doesn't want too much to happen that will confuse the readers of the main track. Unfortunately, GRANTVILLE GAZETTE definitely falls into this category--and as a result, not much happens. 'The Sewing Circle' works because it shows really critical but possibly below the radar-scope activities happening. The other fiction is just pleasant stories that don't do much to deepen our understanding of the 1632 universe or anything else. The articles are interesting (did you know that there was a low in sunspot activity during this era) but really relevant only to people who are so in love with the 1632 Universe that they probably already attend the on-line discussions on www.Baen.com.

If you love this series as much as I do, you'll definitely want to read this book--but don't expect too much. Everything is well written and nothing is really bad, but it only adds a bit.

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.

This is based on the 1632 series. For fans of this wonderful series THE GRANTVILLE GAZETTE is a great little 'extra'. It focuses on this alternate universe, several of the main characters appear in this anthology but this volume is not essential to the mainstream of the series. There are four short stories and three serious articles based on this universe. If you are not already familiar with this series you will have only a vague idea about what is going on and probably not enjoy this book at all.

The short stories touch on some of the characters and events already established in this series. These and the non-fiction articles all explore aspects of the 20th-century-town-transported-to-the-17th-century premise that have not been dealt with in the main body of work.

This is an enjoyable read for fans of the series but I'd suggest either getting it from the library or looking for it discounted or used.

I was very surprised to find myself not liking so much of this book. I am a big fan of the 1632 series, and my previous reads have met all my expectations. However, too much of the Grantville Gazette appears to be filler, and uninteresting filler at that. If you're going to flesh out the characters and background of a fiction series, it should be with other fiction stories (in my humble opinion). The large Fact section was for me a waste of space, while the story The Sewing Circle, by Gorg Huff, was long to the point of self-indulgence - like a charlie horse, I was begging for it to be over long before the end finally arrived. The other four fiction stories were enjoyable, but I can't quite say they were worth the price of the book - kind of like buying an entire CD because there are one or two songs on it you like. Hopefully the other Grantville Gazette books will be improvements over this initial offering.

Eric Flint is the creator of the "1632" series and he does contribute to this volume of short stories but that contribution is minor. A short story called "Portraits" is the extent of it. It is still a good collection. It is comprised of stories set in the 1632 universe in which a West Virginia town gets transported back to the Hundred Years War. Some of the stories are from professionals and a few are from amateurs. Each is worthwhile. There are also a couple of "fact" articles explaining how modern technology was adapted to the 1632 time frame. These too are informative.

Portraits - this is the story by Flint. It takes place during the siege of Amsterdam. It's only real merit is that it explains a transfer of modern medical technology to the "enemy". The title comes from the artist, Reubens, who paints the portraits of a few of the American delegation.

Anna's Story - Takes place immediately after the ring of fire. It is the story of a young German girl who is taken in by a surly old curmudgeon and the relationship that develops. It is a sweet story with no real action.

Curio and Relic - is about a Viet Nam vet who leads a solitary life before the Ring of Fire. He is willing to do his part to help the transplanted American community but he does not want to go into the army. Instead, he serves as a scrounger and is only slowly drawn into public service because he seeks the real need.

The Sewing Circle - is my favorite story in this collection. It deals with a group of teens who have an idea to make a profit in the new circumstances. They decide to begin to build sewing machines. They are good kids but are handicapped by the fact that most people don't take kids seriously.

The Rudolstadt Colloquy - covers a theological debate between various sects of Lutherans. Into the European mix are added the Missouri Synod and the ELCA (Evangelical Lutheran Church of America). I found it interesting but I am a pastor.

The fact articles deal with the problems of radio in the 1632 setting, the problems with pharmaceuticals in that setting and a discourse on the varieties of horses around at that time.

This is the earliest of the Grantville Gazette sub-series (= I). You have no reason to read it before Eric Flint's original novel, "1632" (the year), that opens the whole mega-series. Actually, the Grantville Gazette is not a mock up of a fictional 17th century newspaper. Rather, it is an anthology of fiction and fact, like the old Analog SF magazine, that complements the world of "1632," the pathbreaking novel by Eric Flint that follows the arduous development of a West Virginian town that inexplicably finds itself alone in 17th century Germany, caught in the miserable Thirty Year War. This single episode of time travel is the only SF in the series, and so far remains unexplained, indeed unexamined. The series stemming from "1632" is rather an extremely ambitious example of Alternate History, or "What if..." (although its authors appear to come from SF, Speculative Fiction). The writing level is suitable for intelligent teenagers. Everyone has to wade through the historical background paragraphs and "speeches" that are essential because of the unfamiliarity to most of us of the remote period.

This book is the first in a series of occasional short story/article collections that mainly derive from authors drawn into an online community fascinated by the exploration of suddenly-17th century Americans abroad, as initiated by Flint. This is a remarkably constructed series, comprising short stories as well as novels, all directly contributing IN TO the main story line: how modern Americans might adapt to dangerously primitive Europe. The Gazette stories are not sequels, throw-aways, or spin-offs. Therefore, these gazettes are almost as important to understanding the overall story as the big novels (where one chiefly finds the famous events and real people, like politician Cardinal Richelieu and king-general Gustavus Adolphus). It is promised, for example, that a group of teenage capitalist inventors in one of the stories here will appear again in a more important role.

The three "factual" articles on modern technologies applied to the 17th century are something new and informative. Articles by different authors on the immense obstacles to effective radio, and why you don't "just make up some more penicillin" are terrific backgrounds to understanding the objective conditions the Grantville time-travelers encountered. The article on "Horse Power" describes the main types of horse breeds, but includes a list of antique horse breeds that is forgettably more than I ever, ever wanted to know. None of these is essential to enjoying the fictional series, but will enhance the enjoyment for those inclined toward technologies or fuller context. The factual articles don't seem to be appearing in any logical order (i.e., none so far on fundamentals like contemporary agriculture, heating, storage, kinship terminology, education, etc.). Their addition to the series points up the remarkably collaborative nature of this enterprise. A genealogy of the American characters has been fixed, and no rocket scientists can appear. Nevertheless, a lot of basic and vital skills seem to emerge from among the people of Grantville. Some technologies suddenly blossom in the novels (like aircraft!), but these short stories will tend to make them look less arbitrary as we are given the backstories.

The one illustration, on the cover of Grantville Gazette (I), belongs to an amusing story on Peter Paul Rubens, a real Dutch painter of the day. Another "Rubens" is the cover picture for "1634: The Ram Rebellion." These stories, and more, can be found via a website subscription at Baen Books, for a bit less. Since some of these short stories began as emails, I guess this is appropriate. One finds historical portraits of the real personnages there as well.

This collection gives a nice back story to a couple of plots and characters. A few other reviews found the Colloquy story a bit dry, but as a history major at a Catholic college who studied the Reformation & Counter Reformation (I've read a bit of Luther & Erasmus), I found it intriguing & set up a good background for future plots.

If you are into Eric Flint's 1632 universe this is a good addition. Various story lines are fleshed (no pun intended) out. Amazon has good prices on most items but confidentially you can read this book, and the first three 1632 books free online at Baen's free library. Check out John Ringo's Posleen series too.