Customer Reviews

Grantville Gazette III (The Assiti Shards)

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Grantville Gazette III (2006) is the third SF anthology based on this electronic magazine. This volume contains seven stories, one serial, and four fact articles. It also includes a Preface, an Images note and a statement about Submissions to the Magazine.

Fiction Stories:

Postage Due by Eric Flint reveals the process of developing postage stamps within downtime Europe.

Pastor Kastenmayer's Revenge by Virginia DeMarce relates the events leading up to the confirmation and marriage of seven Grantville men.

The Sound of Music by David Carrico explains the influence of rock and roll upon the formation of a downtime group to save uptime music.

Other People's Money by Gorg Huff depicts the accidental, but fortunate, establishment of an investment fund in Grantville.

If the Demons Will Sleep by Eva Musch tells of the horrific experiences of a Slovak woman.

Hobson's Choice by Francis Turner is about the education of a common barmaid.

Hell Fighters by Wood Hughes conveys the events that lead a Benedictine monk to a new vocation.

Serial:

Euterpe, episode 2, by Enrico N. Toro takes Maestro Giacomo Carissimi from Rome to Grantville.

Fact Articles:

Iron by Rick Boatright is about the production and use of iron in a modern society.

The Impact of Mechanization on German Farms by Karen Bergstralh is about the nature of German farms, the economics of mechanization, and the necessary infrastructure to support such technology.

Flint's Lock by Leonard Hollar, Bob Hollingsworth, Tom Van Natta, and John Zeek is about the selection of the SRG as the standard infantry weapon.

Alchemical Distillation by Andrew Clark is about the production of aspirin.

These tales suggest one of the major underlying themes within the Ring of Fire stories: the altered perceptions and opportunities of downtime women. While the military might of Grantville is necessary for the survival of its citizens and ideals, its major influence in downtime culture would seem to lie in its redefinition of the role of women within that society. This new concept of the female sex created shockwaves among both the men and women of seventeenth century Europe, particularly within the upper classes.

This collection continues the high quality writing of the previous volumes. Apparently the interactive nature of these stories has refined them into outstanding material. Enjoy!

Highly recommended for 1632 fans and for anyone else who enjoys tales of historical fiction and cultural conflict.

-Arthur W. Jordin

Yes, anthologies are a craps shoot, where you can get the good, the bad, and the very ugly. All of that is present here, only accentuated due to a number of first time authors writing. It's not bad to be a first time author- but throw a bunch together, and you get a higher statistical likelihood that things won't go right.

So some of these stories are incredibly boring and you have to drag through them. Some of them are better, an improvement over Gazette II. Of particular note were "Postage Due" by Flint, which was the first of his short stories to have minor interest, on the invention of the postage stamp through porn. "Sound of Music" had some beautifully movements, and "Hobson's Choice" a very good etic look at Grantville from Cambridge, as they struggle with the roles and rights of women.

"Euterpe" was long-winded, and had the promise of something more, but hasn't quite gotten there yet. The others with one exception are too boring to mention. That exception is "Hell's Fighters", the story that is well written about a Benedictine monk realizing his life's calling in Grantville, and the calling of his order. But this is the story that falls into the "ugly" category, with far too gratuitous and vivid violent scenes that could have been neatly referred to rather than exploiting the death of children.

Lastly, the nonfictional bits about life in 1600's Germany were mostly uninteresting as usual, but a shining gem was the work on mechanization of German farms, as it taught about the history of farming technology and how it could possibly be applied to life in 17th century Germany.

I'd recommend reading the book if you're into the 1632 series. But I'd recommend borrowing over buying.

Although war still rages across Europe, one thing both protestants and Catholics agree on is that the mail must go through--and they hire a pretty American woman to serve as model for the new stamps they'll use to make the mail work. Then there's the matter of a bunch of German women left without dowries by the war and the deaths of their men--solution, use them to seduce non-church-going Grantville uptime Americans into both marriage and Lutheranism. An injured downtime musician discovers the future of music. A group of teen entrepreneurs creates a combination mutual fund/venture capital fund. A downtime priest discovers the beauty of the Dewey Decimal system and firefighting. A young woman in Oxford discovers Latin--and steps toward liberation. A woman fears being trapped and the son of a monster seeks redemption. A church leader travels to Grantville. Scholars examine the role of iron/steel and modern agricultural practices suddenly introduced to early seventeenth century Europe.

In the world of Eric Flint's Ring of Fire, the West Virginia town of Grantville was mysteriously thrust into the past--right into the midst of the 30 Years War that devastated Germany. The War, partly over religion (with Austrian Catholics battling against Swedish Protestants, but with France egging the protestants on and with divided Germany suffering the bulk of the damage), but largely over politics (with the massive Hapsburg Empire, swollen with treasure from the New World attempting to assert power in the Holy Roman Empire), takes a dramatic turn when Grantville introduces religious tolerance and democracy--backing these up with modern weapons.

The major novels in this universe (beginning with 1632) tell the tale of the battle and heroes of the revolution. The collections of short stories and technical articles, written mostly by fans, make up the Grantville Gazettes.

GRANTVILLE GAZETTE III is surprisingly easy to read for a compilation. The stamp story and the article on steel are especially compelling. The other stories all have their points of interest but, possibly because of their page limits, seemed to leave out some of the most important details. In the discussion of the introduction of modern agricultural practice, the biggest issue--what happens to the farmers--is left untouched. Where a 1632 farming village might support a dozen families, using modern equipment, that same land could be farmed by a single family. So, what happens to the others? In England, with the enclosures, the others were thrown off the land and sent to workhouses. Will this happen in Germany? Will industralization create jobs quickly enough to hire all of the unemployed--especially since many of the able-bodied men have been killed by war? If a single stamp is good across Europe, how is revenue distribution handled? Will venture capital firms control speculation, or will they, instead, accelerate it by giving the appearance of professional management and safety? Will a group of German girls really be able to transform the losers of West Virginia society into productive members of society and church-goers, or are they being set up to be the abused mail-order brides of an earlier time.

As Science Fiction authors go, Eric Flint is a far better sociologist than most. In the Grantville Gazettes, though, he seems to let his fans run more than a little stary-eyed. Oh, well, it's still fun and, as I said earlier, solidly written. You won't miss much if you skip the Gazette, but if you enjoy the universe and Flint doesn't deliver enough novels in the series to entertain you, the Gazettes definitely add a bit.

Eric Flint's GRANTVILLE GAZAETTE III continues the story of a small town from 20th century West Virginia which is hurled back in time to 17th century Europe. Here's a collection of new stories - including a new one by creator Eric Flint himself - which provides a series of encounters based on this premise, from American teens who change history through financial efforts to a woman who seeks sanctuary within Grantville's world. As a strong novel of alternate history/fantasy, it's a winner.

This Book is a wonderfull supplement to the full length novels in this series. The input of new authors adds a new perspective to the events of the main series, and ths stories are a touching, and sometimes comic look at the lives of the smaller characters and their small town.

Grantville Gazettes are written as a part of an online magazine so the story quality is all over the place. Not horrid but...

The good stories IMHO are:
Postage Due by Eric Flint reveals the process of developing postage stamps, I am not convenienced that the idea is workable given the divergent goals and that Mike could put it together. But it does tie up some loose ends and is a good read. Another reader confuses nudity with porn, very ignorant as bare breasted fashions were common until the early 1600s and persisted in Venice into the 1800s.

The Sound of Music by David Carrico explains the formation of a group to preserve and transcribe the music of Bach and others which will no longer exist.

Other People's Money by Gorg Huff chronicles the establishment of the first mutual fund. A necessary step to increase market stability.

Hobson's Choice by Francis Turner is about the beginning grudging acceptance of women at Magdalene college. They aren't admitted but may be privately tutored. It also chronicles the attempts that the Cambridge scholars take to come to grips with Grantville and to learn more about it. Well researched and sources given.

Hell Fighters by Wood Hughes tells how a Benedictine monk and his brethren are led to becoming firefighters. While the story of the fire is horrific it is realistic without gratuitous horror.

The 4 fact articles are quite good but in several cases lack any backup for assertions made.

Overall a decent anthology but not great. Its better than the first Gazettes but still rocky. Recommended with reservations for 1632 fans, but as another reviewer suggests borrow it don't buy.

As the author of "Hell Fighters", I wanted to point out that this was the first fiction I ever attemped to write that I completed. So, I appreciate the positive feedback I've received and actually studied and took to heart the criticisms the story got. It helped that they were on point, and no "It sucked". :-)

But, for those of you interested in buying the paperback version, here's a snerk. At the heart of it, Hell Fighters is actually a real estate story! I'm a full time commercial real estate agent and while arguing on the Baen 1632 Bar, Virginia DeMarce replied to one of my criticisms that I needed to read 1632 again from a real estate perspective.

I took her up on it and to my surprise, I found a lot of well thought out real estate references. However, I identified three glaring omissions.

First, there were no mention or use of the real estate agents that came back through the Ring of Fire. I looked them up on the demographic grid and discovered that there were three brokers and a good number of agents. I proposed a biography for each of the brokers and agents. Eric and Virginia accepted them.

Then, I saw a boom town with no building codes. After arguing that building codes were vital to the safety of the growing town, it became apparent to me that the only way I was going to win my point was to actually write a story. The New Year's Eve Fire was a direct result of that argument. I won.

Finally, the definition of title is ownership of the bundle of rights from the center of the earth to the edge of the atmosphere. The latter came about after the launch of Sputnik back in the fifties.

Just because a three mile sphere got swapped across time and space, didn't terminate the actual ownership of that real estate from the original seventeenth century owner. At most, it meant that the citizens of Grantville owed rent for the space they occupied on top of the original property that remained. So, I came up with a way to "quiet the title" to the land. That lead me to a monk who had given up all claim to any earthly posession. Virginia DeMarce explained the historical way that could have happened in the real world of 1632, and the rest is... well, alternate history.

I like stories that you can read from several different angles. I hope you do too. The four stars instead of five means that I acknowledge that the overall quality of writing in this book is not that of Eric Flint, Jack McDermitt, or Robert Heinlein. It is very good fan fiction though and having read more of the stories by this group of authors, I can assure you that you will be enjoying more of their work.

That includes me. I just sold my second story to the Grantville Gazette for volumes twenty through twenty five. "Turn Your Radio On", A novella! At this rate by the turn of the Twenty Second Century, I might actually sell a book! :-)

I really enjoyed this book. Like all anthologies, some stories were better than others, but overall I enjoyed it alot. My favorite was a story in which scholars in 1632 Cambridge were trying to interpret a 1998 National Geographic. I really enjoyed that story!

I really appreciated this one. Many of the ideas and images will stay with me for a long time.

Apparently, I'm as interested in what is happening on the edges of the 163x world than I am in the big plot arcs. And the best pieces here have the mix of historical detail and enthusiastic humanism that typifies the series.

Being an anthology, there are highs and lows. One of the stories was so narratively inept that I gave up after ten pages.

However, I invested in several pieces and found full meals. Virginia DeMarce's tale of how a bunch of uptime men marry downtime women is touching yet unblinking in its depiction of the realpolitik of relationships. And Franicis Turner's story of how the presence of Grantville affects the lives of people living in Cambridge is a triumph. No action, all ideas, fully entertaining.

(Eric Flint's "Postage Due" struck me as an obligatory fillip. Oh, well.)

In spite of being an anthology, and many of the writers less than gifted, the collection of short stories was not too bad. It's too dificult to critique each and every short story in this limited space, but the story by Ms. DeMarce, where downtimer Lutheran women set themselves about getting uptimer husbands to increase church membership was entertaining. I thought "Other People's Money" was too drawn out and rather dull. Otherwise, not a bad collection. A weak 4 stars!