Customer Reviews

Grantville Gazette IV (Ring of Fire)

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

 

 

Grantville Gazette IV (2008) is the fourth SF alternate history anthology based on this electronic magazine. This volume contains nine stories, one continuing serial, and four articles. It also includes a preface by the editor and two afterwords.

FICTION:

The Anatomy Lesson by Eric Flint shows that one should not make assumptions.

Poor Little Rich Girls by Paula Goodlett and Gorg Huff reveals another incidence in the lives of the Barbie Consortium.

'Til We Meet Again by Virginia DeMarce depicts the consequences of an industrial accident.

One Man's Junk by Karen Bergstralh relates the problems of a journeyman smith who has been denied his rank.

Chip's Christmas Gift by Russ Rittgers tells of one man's payment for the hospitality offered to him.

Dice's Drawings by Dan Robinson describes the relationship between an uptimer man and a downtimer woman.

The Class of '34 by Kerryn Offord is about a class picnic that goes awry.

Magdeburg Marines: The Few and the Proud by Jose J. Clavell discloses the manner in which the Grantville Marine Corps came into existence.

Elizabeth by Ernest Lutz and John Zeek conveys the experiences of a junior officer in the establishment of the first Army Railway Battalion.

CONTINUING SERIALS:

Heavy Metal Music by David Carrich recounts the reunion of Franz with his friends from Mainz.

FACT:

Drillers in Doublets by Iver P. Cooper describes the possibilities for developing a petroleum industry in the USE.

How to Keep Your Old John Deere Plowing by Allen W. McDonnell suggests several alternatives for fueling diesel vehicles in Grantville.

How to Build a Machine Gun in 1634 with Available Technology explains two alternatives for building volley guns for the USE Army:

First Alternative by Leonard Hollar, Tom Van Natta and John Zeek

Second Alternative by Bob Hollingsworth

A Looming Challenge by Pam Poggiani surveys the available resources for improving the textile industry in the USE.

This collection will be the last print version of an electronic issue of the magazine. Future versions will include selected stories and articles from several electronic issues. Enjoy!

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

-Arthur W. Jordin

I have come to enjoy the Grantville Gazette, as it often provides a convenient bridge for author Flint to skip some time to the onset of another "Ring of Fire" novel without having to pad the next installment with reams of filler.

Since there are many new writers selling their wares for the first time, many of the cameos are less than polished, and many show signs of expanding into ongoing serials; i.e. David Carrico's "Heavy Metal."

Another reason for liking this volume is the structure: it allows a person with limited time available to reads a short story related to the major plot line of the 163X series.

Overall, I liked "The Anatomy Lesson", "Heavy Metal", and "Elisabeth" the best in this volume, and didn't particularly care for several others. I didn't do any fancy calculations to assign my 4 star rating to this issue of the Grantville Gazette. Overall, I enjoyed the book, and I give it a "thumbs-up."

Eric Flint's fourth edition of the Grantville Gazette continues the high quality of writing started with volume one. This edition contains ten new short stories by as many authors. In it we meet new characters and catch up with some we have met before. A fair mix of up timers who have come from the twenty first century to the seventeenth, and down timers who have come to see the wonders of the future. Even those who have not read any of the earlier works in this series can enjoy this book. It also continues the thread of including several non-fictional articles to explain the technical difficulties the residents of Grantville must overcome to stay modern. As long as Flint can keep his hand on the framework and flow of the stories, this can go on and on, as many of us hope it will.

All of the stories in this edition of the Grantville Gazette were very entertaining, especially the stories that continued from the last edition. Eric Flint is to be commended for opening up his creation so that other writers can tell stories in this amazing universe.

I have followed the 1632 Ring of Fire world for several years now and it just keeps getting more and more interesting. The "side stories" are fascinating and more realistic in that the characters are people that we could run into in our lives, as opposed to those rarer types who are the main cast, such as Mike and Rebbecca, Harry and the Nasi Bankers and Spys.

I am also really pleased at the way fundamental, crucial issues that are not glamorous are dealt with, such as GNP, the economies of nations and stock market ups and downs based on rumors. These are talked about in ways that make them clearer than the "news media" explain them, except for the Public Radio and Public Television programs, of course.

It was especially noteworthy to see the further adventures of The Barbie Consortium. This story had to be a labor of love, pain and healing. There are several important lessons here about shock, suffering, pain and healing and I hope that others are helped by reading this. It goes beyond rape to other traumatic situations.

I highly recommend this book for anyone who is a fan of the 1632 universe created by Eric Flint. The short stories in this book help to fill in the background in the 1632verse and prepare you for the emerging new history in 1630's Europe. These stories will help you to better understand what is going on in the main story threads of the new universe.

And I really enjoyed the stories for themselves.

This series has been getting better as it matures and this episode continues the trend

could not put the book down untill I finished it.
very good reading.

I am a fan of the series, but this collection does not quite live up to the earlier volumes.

Where it is good, it is compelling and delicious and makes you wish there was more.

Where it isn't good, it is fan fic. Well-edited fan fic that comes out of a wholly inventive and carefully-wrought universe, but it is just fan fic. This means awkwardness in style and an unsophisticated hand in characterization.

In spots, the individual writer's quirky and limited viewpoints can really impede narrative flow. Particularly bizarre was the opening of "Poor Little Rich Girls," a story about a group of 14 year olds born in the late 1980's. The characters' first two pop culture references are to "Valley Girl" (1982) and The Sting (1973.) Makes one wonder the ages of the authors and readership of this series.

Anyway, for better or for worse, the Grantville Gazette is probably the definitive expression of the 1632verse at this point in time.