And we're off again! Mark Huston is back with us, presenting "The Queen's Gearhead," a story involving the queen in the Low Countries and some devilment caused by some really unwise types. Gotta read that. A new author for the Gazette, Karina Gallam, brings us "Perception," a story about looking at things a bit of a different way. As well, Terry Howard and Esther Merriken have come up with "Franklin's Monsters, Act IV: Apples of Love," a story that helps us see just what differences the Ring of Fire can make.

Our serials this issue start with Virginia DeMarce's "An Uneasy Kind of Peace, Episode Three," a very involved story featuring Monsieur Gaston, who is quite a piece of work, along with the grand duke of Burgundy and his new wife. Rainer Prem continues with the fifteenth episode of "Ein feste Burg," which is a record for serials in the Gazette and a story that has stayed interesting for a long time. Jack Carroll and Edith Wild have brought "The Undergraduate" to a close with Episode Six, but we hope we'll hear more from these characters.

Nonfiction continues "Clash of Cultures—School Systems at (the) Stake, Part 2" and I have to say that some of the people mentioned in it have certainly been vindicated over the years since they lived. Time Spike and Garrett W. Vance continue with "The Mysterious Mesa, Part Four: Giants in the Earth," and those characters face a lot of challenges. You'll want to read about them.

Kristine Kathryn Rusch isn't at all nostalgic for the past, but she certainly has plenty of memories of the excitement in her lifetime. As do many of us, I suspect.

It's ready. Grantville Gazette, Volume 54.