Introduction
Welcome to Eric Flint's 1632 & Beyond!
The 1632 universe (or Ring of Fire universe, if you prefer) has been a collaborative effort since Eric Flint was writing the novel 1632. He posted questions to Baen's Bar, and people applied their expertise. 1632 was published in 2000. Eric wanted an anthology early on in the series, and Ring of Fire was published in 2004. Half the stories were from established authors, and the other half were open submission. This worked so well that later that year, more open submission stories were published as Grantville Gazette 1.
For a while, an electronic Gazette was followed by a paper copy from Baen Books. Starting with Grantville Gazette 5, Baen didn't have enough publishing slots to keep pace, and further books became best-of compilations with Roman numerals. Baen's Grantville Gazette V covered electronic issues 5-10, VI covered 11-19, etc. Serials didn't fit, and in 2013, Eric formed Ring of Fire Press to publish serials gathered into book form. In 2016, Ring of Fire Press began publishing 1632 novels containing new material.
Eric Flint passed away in July, 2022. We extend our condolences to his family. With their permission, we continue to advance the universe Eric so generously shared with us.
Some things had to be reorganized, and this included shutting down Ring of Fire Press and the Grantville Gazette. Flint's Shards, Inc. will carry short fiction forward with Eric Flint's 1632 & Beyond. Baen Books will continue publishing the mainline novels.
The Assiti Shards
On April 2, 2000, the small town of Grantville, West Virginia, was hit by a shard generated by aliens called the Assiti. The shard instantaneously transferred a sphere with a diameter of a little over six miles to Thuringia, Germany, on May 25, 1631. This was right in the middle of the Thirty Years War.
Grantville's transference started a new timeline. Twenty-three years after the first book was published, the edge of plot is in late 1637 (or even early 1638 in some areas). That world is a very different place than our history.
Back in the original timeline, the Assiti generated another shard, and this one cored through history, widening as it went. It picked up a maximum security prison in Illinois, Cherokee and soldiers on the Trail of Tears, Spanish conquistadors, Mounds people, and an even-earlier people, dropping them in the Cretaceous era. Read Time Spike by Eric Flint and Marilyn Kosmatka.
Another small shard struck in 2009, taking a squad of ROTC cadets from Fort Dix, New Jersey, to December, 1776, outside Trenton. They know what's coming and seek to link up with General Washington and the Continental Army. Read The Crossing by Kevin Ikenberry.
Next was another small sphere. Baen Books will publish An Angel Named Peterbilt by Eric Flint, Gorg Huff, and Paula Goodlett on February 6, 2024 (or earlier if you buy the e-ARC). It's about a couple families, a tanker truck, and the Mounds culture around 1005 AD.
Finally, some years in our future, a shard struck the ocean liner Queen of the Sea and took it to the Mediterranean in 321 BC as Alexander the Great's generals began to divide his empire. Read The Alexander Inheritance and The Macedonian Hazard.
Eric Flint's 1632 & Beyond will publish stories from the 1632, Time Spike, and Alexander Inheritance timelines.
Individual issues are available, but we encourage you to purchase a subscription. That will be the only way to access bonus content on the 1632Magazine.com website. This will include articles about writing, the 1632 universe, the other Assiti Shards, and the occasional story.
The Magdeburg Messenger
This section is short stories and novelettes set in the 1632 universe. It acknowledges our predecessor publication, the Grantville Gazette.
Issue 1 begins with "An Exchange of Favours" by Jody Lynn Nye. This is an from an upcoming novel set in England, in the days immediately before the escape from the Tower (1634: The Baltic War). We thank Toni Weisskopf, publisher at Baen Books, for permission to publish this story.
Next is "On the Jerichow Road" by S. M. Stirling and Virginia DeMarce. S. M. Stirling is known for his Nantucket alternate history series, Draka series, and Emberverse series. Virginia's first 1632 story was in Grantville Gazette 1. She is responsible for "the grid" of all the up-time characters. "On the Jerichow Road" is about close-to-the-ground perspectives in Magdeburg Province.
"Ill-Met in the Marshes" by Garrett W. Vance continues the story of the Japanese expatriates from "All God's Children in the Burning East" (in Ring of Fire III). This is probably the most-requested sequel in 1632 short fiction.
"Indian Tea" by Chuck Thompson takes us back to the early days in 1631. A villager who needs help getting in the harvest approaches an up-timer.
The Assiti Shards
This section is for stories set in the Time Spike and Alexander Inheritance timelines.
This issue has the first Alexander Inheritance short story, "Into the Dark" by Iver P. Cooper. It's about finding the right person to find the right resource. Even though it's a different timeline, there are some commonalities with the 1632 universe.
The State Library Papers
The Grantville High School library is now the State Library. Paid researchers compile all manner of reports, and these are available for purchase. It's the inspiration for our non-fiction section. These are articles either about 1632 or that supply technical background. This issue's article does both.
In "Farm Equipment That Came Through the Ring of Fire," George Grant details what he saw in the Mannington area, and it's not what you might expect. (Mannington, WV, is the real-world town Grantville is modeled on.)
Columns
In this issue we remember Eric Flint and Jose Clavell.
We review a few key points in the 1632 timeline as well as a few characters and concepts. If you're new to the 1632 universe, you might want to read this, or you might want to skip the spoilers and go straight to the next item.
We have many people to thank.
Finally, we list the 1632 and Assiti Shards books coming up from Baen Books.
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