Eric Flint's 1632 & Beyond Issue #5

by 1632 and Beyond, Virginia DeMarce, Natalie Silk

From her first appearance in Grantville Gazette 4, no one viewed Velma Hardesty as a delicate flower, with one exception. Virginia DeMarce's "A Rose By Any Other Song" ends Velma's tale from the point of view of that person

Natalie Silk's tale tells how Rahel's life goes "Down This Path" to a childbirth that takes her life in an unanticipated direction..

In other news, George Grant's "Mail From Up-Time" sees the consequence of some set-aside and forgotten mail being delivered in Grantville. George then gives us our first flash fiction in "The Small Crisis."

Sometimes, in this vast universe, we miss steps in explaining how things develop. Marc Tyrrell fills in some gaps on early military intelligence in "Making Hay While the Sun Shines."

Every now and then, all the early readers instantly love a story. Bob Finegold's "Among the Faithful" is one of those rare gems. Freedom of religion and tolerance were seismic changes. This is the story of one town struggling to adapt after Krystalnacht.

In nonfiction, Iver P. Cooper explains beekeeping and its possibilities in the 1632 universe.

179 pages, Kindle Edition

Published April 30, 2024

Reviews

[Bonny Fuller-Fells · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another visit to the Ring of Fire

In these stories there is life and death of familiar characters. You learn what happened to characters you have read about before.

[Michael Brown · Rating 3 out of 5]

More filler stories and a study of bee keeping.

[Bill · Rating 5 out of 5]

More great reading in the Ring of Fire. Thanks to all of the contributors.

[LinHigley · Rating 4 out of 5]

Bees need bees

The villainess of antisemitism is depicted clearly with shuttering intensity. Humans and their religion driven hate destroying all morality is a sad fact even now.

[Kevin K · Rating 3 out of 5]

Generally, not a great issue.
Stories kind sucked, although the single pager story in the schoolyard made me smile. Did enjoy the non-fiction piece about bee keeping though.

[Ronald Spitzer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another good entry into the 1632 universe of stories. Enjoyable read.

[Dennis · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another good set of short stories and one non-fiction article on beekeeping. As always interesting to read the various ideas in this shared world