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Grantville Gazette: Print Version #6
Grantville Gazette VI
This edition of the Grantville Gazette Volume 6 is derived directly from the online edition at
Stories
* A Taste of Home by Chris Racciato
* Federico and Ginger by Iver P. Cooper
* Recycling by Philip Schillawski and John Rigby
* Old Folks' Music by Gorg Huff and Paula Goodlett
* Mightier than the Sword by Jay Robison
* Grantville is Different by Russ Rittgers
* The Woman Shall Not Wear That by Virginia DeMarce
* Live Free by Karen Bergstralh
* The Dalai Lama's Electric Buddha by Victor Klimov
* The Doctor Gribbleflotz Chronicles, Part 1: Calling Dr. Phil by Kerryn Offord
* Dr. Phil's Amazing Lightning Crystal by Kerryn Offord
* Dr. Phil's Aeolian Transformers by Kerryn Offord and Rick Boatright
* Exegesis and Interpretation of Up-timer Printed Matter by Francis Turner
* Bouncing Bringing Rubber to Grantville by Iver P. Cooper
* On the Design, Construction and Maintenance of Wooden Aircraft by Jerry Hollombe
* The Jews of 1632 by Douglas W. Jones
Stories
* A Taste of Home by Chris Racciato
* Federico and Ginger by Iver P. Cooper
* Recycling by Philip Schillawski and John Rigby
* Old Folks' Music by Gorg Huff and Paula Goodlett
* Mightier than the Sword by Jay Robison
* Grantville is Different by Russ Rittgers
* The Woman Shall Not Wear That by Virginia DeMarce
* Live Free by Karen Bergstralh
* The Dalai Lama's Electric Buddha by Victor Klimov
* The Doctor Gribbleflotz Chronicles, Part 1: Calling Dr. Phil by Kerryn Offord
* Dr. Phil's Amazing Lightning Crystal by Kerryn Offord
* Dr. Phil's Aeolian Transformers by Kerryn Offord and Rick Boatright
* Exegesis and Interpretation of Up-timer Printed Matter by Francis Turner
* Bouncing Bringing Rubber to Grantville by Iver P. Cooper
* On the Design, Construction and Maintenance of Wooden Aircraft by Jerry Hollombe
* The Jews of 1632 by Douglas W. Jones
ebook
First published March 1, 2006
20 people are currently reading
229 people want to read
About the author
Eric Flint
255 books877 followersEric Flint was a New York Times bestselling American author, editor, and e-publisher. The majority of his main works were alternate history science fiction, but he also wrote humorous fantasy adventures.
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Displaying 1 - 21 of 21 reviews
March 9, 2023
Again there are good tales, OK tales and a few real losers. And by losers I should say that the themes of several short stories are on topics that hold little if any interest to me and do not seem appropriate for the series. Fans might like little tales of small events or conflicts between the up-timers and the beliefs and lives of the down-timers but overall they fit the online gazette better than in the printed volumes. I think they waste a lot of space and many are one shot efforts that are not followed up in subsequent gazettes or full novels. They have there place just not here.
Reread this book and there were many different stories from previous read. A better this time all around.
Reread this book and there were many different stories from previous read. A better this time all around.
November 3, 2010
Not as good as the others in this series. This is the last book Flint edited before turning it over to someone else. I think, perhaps, because he had gotten to close to the Baen's Bar crew and had a hard time turning down some stories that he really should have.
February 7, 2017
Grantville Gazette numero 6 was a bit of a surprise for me. Having read volumes 2, 3, and 4, I'd gotten used to the idea that the Grantville Gazettes A) didn't ever actually have any importance to the larger Ring of Fire story, B) were always divided between fiction and non-fiction sections, and C) were generally rather forgettable if mildly entertaining. Thankfully, this entry in the short story collection series set in Eric Flint's Ring of Fire universe is a dramatic improvement. Right at the start, Eric Flint delivers his best short story in these collections with a fun and world-altering story of the English exiles in Amsterdam (led by Thomas Wentworth) coming under the sights of a group of assassins sent by the nefarious Earl of Cork (who seems to be settling into his role as a 2nd-rate despot with glee while King Charles buries himself in his misery) who attack a masque being attended by the other Stuarts, Prince Rupert and Princess Elizabeth, and the unexpected fallout. This is one of a handful of stories in this volume that touch on the British storyline that was mostly abandoned after 1634: The Baltic War, which was an unexpected joy, since I've been craving a new entry in that plot line since I finished that book. The collection as a whole seems much more integral to the main series than previous volumes and less domestic (shall we say), well... apart from Virginia DeMarce's story. Given that there are at least twice as many stories as in previous volumes, I'll just give a brief description of them all.
- Masque by Eric Flint (see above)
- The Monster by Gorg Huff and Paula Goodlett (down-time engineer develops a passenger aircraft, origin of the Jupiter aircraft that appear throughout the newer books, particularly the Italian series)
- Birdwatching by Garrett W. Vance (up-timer secretly indulges her birdwatching hobby as a way to deal with her new world and laments the apparent disappearance of Cardinals (seems lame, but actually, I really enjoyed this one))
- Suite for Four Hands by David Carrico (another Franz/Marla up-time music meets down-time musicians story, blends in some of the Euterpe characters as well, and again, one of my favorites in the collection)
- Lost in Translation by Iver P. Cooper (down-timer sends the wrong book to be translated and goes to extreme measures to recover a potentially damning document)
- Sailing Upwind by Kevin H. & Karen C. Evans (a melancholy up-time balloon enthusiast is driven by his wife to build an airship to get out of his doldrums and helps rescue some lost boy scouts)
- A Tinker's Progress by Terry Howard (a Grantville patron looks to see that young John Bunyan (author of Pilgrim's Progress in our universe) gets a good education and that they can get royalties)
- Jenny and the King's Men by Mark Huston (an ambitious English officer seeks the head of Jenny Geddes, whose legendary stool-throwing was a spark of the English Civil War in our time, hoping to earn King Charles favor, but runs afoul of the Edinburgh CoC and Julie/Alex Mackay (another favorite, particularly since it has the Mackays))
- Cinco de Mayo by Edith Wild (a Mexican-American up-timer tries to get his down-time friends to try Tacos as part of a Cinco de Mayo celebration)
- A Matter of Unehrlichkeit by Kim Mackay (when two star-crossed lovers fall afoul of the guilds in Cologne, they get some help from some friends and Romeo & Juliet)
- Letters of Trade by David Dingwall (English gentry from Norfolk seek to obtain inside information on the future of their projects (particularly draining the fens in East Anglia and construction of covent garden) through a library trade with Grantville, notable largely for a brief Cromwell cameo)
- Breakthroughs by Jack Carroll (a Grantville lab working on vacuum tubes has to deal with espionage and dangerous working conditions)
- Duty Calls by Karen Bergstralh (an up-timer on the verge of his wedding escapes the madness by going on patrol with some National Guardsmen looking for bandits in the Black Forest)
- The Galloping Goose by Herbert & William Sakalaucks (some Grantvillers test out a rail-bus by taking some steel workers to get medical attention in the midst of a blizzard)
- Feng Shui for the Soul by Kerryn Offord (the would-be alchemist and successful pharmaceutical magnate Dr. Gribbleflotz takes an interest in Kirlian imagery which leads him to fund the development of a photographic industry and starts a feng shui craze among the nobility)
- Ghosts in the Glass by Tim Roesch (a down-time girl adopted by a Grantville family annoys a flower shop owner with the smudges she makes on her front window, unaware that the girl is a natural artist)
- Bunny B. Goode by Gorg Huff & Paula Goodlett (Spanish noble family seeks to get the inside track on the wool industry by copying designs for 19th century fabric processing engines from Grantville's library and breeding better sheep and imported Angora rabbits but is hampered by their own draconian medieval attitudes)
- Mrs. December, 1636 by Chet Gottfried (a Grantville woman and her husband are approached by Rubens agent about getting her portrait taken and also that of her goat Brillo (this story probably is more interesting if you've read the Ram Rebellion, which I haven't), leading to a road adventure as the three make their way to Amsterdam)
- Nothing's Ever Simple by Virginia DeMarce (an up-time woman obsessed with genealogies looks for information on her ancestors in a Swabian monastery (exactly as dull as it sounds))
the last five stories ("Supply and Demand," "Plugging Along," "Sunday Driver," "Turn, Turn, Turn," and "The Spark of Inspiration") all feature Father Nicholas Smithson (a down-timer with a talent for putting together cheat sheets that compile all available research on a topic into a more useful and concise form) and generally circle around the development of new-built down-time sparkplugs (though the last story is a call-back to the Monster, as down-time craftsmen build new aviation engines to get Trans-Europe Airline's Jupiters off the ground)
So, all in all, a nice selection of Ring of Fire stories, even if it makes me want the inevitable (please!) English Civil War book even more. Also, while I really enjoyed this collection I should note that (as others have) the Grantville Gazettes aren't going to be all that interesting if you aren't already heavily invested in the Ring of Fire books.
- Masque by Eric Flint (see above)
- The Monster by Gorg Huff and Paula Goodlett (down-time engineer develops a passenger aircraft, origin of the Jupiter aircraft that appear throughout the newer books, particularly the Italian series)
- Birdwatching by Garrett W. Vance (up-timer secretly indulges her birdwatching hobby as a way to deal with her new world and laments the apparent disappearance of Cardinals (seems lame, but actually, I really enjoyed this one))
- Suite for Four Hands by David Carrico (another Franz/Marla up-time music meets down-time musicians story, blends in some of the Euterpe characters as well, and again, one of my favorites in the collection)
- Lost in Translation by Iver P. Cooper (down-timer sends the wrong book to be translated and goes to extreme measures to recover a potentially damning document)
- Sailing Upwind by Kevin H. & Karen C. Evans (a melancholy up-time balloon enthusiast is driven by his wife to build an airship to get out of his doldrums and helps rescue some lost boy scouts)
- A Tinker's Progress by Terry Howard (a Grantville patron looks to see that young John Bunyan (author of Pilgrim's Progress in our universe) gets a good education and that they can get royalties)
- Jenny and the King's Men by Mark Huston (an ambitious English officer seeks the head of Jenny Geddes, whose legendary stool-throwing was a spark of the English Civil War in our time, hoping to earn King Charles favor, but runs afoul of the Edinburgh CoC and Julie/Alex Mackay (another favorite, particularly since it has the Mackays))
- Cinco de Mayo by Edith Wild (a Mexican-American up-timer tries to get his down-time friends to try Tacos as part of a Cinco de Mayo celebration)
- A Matter of Unehrlichkeit by Kim Mackay (when two star-crossed lovers fall afoul of the guilds in Cologne, they get some help from some friends and Romeo & Juliet)
- Letters of Trade by David Dingwall (English gentry from Norfolk seek to obtain inside information on the future of their projects (particularly draining the fens in East Anglia and construction of covent garden) through a library trade with Grantville, notable largely for a brief Cromwell cameo)
- Breakthroughs by Jack Carroll (a Grantville lab working on vacuum tubes has to deal with espionage and dangerous working conditions)
- Duty Calls by Karen Bergstralh (an up-timer on the verge of his wedding escapes the madness by going on patrol with some National Guardsmen looking for bandits in the Black Forest)
- The Galloping Goose by Herbert & William Sakalaucks (some Grantvillers test out a rail-bus by taking some steel workers to get medical attention in the midst of a blizzard)
- Feng Shui for the Soul by Kerryn Offord (the would-be alchemist and successful pharmaceutical magnate Dr. Gribbleflotz takes an interest in Kirlian imagery which leads him to fund the development of a photographic industry and starts a feng shui craze among the nobility)
- Ghosts in the Glass by Tim Roesch (a down-time girl adopted by a Grantville family annoys a flower shop owner with the smudges she makes on her front window, unaware that the girl is a natural artist)
- Bunny B. Goode by Gorg Huff & Paula Goodlett (Spanish noble family seeks to get the inside track on the wool industry by copying designs for 19th century fabric processing engines from Grantville's library and breeding better sheep and imported Angora rabbits but is hampered by their own draconian medieval attitudes)
- Mrs. December, 1636 by Chet Gottfried (a Grantville woman and her husband are approached by Rubens agent about getting her portrait taken and also that of her goat Brillo (this story probably is more interesting if you've read the Ram Rebellion, which I haven't), leading to a road adventure as the three make their way to Amsterdam)
- Nothing's Ever Simple by Virginia DeMarce (an up-time woman obsessed with genealogies looks for information on her ancestors in a Swabian monastery (exactly as dull as it sounds))
the last five stories ("Supply and Demand," "Plugging Along," "Sunday Driver," "Turn, Turn, Turn," and "The Spark of Inspiration") all feature Father Nicholas Smithson (a down-timer with a talent for putting together cheat sheets that compile all available research on a topic into a more useful and concise form) and generally circle around the development of new-built down-time sparkplugs (though the last story is a call-back to the Monster, as down-time craftsmen build new aviation engines to get Trans-Europe Airline's Jupiters off the ground)
So, all in all, a nice selection of Ring of Fire stories, even if it makes me want the inevitable (please!) English Civil War book even more. Also, while I really enjoyed this collection I should note that (as others have) the Grantville Gazettes aren't going to be all that interesting if you aren't already heavily invested in the Ring of Fire books.
December 8, 2022
Some good some not so much.
There is specifically the sense of characters behaving out of character for reasons of a braindead plot, both in action and inaction. This breaks up the natural flow and believability of stories.
This issue pervades the lesser writings if not all the stories in the 1632 'verse to a fair extent. Its as if the authors want to have their cake and eat it too, in reference to their chosen characters. The whole super capable and super incapable at the same time thing.. true this can sometime be the case but such usually has some background as to why. Mental defect or social/mental programming or some other such reason. Thus imo, such background needs be established cementing a proper foundation for any such character behaviour.
There is specifically the sense of characters behaving out of character for reasons of a braindead plot, both in action and inaction. This breaks up the natural flow and believability of stories.
This issue pervades the lesser writings if not all the stories in the 1632 'verse to a fair extent. Its as if the authors want to have their cake and eat it too, in reference to their chosen characters. The whole super capable and super incapable at the same time thing.. true this can sometime be the case but such usually has some background as to why. Mental defect or social/mental programming or some other such reason. Thus imo, such background needs be established cementing a proper foundation for any such character behaviour.
June 4, 2024
Please take note that this is Grantville Gazette VI, the print edition not Grantville Gazette 6 the online edition. I went through as a Goodreads Librarian and manually separated these since they have very different written content, but some idiot went through and combined them again.
Sigh.
Anyways, I read this a while ago but only noticed that I never wrote a review for this, VII, and VIII. (Which have also been combined again, probably by the same mental midget.) For both the latter two, there were a few stories that were horrible but I don't remember that being the case with this collection. But looking through the titles all I can say is that I barely remember any of the short stories. They are forgettable and contribute little to the overall story.
Sigh.
Anyways, I read this a while ago but only noticed that I never wrote a review for this, VII, and VIII. (Which have also been combined again, probably by the same mental midget.) For both the latter two, there were a few stories that were horrible but I don't remember that being the case with this collection. But looking through the titles all I can say is that I barely remember any of the short stories. They are forgettable and contribute little to the overall story.
March 1, 2017
As a person who loves short stories, having a world with both novels and shorter works to fill in the gaps is just heaven. As usual, the stories in the Gazette are well crafted and delightful. I'm trying to read them slowly so I don't run out.
June 24, 2017
I really enjoyed this one. The stories were shorter and more concise. There was a lot more introductions of historical characters and more stories about trying to reverse engineer technologies, both of which I enjoyed. This was a great collection in the series.
November 15, 2017
Another good addition to the GG series!
Another fine collection of stories, often by first time authors, set in the 1632 Universe stablished by Eric Flint. A good read.
Another fine collection of stories, often by first time authors, set in the 1632 Universe stablished by Eric Flint. A good read.
September 27, 2020
Pas assez de textes intéressants de mon point de vue.
March 13, 2025
Mostly enjoyable stories that fill in the cracks in the main themes of the 1632 universe. I have read some before that made it into other collections of particular authors. Enjoy!
February 16, 2013
I still love this series, and I'm glad to see the universe has blossomed as it has. The inclusion of multiple authors and the online magazine (of which is this a "best of" print edition) provides multiple voices, and helps tell some of the smaller stories of the impact of the americans on the 100 yrs war. I hope, as a result, it will continue to churn out novels and short stories for years to come.
September 1, 2023
A series of short stories set in the 1632/Ring of Fire universe. Most are about things that interest people and how they adapt to the world around them. Beekeeping, birdwatching, building replacement parts for radios and engines; building new radios and engines; a couple of stories concerning individuals from the English Civil War who others try to preempt their roles; learning music; and some that continue from previous stories.
July 31, 2012
This is actually a "best of" set of stories from the online editions of Grantville Gazette Volumes 12-17. These are looks at the lives of average Americans and Europeans in the re-created Germany of Flint's 1632 universe.
November 25, 2012
The Grantville Gazette never ceases to please and entertain. I think the best story -- and one that requires little background in the series -- is "Birdwatching" by Garrett W. Vance; nice touching story that hits on how different people would adjust to these extraordinary circumstances.
May 28, 2013
Finally completed the book. As good as all the others in the series. It is always good to catch up with old favourite ayuthors and characters. Really enjoyed the last half dozen stories by different authors all with a common theme. Come in and enjoy the world of grantville.
February 1, 2012
Don't read this book unless you've been following the series. But for people who have, it's a decent collection of related short stories.
March 16, 2012
This book IS published now, in hardback and e-book. See my Amazon review.
April 19, 2012
Interesting "best of collection" from ARC versions of Grantville Gazette. Most enjoyed by faithful readers of 1632 aficionados, not by new readers.
November 3, 2012
Strangely attractive. There is something about this trajectory and its fiction that is only twofold degenerate in todays culture.
Read
February 21, 2013 My favorites : "Birdwatching", "Sailing Upwind", and "Jenny and the King's men". Some others were ok, and some I just got through to finish the book.
April 3, 2016
Fun flavors are everywhere in the 1632 Universe.
Displaying 1 - 21 of 21 reviews