Welcome once again to the rollicking adventure of the Seventeenth Century’s new timeline. We have some fascinating looks at civilization in Grantville and beyond. First, Terry Howard brings us “A Long-Awaited Proposal”— a bittersweet piece of flash fiction about what happens when two old lovers meet. For Terry’s second offering in this issue, “Don’t Feed [...]

"Cosimo, this is the third morning in a row you have met me in the market. We have got to stop meeting like this. People are beginning to talk." She had lingered at the Rialto end of the bridge nearest the vegetable market hoping he would turn up. "Well, Claudia, we could always finish what [...]

"The rolled oats we took to the grocery store are just not selling," a very serious William Holt told the people gathered at the dinner table of the Mountain Top Baptist Bible Institute. They were trying to diversify from selling eggs and teas. "The only ones buying them are up-timers. The down-timers still think they're [...]

Leczna, Lesser Poland March 1634   It had been a long, bad day for Dmytro. He had spent all morning and part of the afternoon waiting at the ataman's house for the Wisznias' factor. Then, when he finally got to the front of the line, he was told his taxes not only were higher, but [...]

Meiningen Friday, September 8, 1634   Günter Bettin lay on the floor of his cell waiting for the warder to come with his supper, a bowl of whatever leftover was available from the nearest Meiningen inn. He looked up to the narrow window set high in the cell's wall. It was too narrow for an [...]

Dora read the letter a second time—as if the words would change—while absentmindedly wiping the stubborn spots of flour that still clung to her apron with her left hand. Never mind that specks of flour from her right hand flecked the parchment. She was still sitting on the stool by the pile of wood near [...]

Chapter 2: Rouen   Nicholas ducked into a random shop door just as the skies opened up with a sudden icy blast of sleet. Sharp, familiar smells wafted into his nose on swirling eddies of warm air mixing with the cold from the door as he looked about. It was an apothecary shop, and a [...]

"Swedes do not defend their men with walls, they defend their walls with men." In the 1632 Universe, the Swedish Army is one of the most powerful forces in northern and central Europe. Yet the inner workings of this army remains mostly unknown. How did a rather insignificant nation create such a mighty weapon? And [...]

Unless you are content with a mere photoprint (which captures silhouettes of opaque objects and filtered images of translucent ones placed upon illuminated film), you also need an optical system for creating an image of the scene at the "film plane." Typically, that optical system is coupled to a camera, which at a minimum allows [...]

Over the Thanksgiving weekend, Xfinity launched an ad that claims to be a sequel to the movie E.T. I suppose the commercial is a sequel of sorts, if you consider that it replicates all of the high points of the movie, with similar cute kids, and an adult Elliott. I found it to be a [...]

Ring of Fire Press has been very busy. Here is a look at recent and forthcoming titles: (Items marked with * are 1632 Universe novels) *The Trouble With Huguenots by Virginia DeMarce Duke Henri de Rohan is the leader of the French Protestants, known as Huguenots, and he has a lot on his hands. The [...]

Happy 2020! We hope you’re enjoying Grantville Gazette 87. It’s also time to look back at Volumes 81-86 and make your nominations for Best of 2019. Please send your nomination to walt@waltboyes.com or bjorn@1632.org. Nominations are open until April 1. We will post the finalists in Grantville Gazette 89, coming out May 1, 2020. You’ll [...]

This Issue’s Cover- 87 Marta Inspired by Mike Watson’s exciting tale, The Searchers.

As soon as a cloud passed in front of the moon and blackened the sky, Ptaysanwee War Eagle lit out from behind the trees. Her dad's wire cutters in one hand and a pistol in the other, she dashed across the gravel perimeter road, tasting the dust she kicked up. She cut the fence, gaining [...]

         Navel-gazing gets a person only so far. Even if you happen to have a navel, which I don’t. And while I’ve gone by many names, none of them was Adam.          As the latest urge to introspection passed, I redirected some of my attention to who had written the plays attributed to Shakespeare. (Hint: [...]