Grantville Gazette, Volume III

Ring of Fire - Gazette Editions Series, Book 3

De: Eric Flint - editor

Narrado por: P.J. Ochlan

In Virginia DeMarce's witty and touching "Pastor Kastenmayer's Revenge", a Lutheran pastor gets even with the American who eloped with his daughter by scheming to gain new adherents through eight separate arranged marriages between Lutheran down-timers and American up-timers.

In other stories:

● The same teenagers who launched the sewing machine industry in Volume 1 move on to conquer the financial world, in Gorg Huff's "Other People's Money".

● Francis Turners's "Hobson's Choice" tells the tale of the personal and theological impact of the Ring of Fire on rambunctious students and barmaids in the university town of Cambridge, England.

● In Eva Musch's "If the Demons Will Sleep", a woman terrorized by the notorious Hungarian countess Bartholdy finds peace and sanctuary in Grantville.

● In Wood Hughes's "Hell Fighters", a Benedictine monk confronts an inferno and finds his orders new calling.

Contains mature themes.

©2006 Eric Flint (P)2020 Tantor

Solid Anthology

Fiction

Postage Due, Eric Flint
4-star short story
In the world of 1632, making the first postage stamps using the art of Rembrandt and Rubens makes sense. The fact that they were created as a part of a money-making scheme by Harry Lefferts is just an extra detail. Entertaining.

Pastor Kastenmeyer's Revenge, Virginia DeMarce
4-star novellette
In 17th century Germany, young women without dowries have limited opportunities. It is one of the jobs of a pastor to see to the well-being of his flock, which here involves arranging marriages. But of course, a Lutheran woman can only marry a Lutheran man, so recruitment and conversion are both necessary. This is seven vignettes of what that might look like. The characters are nicely drawn, the situations are believable and varied, and several of the vignettes are affecting.

The Sound of Music, David Carrico
5-star short story
When a crippled violinist arrives in Grantville, he is exposed to types of music entirely unknown to the 17th century. This story displays the author's understanding of musicians and a love for music of all types that makes the story special.

Other People's Money, Gorg Huff
5-star novelette
The Sewing Circle and the Barbie Consortium are among the best things in the Grantville Gazette stories. Here, we see the creation of Other People's Money, which is almost as entertaining. Who knew leveraged corporate financing could be so much fun?

If the Demons Will Sleep, Eva Musch
3-star short story
A somewhat contrived story about a mercenary and his woman and children who are to be married by the Presbyterian minister of Grantville. The woman has an extreme form of PTSD that must be managed during the marriage and the birth of her child. This seems mostly a vehicle for presenting a bit of Hungarian history.

Hobson's Choice, Francis Turner
2-star short novella
The conceit of this story is that the son of a wealthy merchant enrolled at Magdelene College of Cambridge University begins to teach the daughter of a local innkeeper in defiance of tradition. Eventually, his father gives the scholar some artifacts from Grantville (notably a ball-point pen and a copy of National Geographic). After various shenanigans, the college and the town decide to send a group of observers to the Lutheran Colloquy near Grantville, in part to investigate the strange travelers from the future. The story here is mostly a vehicle for presenting historical information about Cambridge and Magdelene College, as well as explaining for the slow of thinking that women can learn, too. Mildly interesting, but extraordinarily heavy-handed.

Hell Fighters, Wood Hughes
3-star short novelette
The leaders of the Order of St. Benedict come across a history that indicates that their order will be devastated by the results of the Thirty Years War and decide to send a monk to investigate Grantville. He has been a librarian and finds himself enchanted and amazed by both the library in Grantville and its use of the Dewey Decimal system. While the beginning of the story flows well and has memorable characters, there is a sudden shift near the end that makes some sense historically, but that interrupts the narrative flow significantly, to the detriment of the story.

Euterpe, Episode 2, Enrico Toro
3-star short story
The second episode in a serial story about Giacomo Carissimi, a historical Italian musician. This story covers his journey from Rome over the Apennines to Rimini, north through the Alps, and across southern Germany to Grantville. It is told in the form of a letter home. The protagonist is decently drawn, but this is largely a travelogue. Entertaining enough, but not especially compelling.

Fact Articles

Iron, Rick Boatright
4 stars
A solid article on the techniques and challenges of producing steel at industrial levels starting from 17th century technology. While much of the information here is available elsewhere, the focus on integrating modern techniques into that low-tech world is new.

The Impact of Mechanization on German Farms, Karen Bergstrahl
5 stars
After centuries of plagues and more than a decade of total war, central Germany does not have an excess of labor. Further, the industrial society that Grantville is trying to build is also very labor intensive. To solve the problems of food production with minimal labor, mechanization of agriculture is important, but economically and technologically challenging. Bergstrahl's article does a very good job of explaining the historical process of mechanization by small steps and the costs to individual farmers.

Flint's Lock, Leonard Hollar, et al.
4 stars
An essay on the choice of firearms for the Swedish/Grantville army. The argument for a muzzle-loading, flintlock rifle using a Minie bullet seems a strong one.

Alchemical Distillation, Andrew Clark
2 stars
This article is written in the terminology of the period, to its detriment. A more standard writing style would have made a better article.