Grantville Gazette VII
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[[Image:Grantville Gazette-VII.jpg|frame|Baen Cover Art]]
{{main|1632 series|The Grantville Gazettes}}
::Note: ''The two main articles covering this large rapidly growing [[book series]] and this specific [[sub-series]] are kept up to date before publication as new titles are added to this rapidly growing [[Social environment|milieu]] oriented body of works.''
The '''''Grantville Gazette VII''''' (''Main article:'' [[The Grantville Gazette]]s) is the seventh collaborative work set in the''' ''[[parallel universe (fiction)|'1632verse']]'' '''in what is best regarded as a [[canonical]] sub-series of the popular [[alternate history]] that began with the February [[2000]] publication of the hardcover novel [[1632 (novel)]] by author-historian [[Eric Flint]]. Overall it is the eighth anthology in the atypical series which consists of a mish-mash of main novels and anthologies produced under ''popular demand'' after publication of the initial novel which was written as a stand-alone work. The internet forum [[Baen's Bar]] in the Eric Flint oriented sub-forums [[1632 Tech Manual]] and [[1632 Slush]] figure prominently in the background of these works as is covered in the ''[[The Grantville Gazette]]s'' main article and are an example of the internet-age [[collaborative fiction|collaborative writing]] in the literary field.
The cover illustration is the painting "Forge of Vulcan", 1630 by [[Diego Velazquez|Diego Rodriguez da Silva y Velázquez]] (1599-1660), and continues a tradition of e-covers using classical painters works from within the era around [[1632]] and the [[Thirty Years' War]].
==About the Gazettes==
The Grantville Gazettes are all edited by [[Eric Flint]], creator of the [[1632 series|fictional universe]] in which they are set, who maintains editorial control over the [[canon (fiction)|canon]] for the series on the [[1632.org website]] in conjunction with the [[1632 editorial board|1632 Editorial Board]], and the various 1632 Research Committees, all being regular participants to the [[Baen's Bar]] forum [[1632 Tech Manual]]. Gazettes include fact articles (see the research committee) and stories which are initially vetted through a tough peer review (via the related sub-forum ''1632 Slush Comments'') on the submission forum [[1632 slush]], typically requiring several rewrites then are subsequently nominated by the ''editorial board'', whereupon Flint chooses the stories for inclusion in the [[canon (fiction)|Canon]] and for each volume based in part how it leads into or integrates with the ongoing main storyline 'threads' in the various novels. The initial story selections are done by assistant editor {{16writ|Paula|Goodlett}} who chairs the editorial board, and performs a similar function for Baen's science-fiction e-zine [[Jim Baen's Universe]] (JBU). JBU also accepts submissions only through a slush forum of Baen's Bar, but the concept was proved by the gazettes experiment. (Discussed in the main article: [[The Grantville Gazettes]].)
== [[E-book]] Table of Contents== <!--
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Note: In the earliest two Grantville Gazettes, there were differences between the print published version and the original serialized [[eMagazine]], and then again the intermediate [[eBook]] as the 'kinks' were worked out of the experiment. Should additional published works differ, it will be noted in the pertinent article.
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{{32s|*|Assistant Editor's Preface|Paula|Goodlett}}
{{32s|*|''The Forge of Vulcan''|p= [[Diego Velázquez|Diego Rodriguez de Silva y Velazquez]] (Cover art).}}
{{32st|Fiction}}
{{32s|**|Canst Thou Send Lightnings?|Rick|Boatright}}
{{32s|**|Mule 'Round The Worlder|Virginia |DeMarce}}
{{32s|**|Von Grantville|Russ|Rittgers}}
{{32s|**|Burgers, Fries, And Beer|s=John and Patti Friend}}
{{32s|**|Grantville's Greatest Philosopher?|Terry |Howard}}
{{32s|**|The Misadventures of T & V, Mama Mia, That's A Good Pizza Pie!|s=Jon and Linda Sonnenleiter}}
{{32s|**|Seasons|Mark|Huston}}
{{32s|**|Not At All The Type|Virginia |DeMarce}}
{{32s|**|Trommler Records|p={{16writ|Gorg |Huff}} and {{16writ|Paula |Goodlett}}}}
{{32st|Continuing Serials}}
{{32s|**|The Dr. Gribbleflotz Chronicles, Part 2, '''Dr. Phil's Amazing Essence Of Fire Tablets'''|p={{16writ|Karen|Offord}} and {{16writ|Rick Boatright}}}}
{{32s|**|Dr. Phil Zinkens A Bundle|Karen|Offord}}
{{32s|**|Essen Steel, Part 1: Crucibellus|Kim |Mackey}}
{{32st|Non-fiction}}
{{32s|**|The Mechanical Reproduction Of Sound: Developing A Recorded Music Distribution Industry|p={{16writ|Chris|Penycate}} and {{16writ|Rick |Boatright}}}}
{{32s|**|Mass Media In The 1632 Universe|p={{16writ|Gorg |Huff}} and {{16writ|Paula |Goodlett}}}}
{{32s|**|Railroading In Germany|Carsten |Edelberger}}
{{32s|**|Harnessing The Iron Horse: Railroad Locomotion In The 1632 Universe|Iver P. |Cooper}}
|}
==Plot Synopses==
==="Canst Thou Send Lightnings?"===
: by Rick Boatright
==="Mule 'Round The World"===
: by Virginia DeMarce
: Setting: '''November, 1633''', Wednesday morning before Thanksgiving
This story is a curious historical retrospective and deep background piece that in the first blush dwells upon the problems of changing the attitude of the educationally challenged ''down-timer {{Wdy|foundling}}'' Minnie Hugelmair. Minnie, in her mid-teens (estimated on the older side of 14-15) can neither read nor write, nor do arithmetic, much less age appropriate maths such as algebra and sciences. The true theme of the story is to establish family background history of Buster Beasley, spouse Christin George and foul mouthed daughter Denise, who has become best friends with age peer Minnie Hugelmair. Denise makes a later appearance as a key character in one of the four divergent 1634 novels. Minnie and her octogenarian methodist protector and guardian, folk singer Benny Pierce (82) had previously appeared as the proximal cause of the street riots that formed the sole action scene in {{GG01|s="The Rudolstadt Colloquy"}}, a story event which is referenced over and over in various novels.
After going through a tortuous laundry list of introduced characters, major and minor in the chosen scene, the real centerpiece and the action in the story is all but unrelated and presented mainly as historical retrospectives for background, and as a quick expositionary sequence to whit, that in the winter of 1631-1632 the Beasley's extended family mostly all died off from an unrevealed but quick acting illness that took off all six elderly Beasley's, most of whom were widowers or widows and who all lived together on the family's farm in a big old Victorian house after the ROF. The reader is strongly steered to believe that the manner of the deaths of these elders in the Beasley clan were more than a little self-sacrificing, that the stricken family members at some point realized the virulent illness they were experiencing was perhaps too much for Grantville to handle, and that in effect, they all decided to die from it rather than risk infecting the town. The only problem with this is there is and was no note warning their relatives, such as Buster Beasley to walk wary upon entering, or any description of what they had experienced.
{{cquote|The phone was working—Buster used it to call Dan Frost to send someone out—so it must have come on them fast. Or else, they caught on that it was something real bad, and contagious, and deliberately decided not to call. They'd found another body in the barn—a hobo, from the look of his clothes, with a plate of biscuits next to him.}}
The conclusion to the story was the investigating officials, had decided even autopsy's were too risky and the family group was interred quickly at the farm. Buster Beasley had personally then burned the barn and house down rather than risk spreading whatever disease to Grantville's population at large, lending belief to the heroic nature of the family's elders decision to not call for help. Various members of the investigating and burial teams had also come down to be very sick for a lengthy period, surviving only by massive support measures and using up a good bit of Grantville's medicines during their protracted convalescence.
{{cquote|They'd quarantined everybody who had been out there. He, Buster and Fred got pretty sick, but they got over it, with fluids and more of the town's precious antibiotics than they had probably deserved and stuff to bring the fever down. Hell, tell the truth. He'd never been so sick in his life. If that, whatever it was, had reached Grantville without any advance warning, half of the town would have been gone in a month.}}
The story concludes by returning to the educational motivation of Denise's friend Minnie -- Buster reveals he's got two new uncrated Harley Davidson ("Hogs") in the storage sheds, and the two girls could each count on having one if Minnie learns her remedial lessons, including progressing past the middle school curriculum into high school.
==="Von Grantville"===
: by Russ Rittgers
==="Burgers, Fries, And Beer"===
: by John and Patti Friend
==="Grantville's Greatest Philosopher?"===
: by Terry Howard
==="The Misadventures of T & V, Mama Mia, That's A Good Pizza Pie!"===
: by Jon and Linda Sonnenleiter
==="Seasons"===
: by Mark Huston
==="Not At All The Type"===
: by Virginia DeMarce
==="Trommler Records"===
: by Gorg Huff and Paula Goodlett
;Continuing Serials:
==="Dr. Phil's Amazing Essence Of Fire Tablets"===
:The Dr. Gribbleflotz Chronicles, Part 2, by Karen Offord and Rick Boatright
==="Dr. Phil Zinkens A Bundle"===
: by Karen Offord
==="Essen Steel, Part 1: Crucibellus"===
: by Kim Mackey
==Non-Fiction — Fact Essays from 1632 Research Committee members==
==="The Mechanical Reproduction Of Sound: Developing A Recorded Music Distribution Industry"===
: by Chris Penycate and Rick Boatright
==="Mass Media In The 1632 Universe"===
: by Gorg Huff and Paula Goodlett
==="Railroading In Germany"===
: by Carsten Edelberger
==="Harnessing The Iron Horse: Railroad Locomotion In The 1632 Universe"===
: by Iver P. Cooper
==Publishing history==
First printing, April 2006,
Copyright © 2006 by Eric Flint
A Baen Books Original,
Baen publishing Enterprises,
P.O. Box 1403,
Riverdale, NY 10471,
http://www.baen.com, DOI: 10.1125/0017
First electronic printing, April 2006
Production by WebWrights, Newport, TN
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Copyright© 2006 by Eric Flint
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==Notes and references==
{{reflist}}
==External links==
{{1632 links}}
{{1632 series}}
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