1632 Series - The Beginning

The Beginning

1632 is the lead novel in the 1632 series. It is a science fiction (alternate history) novel originally released in November 2000, but atypically, continues to actually increase in quarterly sales, as do most of the sequels. Originally a single stand-alone story, the novel is now the first of an open-ended series with over twenty-six works of all kinds including e-published only works (e-books) of which twelve are standard trade printed books (Three of eighteen of the bi-monthly Gazettes, and counting) are the printed canonical Grantville Gazettes (I, II, and III, the first of which is almost entirely longer fiction Flint couldn't put in the already lengthy Ring of Fire shared universe collection, the de facto first sequel antedating collaborative work on 1633, and of which two have been best sellers) published in print and an additional rapidly growing number related Grantville Gazettes e-books or e-zines (not in print).

In writing 1632, Flint's web forum "Mutter of Demons" at Baen's Bar was soon taken over by exploratory posts as captivated readers commented on the E-ARC released book, creating a ground swell of interest ("internet Buzz") in the months before its hardcover release. So strong was the response, especially after the release of the printed work, that a new 1632 Tech Manual sub-forum was created for discussions about it in early 2000, for the discussions had also spilled over into Weber's "Bu-ships" tech forum, and Weber joined the bandwagon by suggesting a sequel was in order. In the event, the two co-wrote 1633 and collaborated further on integrating the short fiction (much of it, unsolicited) into the de facto Ring of Fire sequel. It was followed by two other related forums: 1632 Slush and 1632 Comments within the next two years.

The Grantville Gazettes are a series of short stories in the collaborative fiction experiment, which started life as an online serialized magazine with an inconsistent and sporadic publication history. After the death of Jim Baen and with the publication of Grantville Gazette X by Baen Books, the last under contract with Baen, the Gazettes were again reconstituted as a subscription e-zine, now published regularly at six per year (bi-monthly) and paying above standard rates for submissions. They are a "boiler room" powering the collaborative synergy by the people involved with the 1632 Tech Manual and have developed into a repository for new ideas and themes in the series, although most explore the personal experiences of minor characters in the series or examine in depth some aspect (e.g. a multi-part serial explores and details Grantville's impact on public health in general, and the establishment of twin teaching hospitals as a joint project of the University of Jena and Grantville's new hospital, the Lahey Clinic.) In general, the anthologies in the series depict deep background canonical to future tales, but which are not in the main stream "action" of the novels focus. A group of stories have on several occasions produced a new plot thread.