Into the Ring of Fire

Science fiction used to be fun. Then it got serious. There were occasional outbreaks in the 1960's with the "New Wave" (is it dead yet?). In the 1970's we saw cyberpunk and the initial wave of literati embracing "speculative fiction". Now we have people who write science fiction (or would be science fiction if anybody but the literati types wrote it) while poo-pooing SF, science fiction shows that "really aren't science fiction" and sub-sub-genres where the more strident (annoying) proponents say we ought to be writing stories about things like (I kid you not) a science fiction (sorry, speculative fiction) version of the sub-prime meltdown.

Give me a break.

Now, don't get me wrong. I want to see the market for SF get expanded. More mainstream readers ought to read SF, it'll help them get adjusted to the increasing pace of change ("future shock", if you like). Learned articles on the field? Sure, if it keeps folks like James Gunn employed. But when you get to the point where somebody claims that you can only write in the field if you have a masters or doctorate in literature (as I have had related to me)...forget it. When you think that stories ought to exclusively deal with current day issues because somehow (magically) the literati will start taking SF "seriously"...forget it.

Let's face it folks. We face enough serious stuff and real life stuff in...real life. It's time for science fiction to be fun again!

And, thanks to Baen Books, I've found a series that makes it so.

What am I talking about? Let's look at one of science fiction's Grand Masters, Murray Leinster. He wrote a short story (which can be found online here) called The Runaway Skyscraper. A building full of "modern" (well, modern for the time) New Yorkers get transported into the past. Do they scream and gnash their teeth? Do they give up and die? No, they adapt, improvise, overcome and win out in the end.

Good stuff, that positive thinking.

Eric Flint (with the help of a whole lot of people, more on that later) set out with a similar theme in his first Ring of Fire story, 1632 (the series is also known as the Assiti Shards universe). The town of Grantville, West Virginia, is hit by a cosmic accident (amusingly, a bit of space art gone very wrong) and is transported back in time, to Europe in the year 1632.

Europe at that time was quiet and sedate, a pastoral paradise. Well...no. Europe at that time was embroiled in a series of wars fought by locust-like armies, lots of political maneuvers, religious strife. Toss in an American town from West Virginia (and six-odd miles around the town) and what happens? Do they give it up?

Some want to. But this is a science fiction novel in the good old sense (is it a coincidence that Flint has edited anthologies bringing the works of Murray Leinster back into print?). The town works to survive, fighting back, planting crops, seeking out alliances.

There are good guys. There are bad guys. And...interstingly, they evolve and grow. Alliances shift and change. Machines break down and must be adapted. The town realizes that their 20th Century lifestyle needs a lot of outside support and will grind to a stop. So it is interesting to watch them come up with ways to live on in the 1600's with better than 1600-level technology.

The series started to expand in two directions. First, there is a series of books, mostly co-written by Flint and a number of other folks (David Weber has contributed to some, but the usual practice—one that Baen excels at—is to pair Flint with a relatively unknown author...with the result that sometimes the lesser-known author grows to become a solo author on his or her own). This line of books includes the direct sequel to 1632, 1633 and then titles such as 1634: The Ram Rebellion, 1634: The Baltic War and 1635: The Cannon Law (and more). History and fiction intermix, as do real and imagined characters. Even Galileo makes an appearance!

The other thread of books are short story collections. This started with Ring of Fire, which featured stories not only by known Baen authors, but fans of the books. The stories set the pattern for another line: the author focuses on a incident from the main books and explores a sideline, or focuses on some sort of problem faced by the inhabitants of Grantville and sees how the problem can be overcome.

From Ring of Fire came Grantville Gazette, a series of electronic magazines and book anthologies. The fans were hooked by the books and wanted more. The authors could only write so fast, so fans proposed stories of their own. Started as an experiment in electronic publishing, the eZines (electronic magazines) proved popular enough to be "spun off" into "real" books. As with Ring of Fire, the stories are mostly explorations of the sidelines, especially in terms of adapting technology. Heck, one even has a group of teenagers coming to grips with the change and instead of moping around they start a business. Teenagers! In a positive light! The shock!

Phew. There's a lot of stuff here and I'm still wrestling how to do a proper (decent) set of reviews. If you love science fiction in the style of the "Golden Age", if you love positive stories (with plenty of thrills and chills), if you love adventure and action...give these a try.

(Addendum: Official website here! Learn about the dead horses, download timelines, browse thousands of messages from fans...and maybe...get inspired to contribute to the universe!)

(Addendum: Free books! Free books! Baen has put a number of the Ring of Fire tales in their Free Library. You can read online or download files in multiple formats. You'll be able to find: 1632, 1633 and the first volume of Grantville Gazette there.)