Title: Grantville Gazette III
Author: Eric Flint (ed.)
Rating: 2 stars out of 5
Publisher: Baen
Copyright: 2006
ISBN: 1416509410
Pages: 314
Keywords: alternative history, speculative fiction
Reading period: 4th-9th February, 2007

The popular 1632 series is a shared universe of alternate history, where the small town of Grantville, West Virginia has somehow been transported in a Ring of Fire to central Germany in 1631, during the middle of the Thirty Years' War. The townspeople adapt fairly successfully and immediately and irrevocably change the course of history, thanks to their advanced technology.

The Ring of Fire has spawned an active community at 1632.org, leading to a great deal of fan fiction, developing plot lines, fleshing out major and minor characters, as well as lots of geeky speculation about technology transfer.

This book is a collection of that fan-generated material. Only one piece is written by a professional author, Eric Flint, the creator of the series. The rest is a mixture of fiction and factual pieces, many continued from the earlier Gazettes.

I found this to be the weakest book of the series. None of the stories were memorable. The fiction concentrates on minor events, generally the culture shock of 17th century Europeans, trying to adapt to the strange, powerful Americans who were suddenly thrust upon them.

Not recommended unless you're a completist.