1632 plot threads: Difference between revisions

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'''1632 plot threads''' refers to the complex mix of overall story arches or sequences within the best selling [[alternate history]] series [[1632 series|''Ring of Fire'']], which grew rapidly from a stand-alone novel ({{1632}}) to published works numbering in the high teens as of October 2007—and2007—and most of that since 2004. This article will attempt to survey the general meaning of the term ''plot threads'' within the series and on the very active [[Baen's Bar]] web discussion forums related to the series, in particular, [[1632 Tech Manual]] which is the sub-forum where many of the details of the [[shared universe]] mega-series have been hammered out, researched and reported on to other participants.

==Approaches==

Milieu creator, series Editor, and keeper of the [[canon (fiction)|fictional canon]] [[Eric Flint]] has opined he thinks in terms of plot threads in terms of major protagonists. But most web chatter devolves around geographical "spheres of influence", locations, or where protagonists have a general effect. As a series focused on displaying a [[parallel universe (fiction)|believable neohistory]] given the series beginning—beginning—''of being as realistic as possible'' given the initial series premises—thepremises—the two approaches both ''fail equally'' in covering all the cases by any strict measure, because the rich character set who is starring in one thread will almost invariably appear in one or more other story lines as a personal [[departure point]] for that characters personal biographical history, or as a supporting role for events depicted in a book mainly covering events in another thread.

==Messy history==

"Real history is messy," Flint has written in the foreword to {{ROF-1}} in explaining why he took the unusual step of opening a universe consisting of a single novel at the time into a shared universe. A champion of the common man, Flint disdains the "Strong Man theory of History", where big figures of heroic scope define events, but instead lays claim throughout the entirety of works in the series, that history is the small actions of common men acting in their own self-interest who in the aggregate determine historical forces and force events and responses from those in power, who might lay some claim to being a giant of history—thehistory—the statesmen and power brokers who dot the [[I]]'s and cross the [[T]]'s and add occasional curlicues to the historic march of events—ridingevents—riding the torrent far more often than leading it in Churchillian or Rooseveltian fashion. That some persons of that mold have existed is not disputed, but that the narrative report that makes up historical reporting tends to overstate their impact and role, is Flints theme.

==Plot threads==

No matter what approach one takes to classifying a plot sequence in the series—beseries—be it geographical or character based—thebased—the key element of the series to comprehend is that the events depicted in its now voluminous works are not taking place in a vacuum, but in most cases are concurrent with developments in other parts of the European center. Indeed, in an October 2007 announcement on his web site, Flint announced an agreement that the three joint books (under contract since 2002) with best selling author [[David Weber]] will take place in a '''Naval thread''', indicating the Eurocentric focus of the series, at least taken with some expressed interest by [[Michael Stearns]] to curtail slave trading before it builds up steam, will likely create settings well outside Europe as the technologically advanced naval capabilities of the {{USE}} give it a reach not available to the average European power, even if it resorts to sailing ships over oceanic distances where the {{Emergency Committee}} and {{NUS!32}} authorities were careful to hide key portions of their library resources in order to maintain a technological edge as they {{geardown}}"gearing down".

===Geographical threads===

<!-- Section names as of 17:41, 5 December 2007 (UTC)

These codes will be incorporated into the logic of template:plot thread, and section titles adjusted accordingly.

# 4.1.1 West Central European thread-- 1: de main thread so far

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=====East Central European thread=====

{{dablink|Main article: [[#Eastern European thread|Eastern European thread]] (just above)}}

Other works that can be characterized in the setting are parts of the novel {{34TBC}} and the forthcoming sequels {{35SoB}} (long delayed while resolving the demanding schedules of Flint and [[David Weber]]&mdash;— which delayed the whole series for several years as the {{34TBW}} sequel would have been adversely affected.) and {{35TEF}} are also believed to be set in the Eastern or East Central threads. Beginning in September 2007 Flint began the ongoing serialization of the [[The Anaconda Project]] novel which continues from where ''The Wallenstein Gambit'' left off beginning in the [[Kingdom of Bohemia]] in [[Prague]] with discussions in the early chapters about acting militarily and politically (by local [[1632 institutions#Committees of Correspondence|CoCs]]) in the east ([[Silesia]] and other outlying areas of southern [[Poland-Lithuania Commonwealth]]).

The original "working title" of ''Soldier of Bohemia'' was ''1635: King of Bohemia'', and that title and clues revealed in {{34TBC}}, which in the most part geographically can be laid in this regional setting. The solo Flint novel, [[The Anaconda Project]] (Serialized to date solely in [[the Grantville Gazettes]]) is also in the setting, and is believed to be the prequel to Soldier of Bohemia which it is speculated, will center its action on the reactions of the new king of Austria-Hungary, Ferdinand III of Austria, and his attack on Wallenstein even as he makes peace with Gustavus and the {{USE}}, or not. That coming conflict has been foreshadowed in three separate works: The Bavarian Crisis, Flint's tale in {{ROF-2}}, and in the Anaconda Project itself, where Wallenstein is strong arming the popular accidental-hero (part of ''The Wallenstein Gambit'') {{16char|Morris|Roth}} into becoming a general and heading up his army and plans in the east for he and Pappenheim expect to be busy in the south with {{16CHAR|Ferdinand III|Austria|p=Ferdinand III of Austria}}'s armies.

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Finally, a TIP. Alternate history novels have a tendency (for obvious dramatic reasons) to focus too narrowly on the military dimension of the problem. I want to cast a broader net. ... (more)}}</ref

>, the two decided to alter their original planning and spin off a new thread&mdash;onethread—one based on the {{USE}} as a naval power, which historically alters the fact that {{Gustavus}}'s [[Swedish Empire]] was not (Many are unaware that Sweden did colonize north America&mdash;coloniesAmerica—colonies which were absorbed into British North American colonies behind the wall of ships helping the nascent [[British Empire]] come into being during the Seventeenth century).

====The Americas thread====