"Sewing Circle" by Gorg Huff is the longest story in the anthology, and my favorite. Junior achievement meets time travel in this tale of five high-school freshmen (with a cartel of middle-school investors) who bring twenty-first century economics and nineteenth-century technology together to help prevent inflation in Grantville.

Virgina de Marce returns in this second Grantville story collection with "The Rudolstadt Colloquy." American notions of freedom and tolerance run headlong into Medieval religious thought, and the result is a quiet—even yawn-inducing—meeting. The problem, from the American's point of view, is that Medieval passions run to suppression of freedom. What's needed is a call to revolution, taken straight from the music of "Mother Maybelle," Johnny Cash's mother-in-law.

On the fact side of the ledger, three fascinating pieces explain the technological background of the Grantville universe. "Radio in the 1632 Universe" by Rick Boatright (the source of Eric Flint's radio expertise for the novels) explains the Maunder Minimum that affects radio reception for Grantville, and also details the limitations on up-time materials experienced by the locals. If it wasn't in Mannington, WV, it isn't in Grantville. Period.

"They've Got Bread Mold, So Why Can't They Make Penicillin?" by Bob Gottlieb explains the difficulties and challenges of up-timer doctors in 1632. They know where penicillin comes from in the same way most of know how TV works. Making it is a whole 'nother industry! Meanwhile they have plagues, starving refugees and a local war to contend with.

"Horse Power" by Karen Bergstralh puts the genetic contribution of up-time horses into perspective with details of two equine genes (X-Factor and HyPP), one beneficial and one lethal, and the difficulty of identifying either one in 1632. A catalogue of down-time horse breeds and the availability of Belgian draft horses within the Ring of Fire completes her discussion of the "horse power" available in Grantville.

If you've enjoyed the "1632verse" novels, both the fact and the fiction in this compilation are must-reads. For those who have never encountered Eric Flint's Ring of Fire novels, I recommend reading at least 1632 first.