Bethanne Kim, Publisher: Eric Flint’s 1632 & Beyond magazine Book clubs are fantastic! We would love to hear about any book clubs reading and discussing 1632 and any books or magazines in the 1632verse. To answer one common question: The book was originally expected to be a stand-alone book, not a series. Jim Baen, of Baen Books, said that books with even numbers sell better than ones with odd numbers. Thus, it was named for the year the story ends instead of the year it starts. And so that is why all the names for “mainline” Baen books in the 1632verse start with the year the book ends and not the year it starts. General Questions: How realistic do you think 1632 is? What elements make it more, or less , realistic? Is there anything you would change to make it more realistic? Do you think Grantville and the up-timers are a good reflection of a real small town in West Virginia in 2000? 1632 was published in 2000. Over 50 novels, 104 magazine issues, and multiple anthologies in the 1632verse have been written by approximately 200 authors in nearly 25 years. When it was first written, everything was contemporary. Twenty-five years later, technology, pop culture, and a lot of other background things have changed. What challenges do you think this presents to the writers? How do you think readers will respond to this story when the series is 50 years old? How do you think Eric Flint’s life and beliefs are reflected in this novel? What do books and libraries contribute to the plot and to the 1632verse? How much power do Grantville and its residents have to change their world? How do the up-timers comfort themselves when they are sent back in time? How do the down-timers comfort themselves with all the war-related trauma in their lives? How do you think you would cope if you were in…