This is a reservation of the article name, a bold edit to get the 1632 project moving.
{{inuseuntil|INDEFINITE, This is preliminary, not even promoted to rough draft state}} Most of the initial contents here will be exported to 1632 (novel), and most of the contents there will be transfered into here. At least this is the tentative plan pending requested input from other editors. FrankB
1632novel Synopsis
Notes: 1) This is one of three relational files I'm working offline. [[Chars, This, Cites]]
2) Footnotes are coded ^*## or ^*##,##, the later for higher chapter numbers (with comma, not period)
3) These will be globally SARed - search and replaced in Notepad.exe (Ctrl-H) or other such text editor with the matching codes (list of cites) from the cites document, the Cites document will be similarly expanded per the table of code IDs which is it's listed header. In sum, this may be considered a documentation workpaper that has significant utility and historical relevancy. I stole the idea from accounting practices where workpapers are part of a clients important records, to the point, that processing a 'new years business' is not possible without checking the workpapers. FrankB
Status: {{underconstruction}}
Synopsis of the Novel
editThe Prologue, The 1632 series Premise
editThe Alternative History novel 1632 begins the 1632 series with a tightly worded three page prologue briefly describing a criminally "negligent"^*01 multi-demensional "cosmic accident" as an mysterious event which is inexplicable to an (implicit army) of earth's scientists as the Tunguska event; where the multi-month headline^*02 grabbing outcome in the 'here-now' world^*03 was the replacement of a circular region of West Virginia with all it's inhabitants by a inconsistant region of roughly equal volume, The replacement region had "the seven human corpses found in one of the farmhouses"^*03, indications of homicide, charred buildings "still smoldering when they were found"^*04, but which had no living people, but did exhibit archeologically 'disjoint' ruins reminiscent of the European middle ages^*05.
Various studies in the physical sciences could only document the discontinuity with the surrounding region as one where the region had suddenly being replaced by a geologically inconsistant region of quite different characteristics inconsistant with the surrounding terratories sans any living population^*06, Flint makes the distinction that the physical studies of the region showed that it was in fact, "a perfectly spherical hemisphere about six miles in diameter, Approximately half that deep at its center"^07 Flint humorously concludes the baffling implied litany of studies over several years duration with a brief account of how one young biologist came close to the truth matching fauna and flora with a portion of central Germany, but decided to forgo pushing his explaination in publication, as career threatening 'wild theory', but leaving the reader to understand that two regions had been swapped in both time and place (space), one in a "vaugely late-medieval/early modern Germanic"^*08 period traveling forward in time to replace the region in West Virgina which itself traveled space-time to replace the one studied by modern scientists.
Flint then completes his premise revealing an underlying Parrallel Universe motif and ends the young biologists' delema with his action to publish his findings without the strange conclusion he'd correctly deduced "but only as dry factual accounts in obscure publications. He made no attempt to draw conclusions, or posit theories, or draw any kind of public attention.
Then with admirable word economy, Flint begins closing the introductory explainations:
- It was just as well. His career would have been ruined– and for no good purpose. No one would have believed him. Even if someone had, the most expensive archeological search of central Europe would never have discovered the matching hemisphere. It was there of course, in that region of Germany called Thurginia. But it was there almost four centuries earlier, and only for an instant. The moment those hemispheres had been transposed, a new universe had split off from the old.^*09
Flint then concludes the prologue revealing that in fact, the fictional event swapping these two very different space-times occured because of the uncaring actions by an far-advanced alien people, known as the "Assiti"^*10, a side effect of practicing an archane unexplained alien "art form"^*11. This effect of the Assiti Art is called "The Grantville Disaster"^*12,in our 'here-now' universe and is further characterized by Flint as "criminal negligence"^*13 that he foreshadows eventually has a cost. Prone to repeat these accidents, which somehow swapped two regions of our earth distant in time and space, Flint reveals that a descendant species derived in one such another "collateral branch" will eventually exterminate the Assiti for their calous carelessnes– but only afer another 85 million of our years relative to our space-time in the here-now^*14.
The story of what happens in the region naturally once belonging to our 'here-now' a hemispherical-chunk of West Virginia in its new space-time is the story historian Flint sets out to tell when it meets the complex historical background in its new universe's place-time^*15.
Plot Elements in Chapter 01
editFlint begins immediately with dialog between the groom, Xc:Tom Simpson, at his wedding addressing an apology for his upper-class parent's behaviour and manners to his new brother-in-law (and key central character), Xc:Mike Stearns in a down home West Virginian country wedding setting and soon forshadows future conflict in the tale by having Sterns observe
- Ah, yes. The dignitaries from civilization, maintaining their savoir faire among the cannibals. They'll hold a cup of blood (punch), but damned if they'll drink it.^*2