Eric Flint

[lmt-post-modified-info] Eric Flint is an author that every lover of alternate history fiction is familiar with, or if not, they should be.

I’ve first learned about him when I’ve read 1633, a book in the Ring of Fire series, with he co-authored with David Weber, among others. Since then, I have read every Ring of Fire novel, and several of the author’s other works as well.

Here are the Eric Flint books in order for his numerous series, collaborations, and standalone novels.

New Eric Flint Books

All the Plagues of Hell, (Heirs of Alexandria #5), 2018

1637: The Polish Maelstrom, (Ring of Fire #34), 2019

Ring of Fire Universe Books in Order

The list below includes all the books within the Ring of Fire / Assiti Shards series, including the books that are not part of the main storyline. The books are in order of reading rather than publication order. Also, only the books directly written or edited by Eric Flint will be listed in the series.

1. 1632, 2000
2. Ring of Fire, 2004 (anthology)
3. 1633, 2002 (with David Weber)
4. 1634: The Baltic War, 2007 (with David Weber)
5. Grantville Gazette Volume I, 2004
6. Grantville Gazette Volume II, 2006
7. Grantville Gazette Volume III, 2006
8. 1634: The RAM Rebellion, 2006 (with Virginia DeMarce)
9. 1634: The Galileo Affair, 2004 (with Andrew Dennis)
10. 1634: The Bavarian Crisis, 2007 (with Virginia DeMarce)
11. 1635: A Parcel of Rogues, 2015 (with Andrew Dennis)
12. Grantville Gazette Volume IV, 2008
13. Ring of Fire II, 2008 (with David Carrico)
14. 1635: Cannon Law, 2006 (with Andrew Dennis)
15. 1635: The Dreeson Incident, 2008 (with Virginia DeMarce)
16. 1635: The Tangled Web, 2009 (with Virginia DeMarce)
17. Grantville Gazette Volume V, 2009
18. 1635: The Papal Stakes, 2012 (with Charles E Gannon)
19. 1635: The Eastern Front, 2010
20. 1636: The Saxon Uprising, 2011
21. Ring of Fire III, 2011
22. 1636: The Kremlin Games, 2012 (with Paula Goodlett and Gorg Huff)
23. Grantville Gazette Volume VI, 2011
24. 1636: Commander Cantrell in the West Indies, 2014 (with Charles E Gannon)
25. 1636: The Cardinal Virtues, 2015 (with Walter H Hunt)
26. 1636: The Devil’s Opera, 2013 (with David Carrico)
27. 1636: The Viennese Waltz, 2014 (with Paula Goodlett and Gorg Huff)
28. Grantville Gazette Volume VII, 2015
29. Ring of Fire IV, 2016
30. 1636: The Ottoman Onslaught, 2017
31. 1636: Mission to the Mughals, 2017 (with Griffin Barber)
32. 1636: The Vatican Sanction, 2017 (with Charles E Gannon)
33. 1637: The Volga Rules, 2016 (with Paula Goodlett and Gorg Huff)
34. Grantville Gazette Volume VIII, 2018 (with Walt Boyes)
35. 1637: The Polish Maelstrom, 2019
36. 1636: The China Venture, 2019 (with Iver Cooper)

Ring of Fire / Assiti Shards Series in Order

This lists the main storyline books without the additions of the expansive universe.

1. 1632, 2000
2. 1633, 2002 (with David Weber)
3. 1634: The Baltic War, 2007 (with David Weber)
4. 1634: The RAM Rebellion, 2006 (with Virginia DeMarce)
5. 1634: The Galileo Affair, 2004 (with Andrew Dennis)
6. 1634: The Bavarian Crisis, 2007 (with Virginia DeMarce)
7. 1635: A Parcel of Rogues, 2015 (with Andrew Dennis)
8. 1635: Cannon Law, 2006 (with Andrew Dennis)
9. 1635: The Tangled Web, 2009 (with Virginia DeMarce)
10. 1635: The Dreeson Incident, 2008 (with Virginia DeMarce)
11. 1635: The Papal Stakes, 2012 (with Charles E Gannon)
12. 1635: The Eastern Front, 2010
13. 1636: The Saxon Uprising, 2011
14. 1636: The Kremlin Games, 2012 (with Paula Goodlett and Gorg Huff)
15. 1636: Commander Cantrell in the West Indies, 2014 (with Charles E Gannon)
16. 1636: The Cardinal Virtues, 2015 (with Walter H Hunt)
17. 1636: The Devil’s Opera, 2013 (with David Carrico)
18. 1636: The Viennese Waltz, 2014 (with Paula Goodlett and Gorg Huff)
19. 1636: The Ottoman Onslaught, 2017
20. 1636: Mission to the Mughals, 2017 (with Griffin Barber)
21. 1636: The Vatican Sanction, 2017 (with Charles E Gannon)
22. 1637: The Volga Rules, 2016 (with Paula Goodlett and Gorg Huff)
23. 1637: The Polish Maelstrom, 2019
24. 1636: The China Venture, 2019 (with Iver Cooper)

Heirs of Alexandria Series

1. The Shadow of the Lion, 2002 (with Dave Freer and Mercedes Lackey)
2. This Rough Magic, 2003 (with Dave Freer and Mercedes Lackey)
3. Much Fall of Blood, 2010 (with Dave Freer and Mercedes Lackey)
4. Burdens of the Dead, 2013 (with Dave Freer and Mercedes Lackey)
5. All the Plagues of Hell, 2018 (with Dave Freer)

Demon Rift Series

co-authored with Paula Goodlett and Gorg Huff

1.  The Demons of Paris, 2018

Gods of Sagittarius Series

co-authored with Mike Resnick

1. Gods of Sagittarius, 2017

Stellar Guilds Series

• The Aethers of Mars,  2014 (with Charles E Gannon)

Boundary Series

co-authored with Ryk E Spoor

1. Boundary, 2006
2. Threshold, 2010
3. Portal, 2013
4. Castaway Planet, 2015
5. Castaway Odyssey, 2016
6. Castaway Resolution, TBA

Trail of Glory Series

1. 1812: The Rivers of War, 2005
2. 1824: The Arkansas War, 2006

Witches of Karres Series

1. The Wizard of Karres, 2004 (book #2, with Dave Freer and Mercedes Lackey)
2. The Sorceress of Karres, 2010 (book #3, with Dave Freer)

Jao Series

1. The Course of Empire, 2003 (with K D Wentworth)
2. The Crucible of Empire, 2010 (with K D Wentworth)
3. The Span of Empire, 2016 (with David Carrico)

Crown of Slaves Series

1. Crown of Slaves, 2003
2. Torch of Freedom, 2009
3. Cauldron of Ghosts, 2014

Joe’s World Series

1. The Philosophical Strangler, 2001
2. Forward the Mage, 2002 (with Richard Roach)

Pyramid Series

1. Pyramid Scheme, 2001 (with Dave Freer)
2. Pyramid Power, 2007 (with Dave Freer)

Rats, Bats and Vats Series

co-authored with Dave Freeer

1. Rats, Bats and Vats, 2000
2. The Rats, the Bats and the Ugly, 2004
3. Crawlspace (#2.5), 2011
4. The Genie Out of the Vat (#2.75), 2011

General (Raj Whitehall) Series

• Hope Reformed (General #7, 8), 1999 (with David Drake and S M Stirling)

Belisarius Series

co-authored with David Drake

1. An Oblique Approach, 1998
2. In the Heart of Darkness, 1998
3. Destiny’s Shield, 1999
4. Fortune’s Stroke, 2000
5. The Tide of Victory, 2001
6. The Dance of Time, 2006

Standalone Eric Flint Books

• Mother of Demons, 1997
• Time Spike, 2008 (with Marilyn Kosmatka)
  
• A Slow Train to Arcturus, 2008 (with Dave Freer)
• Iron Angels, 2017 (with Alistair Kimble) (urban fantasy detective novel)
• Council of Fire/The Sundering (with Walter H. Hunt)

Eric Flint Biography

The American alternate-history and science-fiction novelist Eric Flint was born in 1947 in Burbank, California. During his childhood, he spent several years in France. At the age of 10, he moved back home to the US and lived near Fresno CA. In 1968, he graduated from UCLA with a BA degree, following which he received a Master’s Degree in history.

The next three years were spent on his Ph.D. work in history, focusing on South Africa. However, he later left university and began working as a labor union activist in the Socialist Workers Party.

During those years, he held several jobs to pay the bills. These included truck driving, being a docker meatpacker, auto worker, glassblower and a machinist’s apprentice in 1974, a job that he held most of the time. Before becoming a full-time author, Eric Flint never held a job longer than a couple of years (five at max), except for 25-year-long political career.

While he dabbled in writing, he didn’t get serious about the craft until 1992. During those early times, Eric developed a back problem which needed surgery if he were to continue working in a factory. He didn’t want to do that, so he started thinking of working from home, away from heavy lifting.

Thus, a few years later, in 1999 he left his job to pursue a career as a full-time writer. In 1997 he published his debut novel, a standalone science-fiction story titled Mother of Demons, involving the first contact with aliens. It was published by Baen Books, which started his long-time collaboration with Baen, which also included him being the first librarian of the Baen Free Library, and the editor of the new Jim Baen’s Universe science-fiction e-zine. After the death of Jim Baen, Eric Flin founded The Grantville Gazette, an online magazine that features writing from many authors, some of which, like Virginia DeMarce, also worked on some of the Eric Flint books.

After his debut novel, he began on his first series, Belisarius, which he co-authored with David Drake. In 1999, he started what would be his biggest work to date, with a proposal for 1632, a story about a small West Virginia town transported to 17th-century Germany. Initially, this was regarded as a standalone novel, and Eric Flint didn’t have any intention of turning the book into a series.

Eric had a meeting with Jim Baen, the owner of Baen publishing house, and decided to post each chapter of the book on the site. There were a lot of technical details, many of which fans would know more about than him. With their input, the novel was refined into what it is now, however, it became so popular and gathered such a following, that now a sequel was a must. So, with Jim Baen’s blessing, the Ring of Fire series was born.

The series is not only part of an alternate history universe, but it also part time-travel story about modern people are transported back to earlier times in history. What would happen if people raised with the full rights and privileges of democracy are thrown into an era of war, where democracy was not taken as granted?

Ring of Fire is probably the most popular alternate history series being published so far. Eric Flint has written over 50 books to date, and it doesn’t seem like he’s stopping any time soon. He also loves collaborating with other authors like David Weber, Dave Freer, David Drake, Mercedes Lackey, Mike Resnick, and Charles E Gannon, among others.

Reading the Eric Flint books in order is quite important for the Ring of Fire series, and above, the books in the series are listed based on the author’s preferences.

Currently, Eric Flint has over three million books in print. His work has received several nominations over the year, including the best book award in various categories.

Eric Flint lives in Indiana with his wife, Lucille. Together, they have a daughter and two grandchildren.

Praise for Eric Flint

“Flint’s 1632 universe seems to be inspiring a whole new crop of gifted alternate historians. (Booklist)

The 20th volume in this popular, fast-paced alternative history series follows close on the heels of the events in The Baltic War, picking up with the protagonists in London, including sharpshooter Julie Sims. This time the 20th-century transplants are determined to prevent the rise of Oliver Cromwell and even have the support of King Charles (Library Journal)

A rich, complex alternate history with great characters and vivid action. A great read and an excellent book (David Drake)

[1636: The Vatican Sanction] reads like a technothriller set in the age of the Medicis (Publishers Weekly)

References

• Eric Flint official website
• Eric Flint’s Grantville Gazette
• The author’s Baen page

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