"1632": The Novel Trivia Quiz

Answer: At a wedding reception

By starting with a wedding, the author provides a plausible reason for including a more diverse group of characters in the book. Wedding guests from outside of West Virginia include the bride's college friend Sharon Nichols and her father, originally from inner-city Chicago, and the groom's upper class parents from Pittsburgh.

Answer: Grantville

Although the town of Grantville is fictional, it is based on the real town of Mannington, West Virginia. Author Eric Flint has stated that nothing is present in Grantville that was not present in its real-life counterpart.

Due to the popularity of the book and its sequels, an on-line magazine, "The Grantville Gazette", has been established with a combination of short stories and serials set in the alternate history created by this book (and its sequels), and non-fiction articles about the technology and social attitudes of the world where the Americans found themselves. As of May 2009, twenty-three issues of the Gazette have been published. Subscriptions and archives are available at www.grantvillegazette.com.

Answer: Rebecca Abrabanel

Although the Americans first run into a group of mercenary soldiers, they don't actually talk to them. After saving Rebecca and her father from a mercenary attack, Mike Stearns talks with her about where (and when) they are and where they came from.

Fans of the series refer to the people who came from the 20th century as uptimers, and the people who were not transported in time as downtimers.

Answer: She realizes that the Roths are Jewish.

Anti-Semitism and other forms of religious intolerance were prevalent in the seventeenth century. At first Rebecca finds it hard to believe that the Americans will not discriminate against Jews. She begins to cry when she learns that there are Jews among the Americans and that they are accepted as equal members of the community.

Answer: The president of the United Mine Workers union

Mike Stearns, the UMWA local president, is a popular leader. Stearns' main opponent is John Simpson, a CEO. Although Simpson thinks that he is the only one with sufficient leadership experience, the people of Grantville feel differently.

In the Author's Afterword, Eric Flint states that one of his reasons for writing the novel is because he is tired of most modern fiction in which "the common folk who built this country and keep it running - blue collar workers, schoolteachers, farmers, and the like - hardly ever appear".

Answer: Julie Sims, a high school cheerleader

Gun ownership is common in rural West Virginia. All of the characters listed own guns and use them at some point in the book. However, Julie's marksmanship with a rifle was so outstanding that she had considered attempting to compete in the Winter Olympics biathlon.

Answer: Space wars

The prologue to the novel, told by an omniscient narrator, explains that Grantville's displacement in time and space was due to the alien race the Assiti who "were oblivious to the impact of their 'art' on the rest of the universe." The Assiti were never again mentioned in the book. Before the Swedish King, Gustav Adolphus, met with an American delegation he was concerned that they might be witches, but upon meeting them he decided that they were not witches and that their arrival must have been God's will.

Answer: Sharon Nichols and Hans Richter

The book starts at the wedding reception for Rita Stearns and Tom Simpson, which takes place before the Ring of Fire. Rita is from Grantville and has returned there for her wedding to Tom. Although Tom has been estranged from his parents, they do come to West Virginia to attend his wedding.

Jeff and Gretchen are the first "mixed" couple. Jeff Higgins is a high school student in the newly formed U.S. army. He proposes to Gretchen, a camp follower with a mercenary army, using a dictionary since he doesn't know German and she doesn't know much English!

Answer: King Gustav Adolf of Sweden does not die at the battle of Lutzen

The Battle of Lutzen occurred in November 1632. The Americans arrive from the Ring of Fire in 1631. All of the other events happened before then: Joan of Arc died in 1431. Columbus landed in the western hemisphere in 1492. Henry VIII divorced Katherine of Aragon and married Anne Boleyn in 1533.

Fans of the series use the abbreviation OTL for "our time line" or "old time line" to refer to real history as distinct from what could happen in the novels.

Answer: Denmark

King Gustav Adolf of Sweden plays a major role in the story. Francisco Nasi, Rebecca's cousin, is from the Turkish branch of the Abrabanel family. He decides to move from Turkey to Grantville. Alex Mackay is a Scottish soldier who becomes engaged to Julie Sims. No one from Denmark appears in this book although Danish characters do appear in a sequel "1634: The Baltic War".