Ring of Fire is a collection of short stories —half by established science fiction authors invited into the setting, half fan-fiction by enthusiasts who helped take the stand alone novel into a series numbering works in the tens of books. All are set in the universe initially created by Flint's science fiction novel 1632. Unlike most short works in a novel created series, the stories within are important milieu shaping creations. The short story threads are formalized into the series canon they helped to establish, and act as a spring board for further developments in the books. Many characters who debut in these short stories later play an important role in longer works.