FACT SF Reading Group

October 2003

October 7: A Scattering of Jades by Alexander C. Irvine

We had 9 people for this book discussion at the home of the Brothers Siros. Seven people finished the book. Many people were surprised to discover this was Irvine's first novel.

A dark fantasy set in an alternative 1840's America, the novel centered around events designed to incarnate an Aztec mummy with a god who would control the world. We were impressed with the amount of work Irvne obviously put into the novel. A semi-sharp reader could recognize historical details such as the Bowery fire, the first explorer of Mammoth cave, and a fairly crazy steamship race. Plus historical guests including Aaron Burr and P. T. Barnum. Some people interrupted reading the book to check on the accuracy of events and were not disappointed. Despite this solid historical framework, many people were surprised how the plot turned out and the author mixed history with fantasy very nicely.

A former caver thought the author must have done some caving to have such detail in his descriptions of cave exploration and experiencing total light blackout. SOme people could really feel the claustrophobia during the cave segments.

The horror elements turned a few people off; it's not a genre many of us read. But everyone agreed the writing was crisp and easy to read. For some people, however, there were some plodding parts. One reader described sections as having "too much writing for too little gain."

All in all we liked Jades and look forward to Irvine's next work. A suggestion that the author be invited to ArmadilloCon was met with interest.

Everyone was so busy, we all went home instead of out to dinner.

October 21: The Years of Rice and Salt by Kim Stanley Robinson

We had ten people for this book plus one email review, all at StrangeHurst House. Although 8 people started the book only 4 people finished. Five people had read KSR before, mostly his Mars trilogy.

The book follows 3 souls through several incarnations in an alternate world where the Black Plague killed off most of the Europeans. Using the "bardo," an in-between-incarnations waiting room, to separate the different lives helped the souls and the reader to review and separate each life. The episodic nature of the novel helped one reader navigate the great length of the book.

Those who did read to the end enjoyed the book and its speculations, especially the technology of the "future" years. The finishers found the style rich with the changing characters allowing a neat exploration of motivations.

Most everyone agreed the book was too darn long with more detail than was needed. Most of the non-finishers felt the book lacked ACTION. One reader said she got to page 200 then lost her will to read. Another person would have cut 400 of the 900+ pages. A Cliff Notes edition was suggested.

A few readers disagreed with the author's re-vision of history, arguing that more than a single change was needed to really change history. We quibbled over bits of the plot.

Afterwards several people had dinner at the Mongolian Grille.

-- Judy Strange