Sep
16
Posted by : | On : September 16, 1997
Attendees: A. T. Campbell, III; Shirley Crossland; Cyndi Dunn; Wes Dunn; Jeff Rupley; Willie Siros; Lori Wolf.
We gathered at Adventures in Crime & Space to discuss The Fortunate Fall, a recent cyberpunk first novel Although many of us had grown tired of cyberpunk in recent years, we found this story to be interesting and well-told. The characters, especially the narrator, were well-developed and the prose style was eminently
Aug
19
Posted by : | On : August 19, 1997
Attendees: A. T. Campbell, III; Fred Duarte, Jr.; Cyndi Dunn; Wes Dunn; Emily Gamboa; Mona Gamboa; Ruben Gamboa; Jeff Rupley; Willie Siros; Lori Wolf.
A large group gathered at Adventures in Crime and Space to discuss Ancient Shores, a near-future novel involving the discovery of alien artifacts on a North Dakota farm, and the implications of this discovery on the discovers and the rest of the world. All of us over one year old had finished the book. Initial comments varied from “first draft, no heart” to “boring” to “liked everything except the ending” to “loved it.”
This book had a lot of elements we liked. The archaelogical theme was interesting, and there was a good sense of the thrill of discovery. The exploration of the impact of this discovery on the rest of the world was a fascinating and seldom-used approach. McDevitt presented carefully thought-out speculations of
Jul
15
Posted by : | On : July 15, 1997
Attendees: A. T. Campbell, III; Fred Duarte, Jr.; Jeff Rupley.
We had a small group at Adventures in Crime and Space to discuss Kim Stanley Robinson’s Blue Mars. This book is the concluding volume in a trilogy about the near-future terraforming of Mars. I’d not yet read up to page 100, but Fred had finished the novel and Jeff had re-read the entire trilogy! We all felt that this book was the weakest of the series. Jeff felt that Blue Mars had nothing to offer readers who’d already read the first two. Fred summarized the plot as “Angst happens, technology advances.” I’d detected a tendency to repeat successful elements from the previous books, and Fred and Jeff assured me that it happened throughout the novel. We thus declared this book to be Stan Robinson’s “Return of the Jedi.”
— A. T. Campbell, III
Jul
01
Posted by : | On : July 1, 1997
Attendees: Renee Babcock; A. T. Campbell, III; Fred Duarte, Jr.; Matthew Duarte, Cyndi Dunn; Emily Gamboa; Mona Gamboa; Ruben Gamboa; John Gibbons; Debbie Hodgkinson; Karen Meschke, Elaine Powell; Jeff Rupley; Willie Siros; Lori Wolf.
We held the July 1 meeting in an unusual location — Elaine Powell’s pool. Last summer’s pool party was much fun that Elaine had us over again. Elaine provided drinks and munchies, Pizza Hut catered dinner, and John Gibbons made a delicious dessert. Between eating, visiting, and swimming, we actually did talk about the
Jun
17
Posted by : | On : June 17, 1997
Attendees: A. T. Campbell, III; Fred Duarte; Cyndi Dunn; Wes Dunn; Debbie Hodgkinson; Jeff Rupley; Willie Siros; Lori Wolf .
We assembled at Adventures in Crime and Space to discuss One For the Morning Glory, a fantasy novel by John Barnes. The book is a charming tale about a young prince whose left side disappeared due to a magical incident that occurred when he was a baby. Despite this apparent handicap, the prince goes on all sorts of adventures with exceptional companions. The characters in the book are very aware that they’re in a story, but they’re not sure what type of story or which of them is supposed to be the hero.
We all finished the book (a rarity for our group), and most people liked the book quite a lot. Several people liked the meta-fantasy aspects of the story, and Willie
May
20
Posted by : | On : May 20, 1997
In attendance: John Gibbons, Cyndi and Wes Dunn, Jeff Rupley; Debbie Hodgkinson came in near the end. This is an ambitious book, and I think a lot of us liked what Flynn was trying to do, but we didn’t think he carried it off very successfully.
The focus on education as necessary to long-term technical advancement as a society was probably the most innovative and potentially interesting part of the book. Everyone liked this element at the beginning, particularly the kids’ reactions to the novel types of testing. But this theme was not as well developed later, and the coincidences of having the entire senior class reconnect in various ways with the Firestar project was just too much. One of the central moral issues in
May
06
Posted by : | On : May 6, 1997
Seven of us gathered at the FACT Office: Wes Dunn, Cyndi Dunn, Debbie Hodgkinson, Karen Meschke, Jeff Rupley, Lori Wolf, and A. T. Campbell. The novel is a contemporary coming-of-age fantasy story set in a summer resort in Oregon. We all found the prose style readable and easily finished the book.
This book is unusual for a current fantasy novel. It’s fairly short, it doesn’t seem to be part of a series, the rural Oregon setting is refreshing, and it doesn’t contain a quest. We liked the “boy meets girl, boy meets wolf” story. The writing
Apr
26
Posted by : | On : April 26, 1997
Since we’d discussed two of Elizabeth Moon’s books, we decided it was high time to take her out to dinner. On April 26, ten of us gathered at Cafe Serranos to honor Ms. Moon and her work. She told us that she considers Remnant Population to be “the most Texan SF novel” she’s written. The main character was based on people she knew while growing up in South Texas. To make sure that her depiction of the elderly was correct, she read several fiction and nonfiction books about the subject, and she hired a “70+” writing teacher to help edit the manuscript. We learned about Moon’s “3 Step Revision Process.” She shared some of her experiences collaborating with Anne McCaffrey, which she found “a valuable learning opportunity.” Ms. Moon was a gracious and entertaining dinner guest, and we’re glad she found time to share with us.
–A. T. Campbell, III
Apr
15
Posted by : | On : April 15, 1997
Our largest group ever, twelve people, assembled at Adventures in Crime and Space on April 15 to discuss Elizabeth Moon’s Hugo-nominated Remnant Population. The book is a first contact story involving an old woman left by herself on an alien planet. It was humorously (and accurately) termed “a coming of age novel for little old ladies.” The characterization of the woman is complex and well-executed, and the alien society she encounters is an intriguing concoction. We found the prose quite readable, and one person pronounced it a “compulsive page-turner.” Another person had particularly strong feelings for the work, since “this is the book that got me reading again after finishing college.” In addition to the main story of the first contact, the book examines family dynamics and the roles of the elderly in human society. One person felt that this was “Elizabeth Moon’s first literary novel.”
–A. T. Campbell, III
Apr
01
Posted by : | On : April 1, 1997
On April 1, seven of us gathered at the FACT Office to discuss Steven Brust’s The Phoenix Guards. The book is a swashbuckling romp in the tradition of Dumas and Sabatini, with a few minor fantasy elements thrown in. We all enjoyed the book immensely. Brust’s prose style was a clever and humorous pastiche of classic adventure writing (The multiple-page discussion of “brevity” was particularly amusing) . We loved the book’s clever forward and afterward, supposedly written by a fictional narrator. The book is set in the distant past of Brust’s well-known Vlad Taltos series, so the story definitely does not take place in our world. Various races of people have lifespans ranging from decades to millennia, and gender roles in society are different. Brust’s four main characters all have distinctive and enjoyable personalities, although it goes without saying that each is a master fighter. There are so many wonderful and clever touches to this book that I can’t even begin to mention them all, so let me repeat the recommendation of our group: “Read This Book!”
–A. T. Campbell, III
