Cetaganda by Lois McMaster Bujold

We gathered at Adventures in Crime and Space to talk about Lois McMaster Bujold’s Cetaganda, a fast-spaced space opera/ mystery featuring Bujold’s best-known character, Miles Naismith Vorkosigan. Our discussion again had seven members, including two newcomers. All but one us had finished the book, and it turned out that most of us had read nearly the complete works of Bujold. That led to an informed and lively discussion, but every few minutes we’d have to steer ourselves from general discussion of Bujold’s ouevre to the specific book in question. We all enjoyed the book, although most felt it was not up to the level of Bujold’s best work (generally acknowledged to be Mirror Dance). Cetaganda successfully depicts a meeting of two distinct alien cultures invented by Bujold. Several striking images are evoked, particularly the “kitten bush”. Notable quotes from our discussion include “began like a mystery, but wasn’t a whodunnit”, “this society is as plausible as any far future”, and “this book should have been either shorter or longer”.

–A. T. Campbell, III

Memory and Dream by Charles de Lint

After an absence of several months, here’s a new installment of the adventures of several FACT members on a quest for good books…

On October 1, seven folks showed up at the FACT Office to discuss Charles de Lint’s Memory and Dream, an urban fantasy involving magic and the visual arts. Due to the intrusion of two factors (ArmadilloCon and Real Life), few of us had read much of the book. Three people were at or past the halfway mark, and the rest had barely started. No one found the book hard to follow, but precious time to read had just not been available. Comments by those who had read significant portions of the book include “sober and adult but not dark”, “de Lint seems to dismiss creativity in areas other than the Fine Arts”, and “interesting take on how things happen and how we remember them”.

–A. T. Campbell, III