Oct

16

Posted by : atcampbell | On : October 16, 2007

Seeker by Jack McDevitt

Ten people gathered at A. T.’s home to discuss Seeker, a recent Nebula winner by Jack McDevitt. The book is a far-future tale of archaeologists looking for a lost colony spaceship. All of us had read McDevitt before, which is not surprising since our group had discussed seven of his books previously. Eight of started this book, and all eight finished it.

We enjoyed the classic sf feel of this book. McDevitt’s depiction of future history is interesting, and it is startling how much information gets lost so quickly. The book’s subtext seems to be that history is written by the winners. The task is

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Oct

01

Posted by : atcampbell | On : October 1, 2007

The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K. Le Guin

11 people attended the discussion of The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula Le Guin. Most of the group, except 2 people, had read this novel before. Some had read it when it first came out in 1969.

In this book, a human named Genly Ai who is an Envoy from Ecumena, a multi-world union, is sent to a planet Gethen to convince its government to join Ecumena. The most unusual quality of Gethenians is that they don’t have two sexes, at least not permanent ones. Most of the time they are sexless, but for a

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