Nov

20

Keeping It Real

Posted by : atcampbell | On : November 20, 2007

Category: Uncategorized

Keeping It Real by Justina Robson

Nine people gathered at A. T.’s house for this meeting. Our topic, Keeping it Real, is a novel about a bionic woman, rock and roll, nuclear power, elves, and motorcycles. Only two of us had read Robson before. Eight of us started this book, with five finishing it.

We liked many things about this book. The story is simply fun.  The narrative hooks the reader quickly and then moves quickly through to the end. The author fills in back story while the story is moving along, without tedious info dumps. The

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Nov

05

I Am Legend

Posted by : atcampbell | On : November 5, 2007

Category: Uncategorized

I Am Legend by Richard Matheson

Eight of us gathered at the North Village Library for this meeting. Our topic was I Am Legend, a classic 50s sf/horror novel by Richard Matheson. A plague has turned most of the people on Earth into vampire/zombie-like creatures, and our story follows the story of Robert Neville, who may well be the last human alive. Four of us had read Matheson before. All of us started I Am Legend, and six finished the book.

We thought this was an entertaining read. One person felt the book was a deliberate refutation of the “mono-man myth” of Heinlein/Campbell/Astounding stories so prevalent in the 50s, which argued that one man can change the world.  It was argued that Matheson’s work is more similar to other California-based

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Oct

16

Seeker

Posted by : atcampbell | On : October 16, 2007

Category: Uncategorized

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

The Left Hand of Darkness

Posted by : atcampbell | On : October 1, 2007

Category: Uncategorized

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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Sep

17

In the Company of Ogres

Posted by : atcampbell | On : September 17, 2007

Category: Uncategorized

In the Company of Ogres by A. Lee Martinez

Eight of us of us gathered at the North Village library for this meeting. Our topic was In the Company of Ogres, the second novel by new Texas writer A. Lee Martinez. The story is a humorous military fantasy about a problem group of supernatural soldiers (amazons, trolls, ogres, etc.) commanded by a former bookkeeper named Ned, who keeps dying and getting resurrected. None of us had read any of Martinez’s prior work. Seven of us started and finished the book. Our eighth member said it looked like a “silly book” so she did not even try to read it.

We liked many things about this book. Several of us commented that it was fun and stupid. The blind oracle who sees and hears the future was a clever idea. One

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Sep

04

The Solaris Book of New Science Fiction

Posted by : atcampbell | On : September 4, 2007

Category: Uncategorized

The Solaris Book of New Science Fiction edited by George Mann

This meeting drew ten people to A. T.’s home. Our topic was an anthology of original fantasy stories, the first book from new publisher Solaris. Most of the authors represented in the book are relatively new and seem to have books forthcoming from Solaris. Seven of us had started the book, with only two finishing.

The stories in this anthology do not have a common theme, but we found that many of them were memorable. We enjoyed “C-Rock City” by Jay Lake and Greg

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Aug

21

Hurricane Moon

Posted by : atcampbell | On : August 21, 2007

Category: Uncategorized

Hurricane Moon by Alexis Glynn Latner

10 people attended the discussion of Alexis Glynn Latner’s debut novel Hurricane Moon. 4 people have read Latner’s short stories before. 7 people started the book, 4 of them finished. Some others didn’t finish it because they got it too late. This book had not been in stores for long at the time of the discussion. Some of these people were planning to finish it, if for no other reason then because they know Alexis personally (she has been coming to ArmadilloCons for many years).

Hurricane Moon is a story of an interstellar mission to find a habitable planet for humans to colonize. Finding the right planet takes longer than expected, and having spent a thousand years in a stasis, the colonists wake up with significant

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Aug

06

The Last Witchfinder

Posted by : atcampbell | On : August 6, 2007

Category: Uncategorized

The Last Witchfinder by James Morrow

Everybody started The Last Witchfinder by James Morrow. Half of the people finished it. Everybody but one person read James Morrow before. The novel chronicles the life of Jennet Sterne, a fictional 17th century woman. After her beloved aunt and mentor is accused of witchcraft and executed, the 12-year-old Jennet decides to make it her life mission to put an end to witch trials. For that she needs to come up with an incontrovertible argument that would convince everybody that the notion of witchcraft is absurd and impossible. She devotes her life to this grand task, and it takes her on many interesting, even improbable adventures.

Everybody said the book was beautifully written. The prose was full of archaic turns of phrase, yet it didn’t seem stilted or artificial. I personally was amazed that the characters’ speech consistently sounded like it really could have been spoken

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Jul

17

When Gravity Fails

Posted by : atcampbell | On : July 17, 2007

Category: Uncategorized

When Gravity Fails by George Alec Effinger

We have been reading classic works in the group a bit more lately. We realized that we had never read anything by George Alec Effinger, a onetime ArmadilloCon regular and former Guest of Honor. Since several of his books came back into print recently, we decided to read his Hugo-nominated When Gravity Fails. Eleven people gathered for this discussion at A. T.’s house, and two more submitted comments by email. Nine of us had read Effinger before. Ten people at the meeting started the book, and all ten finished. Both the email participants had finished the book.

This book is a cyberpunk detective novel set in the Middle East. Private detective Marid Audran is forced into an uneasy alliance with a police officer to work on a case for Friedlander Bey, a local crimelord. The book is set a couple of hundred years in the future, where people can have modifications  to improve their brain

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Jul

02

1632

Posted by : atcampbell | On : July 2, 2007

Category: Uncategorized

1632 by Eric Flint

We discussed 1632 at the North Village Library, where we had nine participants, including three first-time attendees. One member had been lobbying for us to discuss this book for at least three years. Four of us had read Flint previously. Eight of us had started 1632, and all eight finished. One additional member submitted comments by email.

In this book, the small mining town of Grantville, West Virginia is whisked from the year 2000 to Germany in the middle of the Hundred Years’ War. The townspeople immediately must defend themselves and figure out how to get food,

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