Feb

19

The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay

Posted by : atcampbell | On : February 19, 2002

Category: Uncategorized

The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay by Michael Chabon

This book continued our month of discussing literary works. The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay recently won the Pulitzer prize. The story is about two young men (Sam and Joe) who are pioneers in the comic book industry during World War II. The writer (Sam) is a native New Yorker, and the artist (Joe) is a recent immigrant from Eastern Europe.

Since A. T. had to miss this meeting due to illness, Lori ran the meeting. Seven persons attended, of whom 5 had read at least some portion of the book. One person e-mailed comments. The opinions ranged from O.K. to Great, although the book had almost no fantastic elements and was merely associated with our field

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Feb

05

Blindness

Posted by : atcampbell | On : February 5, 2002

Category: Uncategorized

Blindness by Jose Saramago

Nine people attended this discussion. Blindness is a novel about a plague that causes people to go blind. Doctors can’t determine the physical cause of the blindness or determine how it spreads. The newly blind people are quarantined to try to prevent spread of the disease. Unusually, none of the characters have names or physical descriptions. They’re just referenced by their profession or role in the story (the Doctor, the Girl with Glasses, etc.) Everyone at the meeting had read most or all of the book. None had read anything else by Saramago.

It must be mentioned that our reading of this book was largely due to a review of it by Robert Silverberg in Asimov’s. Silverberg wrote passionately about this book being a great SF novel, and he mentioned that the author had won the Nobel

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Jan

22

The Fellowship of the Ring

Posted by : atcampbell | On : January 22, 2002

Category: Uncategorized

The Fellowship of the Ring by J. R. R. Tolkien

Fourteen people attended this meeting, include one first time participant. The subject of this meeting was the first book of the Lord of the Rings trilogy. The meeting was scheduled a month after the movie opened, so that everyone who wanted to see the movie first could do so. Everyone had finished the book.

The group quickly divided into two camps. About half of us had originally read this book as children and reread it regularly since. The story was so deeply ingrained in these people that they could not speak objectively about it. One person felt

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Jan

08

Mendoza in Hollywood

Posted by : atcampbell | On : January 8, 2002

Category: Uncategorized

Mendoza in Hollywood by Kage Baker

Eleven people attended this meeting, and one submitted comments by email. Mendoza in Hollywood is the third novel in Baker’s continuing series about the Company. In this book, the immortal botanist Mendoza is sent to collect rare plants in Southern California in the 1800s. In the course of her assignment she absorbs local color, learns about the great movies that will be made soon in this location, gets involved in local politics, and learns unexpected new things about time travel. Everyone at the meeting had read the book and both its predecessors.

This meeting was unusual because our group had discussed all of Baker’s previous books and many of us had read her stories in Asimov’s. We came into the discussion already knowing that the author knows how to write, how to pace, and knows how to do research. Thus many of our comments were at a higher

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Dec

18

Zeitgeist

Posted by : atcampbell | On : December 18, 2001

Category: Uncategorized

Zeitgeist by Bruce Sterling

Twelve people attended the discussion of Bruce Sterling’s latest book. It tells the story of Leggy Starlitz, a music promoter on tour in Eastern Europe with a girl group similar to the Spice Girls. During the course of the book Leggy handles crises with his band, experiences weird political situations, and suddenly has to face the ex-wife and daughter he hasn’t seen in over a decade. Nine of the people in our group finished the book, and the others read about half of it.

Most of us thought Zeitgeist was a lot of fun. Sterling’s writing is humorous and accessible. We liked the whacked-out worldview and the characters from the fringes of society. Leggy seems to be a realistic portrait of a world-weary music producer. We loved his interactions with the band and its entourage, particularly

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Dec

04

Glasswright’s Apprentice

Posted by : atcampbell | On : December 4, 2001

Category: Uncategorized

Glasswright’s Apprentice by Mindy Klasky

The discussion of Mindy Klasky’s first novel drew ten participants. This is a fantasy novel about a young woman, Rani, who accidentally witnesses a prince’s murder and gets accused of committing the crime. Fearing the wrath of the vengeful king, she goes undercover as she tries to find a way to clear herself.

We were engaged by the premise of the story. Klasky’s prose style was so clear and readable that we all finished the book. The complicated caste system in this book’s society was carefully constructed. We were impressed by how the plot

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Nov

20

The Return

Posted by : atcampbell | On : November 20, 2001

Category: Uncategorized

The Return by Buzz Aldrin and John Barnes

Thirteen people attended this meeting, and one submitted comments by email. This is a near-future thriller about the space program. Former astronaut Scott Blackstone is the CEO of a private space company dedicated to getting normal people into space. For publicity his company gets a famous athlete to go on a shuttle flight, but the flight turns into a disaster. In the aftermath America’s confidence in the space program goes way down, Blackstone loses his job, and he must defend himself in an expensive lawsuit. And then terrorists in the Middle East start messing around with nuclear weapons. This book was written by former astronaut Buzz Aldrin in collaboration with John Barnes, author of several novels including Mother of Storms and One for the Morning Glory. Nine people at the meeting had read the book.

We enjoyed reading a hard SF novel for the first time in a while. The plot started with a bang and kept us interested to the end. We had complete confidence that the technical details of spacecraft and space flight were correct. We liked reading an insider’s view of the politics and inner workings of the corporate aerospace industry. Blackstone and his family were engaging and believable, and we enjoyed the flashbacks that showed them getting interested in space as

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Nov

06

Perdido Street Station

Posted by : atcampbell | On : November 6, 2001

Category: Uncategorized

Perdido Street Station by China Miéville

Six people attended this meeting, and one submitted comments by email. Perdido Street Station is an ambitious novel about a large, decadent city filled with strange and horrible creatures. The book starts with an eccentric but brilliant human scientist being approached by a bird-creature whose wings were removed as punishment for an unspeakable crime, and who wants the scientist to restore his flight. There are several other plot threads including one about the scientist’s lover, a sexy insect creature who’s commissioned to sculpt a statue of a hideously mutated recluse. The author was a British graduate student when he wrote the book, and now he is a Member of Parliament. Four people at the meeting had finished the book, and another person had read about 20% of it.

Two people said they loved this book, and the rest of us found things to admire about it. The detailed worldbuilding and complex plot showed a vivid and detailed imagination. One person described the setting and the author’s vivid descriptions of it as masterful. The worldview was interesting and original. We enjoyed the

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Oct

16

First Contract

Posted by : atcampbell | On : October 16, 2001

Category: Uncategorized

First Contract by Greg Costikyan

Twelve people attended this discussion. First Contract is a humorous novel about aliens coming to Earth to establish peaceful trade relations. The cheap alien high-tech merchandise drives most Earthly businesses bankrupt. The story follows a former CEO trying to start a new business where he can compete with the aliens. Ten people at the meeting had read the book.

Most of us thought this was a lot of fun. The crazy business meetings seemed real. The former CEO’s journeys cause him to meet many interesting people, including some generous hippies and an unscrupulous art dealer who sells velvet paintings of Elvis for exorbitant prices to the aliens. Many of us enjoyed reading about the process of starting and growing a business. The story culminates in a wonderful interstellar trade show, where vendors have to pay for lots of extras in addition to their exhibit space: air, gravity, etc. Those of us who’d worked at

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Oct

02

Heart of Gold

Posted by : atcampbell | On : October 2, 2001

Category: Uncategorized

Heart of Gold by Sharon Shinn

Seven people attended this discussion. Two also sent in comments by email. Heart of Gold is a SF novel set on a world with two major cultures: a matriarchal society of blue-skinned people called the Indigo, and a gold-skinned patriarchal society called the Gulden. The uneasy but peaceful coexistence of these two groups is threatened by a series of terrorist attacks. We view this world and its time of trouble through two viewpoint characters: Nolan, a traditional Indigo man, and Kit, an Indigo woman raised among the Gulden. Six of us had read the book.

It must be mentioned that this discussion was held when the September 11 terrorist attacks were still fresh in our minds. Reading and discussing a book

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