Kindred Rites by Katharine Eliska Kimbriel

Attendees: A. T. Campbell III, Shirley Crossland (by e-mail), Karen Meschke, Willie Siros, Lori Wolf

We had four actual attendees and one virtual attendee for the discussion of Kindred Rites, the sequel to Night Calls. Kindred Rites is a dark fantasy set in the American frontier in the early 1800s, dealing with a young girl being educated as a magic practitioner. We all found the prose style engaging and the story compelling, and we liked the book a lot. The historical period was captured well., and we appreciated that the author set her story in a place and time not overused by other fantasists. The story seemed appropriate for both teenagers

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Celestial Matters by Richard Garfinkle

Attendees: Renee Babcock, A. T. Campbell III, Shirley Crossland, Fred Duarte, Debbie Hodgkinson, Willie Siros, Lori Wolf

An enthusiastic group discussed Celestial Matters, a first novel set in a world where the ancient Greek scientists were right: Earth is the center of the universe, and the sun and planets revolve around it. The book also has alternate-history aspects, with Greece remaining the world’s dominant power centuries longer than it did in our world. The story involves a group of Greek scientists who travel to the sun to capture a piece of solar matter to be used as a weapon. Most of us liked the book’s concept a lot, and we enjoyed how completely the author thought through all the implications of the science. The fast-paced story proved to be a fun romp, and we appreciated how the author made his characters deeper than they needed to be. Debbie, the lone dissenter, found the premise to be absurd, and she was only able to finish the book by reading it as a farce. The rest of us thought it was a fine first novel and are curious what the author might do next.

— A. T. Campbell, III

Freedom and Necessity by Steven Brust & Emma Bull

Attendees: A. T. Campbell III, Shirley Crossland, Debbie Hodgkinson, Karen Meschke, Willie Siros, Lori Wolf

Freedom and Necessity is a 19^th-century tale of political intrigue and secret societies in Europe. The story is told through a series of letters and newspaper articles, with no traditional narrative. Our group’s opinions were sharply divided on this book. I personally found the unusual narrative style impenetrable; the letters were boring, there was little discernable plot, and once I figured out that there was no speculative element I gave up on reading it. The rest of the group, who’d finished the book, loved it! Positive comments included “interesting philosophical discussions,” “seems like a Victorian novel”, “fascinating strong-willed female characters,”, “swell historical romance,” and “interesting insights into Prussian history.” Obviously, tastes vary.

— A. T. Campbell, III

The Sparrow by Mary Doria Russell

Attendees: A. T. Campbell III, Fred Duarte, Mona Gamboa, Elaine Powell, Carrie Richerson, Jeff Rupley, Willie Siros, Lori Wolf

We had a huge group for the discussion of The Sparrow, a first science fiction novel about a group of Catholic missionaries who establish First Contact between humans and aliens. The story deals with grown-up topics like Ethics and Morals and Religion. The book is structured in a flashback style, and we found both the events in the “present” and “past” so fascinating that the book was hard to put down. The characters of the missionaries are well-drawn and distinctive, and we grew to care about them. The alien society seemed believably structured. The culture clashes that grew from the First Contact situation developed logically, and tragically, without any characters (alien or human) being villains. Several of us liked the book enough to have already read it multiple times. This was one of the best SF novels we had read in several years. We were awed that a first novel could be so good, and we’re eagerly awaiting Ms. Russell’s next book.

— A. T. Campbell, III

Emerald House Rising by Peg Kerr

Attendees: Renee Babcock, A. T. Campbell III, Lori Wolf

A small but loyal group gathered to discuss Emerald House Rising at the FACT Office. The book is a slickly written first fantasy novel about a young woman who’s training to be a gem cutter but discovers that she has a talent for magic. We felt that Kerr’s storytelling was excellent. We were impressed by the thoughtfully constructed society and the vivid descriptions of political intrigue. The magic system in the book was unusual, and it was worked well into the plot. There were a few problems: many of the minor characters seemed like “stock” characters, and the plot seemed to flow almost too smoothly for much of the book. We felt this book was a well-above-average first novel, and we look forward to Kerr’s future work.

— A. T. Campbell, III

The Bones of Time by Kathleen Ann Goonan

Attendees: A. T. Campbell III, Karen Meschke, Jeff Rupley, Lori Wolf

We had a small but loyal turnout at the FACT Office to discuss Kathleen Ann Goonan’s second novel, The Bones of Time. The book interweaves two story lines. In the first story, a mathematician in the early 21^st Century has a time-traveling romance with a Hawaiian princess from hundreds of years ago. The other story, set a couple of decades later in the future, is a complicated adventure involving a clone of King Kamehameha, travel between dimensions, espionage, the space program, and the Dalai Lama.

We all found the romantic story line interesting and compelling. The passions of the characters seemed real, and the mathematician’s life was depicted well. The clone story was less satisfying. Its elements were contrived, the writing seemed

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Assassin’s Apprentice by Robin Hobb

Attendees: A. T. Campbell III, Shirley Crossland, Cyndi Dunn, Wes Dunn, Willie Siros, Lori Wolf

We had a good turnout at Adventures in Crime & Space to discuss Assassin’s Apprentice, the first book in a fantasy trilogy by Robin Hobb. The book is well-written adventure story involving a young boy whose father was a prince but whose mother was not the prince’s wife. Due to the boy’s heritage he can’t be treated like a regular member of royalty, so instead he gets trained to be an assassin working for the king.

Our impressions of the book were favorable. Hobb’s prose style was smooth and compelling, and it didn’t get in the way of the story. Willie liked the book because it violates the assumptions of high fantasy. He’d felt it was too polished a work to be a first novel, so he wasn’t too surprised when Hobb turned out to be a

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Fair Peril by Nancy Springer

Attendees: Cyndi Dunn, Wes Dunn , Shirley Crossland, and Willie Siros.

This book begins with a woman who has just turned forty and is trying to get her life back together after her divorce. Walking through the park one day, she runs across a frog who tries to convince her that a kiss will turn him into a handsome prince. Buffy has had enough of men lately, charming or otherwise, but decides a talking frog would be a good addition to her professional story-telling repertoire. So she takes him home, never thinking that her teenage daughter may be more susceptible to a charming frog’s wiles…

Despite rumors that many of the male members of the reading group stayed away on the grounds that this is a “woman’s book,” the two men who were present seemed to have enjoyed it. Willie commented that it’s nice to see someone break out of the Celtic high-fantasy tradition to do something this new and creative. Springer combines some very humorous updating of traditional fairy tales with a

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Memory by Lois McMaster Bujold

Attendees: A. T. Campbell III, Cyndi Dunn, Wes Dunn, John Gibbons, Karen Meschke, Shirley Crossland.

We gathered at ArmadilloCon 19 in Hunt, Texas to discuss Bujold’s latest book. Memory is another adventure of her continuing character Miles Vorkosigan, and in this book Miles turns thirty and his life falls apart. He’s forced to reevaluate his career and personal relationships and literally reinvent his conception of himself.

Our group contained people who’d read Bujold’s complete body of work, plus some who’d never read her before. We all found the prose readable and had no trouble finishing the book.

Opinions of the book were mixed, though generally positive. Many of us found Miles to be a well-developed character and we were sympathetic to his attempts

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Pasquale’s Angel by Paul J. McAuley

Attendees: A. T. Campbell, III; Shirley Crossland; Fred Duarte; Jeff Rupley; Willie Siros; Lori Wolf.

We had a good discussion of Pasquale’s Angel, an alternate history set in a Renaissance Italy where Leonardo concentrated on engineering instead of art. The story starts with a series of mysterious deaths being investigated Holmes-and-Watson style by Niccolo Macchiaveli and a young artist named Pasquale. Along the way they encounter political intrigue, many other famous folks from the

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