Expiration Date by Tim Powers

Seven of us met at Adventures in Crime and Space on March 18 to discuss Expiration Date by Tim Powers. The novel is a dark fantasy set in Los Angeles, featuring the ghosts of Thomas Edison and Harry Houdini. We all liked many of the ideas and elements of the book, but we were divided about how successfully the story was told. Two of the group found the writing style “wonderful,” while most of the rest found that the story started very slowly and took a couple of hundred pages to pique our interest. One person had nightmares while reading the book, so obviously the writing style was effective for her. One member who’d also read the British version of the book, which differed substantially, felt that the American version seemed “padded.” Powers’s ideas and unique points of view are always interesting, and we never know what he’ll do next.

— A. T. Campbell, III

Wildside by Steven Gould

On March 4, eight of us met at the FACT Office to discuss Steven Gould’s Wildside. It’s a coming-of-age science fiction story in which a group of Texas teenagers discover a gateway to a world filled with saber-toothed tigers, wooly mammoths, and other supposedly-extinct creatures. We found Gould’s prose style quite readable, and we admired the author’s intent for the book to be read both by adults and younger readers. The novel features extensive aviation scenes, which the private pilot in our group pronounced generally accurate. The characters were multidimensional and easy to tell apart, and their relationships seemed real. While we all found the basic concept fascinating, many of us wished the author had explored his world more. As one person put it, “it’s like making Jurassic Park with the dinosaurs offscreen.” Overall we liked the book, and we’re looking forward to what Gould writes next.

–-A. T. Campbell, III

This month’s report contains something special. In honor of the upcoming Hugo Awards, the Reading Group has compiled a list of novels that we recommend as good choices for the Best Novel Hugo nomination. Each book on the list received at least two recommendations. Here’s the list:

• Lunatics by Bradley Denton
• Memory by Lois McMaster Bujold
• Branch Point by Mona Clee
• Wildside by Steven Gould
• Ancient Shores by Jack McDevitt
• Remnant Population by Elizabeth Moon
• Blameless in Abaddon by James Morrow
• Holy Fire by Bruce Sterling

All attending and supporting members of LoneStarCon 2, the upcoming WorldCon in San Antonio, are eligible and encouraged to nominate for the Hugo Awards. The nominating ballots must be mailed by April 1, so you should start thinking about what you want to nominate.

–A. T. Campbell, III

Door Number Three by Patrick O’Leary

Our February 18 book, Patrick O’Leary’s Door Number Three, was chosen in an unusual manner. Last summer at the WorldCon in LA, I kept bumping into this strange fellow at nearly every program item I attended (panel, reading, signing, kaffeeklatsch, you name it). We finally introduced ourselves, and it turned out that the guy’s name was Patrick O’Leary, his first novel had just been published, and he was attending his first WorldCon. Patrick seemed to be a nice guy, and he and I obviously shared many of the same tastes, so I lobbied for the Reading Group to read his book.

Six folks showed up for the discussion of Door Number Three. The plot is very intricate and is best enjoyed if you don’t know much in advance, but I will mention a few elements: Catholicism, time travel, psychology, Esther Williams,

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The Shape-Changer’s Wife by Sharon Shinn

Four of us met to discuss another first novel, The Shape-Changer’s Wife by Sharon Shinn, at the FACT Office on February 4. It’s a story about a young magician apprenticed to a master sorcerer with a mysterious wife and a bizarre household staff. We felt that it was a skillfully written fantasy novel that would appeal to young adults. One person was reminded of The Sword in the Stone, both in tone and in certain plot elements. We found that although the story was well plotted and cleanly told, the characterization lacked depth. Overall we liked the book and enjoyed the novelty of reading a short standalone fantasy novel, and we’re curious what Ms. Shinn will write in the future.

–A. T. Campbell, III

Branch Point by Mona Clee

On January 21, five of us met at Adventures in Crime and Space to discuss Branch Point, a first novel by former Austinite Mona Clee. Two people who couldn’t attend the meeting e-mailed comments about the novel. The story was a new twist on time travel, with a group of teenagers from 2063 traveling back to various events in the late 20th century trying to prevent nuclear disaster. Notably, the book uses recent and current political figures (especially Presidents Kennedy and Clinton) as major characters in the story. An initial gripping chain of events got us hurtling through the first 60 pages or so, but some of us felt the plot lost inertia and focus in the latter part of the book. Several bizarre historical facts (Colonel Sanders was almost a Vice Presidential candidate in the 60s?) were used as springboards for ingenious plot twists. We felt this was a strong first novel, and we’re looking forward to Ms. Clee’s next book.

–A. T. Campbell, III

Night Calls by Katharine Eliska Kimbriel

On January 7, four of us met at the FACT Office to talk about Night Calls, the new fantasy by Austin writer Katharine Eliska Kimbriel. Two others had read the book but were unable to attend the meeting, so they e-mailed comments to be brought to the discussion. Kimbriel’s novel , set in 19th century America, is about a frontier family confronted by werewolves, vampires, and other supernatural creatures. The e-mailed comments included “it is charming” and “I love this book! I rushed out immediately to buy the sequel, only to find that it’s not out yet.” Those physically in attendance also liked the book quite a lot. The frontier atmosphere was well portrayed. One person compared the book favorably to S. P. Somtow’s Vampire Junction. Most of the group liked the details of frontier life, but there were too many quilting scenes for my personal taste. We liked how the book delivered on the horror elements suggested by the cover, yet refrained from explicit gore. The voice of the narrator, a teenage girl, felt “real” to our group. While the story reached a satisfying closure, it left opportunities for a sequel. It looks like Ms. Kimbriel now has several people looking forward to her next book.

–A. T. Campbell, III

Aggressor Six by Wil McCarthy

The topic for our December 17 discussion was Aggressor Six, Wil McCarthy’s first novel. Five people showed up for the meeting at Adventures at Crime and Space, and four others had read the book but could not attend due to illness, childbirth, or scheduling conflicts. The story, set several hundred years in the future, was about a team of people (plus a dog!) trying to figure out the goals and motivations of the mysterious aliens with whom humanity was at war. We all found the premise engaging and generally enjoyed the book. Several felt that McCarthy had constructed an interesting language for the aliens, and thus they enjoyed the alien poetry included in the book. We generally found the prose style compelling, but the author made a few storytelling choices that we felt weren’t successful: too many viewpoint characters, several loose ends, and a lack of visual descriptions. Overall we felt this was an above average first novel, and most of those who attended the discussion immediately bought McCarthy’s followup book, The Fall of Sirius.

–A. T. Campbell, III

City of Bones by Martha Wells

On December 3, eight of us met at the FACT Office to discuss City of Bones, written by Texas author Martha Wells. We quickly determined that the book’s cover summary had little to do with its content. Here’s an example from the cover: “a beautiful woman and a handsome thief try to … stop a fanatical cult before they unleash an evil that will … destroy all the water in the world.” In actuality the main female character is not beautiful, the main male character is not a thief, there is no cult, and no mention is made of destroying water. We also had trouble identifying the book’s genre — the spine of the book says “fantasy,” but our opinions ranged from “soft science fantasy” to “fantasy/mystery.” Most of us didn’t like the cover painting either.

After criticizing the book’s packaging we got around to discussing Martha’s story, which involves a post-holocaust future, archaeological puzzles, mutants, evil spirits, and martial arts. We all liked the book quite a bit. Several praised the prose style and felt that the plot structure (solving a series of intermediate

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Blade Runner 2: The Edge of Human by K. W. Jeter

This month’s report has a multimedia flavor. Our late November book was Blade Runner 2: The Edge of Human (henceforth abbreviated BR2) by K. W. Jeter, which is a sequel both to Philip K. Dick’s novel Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? (DADOES) and the movie it inspired, Blade Runner. In preparation several of us read (or reread) the Dick novel, and Lori and I hosted a viewing of the Director’s Cut of Blade Runner at our house. We had a lot of fun rewatching the film, and those of us who’d only seen the original version of the film were surprised by how much the few additional scenes (and the lack of voice-over narration) changed the content of the film. Additionally, I studied all the detailed information and analysis of the movie on the Blade Runner web site (http://www.uq.edu.au/~csmchapm/bladerunner/).

When we gathered on November 19 to discuss BR2, all of our preparation turned out to be helpful. Seven people showed up in person at Adventures in Crime and Space, and one person who couldn’t attend the meeting e-mailed in her comments. We determined that previous viewing of the Blade Runner, preferably

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