FACT SF Reading Group

August 1999

August 3: Cosm by Gregory Benford

The discussion of Gregory Benford's latest hard SF thriller drew a crowd of ten people. Eight had read the book and were there to discuss it, and two showed up just to socialize and join us for dinner. The book is a near future story about a young physicist, Alicia Butterworth, who makes a breakthrough discovery. A large part of the novel is a straightforward but unglamorized portrait of the life of a working academic scientist.

Everyone found the writing style compelling and readable, particularly compared to the stylistic experimentation of Benford's Galactic Center books. We felt that the portrayal of a scientist's life and work is realistic. The details of Dr. Butterworth's life ring true, particularly her obsession with work and her neglect of a social life. Benford pulls off a convincing female viewpoint character. Her personality quirks seem quite believable for a scientist and a woman.

Dr. Butterworth's discovery, the pocket universe "cosm" of the title, fascinated several of us. It is an intriguing idea, and many of us kept turning the pages simply to find out more about the cosm. It proved to be a wonderful vehicle for incorporating existing theory about the life cycle of a universe into a novel.

This book only had minor problems. Several of the minor characters seem shallowly developed, particularly in comparison to the fleshed-out Dr. Butterworth. The speech patterns of the characters are too similar, so conversations often read like a person talking to himself. Also, none of us felt that the scientists in the book seemed as brilliant as they were supposed to be.

It was apparent that the audience for this book is different than the audience of Benford's Galactic Center books. Years ago we discussed In the Ocean of Night, the first book of that sequence, and found it unremarkable. Most of the people who attended that earlier discussion are still in the group, and they all liked Cosm. One relative newcomer to the group, who'd liked the Galactic Center books, was disappointed by the small scope of Cosm's story.

We feel that this book ranks in the upper tier of novels about scientists. The details of scientists, universities, and laboratories all ring true. Cosm compares favorably to the works of such writers of "scientist fiction" as John Cramer and Paul Preuss. We thought it was Benford's best book since Timescape.

August 17: Clouds End by Sean Stewart

Eight people showed up for the discussion of Clouds End, a fantasy novel by ArmadilloCon 21 Guest of Honor Sean Stewart. Six had read the book, and the others were present to socialize or observe. The book is a heroic fantasy set in a fully imagined world. The story concerns a group of island people who get wrapped up in a struggle involving supernatural Heroes and the mysterious Mist. A young woman, Brook, encounters a bird that turns into a twin of herself. Worse yet, the twin (called Jo) brings news of an ominous invasion. This causes Brook, Jo, and several of Brook's friends to embark on a quest of danger and self-discovery.

We found the world of this book to be a brilliant and wonderful piece of invention. Stewart created interesting and fleshed-out civilizations and mythologies. The characters seem like they fit well in this world, and their novel speech patterns are both unique and believable.

The story structure is unusual and complicated. It involves several interweaving plot threads. Also, people in the story often recite mythical stories, which tend to foreshadow events in the "main" story. Knots are an important element in the lives of these seafaring people, and Stewart works knots into every aspect of the story - including its structure.

The biggest problem with this book is that we didn't find the individual characters as interesting as the world they inhabit. We were more interested in descriptions of their society and its fascinating myths than in the careers and love lives of the relatively insignificant group of protagonists. Also, some of us had trouble accepting "Spit!" as a swear word.

Overall we liked this book a lot. Even those who don't normally like fantasy liked this one. As usual for Stewart, Clouds End is unlike anything he'd written previously. We feel that Sean Stewart's approach to fantasy has little or nothing to do with traditional commercial "fat" fantasy, and for this we are grateful.

-- A. T. Campbell, III