FACT SF Reading Group

December 2001

December 4: 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 enabled Rani to experience life in each caste.

This book had several problems. Perhaps the biggest was that we didn't like Rani. Her willingness to do anything to protect herself, no matter how much it hurt good people, kept us from sympathizing with her. During the course of the book she lies, steals, and even kills a good man simply to save her own skin. We also think Klasky's writing style needs improvement. While individual sentences are clearly written, there were several instances of repetition and of stating the obvious. For example, after Rani narrowly averted a rape attempt by a soldier, the text informed us that Rani did not trust the man. Several people in our group were also disappointed that despite the title, this book contains few scenes of people working with glass.

Overall we can only give a mild recommendation to Glasswright's Apprentice. We do think the author shows talent, and we hope she develops it in future books. After the meeting we had a nice dinner at Threadgill's.

December 18: 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 when he tried to predict the future of one girl leaving the band for a solo career. We were struck by his acknowledgement of his band's shallowness, particularly when he rejects a girl for being too beautiful and talented to fit in. Leggy's daughter Zeta is a wondrously believable teenager who brings in a fresh and humorous outlook.

Some in our group had problems with the book. Two of us just had no interest in reading a book about the music industry. One person wanted the book to be more strongly plotted. Several people complained that Zeitgeist is falsely labeled by the publisher as science fiction. It's a mainstream novel with a tiny bit of magic realism, but we could find no SF elements in the story.

Overall we enjoyed Zeitgeist a great deal, and would recommend it to readers of good fiction. After the meeting several of us went to Garcia's, where we had a nice dinner.

-- A. T. Campbell, III