FACT SF Reading Group

February 1997

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:

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.

Now for our regularly scheduled book discussions... 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.

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.

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, jello, The Grateful Dead, and nuclear holocaust. We all liked the book and admired the author's ambitious plot, but some felt the story got too confusing toward the end. As one person put it, "he probably didn't think he was writing science fiction when he started the book..." We particularly admired O'Leary's skill with characterization, and felt that he embued all his characters with interesting personalities. We all saw why Willie Siros dubbed this book the "best first novel of 1995."

That's all until next month. Upcoming books including Wildside by Steven Gould, Expiration Date by Tim Powers, and The Phoenix Guards by Steven Brust. Feel free to join us.

-- A. T. Campbell, III

Maintained by A. T. Campbell, III ( reading@fact.org)