FACT SF Reading Group

January 1997

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.

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