FACT SF Reading Group

July 2009

July 6: Lest Darkness Fall by L. Sprague de Camp

Fifteen people attended this meeting, the first held in the new building for the North Village Library. Our topic was L. Sprague de Camp’s Lest Darkness Fall, a time travel/alternate history story set in historical Rome. Thirteen of us had read de Camp before. Twelve of us started this book, and eight finished.

One person liked it a lot. He felt it convenient that Padway, the time traveler, was a historian who fell into a period he knew well. He thought that the order in which Padway introduced new inventions was logical, particularly starting with brandy. He liked that some experiments failed, notably gunpowder. While the book was written in 1939, he felt the only aspect that dated the book was some politically incorrect language.

Another enjoyed the conceit of a historian going back in time. She didn’t feel there was much characterization, but it moved quickly. She appreciated the difficulties the time traveler faced with language. She felt the book ended at just the right time. 

We liked the book’s fast-paced beginning and the author’s confident storytelling that kept the story flowing.

One reader appreciated the book’s humor, and felt that its approach anticipated Terry Pratchett. He loved the religious humor, and would like to see a revival of interest in de Camp’s work. The scenes of Padway haggling were a highlight.

We liked how the author made ancient Rome come to life. One person said this book got her to read history books about Justinian.

One reader felt this book was not to his taste. He felt the story was implausible, and the time traveler should have paid more attention to medicine. He thought Padway would have been executed immediately once he was dropped back in time. He didn’t think the book was funny, but felt the author was funnier writing with Fletcher Pratt.

Another person was glad we read classics like this book. He found the book easy to get into and in general was enjoyable, but he had less fun after the main character lost interest in inventing and got into politics.

We had trouble classifying this book. One person strongly felt it was fantasy, while most of the rest felt it was science fiction.

We had a brief discussion of other books of this type: A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court , Lord Kalvan of Otherwhen, Bring the Jubilee, The Cross-Time Engineer, and 1632.

Afterward, many of us had a nice dinner at Waterloo Ice House.

July 21: The Jennifer Morgue by Charles Stross

This meeting at the Milwood library drew ten attendees. Our topic was The Jennifer Morgue, a spy/horror/high tech novel featuring Stross’s recurring character Bob Howard. All of us had read Stross before. We all started the book, and seven finished it.

We enjoyed returning to the world Bob Howard inhabits, which has a Lovecraftian element. It’s not as fresh as when it was introduced in The Atrocity Archives, but still fun. We found the story to be fast-paced entertainment, full of fun and silliness. Many of us enjoyed Stross’s use of language.

Most of us enjoyed the spy story. A few people commented on the Ian Fleming metafiction in the book. Every gadget given to Bob was eventually used, as in James Bond’s stories.

We enjoyed that technology humor was a major element of the book. One reader appreciated the author’s obvious hatred of PowerPoint.  Another liked reading about Bob driving a Smart Car.

One member said that after reading one particularly disturbing and intene scene, she had to take a shower.

Several of us were disappointed by this book’s ending.  It seemed that the plot broke down and the author didn’t know how to finish the story. A few people felt the villain was simply too obvious and not nearly dangerous enough.

One member generally likes Stross and found a few things to like here, but ultimately found this book not up to par with the author’s recent award-nominated books. He didn’t like the Bob acting so clueless.  He got tired of reading scenes of people watching PowerPoint presentations. He felt the buddy cop relationship with the female demon did not work, and it reminded him of the much better novel The Snake Agent.

A few in our group simply had trouble getting engaged in The Jennifer Morgue. One person is not a fan of spy novels, and just didn’t find anything for him here.  Another liked Howard in his previous adventures, but didn’t like this story where he was “out of his element.” And another simply has never found Stross’s work to her taste.

Most of us enjoyed and would recommend Stross’s essay on spy fiction at the end of the book.

Since Stross usually gets near-universal acclaim for our group, at the end we discussed why this book had such mixed responses. We decided that the author is simply writing too fast, and it may be bringing down the quality.

All in all, we had a fun discussion. After the meeting, several of us had a nice dinner at Casa Chapala.

---A. T. Campbell, III