FACT SF Reading Group

June 2009

June 1: Soon I Will be Invincible by Austin Grossman

Thirteen people gathered at A. T.’s house for this meeting. Our topic was Soon I Will Be Invincible, a first novel about superheroes and supervillains. Eight of us started the book, and five finished it.

One reader, a big comics fan, loved this book. She felt that Watchmen brought reality into comics, but this book brought comics into reality. She thought the characters felt real, and found that although some are physically invincible, none are invincible in their feelings. 

Several people commented that the author was having great fun with superhero motifs. We liked how this book tries to reconstruct superheroes differently from Watchmen. The narrative alternating viewpoints between a hero and a villain was effective. And many of us found the book to be quite funny, particularly the opening sequence.

One person felt sympathy for both viewpoint characters. She felt that the author was working through his own middle school experiences in the sections dealing with the villain’s childhood. She liked the book’s appendix.

We noticed problems with the writing. One person got lost between narrative voices.  Another thought the ending did not deliver sufficient payoff. Several of us had pacing issues with the story.

One reader was greatly disappointed, and he struggled to find something good to say. He found it hard to empathize with any of the characters. He felt that the book was clearly supposed to be funny, but it did not make him laugh. He did like how the villain was already planning his next escape at the end.

Another generally enjoyed the book, but felt that the story was not that novel. He thought that many comic books of the 80s and 90s had already told stories of this type better.

Near the end, we talked about other prose fiction about superheroes. There were strong recommendations for the Wild Card books edited by George R. R. Martin and the Weird Heroes series edited by Bryon Preiss.

After the meeting, several of us had a nice dinner at Culver’s.

June 16: Territory by Emma Bull

We had thirteen readers at this meeting held at the Milwood Library, including one first-time attendee. Our topic was Territory by Emma Bull, a fantasy Western set in Tombstone, Arizona that features Doc Holliday and Wyatt Earp. Five of us had read Emma Bull’s work before. All of us started Territory, ten finished it, and the rest planned to finish.

One reader thoroughly enjoyed the book. She said that she doesn’t normally read Westerns, but she read this book because she likes Emma Bull. She thought the concept of magic in the Old West had not been overdone. She liked the horse content, and felt the scene of breaking a horse was important in character development. She liked Mildred the reporter and the interplay with her coworkers.

Another felt this was the best book we’d read in a long time. He liked reading about printing and typesetting. The curse in this book was the best example he could remember ever reading.  His only disappointment was that the book ended abruptly, clearly calling for a sequel.

This led to another member speculating that the abrupt ending meant that this starting off as one book. He felt that there was not nearly enough payoff at the end. He noted that a major trope of the book is a character finding his or her talent.

One reader consulted Wikipedia while reading the book and was surprised how much of the story tracked with history. She enjoyed the scenes of Tombstone’s Chinatown. Some called this book a “secret history” for how it plays with our expectations of the historical characters.

Other elements that people liked were the Earth magic and the quilting scenes.

Several people complained about this book’s lack of action, particularly for a Western. So much of the interesting stuff happens offstage that one reader compared it to a Greek play. Another reader called it a “cozy Western”.

We liked the author’s writing. Her prose style was clear and effective, and the storytelling  did a good job planting bits and pieces to set up the story.

Overall we liked this book a great deal. After the meeting, many of us had a nice dinner at Fuddrucker’s.

---A. T. Campbell, III