FACT SF Reading Group

November 2004

November 2: Darwin's Children by Greg Bear

Only 7 of the 12 people who came to the discussion on a dismal election day had read this sequel to Darwin's Radio. All who started it had finished and all but one person had read Bear before.

This book begins 12 years after the first book and follows some of the same characters. The "virus children," the next evolutionary leap, are growing up. Their odd looks and abilities cause fear, which leads the government to put them in camps to "protect" them.

Although the book is well-written, has interesting characters and action, and does not have the info-dumps of the first book, many readers did not like it as well. The stupid and villainous ways the government and unevolved people react was too scary and believable, too close to the current situation in the country, for comfortable election-season reading. We also thought the ending was resolved too quickly and simplistically.

After discussing the book, and wishing that if Bear does write a third volume, it is more like the first one, we went on to the topic of what books should be on the next voting list--always hoping to find something worth reading.

November 16: Night Watch by Terry Pratchett

Nine of the 10 people who showed up to discuss this Discworld novel had tried reading it, but only 5 finished. Six had read Pratchett before and 2 sent in e-mail comments.

Although still satire, this is Pratchett's darkest book in the series. It's a socio-political police procedural. In it Sam Vimes, one of the Ankh-Morpork Guards, ends up in his own past during a time of political struggle. He mentors his younger self as he does his duty as a good beat cop, trying to keep order while uncertain whether this alternate past will turn out the same.

The book starts off slow and somewhat confusing for readers not familiar with the Guards. This was where most of the non-Pratchett fans stopped reading. Once Vimes went back in time the pace picked up considerably--one reader couldn't put it down until the end.

We probably did not get many of the puns, but for most of us that didn't interfere with enjoyment of the story. We liked the temporal monks and how their tampering with history allows Pratchett a means of making changes in the series--to the surprise and delight of his fans.

-- Sandy Kayser