FACT SF Reading Group

October 2009

October 5: The Dispossessed by Ursula K. Le Guin

This meeting at the North Village Library drew nine attendees. Our topic was The Dispossessed, a classic 1974 utopia novel set on the twin planets of Anarres and Urras. Eight of us had read Le Guin before. All started the book, and seven finished it.

Many of us thought this book was slow and difficult to read initially. One reader found the writing dense and the story hard to get into, and she had to set page reading quotas for herself. Another felt many of the transitions were jarring, particularly with flashbacks. A third commented that the slow pace and unlikeable main character were disappointing, and he would have given up after 50 pages if the book had not won so many awards.

One reader felt the writing was immaculate and worldbuilding was excellent. He did not think either society depicted in this book could work in reality. He enjoyed the problems the author posed and felt these societies gave her an interesting way to examine them.

One person said this was a “pure idea book.” Another said that this book did not contain enough action for his taste; he felt that little happened, and “ideas were beaten to death. Yet another commented that it felt like a book of The Sixties.

It was noted that this book is a member of a rare sf subgenre, which examines the effects of language on society and society on language. It deals with interesting ideas like “How do you swear with no religion and where sex is not dirty?” Among the few other books in this subgenre is Babel-17 by Samuel R. Delany.

A reader was pleasantly surprised by how well this book still holds up after thirty-five years. She is still interested in the ideas covered in The Dispossessed. She does not find the societies to be utopias, since they are both hard to get along in.

We discussed how the societies in this book reminded us of things we’d seen elsewhere. One member thought the lunar society was patterned after an Israeli kibbutz. Another felt that it was reminiscent of Cold War Russia. Another felt the society on one planet inspired the Centauri world on Babylon 5.

One person thought the first 150 pages of this book were a complete slog, but he ended up enjoying the book. He felt the concept was simple: whatever system you set up, people will try to game it. He felt that Shevek was an ingrate. He could not publish in his society and was not treated well, so he left. The next place he went treated him well, but he did not give his invention to them. Instead, he gave it to aliens he hardly knew.

A member commented that the main character in Le Guin novels is always atypical for a sf hero: contemplative, and out of step with their society. Another said that Shevek reminds him of Gulliver.

One longtime Le Guin fan discussed how the writer’s world view was informed by anthropology, which was her father’s profession and her own. He felt the depiction of Shevek’s life reminded him of real physicists like the secretive Isaac Newton. He said that Shevek is a lens to see the two societies, and these societies provide a lens through which we see characters.

Near the end of the meeting, it was noted that this book defeated The Mote in God’s Eye for the Hugo award. We had an enthusiastic discussion about which should have won, with defenders for both books. After we concluded, we had a nice dinner at Waterloo Ice House.

October 20: Mistborn by Brandon Sanderson

This meeting at the Milwood Library drew nine attendees, including two first-timers. Our topic was Mistborn, a fantasy adventure novel by Brandon Sanderson. Four of us had read the author before. Eight of us started the book, and six finished it.

One reader noted that this book had a unique and well-thought-out magic system, based on ingesting metals and using them as a source for magic. He felt a valid way to describe this book was “What if one of the characters from Lord of the Rings kept the ring?” He liked the storytelling and character development. He thought the use of text in a journal was a clever way to tell a parallel story.

Another felt this book was a “page-turner” with a well-constructed story.  One person liked this book’s idea that a hero’s failure causes a lot of bad problems.   Another noted that the book was so well-written that “the film did not break.”

One member of the group said he rarely enjoys fantasy, but he liked this book. He felt it had excellent action sequences with super-powered characters. He found parallels in this book’s two main characters, Kelsier and Vin, with Wolverine and Kitty from the X-Men comics and movies.  He liked how well the author thought out how people might use their powers.  And he appreciated that this book provides plenty of conclusion at the end, while clearly setting up more books in the series. He said the book was a pleasant surprise.

Another found it hard to get into this book. She found the writing style was not gripping. She felt the description of magic was pedantic, almost like reading the manual for a role-playing game. 

One first-time attendee enjoyed this book’s handling of unusual themes like trust.  She enjoyed the young female character, Vin, who started out as an abused kid and later got to enjoy dressing up and going to balls to hobnob with nobility.

Another longtime member of the group said that she does not generally enjoy fantasy, but felt this book was better than most. She appreciated how the super-powered Vin took a while to realize that everyone else did not have these powers. She felt that the author clearly cared a lot about this book’s world and characters, but could have done a better job at conveying these to the reader.  She particularly thought the villain could have been handled more originally, since she felt making him a proponent of slavery was too easy.

Overall we had a fun time discussing Mistborn. After the meeting, many of us had a nice dinner at Culver’s.

---A. T. Campbell, III