On Friday October 11th we'll be discussing Hannu Rajaniemi's Summerland, an exciting 1938 spy-fiction in which Britain rules over the realms of death and yes, you can buy tickets to stick around some more time after death - that is if you can afford to.Meeting starts 7.30 pm at the bookstore as always. And there are snacks and drinks that are, as always, free and contributions are welcome. You don't need to sign up to join in, please just read the book.
Upcoming OSFBC meetings:
October 11 - Summerland by Hannu Rajaniemi
October 25 - Gods of Jade and Shadow by Silvia Moreno-Garcia (MYTHIC FICTION BC)
November 8 - Normal by Warren Ellis
November 22 - The Ceremonies by T.E.D. Klein (HORROR SPECIAL)
December 13 - Always Coming Home by Ursula Le Guin
Hi - since at the last (Nov.) meeting, it was mentioned that this book was a let-down by someone, I would firstly like to say that I liked this book. It's far from perfect, but it had an interesting plot & world-building basis, and would have been great, if a little more "filled-in" - many a too-thick novel I've tried had plots & characters & worlds a lot worse. I also liked the retro-British touch it adhered to, giving it a steam-punkish feel (even if it was more "ecto" than any hot water vapours all over the place)...
ReplyDeleteLike the current book we read/discussed (Ellis' NORMAL) it was a grand failure. And more of an effort was made on SUMMERLAND.
Secondly, I was asked to not call organisers of these meetings "leaders". I will do my best to comply. As before, I will also not make suggestions that you guys lead in any way.
But... de facto you guys are to some extent "club" leaders. E.g., I am thankful that you help to manage to prevent loud male voices dominating the discussion 80% of the time, as it has been my experience with most other "round table" discussion groups basically my whole life. (Of course I would be happy to have that percentage even lower, but I know that's hard. I tried to effect that in an s.f. forum I was co-in-charge of for 4+ years and failed.) Last meeting one of you actually said "I'm trying to be less loud & negative", and that indicates restraint a leader would show.
Having said that, I want to compliment you on this "club" and all it has brought into my life! (I mean that honestly & with emphasis!) I.a. the books I would never have read otherwise. Intersting backgrounds. Recommendations for future reading. And I do in fact challenge you to keep saying what you think about a book, clearly and perhaps providing one or other reason why you (dis)like one (or part of one); I'm interested what you BOTH have to say in that regard at any meeting.
P.S.: I do have one request. The political directions espoused by several male members at almost every meeting bore me. As a rule, you can be sure that in an age-mixed group of more than a handful of people, you will always have at least one person present who doesn't agree (completely, anyway) and has to shut up if she/he feels the majority is going one way. This also applies to "arsehole" authors, BTW; I can accept that a list of authors' works will not be discussed in the group, but I don't like certain names being repeated every 2nd or third meeting - we've received the message and will comply. Promise.
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/KB