Month End SF Book Group (Paramus, NJ) - 2008 Books Read Thread

[Phil]

This Thread is for Books Read by the Month End Book Group in 2008:


VOYAGE OF THE SPACE BEAGLE.............A E Van Vogt.......................11/28/08
THE DIMENSION NEXT DOOR.................Greenberg / Hughes.............10/31/08
MAINSPRING........................................Jay Lake..............................09/30/08
SMOKE & MIRRORS................................Neil Gaiman........................08/29/08
REIFFEN'S CHOICE................................S C Butler............................07/31/08
FARMER IN THE SKY..............................Robert Heinlein...................06/30/08
DEAD TO ME.........................................Anton Strout........................05/30/08
THE GHOST BRIDAGES...........................John Scalzi...........................04/30/08
HEARTWOOD........................................Barbara Campbell.................03/31/08
SPIN.....................................................Robert Charles Wilson..........02/29/08
FIRETHORN...........................................Sarah Micklem.....................01/31/08

[Phil]

The following accounts are reprinted with permission from THE STARSHIP EXPRESS Copyright 2008 Philip J De Parto.



VOYAGE OF THE SPACE BEAGLE
The book is a classic space opera. The Space Beagle is an intergalactic exploration ship en route to the Andromeda Galaxy. Along the way they encounter four separate alien threats. Each of these adventures was originally a separate story published between 1939 and 1950.

Each story contains four different themes. The first is the first contact/alien threat problem story. The second is power struggle/group dynamics among the various factions aboard the ship (Leeth, Morton, Kent and Grosverner). The third is an extension of Spengler's cycles of civilization theory which is applied to both the crew dynamics and the civilization stage of the aliens encountered. The fourth is the invented science of Nexialism, a broader based interdisciplinary scientific training.

Five people had read the novel and each of the stories had its defenders. Phil liked "Black Destroyer" best; Taras, "Discord in Scarlet;" and Moira, "M33 in Andromeda." Influences of the work on STAR TREK and ALIEN were noted. Rich felt that Van Vogt had created some of the coolest aliens ever in these tales. Phil offered that Van Vogt resembled Lovecraft, an author whose creative imagination outpaced his literary faculties. This was a strong discussion.

THE DIMENSION NEXT DOOR
This was a long and meandering event, with lots of tea, Halloween Party left overs, a quick tour of the basement for Mark, and digressions aplenty. Among the topics covered were Alternate Histories, Chimp Society, Dervishes, Neanderthals, Out of Print Books, THE OUTER LIMITS, Quantum Physics and Yoga. Phil tried vainly to keep to the topic, but every time he said something about one of the stories, the group was off and running on another tangent. For the record, Phil (who was the only one to read the title) felt that it was a run of the mill anthology whose best story was "The Trouble with the Truth," a nicely told GHOST WHISPERER type story by Nina Kiriki Hoffman.

MAINSPRING, Clockwork 1
MAINSPRING is an alternate world steampunk novel set in a Deist cosmology of sun and planets literally moving through the heavens on tracks of gears. Callow apprentice clockmaker Hethor Jacques is told by the archangel Gabriel that the mainspring of the world is winding down and that it is up to him to find the Key Perilous and rewind it. Hethor is soon off on his quest, thrown into prison, press ganged into service on a gorgeous H M S airship, scaling the wall that separates the northern and southern hemispheres, and being helped and menaced by secret societies and fantastical creatures.

We tried something a little different for this gathering. Those present took turns reading different reviews of the book. After the review, we commented on what the reviewer had to say. All in all, we enjoyed the book, but felt that last third of the book was not as strong as what had gone before.

SMOKE & MIRRORS
There was no attempt to examine each of the 30 stories in the volume. Instead, people tossed out stories they particularly enjoyed, which were then bandied about for varying lengths of times. We spent the most time with "The Wedding Present" (Barry), "Chivalry" (Phil), "The Price" (Pam), "Don't Ask Jack" (Barry), "The Goldfish Pool and other Stories" (Moira), "Shoggoth's Old Peculiar" (Phil) and "We Can Get Them for You Wholesale" (Moira). Pam read the short short "Nicholas Was ..." and Liz, Phil and Barry did a group reading of "Shoggoth's Old Peculiar."

The DVD NEIL GAIMAN'S A SHORT FILM ABOUT JOHN BOLTON contains readings by Gaiman of "The Price," "Chivalry," and other stories as a bonus extra. Past meetings of the Association have featured these readings as a program item. When Phil recalled how much Taras had enjoyed Gaiman's reading of the poem dedicated to Martha Soukup and referred to Taras' expression as "cute," Taras corrected Phil, saying that Taras preferred to think of himself as "adorable." After the event, Phil and Barry ran into each other in the DVD section of Barnes & Noble on Route 17.

REIFFEN'S CHOICE, Stoneways 1
Only Phil had read the book in its entirety, although Pam and Barry had read part of the work. It is not labeled or marketed as such, but the novel is a YA, telling the tale of the capture and rescue of Reiffen, the exiled heir apparent of two kingdoms by a trio of evil wizards. While it is by no means a knock off, aspects of the book have the feel of the works of Tolkien, particularly THE HOBBIT.

The novel is best realized in its depiction of the society and mythology of the dwarves. Barry and Taras each read sections of Chapter 12, The Upside Down City, which was set in the underground city of the dwarves.

Moira felt that the book's cover made it a tough sell to libraries. The Bergen County System did not purchase one, although copies of the sequel, QUEEN FERRIS, are available. Barry had a copy of REIFFEN from the Rockland County library system.

FARMER IN THE SKY
FARMER IN THE SKY by Robert Heinlein was discussed at the Month End Book Group on Monday, June 30, 2008. S F A B Cers Philip De Parto, Richard Factor, Pamela Webber and Barry Weinberger were joined by regulars Helen Webber and Taras Wolansky at the usual table in the food court of the Paramus Park Mall in Paramus, New Jersey. The novel is a Heinlein juvenile about a family that emigrates from an overcrowded Earth to a terraform-in-progress Ganymede. It is a pioneer survivor novel. My favorite passage concerned the view of Jupiter and its moons.

DEAD TO ME, Simon Canderous 1
The book is a contemporary urban fantasy featuring New York City Department of Extraordinary Affairs Officer Simon Canderous and features homeless person seers, zombie file clerks, easily offended bookcases in occult bookstores, and other odd bits. Several bits, including the Help Wanted Add, the Epilogue, and the dinner scene where a major character explains that she signed up with the forces of Evil because she was a temp and they had a great Benefits package.

THE GHOST BRIGADES. Old Man's War 2
BRIGADES is the sequel to OLD MAN'S WAR which was discussed by the group last year, but it stands on its own reasonably well. Technically a military science fiction book, the work is much more concerned with philosophical and moral issues than battle tactics and strategy.

Hero of the book is Jared Dirac, a clone of Charles Boutin, a brilliant scientist who has defected to the side of a trio of alien races preparing to go to war with Earth's Colonial Union. The CU uses an experimental memory/personality implant program to turn Jared into another Charles Boutin, one who can be safely interrogated. However, the implant does not properly take, so the military grabs him to be a soldier in the Ghost Brigades.

In OLD MAN'S WAR, we say the Brigades from the outside. In this book, we experience them from within, witnessing their birth, their training, and their military prowess.

There are a number of funny, frightening, and touching passages. Taras read one featuring the soldier Harry who has a talent for making things go "boom!" Other memorable passages featured the racial insecurity of the alien Obin who were uplifted and are not quite like every other race, and a meditation on fear and existentialism. Both books in this series are definitely recommended reading.

HEARTWOOD, Trickster 1
HEARTWOOD is the tale of two quests by Darak, chief hunter of the Oak Tribe. One quest is to enter the realm of Chaos with his companions and recover the lost spirit of the primordial First Oak. The second is to rebuild his inner self, shattered an splintered by the recent deaths of his wife, his mother, and many of his kin in a recent plague, an inner self already undermined by his tempestuous relationship with his demanding father. The Chaos realm affords many dangers, but also some opportunities as well.

The book has been compared to the works of Jean Auel and Judith Tarr, neither of whom I have read. I did enjoy the hero quest in a Neolithic society, one very different from the quasi-medieval world of so many fantasy novels. The sequel is BLOODSTONE, but HEARTWOOD stands comfortably on its own.

SPIN, Spin 1
Pam and Taras read from some reviews and an interview with the author. Phil led the discussion. The novel won the 2005 Hugo Award and Phil found it a strong work, saying it reminded him of Arthur C Clarke's CHILDHOOD'S END. Taras was less impressed.

FIRETHORN, Firethorn 1
The book is almost slice of life fantasy with almost all the action occurring in the camp of an army assembling for a war. It deals with all the goings on in the camp while waiting for the rest of the king's forces to arrive. The book ends with the army going off to war, a place where most other books would just be starting. Phil recommends it.