Hello Folks,
Another good turnout for our latest meeting; but the reviews for our book, The
Quiet Invasion by Sarah Zettel, were decidedly mixed. Our next book is a large
tale of mystery and conflict on a vast scale on a planet where the environment
itself is alive and intelligent. We are reading Ventus by Karl Schroeder.
The next meeting of the Science Fiction club is on Thursday, June 11, 2015.
Place: Book Nook at:
http://conference321.com/masteradmin/room.asp?id=rs7867a2369e0e
Time: 9 PM Eastern, 8 PM Central, 7 PM Mountain, 6 PM Pacific, and 01:00 UTC.
Our book, Ventus, is available both from BARD and in Excellent quality from
Bookshare.
The link to the BARD version is at:
http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.nls/db.57168
And the Bookshare version is at:
https://www.bookshare.org/browse/book/940356
The NLS annotation reads:
Lady Calandria May arrives on Ventus to destroy an entity known as Armiger. She
needs the help of young Jordan Mason, who has visions linked to the god-like
"Winds" that rule the planet.
Here is the Bookshare Long Synopsis:
Young Jordan Mason, on the terraformed planet Ventus, has visions. Kidnapped by
Calandria May--a human from offworld sent to investigate the AIs (the Winds) of
Ventus--Jordan is desperate to find the meaning of his visions, desperate
enough to risk calling down the Winds that destroy technology to protect the
created environment, who descend and wreak havoc. As a result Jordan escapes
from Calandria and sets out to discover his destiny on his own. Calandria and
others, both human and AI, search for Jordan, who holds the key to catastrophe
or salvation. Ventus is an epic journey across a fascinating planet with a big
mystery--why have the Winds fallen silent?
Here are two very positive reviews taken from Amazon’s page for this book.
First, from Publishers Weekly:
Although Aurora Award-winner Schroeder is probably best known for his fantasy
fiction,
this novel, his first large-scale SF work, should greatly expand his reputation.
A thousand years ago, highly advanced artificial intelligences (AIs) called
Winds
terraformed the planet Ventus into a comfortable world for human settlementDbut
something
went wrong, and the Winds never relinquished control. Now they rule as gods,
using
their "mecha" creatures to squelch anything--or anyone--who creates imbalance
in their
perfectly groomed environment. Enter young Jordan Mason, whose visions show him
dreamlike
images of far-distant events that are somehow linked to the Winds. But Jordan
only
begins to realize the truth after he meets two off-worlders, the assassin
Calandria
and her partner, Axel. Jordan's visions link him to Armiger, a spy created by a
megalomaniac
AI called 3340. Though Calandria "destroyed" 3340, she fears Armiger carries the
seeds to resurrect the entity. Jordan's link offers the only hope of finding
Armiger,
but there are other forces at work as well. Civil war fomented by the Winds
threatens
to overthrow mad Queen Galas, the most egalitarian ruler in Ventus's history.
And
in a distant system called the Archipelago, Calandria's boss, a rival AI, is
sending
warships to decimate Ventus and insure 3340's demise--permanently. Canadian
Schroeder
handles his large cast of characters with impressive dexterity. Fans of the
high-tech
foundation and grand world-building of Iain M. Banks and Ken MacLeod will feel
right
at home here, as will anyone else who appreciates a challenging, original story.
Finally, from Booklist:
Jordan Mason of the planet Ventus comes from a long line of stoneworkers, and he
has a clear understanding of his place in his world. He is subservient to the
aristocracy,
who in turn bow to the Winds, who control the weather, plant and animal life,
and
human undertakings. Lately, Jordan has had troubling visions, in which his
immediate
surroundings are blotted out by a different sky and a different forest, and he
sees
through another man's eyes. One night, searching in the forest for his sister,
Jordan
meets captivating Calandria May, who says she can explain his visions if he will
help track Armiger, through whose eyes he has gazed. Armiger is a rogue
artificial
intelligence (AI), sent to Ventus to co-opt the Winds, which are also AIs, into
enslaving
humans and creating a powerful, ruthless world-mind. Through Armiger's eyes,
Jordan
sees how his interactions with an independent, tender peasant woman and a
fierce,
lonely queen are changing the AI's cold objectives. As Jordan and Calandria
close
in on Armiger, they see that the Winds are divided into pro-human and antihuman
camps.
Wondering whether he is on the right side, Jordan uses his visionary power to
speak
directly to the Winds. A final battle for Ventus brings human generals,
intelligent
moons, and a roving off-planet archaeologist onstage. Although strictly hard sf,
full of technology, Schroeder's novel is so rich in character and emotion that
it
feels like classic fantasy.
Come join us next month to talk about this extremely imaginative and thought
provoking book, which is not short on action, or anything else SF literature
related that you’re interested in.
Evan
