[bksvol-discuss] Next Meeting of the Science Fiction Club, Thursday, November 6, 2014

From: "Evan Reese" <mentat1@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
To: <bksvol-discuss@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>, <bookshare-discuss@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>, "Bob Acosta" <boacosta@xxxxxxxxxxx>, <sfclub@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Date: Fri, 10 Oct 2014 17:48:49 -0400
        Hello Folks,
A pretty good showing at our most recent meeting. Mixed reviews of our book, 
The Martian,, with  the majority liking the book, but a substantial minority 
either liking it with serious caveats, or not at all.

The next meeting of the Science Fiction club will be on Thursday, November 6 
2014. Please note, because of the Fall Classic on November 13, we are breaking 
our usual second Thursday of the month routine for this month. We will return 
to our usual meeting date in December.

Time: 9 PM Eastern, 8 PM Central, 7 PM Mountain, 6 PM Pacific, and 00:00 UTC.

Place: Book Nook at:

http://conference321.com/masteradmin/room.asp?id=rs7867a2369e0e

Our book, 2312, is available from Bookshare in publisher quality, and from BARD.

The BARD version is at:

http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.nls/db.74887

and the Bookshare version is at:

https://www.bookshare.org/browse/book/836331

Here is the NLS annotation:

Mercury, 2312. After Swan Er Hong's beloved
grandmother Alex dies, Swan wants time to grieve. Instead,
she is thrust into an interplanetary investigation about what
Alex's research of Earth may have uncovered--and if her death
was really of natural causes.

Here is the Bookshare Long Synopsis from the publisher:

The year is 2312. Scientific and technological advances have opened gateways to
an extraordinary future. Earth is no longer humanity's only home; new habitats 
have
been created throughout the solar system on moons, planets, and in between. But 
in
this year, 2312, a sequence of events will force humanity to confront its past, 
its
present, and its future.The first event takes place on Mercury, on the city of 
Terminator,
itself a miracle of engineering on an unprecedented scale. It is an unexpected 
death,
but one that might have been foreseen. For Swan Er Hong, it is an event that 
will
change her life. Swan was once a woman who designed worlds. Now she will be led 
into
a plot to destroy them.

Finally, here’s a review that a lot of people found helpful from Amazon:

A Review for the Haves, and the Have Nots, June 6, 2012
By Daniel Murphy "Dan Murphy"
This review is from: 2312 (Hardcover)
Two separate reviews in one, here: one for people that have read Kim Stanley 
Robinson
(KSR) before, and one for those who have not.
Review 1: For those that have read and enjoyed KSR in the past (e.g. veterans of
the massive Red Mars, Blue Mars, Green Mars trilogy), the message is simple.  
Get
your hands on this book, kick back, and enjoy.  KSR is at his terraforming best 
here;
the Solar System a fabulous playground for the relentless expansion of Earth's 
most
potent primate species.  If you liked what KSR did with Mars, you'll find what 
he
does with the rest of the Solar System breathtaking.  And, you'll get, almost as
an afterthought, a plot involving the elements of murder mystery, romance, 
political
intrigue, and thriller all in one.  2312, in several senses, outdoes the Mars 
Trilogy,
and builds on it.  There is not a trace of succinctness in the entire book.  
But,
fan, you already knew that about KSR.
Review 2:  Never read KSR?  KSR is a must read, if you think of yourself as a 
sci-fi
buff.  Not doing so would be like claiming to be a fan of English literature, 
but
not having read Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice (or if length is a criteria, 
George
Eliot's Mill on the Floss).  And if you're going to read KSR, 2312 is a 
wonderful
place to start.
KSR writes hard sci-fi.  Virtually nothing included in this deeply imaginative 
exploration
of what mankind's expansion throughout our solar system might look like by 2312,
is without scientific foundation.  KSR is a modern day polymath, with a 
knowledge
base that is spectacularly broad, and not lacking in depth.  What you'll be 
treated
to in 2312 is page after page (after page, after page, after page) of KSR's 
informed
and spectacularly innovative vision of where the marriage of technology and the 
human
genome is headed.  And if such speculation fascinates you, stop right here and 
order
the book:  if anyone does it better than KSR, I haven't yet encountered them.
Plot?  Ah.  You're one of those:  you want a STORY along with the spectacularly 
high-tech
scaffolding.  Hmm.  Well, there IS a story here.  And a good one.  One that 
could
have been related in about one third of the 576 pages in this book.  There is a 
romance,
and a mystery, and an AI thriller that triggers recall of Asimov's I Robot.  KSR
is an excellent writer, and his opening scene of going for a walk on Mercury as 
the
terrifying, searing light of the oh-so-close Sun creeps over the horizon is flat
out astounding.  But plot is not his predominant strength, providing in this 
book
just enough cohesion to graft KSR's stunningly visionary prognostications 
together.
I liked the plot.  Enjoyed it thoroughly.  But if plot is your most-prized 
quality
for choosing a sci-fi novel, on the stellar scale, think white dwarf rather than
supernova here:  it sheds light, but won't vaporize you with its intensity.
Overall?  KSR fan:  do it.  You won't regret it.  KSR on steroids.  New KSR 
reader:
great place to start, and if you're a sci-fi reader, you most definitely owe 
yourself
a KSR novel at least once in life.

Join us next month to talk about this one.

Evan
[bksvol-discuss] Next Meeting of the Science Fiction Club, Thursday, November 6, 2014

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