It sounds good to me also. I wonder if Bookshare has the trilogy in the collection. I think it may be in the NLS program but haven't made a concerted effort to find it. Regards, Kim. _____ From: EVAN REESE [mailto:mentat3@xxxxxxxxxxx] Sent: Saturday, March 13, 2010 8:19 AM To: bookshare-discuss@xxxxxxxxxxxxx Subject: [bookshare-discuss] Confluence Trilogy Nope, haven't read the Confluence trilogy. From what I've heard of it, though, it really does sound quite good. Evan ----- Original Message ----- From: Kim <mailto:kimfri11@xxxxxxxxxxx> Friedman To: bookshare-discuss@xxxxxxxxxxxxx Sent: Saturday, March 13, 2010 4:41 AM Subject: [bookshare-discuss] Re: Next Meeting of the Science Fiction Club, Thursday, April 8, 2010 Hi, Evan, I read an excerpt of this in Asimov's sf and I liked it better than William Barton's stuff. Are you familiar with Paul McAuley's Confluence trilogy or with Kim Newman. This last isn't a sf writer but I read a couple of stories by him in The Year's Best Fantasy and Horror. Other authors I've come to like are Andy Duncan and there was a fantasy story by Jay Lake I took a fancy to. Regards, Kim. _____ From: EVAN REESE [mailto:mentat3@xxxxxxxxxxx] Sent: Thursday, March 11, 2010 7:35 PM To: scifi@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx; bookshare-discuss@xxxxxxxxxxxxx; bksvol-discuss@xxxxxxxxxxxxx Subject: [bookshare-discuss] Next Meeting of the Science Fiction Club, Thursday, April 8, 2010 Hi All, A great time was had by all at this evening's meeting of the Science Fiction Club. Our next meeting will be on Thursday, April 8, 2010. Time: 9 PM Eastern, 8 Central, 7 Mountain, 6 Pacific. Place, Book Nook at: http://conference321.com/masteradmin/room.asp?id=rs7867a2369e0e This month, we're reading an ambitious first novel called: Singularity's Ring by Paul Melko Available for download from both Bookshare and BARD. The BARD link is: http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.nls/db.68913 The Bookshare link is at: http://www.bookshare.org/browse/book/93355?returnPath=L3NlYXJjaD9rZXl3b3JkPSZxdW90O3Npbmd1bGFyaXR5J3MgcmluZyZxdW90OyY%3D The book is listed as being of Excellent quality. Here are some synopses from Bookshare and Amazon. Bookshare Long Synopsis: The debut novel from an exciting new voice in SF about what happens after ninety percent of humanity leaves Earth. There is an artificial ring around the Earth and it is empty after the Singularity. Either all the millions of inhabitants are dead, or they have been transformed into energy beings beyond human perception. Earth's population was reduced by ninety percent. Human civilization on Earth is now recovering from this trauma and even has a vigorous space program. Apollo Papadopulos is in training to become the captain of the starship Consensus. Apollo is a unique individual in that he/she/it is not an individual at all, but five separate teenagers who form a new entity. Strom, Meda, Quant, Manuel, and Moira are a pod, as these kinds of personalities are called, genetically engineered to work as one and to be able to communicate non-verbally. As a rare quintet, much relies on the successful training of Apollo, but as more accidents occur, the pod members struggle just to survive. From Publishers Weekly This superior debut initially resembles a straightforward YA adventure but abruptly veers into much stranger territory. Various factions struggle for control of the Ring, a colossal space station built around Earth by engineers who turned most of humankind into a group mind called the Community, which promptly figured out how to access other realities and vanished from this one. The few remaining humans genetically engineer their children to form pods of individuals so closely bonded that they function as one person. After stumbling on secret research during a training exercise, the teenage pod called Apollo Papadopulos soon find themselves on the run from shadowy forces who want to seduce or kill them. The setting extends from Earth orbit to the Amazon jungle, and the action ranges from a tense space rescue to an almost idyllic trek through the Rockies with a family of genetically altered bears. Though some loose plot ends dangle a bit, the ingenious character development and startling images and ideas are deeply satisfying. From Booklist Earth is surrounded by an artificial ring, former home of the human-cybernetic Community, which vanished in the Singularity, years after which multiple person Apollo Popadopulos (a pod of five individuals) is one of several competitively training to captain the starship Consensus to search for the vanished preponderance of humanity. Training is arduous, and returning to Mother Redd�s farm to await assignment proves harder. Apollo meets Malcolm Leto, recently removed from stasis, who was once part of the Community. As Apollo falls victim to more and more accidents, and Leto schemes to bring back the Community, harsh truths come to light about Apollo�s origins and the bleak reality of the Community�s disappearance. Melko�s world is a fascinating one, in which single humans are increasingly rare, pods like Apollo are the norm, and the Singularity did not necessarily improve the human condition. This strong first novel boasts engaging characters and tight, fast-paced action sustained through some acrobatic plot stunts. --Regina Schroeder I read a piece of an early part of this novel in Asimov's a couple years ago, and I thought it was excellent. It still sticks in my memory, unlike most of what I read that far back. There's likely to be plenty of Sense of Wonder in this novel, something the Science Fiction genre is uniquely suited to provide. I hope lots of people will read and enjoy it, and come to talk about it at the next meeting. Evan __________ Information from ESET NOD32 Antivirus, version of virus signature database 4940 (20100312) __________ The message was checked by ESET NOD32 Antivirus. http://www.eset.com __________ Information from ESET NOD32 Antivirus, version of virus signature database 4940 (20100312) __________ The message was checked by ESET NOD32 Antivirus. http://www.eset.com