I am about a half hour from finishing this book. This will be a great discussion. Come on even if you've not read the book.
Original message:
Hello Folks,Our last meeting was another great one, including a very thoughtful discussion, inspired by our book, Empire by Orson Scott Card, which most of us liked. The next meeting of the Science Fiction club will be on Thursday, September 8, 2011.Time: 9 PM Eastern, 8 PM Central, 7 PM Mountain, 6 PM Pacific, and 01:00 UTC. Place: Book Nook at:http://conference321.com/masteradmin/room.asp?id=rs7867a2369e0e <http://conference321.com/masteradmin/room.asp?id=rs7867a2369e0e> This month, we'll be reading a tale of alien contact in a medieval German town, along with the story of the contemporary couple who uncover this mystery. Our book is Eifelheim by Michael Flynn.This one's available from both Bookshare and as a digital download from BARD. The Bookshare version is at:http://www.bookshare.org/browse/book/288996 <http://www.bookshare.org/browse/book/288996>and the link to the BARD version is at: http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.nls/db.66272 <http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.nls/db.66272>
Here's the NLS synopsis: Mathematical historian Tom Schwoerin becomes obsessed with Eifelheim, a medieval German town that mysteriously vanished during the plague. Tom uncovers evidence that fourteenth-century priest Pastor Dietrich encountered aliens--which validates interdimensional-travel theories posed by Tom's physicist lover, Sharon. Dietrich's tale unfolds alongside Tom's present-day investigations. Hugo Award nominee. Here's Bookshare's long synopsis:Over the centuries, one small town in Germany has disappeared and never been resettled. Tom, a historian, and his theoretical physicist girlfriend Sharon, become interested. By all logic, the town should have survived. What's so special about Eifelheim? Father Dietrich is the village priest of Eifelheim, in the year 1348, when the Black Death is gathering strength but is still not nearby. Dietrich is an educated man, and to his astonishment becomes the first contact person between humanity and an alien race from a distant star, when their ship crashes in the nearby forest. It is a time of wonders, in the shadow of the plague. Flynn gives us the full richness and strangeness of medieval life, as well as some terrific aliens. Tom and Sharon, and Father Deitrichhave a strange destiny of tragedy and triumph in this brilliant SF novel.Finally, here's another description from Booklist taken from Amazon's page for this book: In the fourteenth century, the Black Death ravaged Europe. Most towns decimated by it were eventually resettled, except for Eifelheim, despite its ideal location. Mathematical historian Tom discovers this anomaly and an unexpected connection to his domestic partner Sharon's research in theoretical physics, which seems to be leading to a method of interdimensional travel. In fact, as Eifelheim's priest back then, Father Dietrich, relates, before the plague's arrival, an interstellar ship crashed nearby. The encounters between its passengers and the people of Oberhochwald, as Eifelheim was first called, reflect the panoply of attitudes of the time, from fear of the foreign to love and charity for one's neighbors to the ideas of nascent natural philosophy (science), and the aliens' reactions are equally fascinating. Flynn credibly maintains the voice of a man whose worldview is based on concepts almost entirely foreign to the modern mind, and he makes a tense and thrilling story of historical researchout of the contemporary portions of the tale.This is one that will not be easily forgotten, so I hope lots of people will read it and come to talk about it with us next month.Evan _______________________________________________ Scifi mailing list Scifi@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx http://orthanc.jrw.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/scifi
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