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On Wed, Jun 10, 2015 at 11:47 PM, Lelia <leliastruve@xxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
Well it's that time again, time to join us for our next science-fiction
meeting tomorrow. Check out the information below. Even if you didn't read
the book come on in and discuss science fiction.
Lelia
Sent from my iPhone
On May 15, 2015, at 8:07 PM, Evan Reese <mentat1@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
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
