Classic Sci-Fi- Stations of the Tide

For the June Classic Sci-Fi Meetup, we discussed Stations of the Tide (1991) by Michael Swanwick.

The Nebula-award winning novel is a bit difficult to categorize: set on a planet about inundated by massive floods, it follows a nameless bureaucrat as he attempts to recover some stolen technology. There's lots of magic (maybe), as well as chemically/spiritually/virtually altered reality, AI questions, and shape-shifting aliens.

This is a novel that is near and dear to my heart, and I always jump at the chance to hear what people think about it. At Classic, we had decidedly mixed feelings, some really liking it, others really not connecting with it—we generally agreed that it's both really quite weird and extremely well-written, however. Brief notes below!

Classic Sci-Fi- I, Robot

For the last Classic Sci-Fi Meetup, we discussed I, Robot (1950) by Isaac Asimov.

One of the most classic works we've read in a while, I, Robot is a fix-up novel stitching together nine of Asimov's robot-focused short stories, with a fairly flimsy frame story of a journalist interviewing robopsychologist Susan Calvin about the development of robotic technology over the decades. It's most famous for introducing the 3 Laws of Robotics.

Easily the most well-attended Classic Sci-Fi meeting I've been to! Brief dsicussion notes below.

Classic Sci-Fi- Holy Fire

For the April meeting of Classic Sci-Fi, we read Holy Fire (1996) by Bruce Sterling.

Coming out of the cyberpunk tradition, Holy Fire is a near-future tale in which medical technology and questions of posthumanism loom large. Our protagonist, a woman in her nineties, undergoes an experimental rejuvenation technique and promptly starts wandering around Europe, spending time with an odd assortment of young anarchists & theorists, fashionistas and artists.

Brief notes and possible spoilers below:

Classic Sci-Fi- Dune

For the February convocation of the Classic Sci-Fi Meetup, we discussed Frank Herbert's Dune (1965), one of the classicy-est of the classics.

Widely adapted and expanded on—films, games, sequels and spin-off novels—the original Dune is certainly a landmark. Set in a far-distant future, the novel is essentially a revenge story with a great deal of political, mystical, and ecological ideas.

Notes and probable spoilers below:

Classic Sci-Fi- The Drowned World

For September's Classic Sci-Fi Meetup, we discussed "The Drowned World" (1962) by J. G. Ballard.

Set in a future where the world has been radically transformed by increased solar radiation and things seem to be reverting to a dinosaur-era biome, "The Drowned World" follows a small cast of characters attempting to survive and perhaps adapt themselves to these new conditions.

An easy read, a deeply problematic book, a good discussion. Possible spoilers below!

Classic Sci-Fi Meetup- Children of Men

For the last meeting of the Classic Sci-Fi Meetup, we read and discussed "Children of Men" (1992) by P.D. James. More known for her crime and mystery novels, James' foray into science fiction has become more known since Alfonso Cuarón's 2006 film adaption, which is a pretty big departure in terms of tone and theme, while still hewing to the basic thrust of the novel.

"Children of Men" is set in a kind of slow apocalypse. For unknown reasons, the human race has become infertile, and thus the entire population is aging and looking towards their eventual extinction. Set in England, it follows our mild-mannered protagonist as he is drawn into a kind of bumbling revolutionary conspiracy with an unexpected secret. Spoilers below!

Classic Sci-Fi- Roadside Picnic

For the March Classic Sci-Fi Meetup, we discussed Arkady & Boris Strugatsky's 1971 novel "Roadside Picnic".

I had this pretty fresh in my mind from Weird & Wonderful's discussion. It also helped our discussion that many of us had been present for Classic Sci-Fi's discussion of "Solaris" last year: Lem's novel has many resonances with this one. We also talked about "Roadside Picnic" in comparison to its film and video game adaptations.

To recap, if you're unfamiliar with the novel: a mysterious alien force briefly visits Earth, leaving behind several "zones" full of impossible-to-understand artifacts, physics-defying and often lethal abnormalities, and a wide range of strange phenomena among people who lived in or visit the Zone. Governments nominally control the Zones, but there is a brisk trade in artifacts harvested by "stalkers" who sneak in.

More discussion below:

Classic Sci-Fi Meetup- Beggars in Spain

For January's convocation of the Classic Sci-Fi Book Group, we discussed "Beggars in Spain", the 1993 novel by Nancy Kress (expanded from the novella of the same name).

"Beggars" takes place over about a hundred years, and follows the societal changes arising from genetic engineering of the human race. The biggest split comes to be between baseline humans and "Sleepless", the latter of whom have a complicated hack that allows them to live without ever needing to sleep. Besides the extra productivity this affords them, they have many other direct and indirect advantages over baseline humanity--most of them come from the upper class, who also paid to have their children's bodies and minds improved, and it also turns out that the Sleepless modification has unexpected side effects including lack of mental disease and extreme longevity.

While the surface tension in the book is thus of the hatred engendered by a superior minority, the deeper themes are sociopolitical, revolving around an Ayn Rand-like philosophy and a more communitarian one. An unusually good book to discuss. Spoilers below:

Classic Sci-Fi: Doomsday Book

I was fortunate enough to acquire
this absolutely hideous version
of the cover. The back features
a dayglo skyline, floating
organic chemistry equations, and,
for some reason, tiny blue
space shuttles.

For November's meeting of the Classic Science Fiction Meetup, we read Connie Willis's 1992 novel "Doomsday Book". Part of her loose time travel series, "Doomsday Book" follows two storylines: that of a time-traveling historian in 14th-century England as the Black Death hits, and her mentor and other figures at Oxford in the 2050s as they, too, are hit with a dangerous pandemic.

The novel won both the Hugo & the Nebula (Willis is one of the most-awarded of SF authors), perhaps because of (or in spite of) its departure from genre standards. Domesticity and inter-personal relations are forefronted, while the technological side is quite subdued. Kivrin's travel thus reads as fairly straight historical fiction, while Dunworthy's near-future tale is more of a bureaucratic-satire-cum-pandemic-thiller.

We very much liked the novel, with one major critique: half as long would have been twice as good. Particularly in the first two-thirds or so, there's a lot of, well, not a lot, and then the pace and tone change radically around page 400 or so. I definitely wouldn't have made it to that shift were it not for book club--which would have been a shame.

Possible spoilers below!

Classic Sci-Fi: The Forever War

Starting October right off with Joe Haldeman's 1974 novel "The Forever War", an appropriately classic selection for the Classic Sci-Fi Meetup.

"The Forever War" is told from the perspective of William Mandella, a conscript in the titular war who winds up being one of the very few to live through it from beginning to end. The war is being fought against an alien race, the Taurans, at far-flung locations around the galaxy (and at least one outside it); time dilation effects mean that each wave of combatants wind up temporally separated from the rest of the war (and the rest of society) for tens or hundreds of years at a time.

It's a Hugo and Nebula winner, seen by many as a challenge to Heinlein's pro-military "Starship Troopers" (1959), and a reflection on/of the Vietnam War.

There may be spoilers below!

Classic Sci-Fi: The Intuitionist

The Classic Sci-Fi Book Group tried out a new location for September: Mystic Celt, where we were able to have a bit more room. Quite nice, and it looks like we'll be returning. We met to discuss Colson Whitehead's first novel, "The Intuitionist" (1999).

"The Intuitionist" is set in a slightly-alternate America; the time isn't explicit, but it feels roughly 1950s-ish: post-war, but pre-Civil Rights Movement. The most notable alterity here is the importance and public recognition of elevators and elevator inspectors. Our protagonist, Lila Mae Watson, is the first woman and only second black person (the novel primarily uses "colored") to become an elevator inspector; furthermore, she is an Intuitionist, one of a small but increasingly influential faction of inspectors who "intuit" the status of elevators just by riding in them, rather than the traditionally-inspecting Empiricists. After a high-profile accident of an elevator Lila recently declared safe, she is drawn into a mystery circling around guild politics and the enigmatic founder of the Intutionists, who may have left behind plans for a radically more perfect elevator.

Possible spoilers below!

Classic Sci-Fi: Woman on the Edge of Time

The era of the Mad River Grille meetings of the Classic Sci-Fi Meetup appears to have passed--another private event forced us to relocate again, this time just a building or two over to Vaughan's Pub, and we'll be trying out a new (hopefully good, long-lasting location) next time.

Still, a lovely patio on a Chicago summer, and a nice discussion of Marge Piercy's "Woman on the Edge of Time" (1976): definitely a bit of classic SF, this one particularly in the feminist SF tradition of the 60s/70s, often mentioned alongside work by Le Guin, Russ, or Atwood. The novel follows Consuelo Ramos, a woman who is (seemingly wrongfully) placed in a mental institution, and who is having (seemingly real, albeit psychic) visits to and from the future.

A couple points that we all agreed on: this is a hard book to read. Partially because it takes a while to really pick up, partially because it is about 30% utopia with attendant infodump-itis, but primarily because, emotionally, it's grim. Connie's experience being held against her will, misdiagnosed as an act of oppression, and the way that sexism, racism, and classism are magnified by being institutionalized all make for a rough read.

Classic Sci-Fi: The Time Machine

For July's convocation of the Classic Sci-Fi Meetup, we went about as classic as one can get in the genre: H.G. Wells' "The Time Machine", first published in 1895. Wells, along with Jules Verne, is widely credited with essentially beginning the genre we call science fiction, and works such as "The Time Machine" are now cultural touchstones, frequently referenced and re-adapted.

We had to move locations, as our usual spot--Mad River Bar & Grille--was having a private event. We wound up at Pick-Me-Up Cafe, and we are discussing moving the regular meeting place to a different venue.

We started out admiring an illustrated edition that Michael had found at Half Price Books, featuring a kind of Basil Rathbone-y traveller. That led us into a discussion of the success and business model of Half Price Books and other used/independent bookshops. Something I'm sort of hopeful about is the way that independents are actually surviving now, in the era of the big box chains closing--a case of finding different economic niche, analogous to the way record shops have survived the post-Napster/iTunes collapse of big media retail chains (see what I did there? Analog? Eh?)

Classic Sci-Fi Meetup: Foreigner

Whence the pointy ears, Whelan?

For the last convocation of the Classic Sci-Fi Meetup, we discussed C.J. Cherryh's 1994 novel "Foreigner", which is the first of an on-going series. Cherryh had come up as a potential Classic read, and I pushed for Foreigner as a better introduction than her big award-winners, "Downbelow Station" (1981) and "Cyteen" (1988).

Cards on the table: I adore Cherryh's work; I've written and presented critically on it, and I continue to revisit and re-read much of her body of work. So I tried very hard not to jump to "Foreigner"'s defense at every moment--besides wanting to share what I think is an excellent and appropriately classic/influential novel, I also genuinely wanted to hear what other people thought on reading it for the first time. Cherryh isn't quite an author that "you love or you hate", but she perhaps is an author "you become obsessed with, or perhaps it just doesn't click". Which perhaps explains her status within the SF community--award-winning, prolific, best-selling, but one also encounters a lot of serious SF fans who have never heard of her, or didn't finish the one book of hers they've started (often "Cyteen" or "Downbelow Station").

Good discussion, lots of criticism, lots of tangents & recommended works, and possibly SPOILERS BELOW:

Classic Sci-Fi Meetup: Solaris

Stanislaw Lem's 1961 novel “Solaris” is probably his most well-known work, having been adapted multiple times—most notably the Tarkovsky (1972) and Soderberg (2002) film adaptions. It's a pretty influential work, and thus a pretty good selection for the Chicago Classic Sci-Fi Meetup.

I think Solaris is an important book to read in terms of the history and ideas of science fiction, although user enjoyment may vary—a number of folks at the meeting expressed the idea that they “enjoyed having read it more than they enjoyed reading it”, which is perhaps fair. I've found the work kind of haunting, though, and I've returned to it quite a few times over the years—so I wouldn't want you to think that everyone will find this tough going.

The novel is set in a distant, space-faring future. One planet—Solaris—has evaded human comprehension for many decades. It's covered in an ocean—possibly one superorganism—that creates strange and inexplicable constructions, and can change basic physical constants (altering the planet's gravity to maintain a stable orbit in its binary system, for instance). Our story begins when our narrator—a psychologist—arrives at the main research station hovering over the planet, to find that a whole new class of phenomena has begun—“manifestation” of people seemingly pulled from the researchers' minds. Possible spoilers below!

Classic SF Meetup: Kindred

I can't often attend the Classic SF Meetup, as it's usually scheduled for the same time as Think Galactic. (And the Forest Park Speculative Fiction group. And the Suburban Fantasy Meetup. 2nd Thursdays are over-booked!)

However, once in a while the schedules diverge, as happened last week, so I got to attend the discussion of Octavia Butler's 1979 novel "Kindred". Possible spoilers below!