Sulzer- A Darker Shade of Magic

I hadn't been able to make it to the Sulzer SFF club in a while, but last week I was able to re-read and join them for a discussion of V.E. Schwabb's A Darker Shade of Magic (2015).

The first in a trilogy, the novel's main pull is its central conceit, which it sets up very quickly and adroitly: there are four worlds, which used to be connected by magical gates, and all of which have an important nexus: London. Following a kind of magical plague/invasion in one of the worlds, the gates are severed, and the Londons (and, presumably, worlds), develop into four different versions: Grey London, which seems to be our own (with the novel starting c.1820); rich & vibrant Red London, where magic is plentiful; White London, looking kind of post-apocalyptic and starved for magic; and finally Black London, an unknown and presumably uninhabited realm where magic destroyed everything.

The story follows Kell, a Red London "Antari" who can move between world, doing business for their royalty, and who is caught up in a White London plot to expand (using the power of a Black London artifact). Along the way, he meets our other protagonist, Grey London thief and adventurer Lila Bard.

This is a fast, enjoyable read, and we all dug it. Plenty of criticisms, too, but above all this is a fun read. Notes and possible spoilers below:

Sulzer SF/F- A Scanner Darkly

Why would they ever use any other
cover?

For the March meeting of the Sulzer Science Fiction & Fantasy Bookclub, we discussed Philip K. Dick's “A Scanner Darkly” (1977). Among his more surreal and...pharmacological works, “Scanner” follows an undercover narcotics agent as he attempts to find the source of “Substance D” even as he becomes increasingly addicted to, and damaged by, that very drug.

The group consensus was that this was a tough read. As the book progresses, it's increasingly non-linear and non-rational, with our unreliable narrator(s) having a hard time telling reality apart from hallucination. It's also just kind of grim and sad, and we thought that Dick's closing dedication—a long list of friends who were killed or damaged by drug use—explained much of the tone of the novel.

That said, we had a great discussion. Possible spoilers below!

Sulzer SF/F- Timeline

For the last meeting of the Sulzer SF/F Club, we discussed Michael Crichton's 1999 novel "Timeline".

A time travel adventure story, "Timeline" is pretty weird even for Crichton: a tech company that sorta-accidentally sorta-invents sorta-time-travel; naturally, they accidentally strand a history professor in 14th century France, and, naturally, the company's response is to send back his grad students (including one who, naturally, is fluent in multiple dead languages and proficient at period-appropriate combat techniques) to rescue him.

A great, meandering discussion ensued--we thought this feels a little rushed, even for Crichton, with some of the most intriguing bits of the book also the most confusing--there are a few major ideas and threads that he either forgot to cut or meant to develop. And, since this is time travel, we spent a lot of time just unravelling the mechanics and comparing it to other work. Spoilers below!

Sulzer SF/F: Dead Witch Walking

The Sulzer SF/F club's September pick was Kim Harrison's "Dead Witch Walking" (2004)

It's the first novel in the 13-book "Hollows" series, following the adventures of a supernatural bounty hunter/investigator. The other 12 books in the theories are are titled with references to Clint Eastwood films, leading us to speculate about Western (spaghetti, not hemisphere) influences.

"Dead Witch Walking" sets up the character of Rachel Morgan, witch and "runner" for a supernatural law enforcement agency, who quits to strike out on her own. Much of the novel deals with her evasion of assassins sent by her previous boss, as she tries to bring down a crime boss to settle the score with her old agency. It also sets up moderately large supporting cast, including her vampire & pixie partners.

We had a great discussion, though I must admit I had a really hard time with this book. Spoilers below!

Sulzer SF/F: The City & The City

The Sulzer SF/F club recently discussed China Miéville's "The City & The City" (2009).

My goodness, what a fine book: everyone should read it.

I should probably gush on Miéville just to get that out of the way: he's amazing; he's close to a genre unto himself. He's credited with starting (or at least being the center of) the "New Weird" movement, much as Gibson was/is for Cyberpunk. But Miéville jumps around too much to worry over-much about finding a genre for him--a few science fictional works, more in a kind of complicated fantasy/horror setting that inspired the "New Weird" moniker. What unites his work is brilliant language, a diverse array of influences, and keen (though rarely axe-grindy) political/social critique.

Sulzer SF/F: Curse of Chalion

At the last meeting of the Sulzer Science Fiction & Fantasy Book Club, we discussed Lois McMaster Bujold's "The Curse of Chalion" (2001). As usual, I have to open with my general anti-fantasy bias, but I found this really enjoyable. There are supernatural forces in "Chalion", and it is set in a pseudo-medieval pseudo-Europe, but it overcame these sizable handicaps (imho) and sucked me in. Good characterization, a little non-standard in plot, and with some interesting details and invention, particularly regarding the religious angle. Possible spoilers below!

Sulzer SF/F: Down and Out in the Magic Kingdom

 Went to a great discussion of Cory Doctorow's "Down and Out in the Magic Kingdom" (2003) at the Conrad Sulzer Science Fiction & Fantasy club last night. I've read some of Doctorow's other work, and I'm a frequent reader of Boing Boing (for which he is an editor and contributor), but this was my first time reading this particular novel. "Down and Out" is a kind of romp, mostly light-hearted but with some heavy ideas, through a post-scarcity, arguably post-human Disney World.

Doctorow is one of the leading voices in the fight for a smarter system of intellectual copyright and digital rights, by the way, and published this novel under a Creative Commons license that makes it freely available for download, as are many of his other works.

Most of the ideas we brought up got tossed around the table pretty evenly, and we referenced a lot of other works, so I'll try to list those in case anyone wants to look them up. Possible spoilers below!

Sulzer SF/F: “The Night Circus” by Erin Morgenstern

Consensus on this one was that we all really liked it! To learn more than that though, you're going to have to jump BEYOND THE SPOILER-VEIL.