Podcast #4- The Hugo Novels

Our new podcast is live, just in time for us to load our bikes up and head to Wiscon! This episode, we talk about some more science fiction & fantasy theater in Chicago, then launch into a brief discussion of all 6 Hugo novels on the 2017 shortlist.

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• 0- Introduction & What We've Been Reading (Hugo Nominations & C.J. Cherryh's Rimrunners)
• 4:00- Upcoming Events
• 6:18- What we're looking forward to at Wiscon & BikeCon
• 10:55- Theatrical Discussion: Lifeline's A Wrinkle in Time, Edge of Orion's Illyria, and a bit more discussion of New Millennium's The Incredible Hank and Otherworld's The Rogue Aviator
• 16:27- Hugo overview & voting mechanics
• 20:51- Novel discussion!
• Ada Palmer's Too Like The Lightning
• N.K. Jemisin's The Obelisk Gate
• Cixin Liu's Death's End
• Charlie Jane Ander's All the Birds in the Sky
• Becky Chamber's A Closed and Common Orbit
• Yoon Ha Lee's Ninefox Gambit
• 43:51- Overall Hugo thoughts
• 53:52- Credits

(Extended show notes after we return from Wiscon!)

Thanks to our events reader this episode, Chelsea Fiddyment from Unreal.

Our music is provided by Pelafina. Check them out on Facebook and Bandcamp!

Hope you like the show! Questions, comments? Sound off in the comments, or drop us a line at positronchicago@gmail.com.

Think Galactic- The Fifth Season

For our first post-Wiscon gathering, Think Galactic once more filed into the Upper Chambers of Myopic, this time to discuss N.K. Jemisin's "The Fifth Season".

Jemisin's novel has been getting a lot of well-deserved recognition (shortlisted for the Nebula & Hugo awards, among others). It's set on a world beset by cycles of cataclysmic natural events, where humanity has only survived by a combination of "prepper" culture and the magical abilities of "orogenes", who can control seismic events. Through three different storylines, "The Fifth Season" explores this world and the way the orogenes have been oppressed. Spoilers below!

Chicago Nerds- The Fifth Season

For April's book club discussion, the Chicago Nerd Social Club read "The Fifth Season" (2015), the latest by N.K. Jemisin. And we really liked it!

The novel takes place on a planet wracked by periodic geological upheavals; human civilization only survives through a combination of disaster-preparation & rigid codes, known as "stonelore", as well as the intervention of "orogenes", a small minority of humans with the ability to sense and control seismic phenomena. Despite this rather obviously advantageous ability, "roggas" are hated and feared by the general population, and typically killed if they are not trained and licensed by a government body, the Fulcrum.

"The Fifth Season" follows three different viewpoints: Essun, a covert orogene attempting to find her daughter after her husband murders their other child; Damaya, a young orogene being trained by the Fulcrum; and Syenite, sent to train under a powerful senior orogene, who winds up having a pretty far-ranging adventure.

There's also lots of much weirder stuff going on: a possibly sentient-and-malicious Father Earth, some kind of intelligent stone-based life-form, sometimes-functional remnants of some high-tech civilizations, and, no spoiler, it's the first sentence: the end of the world. (Not to be confused with last month's Weird & Wonderful selection). Definitely some other major spoilers below, though: