"Ring Shout" by P. Djèlí Clark

A powerful and spooky novella that's a delight to read, Ring Shout is a darkly fantastic alt-history—a community fighting literal demons in the Klu Klux Klan. Narrator Maryse Boudreaux hunts these monsters with the help of a magic sword, ethereal advisors, and two other talented Black women, and soon discovers that the dark magic under the white hoods is evolving in dangerous ways. It's a fast but fairly intricate novella, doing a really good job of fleshing out its world and characters while propelling the story forward.

"The Empress of Salt and Fortune" by Nghi Vo

A lovely and well-constructed novella, The Empress of Salt and Fortune follows a kind of archivist monk as they catalog the contents of the former residence of the titular empress. The surface story is very gentle and quiet, with Cleric Chih and their assistant, a magical bird, recording objects and learning more about them from Rabbit, an elderly servant.

The story they learn along the way, though—a deeper history of how the empress In-yo orchestrated a coup from her exile, and the secrets from that struggle that Rabbit has kept for decades—is an empire-spanning story of intrigue, deception, and violence, so it's fascinating to see it filtered in this very anthropological way. Each chapter starts with Chih describing objects of a different room, and then recording the oral history that they evoke from Rabbit.

"Unholy Land" by Lavie Tidhar

This is a fun read! Alternate histories colliding, based around multiple potential states of the nation of Israel, with some clever meta-narrative and voice tricks going on. Quite rarely, for me, I found myself wishing it was longer.

Our protagonist, Lior Tirosh, is flying home to "Palestina", the Jewish nation established, in this timeline, in early 20th-century Africa (our Uganda). For reasons not immediately clear, Tirosh is experiencing a kind of slippage between worlds, half-remembering other histories. In Palestina, an old acquaintance turns up dead in his hotel room, catching Tirosh up in a conspiratorial tangle of nationalism, terrorism, and some kind of transdimensional plot.

I'm a sucker for a little bit of meta done right, and, if anything, I could do with more here. Tirosh has written or considered writing books with the same names and themes as Tidhar; one can't help but wonder if his very name, Lior, is a pun. That aside, one of my favorite elements of Unholy Land is the occasional jump through alternate worlds, where we catch glimpses of our history, Tidhar's fiction, and even stranger worlds—including scenes from Lovecraft's mythos.

I really love the way that Tidhar's play with multiple alternate histories allows him to punch up the "what if"—his nation of Palestina is tantalizingly close to our timeline, based on actual consideration of establishing a Jewish state in Uganda. Not content with the idea of thus preventing the Holocaust, Tidhar tosses around timelines that seem even worse, or at any rate radically different, and in all the worlds we visit focuses our attention on the xenophobic and even genocidal force that the Promised Land, no matter where situated, might prove to be. Investigator Bloom, the Palestinan intelligence agent following Tirosh, displays a callous violence that is explained, if not excused, in the terrifying reasoning that "they're not my people"; we're left with little doubt that the wall being constructed around Palestina is far more about ideological separation than any effective defense. It's a fairly biting critique of Israel's relationship with Palestine, albeit couched in a plausibly-deniable fantasy that would do the Strugatskys proud.

"Friday Black" by Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah

Adjei-Brenyah is a name I'll be watching for. This collection is intense: filled with violence, racism, death, and magic. These stories are heavy. But, thanks to Adjei-Brenyah's writing, they're light on their feet, lively and passionate, tinged with dark humor, and rich with detail and empathy that stop most of them short of despair.

There's really not a weak story here; they often feel worth reading on the sheer brashness of their Kilgore Trout-ish premises, but the writing is strong even in the quieter stories. Fantastic, science fictional, and magical realist techniques flesh out ideas and characters that are almost uncomfortably, clearly drawn from present reality.

"The Finkelstein 5", the opening story, launches the collection at full strength. In the wake of a brutal chainsaw-murder of five young black people by a white man who goes free, spontaneous incidences of black-on-white violence erupt while the victims' names are ritually spoken. Both a parody of miscarriages of justice and frighteningly plausible, there's both horror and a kind of bleak, surreal humor in the coverage of the trial. The narrator's storyline captures the confusion and pain around the double violence of the attack and acquittal, and his ability to "dial" his blackness up or down in a quantified way.

Maria Dhavana Headley talk @ North Western

author photo by Beowulf Sheenan,

no really that's his name, I checked

This last Wednesday, I was lucky enough to catch Maria Dhavana Headley in a talk at North Western with Dr. Barbara Newman. Part of One Book One Northwestern (they're doing Atwood's The Handmaid's Tale), Headley and Newman talked about The Mere Wife, Headley's recent novel. A modern, feminist take on Beowulf, The Mere Wife was one of my favorite reads of last year. Dream-like, nightmare-like, lyrical: highly recommended.

After some introductory remarks by Juan Martinez, they jumped into a discussion of The Mere Wife, Beowulf, and Headley's forthcoming translation. Brief notes below! Possible spoilers! Good ideas theirs, errors mine:

• Barbara Newman: Gives a brief summary of Beowulf. Talks about the play on "mere" in Headley's novel, asks about what led her to write this.
• Maria Dhavana Headley: First ideas for this novel came from reading, and not being impressed with, Richard Yates' Revolutionary Road. Being from rural Idaho, suburban/commuter vision of America didn't click, and unimpressed with vision of women characters as wholly subservient to male interests. Had encountered Grendel's mother before encountering Beowulf--in a kid's bestiary kind of thing. When she did read Beowulf, intrigued by women's role as peaceweavers. I thought about all the times in women's lives that we're asked to "do it nicely", and thought about women supporting Trump in the 2016 election, signing up to support their own oppression. "Mere" wife as both "water wife" of Grendel's mother, and "little wife" of "unimportant" women, wanted to write about them both as important.

"House of Shattered Wings" by Aliette de Bodard

I didn't quite connect with this novel, and I'm kind of scratching my head as to why not. On a sentence-level, I like the writing, the premise is grabbing enough (fallen angels in interwar Paris), and I've generally quite liked De Bodard's SF.

The novel doesn't quite do enough world-building for me: I'm not clear on how "alternate" this Paris/Earth is, and I'm not familiar enough with the time & place to fill in the details. The plot had kind of random-feeling jags and loose ends, and none of the primary characters had much relationship.

Also, did astonishingly little with the theological or mythological--given that both seemingly-modern Christianity and actual walking talking angels coexist (including Lucifer), that seems an odd oversight at best.

"The Graveyard Book" by Neil Gaiman

This is a really delightful book, would recommend for any age.

Gaiman always strikes me as a bit of a balance: always clever, inventive, sometimes a bit cute, sometimes a bit gothy (for lack of a better way to put that), always a bit meta-interested in story, and I sometimes feel like he's about 2 degrees of tilt from going too far in any of those directions.

This is one is perfect.

Charming, but not cloying. Surprising, without feeling like it was manipulated to be so. Gaiman's core story and characters here are deft and natural-feeling, enough so that he can quietly insert some jokes (like the classic mummy/vampire/werewolf mashup, or the Jacks) without abrading the reader. The detail-work here is delightful, setting up a whole atmosphere of calm, shot through with vivid little snippets and a kind of horrific-comic tone, or comic-horrific, that might be Gaiman's signature move: in anyone else's hands it would collapse into Burton-esque vaudeville, but here the innocence of the protagonist, and the general plain goodness that surrounds him, allows us to run into murderers and monsters, ghouls and night-gaunts, in a way that keeps the horror, delighting fantasy, and quiet humor running simultaneously.

Think Galactic- The Traitor Baru Cormorant

For the July meeting of Think Galactic, we discussed The Traitor Baru Cormorant by Seth Dickinson. This is a book I've been raving about for a bit, and it was great to get some Think Galactic analysis.

Set in a fantasy world a bit more complicated than the usual pseudo-medieval setting, Baru is a tale of empire and the attempt to break free of it. The titular character is a woman from a small island culture that is crushed by the Empire of Masks; she sets her sights on changing (or betraying) it from within, as her savant status allows her to rise within their ranks. She's sidelined to a norther province, however, where she becomes embroiled in their own nascent rebellion.

We had some great arguments about this one. Brief notes and possible spoilers below:

Think Galactic- All the Birds in the Sky

For the June meeting of Think Galactic, we discussed All the Birds in the Sky by Charlie Jane Anders. The much-lauded novel (it's on a serious awards streak) follows two characters from childhood through early adulthood, as they find themselves on opposite sides of a magic vs. technology war in a very near future.

Brief notes and possible spoilers below:

Think Galactic- Kelly Sue DeConnick & Amal El-Mohtar

For the May meeting of Think Galactic, we read selections from the Guests of Honor at the upcoming Wiscon: Kelly Sue DeConnick and Amal El-Mohtar. For DeConnick, we read Bitch Planet, and for El-Mohtar we read a selection of short stories and poems.

Think Galactic's original formation was inspired by Wiscon, and there's usually a good number of us in attendance, and these two creators have a lot of interesting work.

Brief notes and discussion below:

Quick Thoughts on "Illyria: A Shakespearean Fantasy"

Just got back from the first night of Illyria: A Shakespearean Fantasy, produced by EDGE theatre.

This was so much fun! I fear I can't put together a particularly coherent review at this hour, but it's such a limited run that I wanted to get down some impressions and encourage you to check it out.

Structured primarily around Twelfth Night (shipwrecked separated twins, cross-dressing shenanigans), Illyria also draws on A Midsummer Night's Dream (rom-com escapades in fairy-controlled woods) and The Tempest (magic & supernatural beings). Illyria plays up the fantastic elements to good effect and, perhaps more impressively, strips downs and blends some fairly tangled plots—the resulting script is lively and more consistently humorous than many straight adaptations of Shakespearean comedies I have seen, while maintaining the kind of multi-thread madcap quality that makes his comedies so enduring.

Think Galactic- A Taste of Honey

For the April meeting of Think Galactic, we discussed A Taste of Honey by Kai Ashante Wilson.

Set in the same sci-fantasy world as Wilson's Sorcerer of the Wildeeps, the novella follows a young man, minor nobility in the kingdom of Olorumi, as he has an affair with a soldier from a distant land. These chapters alternate with scenes from Aqib's life years and decades later, as he lives out a very different life than he would have had if he'd fled with his lover.

We generally quite liked this! Brief notes and possible spoilers below:

Weird & Wonderful- Magic for Beginners

For the April meeting of City Lit Books' Weird & Wonderful book club, we discussed Magic for Beginners by Kelly Link.

The collection showcases Link's ability to draw on a host of genre techniques—most of these stories feel like they belong somewhere on a spectrum of horror-fantasy-surrealism—while also creating affecting human characters. "Kinda ghost-story-like" and "demented YA" were two terms we used.

As frequently and fruitfully happens at Weird & Wonderful, mixed opinions on this one! Brief notes below:

Weird & Wonderful- A Taste of Honey

Another T. Sean Steele poster

For the February meeting of City Lit Books Weird & Wonderful club, we discussed Kai Ashante Wilson's 2016 novella A Taste of Honey.

Set in the same world as Wilson's The Sorcerer of the Wildeeps (2015), A Taste of Honey is a kind of interrupted romance—chapters alternate between the 10-day affair of Aqib & Lucrio and the 7 decades of Aqib's life afterwards. There's magic here, gods and strange technologies, but the story focuses entirely on relationships.

Interesting discussion and unusually mixed reviews. Notes and possible spoilers below:

Think Galactic- Uprooted

For the February meeting of Think Galactic, we discussed Naomi Novik's 2015 novel Uprooted. The Nebula-winning story is a kind of classic fantasy with much inspiration from Polish fairy tales, following a young witch as she learns about magic and tries to fight off an evil Wood that's creeping over her land.

We really quite liked it, and had a top-notch discussion. Brief notes and possible spoilers below:

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:

Think Galactic- Sisters of the Revolution

For December's meeting of Think Galactic, we discussed selections from Sister of the Revolution (2015), edited by Ann & Jeff VanderMeer.

As usual, when we discuss an anthology, we had a handful of stories that we focused on, a few bonus stories, and then of course a few of us read more/all of the collection, as well. Brief notes and possible spoilers below:

Chicago Nerds- The Dream-Quest of Vellitt Boe

For the November meeting of the Chicago Nerd Social Club, we discussed The Dream-Quest of Vellitt Boe (2016) by Kij Johnson.

The short novel takes place within one of H.P. Lovecraft's worlds, The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath (1927, pub. 1943), and includes some crossover characters. Possible spoilers below:

Review- A Taste of Honey

Despite working in the difficult and often-overlooked novella length, Kai Ashante Wilson has been stirring up increasing excitement and praise from the top tiers of writers, editors, and readers. Last year's The Sorcerer of the Wildeeps blew readers people away with its inventiveness and energy, and A Taste of Honey is an even greater achievement.

Set in the same world as Wildeeps, A Taste of Honey follows a young man of privilege who falls in love with a foreign soldier. Alternating chapters between the ten days of their frenetic romance and slices of Aqib's life years and decades afterwards, Wilson packs an astonishing amount of character and relationship into this slim volume, while also masterfully sketching the outline of a fantastic and magic-filled world. The world-building is delightful, the structure and plotting excellent, the characters immediately resonant, but what sticks with me most from A Taste of Honey is Wilson's use of language, both narratively—where he moves from invisibly descriptive to concisely insightful—and in his dialog, which captures an energy and a believable complexity almost unmatched in fantasy.

I'm going to do my best to avoid spoilers, but this is a pretty short work. Caution advised below if spoilers worry you:

Chicago Feminism- Howl's Moving Castle

For the October meeting of the Chicago Feminism Book Club, we discussed "Howl's Moving Castle" (1986) by Dianna Wynne Jones.

An acclaimed, film-adapted, and quietly influential YA book, "Howl" follows the tale of Sophie, eldest of three sisters, who is placed under a curse and seeks out the infamous wizard and his moving castle. Many strange adventures ensue! Brief notes and possible spoilers below:

Reed's Local- The City and the City

The Reed's Local Book Club meets at one of the finest Avondale dive bars. While not an SF/F club by definition, some of its picks have slanted that way, and I joined them for their discussion of China Miéville's The City and the City

If you haven't read "The City and the City" yet, you really should. A procedural murder mystery with some decidedly weird twists, it takes place in two cities that share the same geographical space. Notes and possible spoilers below!

Chicago Nerds- Ghost Talkers

For the last meeting of the Chicago Nerd Social Club, we discussed Mary Robinette Kowal's recently-released "Ghost Talkers".

Set in contested France during WWI, the novel centers on an Allied group of mediums who talk to the spirits of recently-killed casualties to gather vital information. It becomes more of a supernatural mystery novel than a war novel, however, as Ginger tries to root out the German traitors or spies who are seeking to infiltrate and destroy the Ghost Talkers.

Possible spoilers below! Also, we were very graciously joined after our discussion by Mary Robinette Kowal herself, who talked with us for a bit.

Weird & Wonderful- The Bone Clocks

For the September meeting of City Lit's Weird & Wonderful club, we discussed "The Bone Clocks" by David Mitchell.

Like some of Mitchell's other works, "The Bone Clocks" mixes genres a bit. It orbits around the character of Holly Sykes over basically her whole life, with long jumps to other characters' viewpoints. Holly is kind of mildly caught up in a war between two different kinds of immortals; the novel's latter chapters also bring us to a climate-change-induced semi-apocalypse.

We generally liked it, but this novel is mixed in several senses of the word. Possible spoilers, and definite editorializing, below:

Think Galactic- Kabu Kabu

For the August convocation of Think Galactic (all meetings of Think Galactic are august convocations, FWIW), we discussed stories from "Kabu Kabu" (2013) by Nnedi Okorafor.

This collection spans most of her career to date, and those who read the whole thing reported that it works best to think of it that way—shows Okorafor and her worlds developing. A number of these stories are also the seeds or extracts from larger works, sometimes obviously so: weren't complete as short stories, though they might compellingly introduce us to bigger stories.

We had a surprisingly short conversation on this collection; most of us didn't have particularly strong reactions to it. We griped about some weak editing and little writerly things, but also praised the atmosphere in some of the stories, as well as the different tone and folk-tale-like distance in a few.

Western Suburbs SF- The Traitor Baru Cormorant

Slowly but surely, I'm trying to at least touch in with all the Chicagoland SF/F book clubs. Back in July, I made it out to La Grange to join the Western Suburban Science Fiction Book Club for a discussion.

A discussion of "The Traitor Baru Cormorant" (2015), by Seth Dickinson! This was a pretty brief discussion, but I wanted to make a point of recording it just so I can plug the book a little more.

Chicago Nerds- The Winged Histories

For the August meeting of the Chicago Nerd Social Club, we discussed Sofia Samatar's "The Winged Histories"(2016), the companion to her 2013 "A Stranger in Olondria".

The novel is somewhat difficult to summarize--it's a few different stories of women on various sides of a complicated conflict: a civil war with tangled roots in ethnic and religious history. Also, there are vampires (don't read it for the vampires).

Also, like "Stranger", it's just astonishingly, chest-grabbingly good. On the back of my childhood copies of The Lord of the Rings was that Lewis blurb--"here are beauties blah blah", and I think of that when reading the Olondrian novels. Possible spoilers below!

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!

Think Galactic- Get In Trouble

Way back in May, before Wiscon, Think Galactic discussed Kelly Link's short story collection "Get In Trouble" (2015). Which is just darn tootin' good, you should read it.

As is our custom with collections, we pre-selected a few for focused discussion, although in this case we did wind up talking about most all of the stories. "Summer People", "Secret Identity", "Two Houses", and "Light" were our focal stories.

Lots of questions of reality & identity, lots of interweaving of science fiction, fantasy, horror, and even superhero elements throughout this collection. All delivered in this style that's kind of Lethem crossed with O'Connor crossed with...someone who writes sexy stuff. Brief discussion sketches and possible 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:

Weird & Wonderful- Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World

"Weird" and "wonderful" apply to most of Haruki Murakami's work, making his 1985 novel "Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World" a fitting selection for City Lit Books' book club of the strange & amazing.

The novel follows two very different threads in alternating chapters: in one, our narrator is a kind of cryptographer caught up in strange experiments and violent information wars. In the other, our narrator is the recently-arrived Dreamreader of a strange fantasy city, surreal and mythic. The two halves have very different styles and tones: Hard-Boiled, true to its name, has some similarities to a certain kind of crime fiction (somewhat akin to noir), while End of the World is written in a more spare, poetic style. To indicate differences in pronoun use and intimate voice not easily conveyed in English, translator Alfred Birnbaum also has the End of the World written in present tense.

We had an interesting discussion, particularly because we had a real mix of Murakami familiarity--one or two of us who'd read a good chunk of his work, a few of us having read one or two others, while this was the first Murakami novel for about half the group. Probable spoilers below!

Chicago Nerds- All the Birds in the Sky

For the March Chicago Nerd Social Club book discussion, we read "All the Birds in the Sky", the 2016 debut novel from Charlie Jane Anders, known to many of us as the editor at influential SF/F/geeky news/media site io9.

"All the Birds" self-consciously straddles the line between science fiction and fantasy. It follows Laurence and Patricia, childhood friends who wind up on opposite sides of a war between magic-users and super-scientists.

This was one of those (exceedingly rare) Chicago Nerds selections that we almost-unanimously liked, and we had a good discussion teasing out some of our favorite parts. Anders was also kind enough to join us via videochat to talk about the book and answer some questions. Possible spoilers below!

Chi SF- Grace of Kings

For the January meeting of the Chicago Speculative Fiction Community, we discussed “The Grace of Kings” (2015) by Ken Liu. The novel had been popping up on my radar a lot lately—first novel from a writer who's already done some stellar short work and translations, including the Hugo-winning “Three Body Problem” by Cixin Liu (no relation), which Phandemonium (and a few Chi-SF members) discussed back in November at Windycon.

“The Grace of Kings” is an epic fantasy drawing heavily on the late Warring States period in Chinese history (200ish BCE). Despite some supernatural/theological, steampunky, and otherwise fantastic elements, one the whole it reminded us much more of the geopolitical/historical vein of fantasy, as opposed to the magical or mythical. Notes on that distinction, as well as possible spoilers, below:

Chicago Nerds- Uprooted

For the last convocation of the illustrious Chicago Nerd Social Club, we discussed "Uprooted" by Naomi Novik.

"Uprooted" is a fantasy drawing on Slavic fairy-tales, but it's not a retelling of any particular story. It's told from the perspective of Agnieszka, a young woman who is selected from her village to be a sorcerer's apprentice, and who turns out to have great magical aptitude herself. The plot hinges on the battle between humans and The Wood, a supernaturally-charged and malevolent forest.

We were almost astonished at how near-universally high we rated this book, finding it very enjoyable and superbly written. Although we did have a few quibbles with some of the pacing/tone later on, and a few folks couldn't quite get into it, we mostly had nothing but praise for the writing--particularly the way it sidesteps a number of pitfalls that often spoil this kind of story.

Possible spoilers below:

Weird & Wonderful- The Crane Wife

For our first bookclub of 2016, Weird & Wonderful gathered at City Lit Books to discuss Patrick Ness's 2013 novel, "The Crane Wife".

It's "not" a retelling of the classic tale, though it does draw some of its basic mechanics from it: there's a shape-shifting, magical crane, with amazing creative powers. This story is set in modern-day England, and focuses on an expatriate American, George, and his daughter Amanda, as well as Kumiko, the titular crane.

While we all agreed that the book had worthwhile bits, our overall consensus was quite negative, generally due to the feeling that it seriously flubs its own myth-making. Spoilers below:

Think Galactic: Saga

For the last meeting of Think Galactic, we discussed "Saga" (2012-), the comic series by Brian K. Vaughan & Fiona Staples. We focused on the earlier volumes, but a few of us had read out as far as Volume 5/Issue 30 or so.

Fun discussion. We were pretty forthright about not being terribly versed in the current state of comics and graphic novels, which made it a little interesting. One of the more interesting parts of our discussion was looking at reading strategies when visual art is present, some of us noting that we missed details in the imagery while rushing to the next text-bubble.

We definitely mostly liked it. Definitely mostly. Much discussion of the core themes of parenthood, violence, sex, and the nature of open-ended serial works. Possible spoilers below!

Chicago Nerds: Cloud Atlas

For the last book discussion of the Chicago Nerd Social Club, we dove into (ascended? attempted to map?) David Mitchell's 2004 novel, "Cloud Atlas".

The novel is actually a carefully arranged mix of six novelletes, with a mirrored structure. More on that below. Each story is a different genre, time period, and style, with a host of recurring imagery and themes.

Our reception of the book was generally positive, modulo some caveats about its "literariness". We struggled with the question of what it's really "about"--always a vexatious question, but the fact that these six stories are presented as a single novel, rather than as a collection, makes one long for a cohesive theme or two. And, follow-up question: is this book optimistic or depressing vis-a-vis the human condition?

Some structural analysis, synopsis, and likely spoilers below:

Chicago Nerds: Lagoon

For the last meeting of the Chicago Nerds book club, we read and discussed Nnedi Okorafor's 2014 novel "Lagoon". It's an unusual first contact story--shape-shifting, primarily ocean-based aliens land just off the shore of Lagos, Nigeria, and then...stuff happens.

There is a lot, a confusing lot, going on in this novel--intentionally so, it would seem, with the chaos of the story meant to reflect, perhaps even praise, the chaotic nature of Lagos. Unfortunately, I  found that the intersection of many different codes, coupled with some rough areas in the writing, deflated the novel's impact. I'll try to expand that a bit below.

The biggest consensus from the group, I think, was something along the lines of "we really wanted to like it", but had too many issues in actually reading it. Definitely a worthy discussion, our reservations notwithstanding--possible spoilers below!

Weird & Wonderful: Railsea

For September's meeting of City Lit's Weird & Wonderful book club, we talked about China Miéville's 2011 YA novel, "Railsea". Weird & Wonderful had previously read (and greatly enjoyed discussing) his language-centered 2011 novel, "Embassytown", and while the lighter, younger-reader-targeted "Railsea" doesn't strike quite as many sparks as some of his other work, we had a lovely discussion.

Miéville is at the center of the "New Weird" genre/movement, rather analogous to Gibson's position with the early cyberpunks. The New Weird isn't terribly well-defined, but tends to involve a mixture of tropes from horror, SF, and fantasy, often with an urban setting or sensibility, and generally criticize or unsettle generic conventions.

"Railsea" is very quickly established as a weird "Moby Dick" (1851) homage with a very strange setting and a lot of other influences and references, as well as some strange (and overt) narrative/stylistic choices. At group we found this to be one of those books that got better for being talked about, or perhaps one of those books that's in some ways more satisfying to discuss than it was to read. Possible spoilers below!

Chicago Nerds: Throne of the Crescent Moon

For the last meeting of the Chicago Nerd's book club, we discussed Saladin Ahmed's "Throne of the Crescent Moon" (2012), a sword-and-sorcery tale set in a fantasy version of the Islamic Golden Age.

The novel follows Doctor Adoulla Makhslood and his companions as they battle a supernatural threat. Adulla is a nearly-retired "ghul hunter"; ghuls are sort of golem-y zombie things raised by evil magicians. Joining him are a sword-wielding dervish, a shape-changer, and an eldery alchemist/mage couple.

We had a fun discussion, with a lot of comparison to other fantasy works in the same vein, some critiques of tropey-ness, discussion of "gaming dynamics" for lack of a better term, and a really great list of books for next time. There may be SPOILERS BELOW:

Silence and Bright Flashing Lights: A Brief Look at Irrationality in Earthsea and VALIS

John Lodder

At least one version of my paper starts with a joke that if Aristotle secretly wrote science fiction and fantasy as well as philosophy, and the scholastics recovered it and translated it along with De Anima and the Nicomachean Ethics and everything else, would we still have the same persistent notion today of humans as the distinctly rational animals despite the ancient and fantastical stories of space aliens and talking dragons, of intelligences human and otherwise?

Think Galactic: Mothership

The full version of this John Jennings cover is worth sharing.
Via collection contributor Rochita Loenen-Ruiz.

For the last meeting of Think Galactic, we discussed some selections from "Mothership: Tales from Afrofuturism and Beyond", edited by Bill Campbell and Edward Austin Hall, and published by Rosarium. It's a really diverse collection, and Sara picked us a good handful of stories to focus on:

Chicago Nerds: The Goblin Emperor

For the last meeting of the Chicago Nerd Social Club, we discussed “The Goblin Emperor” (2014) by Katherine Addison. The novel is currently nominated for the Hugo Award and, if you've been following the whole kerfuffle this year, is one of the non-Puppy nominees.

“The Goblin Emperor” takes place in an alternate world—not Earth-related—in which the dominant civilizations seem to be in the steam age. There are at least two races—goblins and elves—which seem to be more like human races than your typical fantasy species-like races: relatively cosmetic differences, not reproductively distinct, with many characters of mixed heritage and racial “purity” more of a construct than a reality. There is some magic, of a very practical and effective nature, but it is totally in the backseat to a slightly steampunky/clockworky technology (airships and Industrial-Era-type factories loom large). Our titular character, Maia, is the youngest, essentially exiled son of the emperor of the Elflands, to whom the succession rather precipitously shifts. So we follow a young and largely-unprepared character thrust into the highest level of court intrigues, where he must find his way.

THOUGHTS and, just possibly, SPOILERS BELOW:

Chicago Nerds: A Darker Shade of Magic

V.E. Schwab's recently-released novel "A Darker Shade of Magic" (2015) had been getting some pretty good hype, and this past Monday the Chicago Nerds book club met to discuss!

In "A Darker Shade", there are four versions of the world, all of which were once connected by magical gates and doorways--and all through their versions of London. Magic works differently in each, and eventually the worlds are split apart from each other when Black London is overrun with destructive, infectious magic. White London is a dog-eat-dog, power-hungry, seemingly dying world. Red London is in a world rich both materially and magically, while Grey London seems to be our own mundane and relatively magic-less world (somewhere approximately in the mid-1800s). One of our protagonists, Kell, is a Red Londoner with an extremely rare gift for magic, particularly the magic of passing between worlds. Along with Lila--an ambitious thief from Grey London--Kell is caught up in a White London plot for worlds-dominion (that's a fun phrase) which has the side-effect of setting free a sinister force from Black London.

By the way, really dig this cover. Refreshing to see some bold, original design for a fantasy work--designed by Will Staehle (Tor interview about the design here).

We had a VERY high percentage of the group that really liked the book, myself included. Despite this, it's popcorniness and cliches drew our fire pretty good. We really liked it! But many quibbles, and possibly spoilers, below:

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!

Think Galactic: A Stranger in Olondria

A book is a fortress,

a place of weeping,

the key to a desert,

a river that has no bridge,

a garden of spears.

Oh my goodness, "A Stranger in Olondria" (2013). I was unprepared for how this book was going to sweep me away. Indeed, I reverted to a reading pattern from my youth that I haven't done in a long time: I simply devoured the book in a few sittings over a day or two, then immediately went back to the beginning and read it more slowly.

Sofia Samatar's first full-length novel and most recent winner of the World Fantasy Award, "Stranger" is a very unusual fantasy. At a plot level, it's unusual, though not terribly complex--a wealthy young man visits a much larger and cosmopolitan nation, is haunted by a ghost (which has religious/political ramifications), goes through a lot to be exorcised, goes home. The texture, details, and themes of the story, though, are incredibly rich, and I can already tell this is a book I'll be revisiting a lot.

We had a wonderful discussion of the book at Think Galactic, and were very pleased to welcome a new member who also attends the Classic Sci-Fi Meetup. Possible spoilers below, although I don't really think this is the kind of novel that can be spoiled:

Blackstone FSF: The Ocean at the End of the Lane

Good, quick meeting on Neil Gaiman's "The Ocean at the End of the Lane" with the Blackstone Library's Fantasy & Science Fiction club on Monday. Some new (to me faces) at group, including occasional group-attender and author Shane Holbach, who actually is sharing a table of contents with Gaiman (and a slew of other fantastic authors) in a YA Speculative Fiction Anthology from Twelfth Planet.

For a surprising number of folks at the table, this was their first time with Gaiman, which is kind of interesting. "Ocean" is really good, lyrical, but it's an unusual starting place: not the tour de force of "American Gods" (2001), not a "Now A Feature Film!" like "Coraline" (2002) or "Stardust" (1999); at least in the circles I run in, the "Sandman" comics (1989-1996) are almost universally the entry-point.

I really, really like Gaiman's work at shorter lengths--"Smoke & Mirrors" (1998) and "Fragile Things" (2006) are highly recommended, and his latest collection, "Trigger Warning", just hit shelves. Additionally, his children's/YA-ish lit game is very strong, whether that's dark fairy-tales like "Coraline" (illustrated by Dave McKean) or playful illustrated works like "Fortunately, The Milk" (2013, ill. Skottie Young). "The Ocean at the End of the Lane", while not necessarily for younger readers, is told primarily from a child's perspective, has a sort of childish straight-forward prose style, and is quite short--close to the novella range, really--thus combining some of Gaiman's strengths. Indeed, despite the child's perspective, I think this is one of the most mature and measured I've seen Gaiman--there is a big dose of autobiographical material here, and the fantastic, alternating terrifying/comforting world of the child's story resonates very nicely with the larger framing narrative, the grown man remembering with some amount of melancholy.

The group had lots of praise for the style of the book, calling it a "prose poem" and noting how it's both "utter simplicity, but tremendously atmospheric".

Chicago Nerds: A Natural History of Dragons

This past Monday night, the Chicago Nerd Social Club discussed Marie Brennan's "A Natural History of Dragons: A Memoir by Lady Trent" (2013) at our usual spot at Filter Cafe. It was a pretty fun, light read, with correspondingly light discussion; nonetheless there may be SPOILERS BELOW:

Blackstone FSF: The Thief

On Monday the Blackstone Library Fantasy & Science Fiction book club discussed Megan Whalen Turner's "The Thief" (1996), a Newberry Honor book. A fun read, good discussion! Serious, definite spoilers after the jump:

Think Galactic: A Wizard of Earthsea (and some lengthy YA digressions)

Thursday was a truly delightful discussion of Ursula K. Le Guin's "A Wizard of Earthsea" (1968) with Think Galactic. While we spent a lot of time talking about things we were struck by--the language, the Taoist influences, the unusual handling of race but the shockingly (especially for Le Guin) patriarchal handling of gender--we also seemed to feel more comfortable than normal jotting sideways to talk about other works. "Earthsea" is a contemporary of so many other "early" fantasy works, it's had a clear influence on YA fantasy, and we also talked a bit about sources and pre-"Earthsea" fantasy.

*fair warning: I digress a bit on YA below. But only as inspired by our lovely discussion! I should also probably restate the general disclaimer on these posts:inspired by group discussions, and I try to bring in & attribute the group's & individual's thoughts and comments as much as I can without recording everything, but the write-ups are my own response and thoughts on the work. So, please, read any wrong/offensive/whacked-out statements as no one's but my own, and don't give me too much credit for any of the good bits: might be accidentally ripping off someone else at the table!*

Blackstone F&SF: Dragon Keeper

Last night I ventured south to attend the Blackstone Library Fantasy & Science Fiction Book Club's discussion of "Dragon Keeper" (2009) by Robin Hobb. Blackstone is a beautiful library--marble, dark timber, brass--that in some difficult-to-describe way also looks like it might be haunted. Delightful.

A good book-club!  A lot of long-time fans and readers, with lots of discussion, argument, and comparison to other works. Much to my liking. 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.