Weird & Wonderful- Vermilion

For the last meeting of City Lit Books' Weird & Wonderful club, we discussed "Vermilion" (2015) by Molly Tanzer. "Vermilion" is the story of Lou Merriweather, a kind of professional exorcist in a fantastic 19th century American West who becomes embroiled in a sinister scheme. The world is somewhat steampunk, with a very healthy dose of the supernatural, along with some fanciful alt-history turns, such as the talking bears who alter the course of post-Civil War politics in the west.

We had a few criticisms, but by and large we found this very enjoyable, and reviewed it as solid beach read. Possible 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.

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:

Chicago Nerds: City of Stairs

This week's Chicago Nerds book discussion of Robert Jackson Bennett's "City of Stairs" was a lot of fun. We all enjoyed the book a lot and had very little to nitpick with it: highly recommended! Possible spoilers below...