Won the Hugo? Pfft! "The Man in the High Castle"

Our Science Fiction book discussion group met, I suppose appropriately, on May 4th to discuss Philip K. Dick's The Man in the High Castle.

In general, our assessments of the book were mixed. One member ranked it among her least favorites and another as definitely not a favorite. The rest of us liked the book, with certain reservations. One difficulty, I think, is that The Man in the High Castle is an alternate history science fiction, which is not a popular style with some of our members, myself included. Also, having been written in 1962, the novel very much shows its age. There are strong prejudices evident especially against the Japanese. WWII propaganda against the Japanese was much more virulent and hateful on the whole and I think had a gigantic impact on the way Americans thought and wrote about them for a long time after the war.

Personally, I liked the book mainly because I enjoy Dick's writing style. It just clicks with me, I suppose. The novel is really three main story lines that intertwine in various ways. Overall, Americans are not portrayed in the best light, being shown as opportunists in a world that turned out very differently from ours. Strangely to me at least, the Germans/Nazis are not universally reviled in a way that seems fitting to me considering in Dick's imagining, they were able to put many of their most horrifying and brutal plans into action where as in our world, those plans remained merely plans.

I would recommend the book, especially to those watching the television version. In my opinion, it's always good to see the source material. PKD is responsible for shaping the way we look at science fiction in many ways because of the visual interpretations of his works - Blade Runner (Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?), Total Recall, Minority Report, A Scanner Darkly, etc.

As an aside, we've changed the meeting location of our book group again, this time to Carl's Bar and Grill on Main Street in Hutchinson. We had met a couple of times at the Metropolitan Coffee House, but the acoustics aren't the greatest there for a detailed conversation. Carl's, surprisingly, seemed a little better. Why aren't we meeting in the library? Well frankly, we've met and discussed science fiction there since 2012 and we got tired of looking at the same four walls! Also, it's nice to be able to enjoy a snack or a beverage that someone else has prepared!

In June, we'll be discussing John Wyndham's "Day of the Triffids". We'll be meeting at Carl's Bar again - dutch treat dinner at 6pm and book discussion at 7pm. Hope to see you there!

Science Fiction Book Discussion 1/7/16

This month, our SF dicussion group read Nancy Kress's 2013 Nebula winner, After the Fall, Before the Fall, During the Fall. We had a good discussion about it, I think, but I feel a little guilty.

I have never read anything by Nancy Kress, so I went into the book with a good deal of anticipation. I really enjoyed her writing style, it moved the story quickly. Kress really uses language well. I am a sucker for the inter-weaving timeline gimmick too.

However, I finished it and had nothing but questions. This is where the guilty part comes in. I really had a fit in the discussion (jokingly, of course) but I was pretty emphatic about the lack of resolution. What, where, and when were answered pretty much but for me at least, no answers came for who and why. So I kind of felt like I hit on those things too heavily and maybe stifled some other opinions. I hope I didn't, because our group has had pretty strong opinions about almost everything we have read.

I think the consensus was that we might need to read something else of Kress's fairly well-decorated body of work to know what ways After the Fall... is representative of the whole.

Personally, I would recommend it for the writing style, but not the overall tale.

I am fully prepared to admit however, that maybe I just didn't "get it" if someone can answer the "who" and "why" questions I have about how the story played out.

For next month's discussion we are reading Richard Matheson's I Am Legend

Science Fiction Discussion: 1632

This month our SF discussion group read 1632 by Eric Flint (beware - that link to wikipedia does contain spoilers to this story and the series story arc). This is an action-packed story about a small West Virginia town from the late 1990's or early 2000's that is transposed in time and place with an area from Thuringia (Germany) in 1632. 1632 you might know, would be smack in the middle of the Thirty Years War which took place mainly in what is now Germany on the European continent.

The resulting tale follows the Grantsville, WV townsfolk through the various trials and tribulations that such a time/space shift would cause. This is definitely more of a free-wheeling tale with combat and real-life grit than the past few books we have read.

All-in-all, I think our group's collective rating was "meh" (in the adjective sense, not the exclamation).

For the next discussion (in January), we are reading Nancy Kress's After the Fall, Before the Fall, During the Fall.

Science Fiction Discussion: Stranger in a Strange Land - Original Version

Our SF discussion group read Robert Heinlein's classic work, Stranger in a Strange Land this month. Actually, we read a newly-released version of the book that included a huge amount of material that was edited out of the original in order to meet the publisher's requirements.

I have to say, while this version was aided by the extra material, I didn't grok it. Just like a director's cut of a movie, this version of Stranger felt to me like it included what Heinlein wanted us to see about our society. However, the extra exposition sometimes felt too heavy-handed. Maybe I just didn't quite get it. I remembered liking it when I read it 20+years ago, but that was the shortened version. Re-reading it, I found much that was familiar but I somehow didn't totally get into it. This might have been because I was distracted trying to remember if this or that was in the version I'd read before. Or, as one of our members pointed out, if it was because I am at a different place in my own life and could relate less to the themes.

There were mixed feelings about it around our table. I think the final thought was that this is a book that would very much appeal to the rebellious, limit-pushing younger age reader. Not the 14-year-old necessarily, but the senior in high school or the college student. I still believe this book is a classic. It had great influence on other SF authors and on the genre as a whole.

Science Fiction Discussion: Deathworld

This month our group read Deathworld (book 1, beware: spoilers in the wikipedia link) by Harry Harrison. This is the first book in a trilogy about Pyrrus, the most dangerous planet in the galaxy.

The settlement on this planet is facing extinction. The flora and fauna are extremely dangerous and seem to be becoming more dangerous with every passing moment. The main character, a gambler named Jason dinAlt gets involved with the Pyrrans when he is enlisted to turn a large sum of money into a massive fortune by gambling. dinAlt has psychic powers that he can sometimes harness to influence his gambling "luck".

The main story develops on Pyrrus when dinAlt and the Pyrran ambassador, Kerk Pyrrus return to the embattled colony. dinAlt discovers some secrets of life on Pyrrus which really improve the story and are, in my opinion, the only reasons to read the book. The style of the book was very pulp sci-fi action adventure - the sort of storyline that you could set in colonial period Africa, or the wild west of the United States. There is a lot of action though which keeps the pages turning. I'm not sure I could really recommend this one. I think Harrison's more famous series, The Stainless Steel Rat, is a better bet.

The discussion group's opinion was that this is a book to be avoided.

"Deathworld" by Source. Licensed under Fair use via Wikipedia - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Deathworld.jpg#/media/File:Deathworld.jpg

Science Fiction Discussion: Ender's Game

The SF Discussion Group met at Hutchinson Public Library in September to discuss Orson Scott Card's novel, Ender's Game. The discussion was a rare one for our group - we all liked it and agreed that it was a good one! It is another novel that is quite a bit different (like our July pick, Enemy Mine) than its big screen version. If you've seen the movie but not read the book, I would highly recommend picking up a copy.

The novel is about war, military tactics, and expansionism, centering on the character Ender Wiggin and his rise through the ranks of the International Fleet.

Interestingly (at least to me), the novel has been included in the Professional Reading List of the US Marine Corps for its depiction of how and why military forces do what they do.

It is a Hugo (1986) and Nebula (1985) Award winning novel.

Science Fiction / Fantasy - August's Pick

Our Science Fiction book discussion group took up Terry Pratchett's first Discworld novel, "The Color of Magic". Sadly, I missed this discussion because I was out of town.

The Color of Magic is the first tale (I believe) of the wizard Rincewind and the wealthy Agatean tourist Twoflower. Their journey is complicated by the fact that their adventure is basically a giant board game being played out by the gods of Discworld. I liked the book, it's witty and funny in places. Much of Pratchett's cleverness is tied up in wordplay and taking the familiar and making it work in unexpected ways in his fantasy.

Science Fiction - July's Pick

Our Science Fiction discussion group met on July 2nd for a discussion of Barry Longyear's novella "Enemy Mine" and a comparison with the film of the same name.

Having read the novella long ago and with apparently little attention to the details, I was struck by the significant differences between the two. It was clear to our group that the creators of the film missed an excellent opportunity when they deviated so significantly from the source material.

They changed the story (adding a happy ending, of course), the setting, and most crucially, the dynamic between the main characters, Jerry and Davidge.

The story is of two combatants, fighter pilots in an interstellar war, dog fighting and ultimately crash-landing on a world far from any civilization. Stranded on the planet, they initially attempt to kill each other but quickly figure out that the only way they will survive the harsh environment is through cooperation. It is a story that could be told in any setting, in any time period. It is a simple and classic story of man-vs.-wild with the twists of enemies being forced to help each other. Well, there are a couple of other twists, but I'd hate to spoil the story.

Tarzan, John Carter, and Julian?

This month, our science fiction discussion group jumped in to the way-back machine and read the first part of Edgar Rice Burroughs' "The Moon Maid". This is a future history story of Earth Burroughs began in 1919. It is pretty safe to say that we agreed this particular story has not stood the test of time. Burroughs didn't spend much time thinking through any of the science, even of his day, around physics, planetary science, etc. The image I had in my mind of the story's narrator was that of the "Great White Hunter" or European gentleman explorer on a trip to some "savage" land like Africa and reporting his observations of the savage peoples he encounters through the thoroughly prejudiced eyes of a man of his time. I guess for me it ended up being more like a fantasy adventure story or western-like story that happened to take place on the moon.

On the plus side, we had candy and cookies and a good discussion of the future reading list!

If you are interested in joining us in 2015, please contact me at gwamsley@hutchpl.org. We have the first 3 months worth of books lined up, but all bets are off after that. each member will be bringing 4-6 suggested titles, we'll combine them in a list and vote on what to read to fill out 2015. Also, at least one choice should have a movie version to go along with it. Finally, we are open to considering a different meeting time if that helps grow the group. Currently, we meet the first Thursay of each month at 7pm.

Next month - Alan Moore's Watchmen

Author Visit - Laura Moriarty

We had a fantastic turn-out last night (10/9/14) for visiting author Laura Moriarty! About 70 people packed the auditorium to hear Ms. Moriarty talk about her writing process and her book, "The Chaperone". It was a great program - thanks Laura!

Who Goes There?

Last night the SF discussion group screened the Howard Hawks' version of John Campbell's novella Who Goes There? Following the film we discussed the differences (there are many) between the two. Hawks' "The Thing" is definitely and adaptation and reflects the time in which the film was made, 1951.

Campbell's novella features scientists in the antarctic, the discovery of ancient alien life frozen in the ice, and the eventual discovery that the "Thing" will take over world if the few men at the station can't stop it.

Hawks' movie is set near the North Pole and features a heavy presence of military activity and Cold War paranoia that the Russians are up to something. The Thing cash lands near an outpost and a group of scientist are sent to investigate the site. After a mishap with the alien craft, an alien body is found and transported back to the station. The movie then centers around the familiar motif of scientists-versus-military, alien friend or foe conflict between the human characters. Of all the B-movies I have seen though, this one ranks high in the watch-ability category.

I don't want to spoil either movie or novella if you haven't experienced them, but the fact that the movie and story are quite unlike one another doesn't really make a difference. Campbell's writing is tight and his story is suspenseful. Hawks' film is definitely a loose take on the novella, but is good fun if not exactly...scary.

All-in-all, I thought this was a fun exercise and hope we can do it more often!