December Book Club Info Dump

Hey All--I think we can all agree that we really disliked Finches of Mars. Here was the review I read in the Guradian that Adam Roberts wrote. I agree with most of his points. I think I would give this book 1 star for the ideas. The execution was not to my liking nor the some of the subtext.

It was my first Aldiss novel, and now, it is my last.

December 14th is the White Elephant party. What does that mean for the newbies (if there are any this year)?

1) Bring a book from home that you either loved or hated or just want to get rid off;

2) Wrap it up;

3) When you come to book club that night we will have a drawing and everybody will be picking a new book out.

Since it is December, we usually take it easy with our selection. This years selection is The Best American Science Fiction and Fantasy 2015 edited by Joe Hill. The series editor is John Joseph Adams, and Houghton Mifflin Harcourt has just granted him a new sci-fi/fantasy imprint. Not sure what he is going to name it, but that is freaking awesome. Read one short story. Read two, three or more and come and discuss it at the book club. Read none and still come for the White Elephant party. Perhaps we will go get our holiday spirit on at a bar afterwards?

If you want to get a jump on January's book club pick, then pick up Eon by Greg Bear. I promise this will be my last time picking a classic author for awhile. I have never read Bear before, so I am a little frightened after reading Aldiss, however this is suppose to be one of his classics from the 1980's.

A brief description:

The 21st century was on the brink of nuclear confrontation when the 300 kilometer-long stone flashed out of nothingness and into Earth's orbit. NASA, NATO, and the UN sent explorers to the asteroid's surface...and discovered marvels and mysteries to drive researchers mad.

For the Stone was from space--but perhaps not our space; it came from the future-but perhaps not our future; and within the hollowed asteroid was Thistledown. The remains of a vanished civilization. A human-English, Russian, and Chinese-speaking-civilization. Seven vast chambers containing forests, lakes, rivers, hanging cities...

And museums describing the Death; the catastrophic war that was about to occur; the horror and the long winter that would follow. But while scientists and politicians bickered about how to use the information to stop the Death, the Stone yielded a secret that made even Earth's survival pale into insignificance.

That's it, see you all on December 14th!