THE FIRST SEVEN YEARS

1. The Silmarillion J.R.R. Tolkien
2. American Gods Neil Gaiman
3. The Windup Girl Paolo Bacigalupi
4. Embassytown China Mieville
5. Trullion: Alastor 2262 Jack Vance
6. The Haunting of Hill House Shirley Jackson
7. West of Eden Harry Harrison
8. The Thousand Autumns of Jacob DeZoet David Mitchell
9. The Name of the Wind Patrick Rothfuss
10. Star Trek: Harbinger David Mack
11. The Moon is a Harsh Mistress Robert A. Heinlein
12. 2312 Kim Stanley Robinson
13. The Goblin Tower L. Sprague de Camp
14. The Pastel City M. John Harrison
15. Wolf Hall Hilary Mantel
16. Hull Zero Three Greg Bear
17. Into The Black Evan Currie
18. The Best of All Possible Worlds Karen Lord
19. Harmony Project Itoh
20. Roadside Picnic by Arkady & Boris Strugatsky
21. Sleep Donation by Karen Russell
22. The Southern Gates of Arabia by Freya Stark
23. Little, Big by John Crowley
24. Beginning Operations by James White
25. Day of the Triffids by John Wyndham
26. Watership Down by Richard Adams
27. Wool by Hugh Howey
28. Glory Road by Robert A. Heinlein
29. Master of the Five Magics by Lyndon Hardy
30. Ancillary Justice by Ann Leckie
31. Orbiter by Warren Ellis and Colleen Doran
32. The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien
33. Volkhavaar by Tanith Lee
34. Babel 17 by Samuel Delaney
35. The White People and Other Stories by Arthur Machen
36. The Martian by Andy Weir
37. Unholy Night by Seth Grahame-Smith
38. The Forever War by Joe Haldeman
39. The Disposessed by Ursula K. Leguin
40. The Bronze God of Rhodes by L. Sprague de Camp
41. Wearing the Cape by Marion Harmon
42. The Pride of Chanur by C.J. Cherryh
43. The Man in the High Castle by Philip K. Dick
44. Night's Master by Tanith Lee
45. Horsemaster by Tom Chenry
46. Spin by Robert Charles Wilson
47. Imaro by Charles Saunders
48. Voice of the Whirlwind by Walter Jon Williams
49. Sword of Rhiannon by Leigh Brackett
50. Johannes Cabal the Necromancer by Jonathan L. Howard
51. Arkwright by Allen Steele
52. The Golem and the Jinni by Helene Wecker
53. Pavane by Keith Roberts
54. The Patterns of Chaos by Colin Kapp
55. The Lions of Al Rassan by Guy Gavriel Kay
56. The Voyage of the Space Beagle by A.E. van Vogt
57. R.U.R. by Carel Capek
58. Steel Beech by John Varley
59. Dark Matter by Michelle Paver
60. Kim by Rudyard Kipling
61. A Horse and His Boy by C.S. Lewis
62. A Wizard of Earthsea by Ursula K. Leguin
63. The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman
64. Venetian Masque by Rafael Sabatini
65. The Riddle Master of Hed by Patricia McKillip
66. The Girl With All The Gifts by M.R. Carey
67. Hellstrom's Hive by Frank Herbert
68. The Big Sleep by Raymond Chandler
69. The Lies of Locke Lamora by Scott Lynch
70. Invisible Cities by Italo Calvino
71. The Lord of the Rings 2018 Long Read (Spring/Summer 2018)

Anyway, here's my pick:

The Orenda, by Joseph Boyden A historical epic about a clash of nations as seen through the eyes of a Huron man, an Iroquois woman, and a French missionary. It was nominated for many rewards when it came out and remains highly regarded.

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/17661831-the-orenda?from_search=true&from_srp=true&qid=efE3graFZD&rank=1

The Back Cover Blurb:
"In the remote winter landscape a brutal massacre and the kidnapping of a young Iroquois girl violently re-ignites a deep rift between two tribes. The girl’s captor, Bird, is one of the Huron Nation’s great warriors and statesmen. Years have passed since the murder of his family, and yet they are never far from his mind. In the girl, Snow Falls, he recognizes the ghost of his lost daughter, but as he fights for her heart and allegiance, small battles erupt into bigger wars as both tribes face a new, more dangerous threat from afar.

Traveling with the Huron is Christophe, a charismatic missionary who has found his calling among the tribe and devotes himself to learning and understanding their customs and language. An emissary from distant lands, he brings much more than his faith to this new world, with its natural beauty and riches.

As these three souls dance with each other through intricately woven acts of duplicity, their social, political and spiritual worlds collide - and a new nation rises from a world in flux."

I don't have permission to create the poll. Would someone with the permissions kindly make a poll with three choices: 1) War of the Maps; 2) The Man Who Fell to Earth; and 3) Cloud Atlas. Thanks!

For details of the books see this discussion:
https://www.ttrpbc.com/discussion/636/august-2021-reading-suggestions

I have not read any of the books suggested in this post, and I have to admit I am not finding much that inspires me, so please feel free to make suggestions if there is something that people want to read. Everything seems to be serials now.

Inscape: https://www.amazon.ca/Inscape-Louise-Carey-ebook/dp/B08W4Z6RWJ/ref=sr_1_2?dchild=1&keywords=inscape&qid=1626369216&sr=8-2

Available as an ebook, but the paperback ships from the UK, and I have found that since Brexit the cost is actually always higher - there is duty as there is no trade agreement with Canada. So maybe not a good choice if people can't read the kindle. Paperback is only printed in Canada in Feb 2022 - I guess publisher want everyone switch to ebooks. Sucks.

War of the Maps: https://www.amazon.ca/War-Maps-Paul-McAuley-ebook/dp/B086M8GNFP/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=War+of+the+Maps&qid=1626370394&s=books&sr=1-1

Paperback coming 10 August.

Klara and the Sun: https://www.amazon.ca/Klara-Sun-Kazuo-Ishiguro/dp/0735281246/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=Klara+and+the+Sun&qid=1626371478&s=books&sr=1-1

Available in all kinds of formats. Author is a Nobel Prize winner, if anyone cares about that.

Mordew: https://www.amazon.ca/Mordew-Alex-Pheby/dp/1250817218/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=mordew&qid=1626372356&sr=8-1

Expensive, but I liked Peake.

Last, an old one: The Man Who Fell to Earth: https://www.amazon.ca/Man-Who-Fell-Earth-ebook/dp/B07H19K4HB/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=The+Man+Who+Fell+to+Earth&qid=1626372141&s=books&sr=1-1

Saw the movie years ago, but never read the book.

As I said, I'm not feeling much excitement about any of these, so if they spark a suggestion please say so. Depending on feedback for other suggestions, I'll make a poll on Monday, then post the results end of this month.

Best, BC

My first thought was The Princess Bride, the book that became the cult film. A retelling of an archetypal fairy tale, full of action, adventure, romance, swordfights, and breaking of the fourth wall. But, we've done Mort recently, so do we want another comedy? Could raise questions of how knowing we are, or should be, of genre tropes, and how different media (book, film, game) emphasise and accommodate different types of scenes.

We could do A Memory Called Empire, an SF book inspired by Byzantine politics. An ambassador from a small state visits the capital of the neighbouring empire, both to secure her home's independence and to discover the truth of her predecessor's sudden death. Won the 2020 Hugo. Could have questions about politics and scheming, identity and roles, and how to represent politics and scheming.

Or there's Paladin's Grace, a fantasy romantic novel. He's a paladin whose god died a few years ago, she's a perfumer recently escaped from an abusive marriage. Together they... well, they fight crime, but it's all about the two of them forming a relationship. Light and loads of fun. Could involve questions about tone, romance, relationships, and how to bring emotions and vulnerability into games.

Let's see if the poll works! But please add comments as you see fit.

Availability is a mild annoyance and it may be difficult to suit everyone's preferences. It is easy in kindle - https://www.amazon.co.uk/Aztec-Century-Gateway-Essentials-Christopher-ebook/dp/B00D8CY0XA/ and also in generic ebook (Nook, Kobo etc). However, so far as I can see hard copy books are only available on the second hand market - bookfinder.com has numerous copies starting from around £5-7 for shipping to any of UK, US or Canada. I don't think it is available in audio but am happy to be proved wrong.

If availability is a problem for anyone please let me know ASAP and if need be we can change.

The blurb reads
...
Britain has fallen to the technological might of the Aztec Empire whose armies have rampaged across the globe. Now, for the first time in a millennium, the British are a subject race.

Inevitably there is resistance - and among those determined to fight the invaders is Princess Catherine, elder daughter of the British monarch. But she is torn between her patriotism and her growing involvement, political and personal, with the Aztecs - and with one Aztec in particular. Then her sister is arrested and exiled for her part in an alleged terrorist attack - and Catherine finds herself walking a perilous tightrope...

Sweeping from occupied Britain to the horrors of the Russian front and the savage splendour of the imperial capital in Mexico, Aztec Century is a magnificent novel of war, politics, intrigue and romance, set in a world that is both familiar - and terrifyingly alien.

Winner of the BSFA Award for best novel, 1993
...

After a discussion with a few forum members, it came up that Pratchett hadn't featured before. Rather than one of his oft-quoted 'classics', I thought I'd go for the first book I remember really enjoying of his. 14-year-old me thought this was a masterpiece. It will be interesting to see if he was right. I've also never re-read a book, so this is a first for me as well.

Teenage boy gets apprenticed to Death, is the plot in a nutshell. Skimming the reviews of this, this is a less-openly-satirical fantasy novel that I expect still has a wry self-awareness of the genre baked into it. With fewer gags or obvious morals, this is a coming-of-age tale with Death in the best supporting actor role. I'm interested if its charm still stands up today, and if Pratchett's wit is still as dry without an obvious target.

It also has (or at least had) an official licensed RPG based on the setting, which improbably picked GURPS as the best way to model the Discworld setting. I think we can talk about if there are any better ways to model this sort of thing, and have the perennial 'humour-in-gaming' chat.

Up for it?

Another describes the “lush sentences and speculative wit ... the pleasure of Russell’s language, which is acrid, luminous, and deft, and for the way she confuses the ordinary and the marvelous” (https://slate.com/culture/2014/03/karen-russells-online-novella-sleep-donation-reviewed.html).

It’s available in both e-format and paperback in the UK and the USA.

It is a science fiction story about donating sleep to insomniacs, but the plot isn’t why I’m nominating it.

I thought I'd bring up the subject of a slow read for 2021. For those who don't know, a 'slow read' is a shared read of a longer and often more in-depth work that we read a few chapters of at a time and discuss each week. We had two very successful slow reads is 2018 (The Lord of the Rings) and 2019 (The Book of the New Sun). Our 2020 effort (The Broken Earth Trilogy) was less successful, though, with the majority of respondents not really getting into it.

I'd like to see if there's interest in running a slow read in 2021. I personally quite enjoy the experience, and I think the weekly traffic at the site is beneficial.

Here are a few ideas I had (some of which have been floated before) - lets see if any of these appeal:

1. Dune, by Frank Herbert. The books is 896 pages (depending on edition) so it's a little shorter than others we've done, but too long for a monthly pick, in my opinion. It's an SF classic, and invariably in the top 5 on lists of best SF books ever published.

2. Titus Groan + Gormenghast, by Mervyn Peake,
These are also classics and among the very top of best fantasy novels ever written. These were a great inspiration to Michael Moorcock, among others. They are very well written and very imaginative, and the world of Gormenghast (essentially the innards of a very large, ancient, castle) is fairly rich in detail, which means there will be stuff for us to tease out, and maybe Easter eggs to find. The potential pitfall, in my view, is that these are fairly dark novels with an anti-hero at the center, but no real heroes. The two works are about 900 pages.

3. The Name of the Rose, by Umberto Eco.
This is one is on lists of the greatest books of the 20th century, or even among the greatest books ever written. However, it's only 512 pages long, so only good for half a year?

4. Codex 1962 by Sjon,
This is a trilogy by the critically acclaimed Icelandic author and described on the dust jacket as his 'epic 3-part masterpiece'. It's only 517 pages, but reviewers seem to suggest that it feels lengthy and is a bit of a workout - ideal for slow reading.

Cover blurb: Josef Löwe, the narrator, was born in 1962—the same year, the same moment even, as Sjón. Josef's story, however, stretches back decades in the form of Leo Löwe—a Jewish fugitive during World War II who has an affair with a maid in a German inn; together, they form a baby from a piece of clay. If the first volume is a love story, the second is a crime story: Löwe arrives in Iceland with the clay-baby inside a hatbox, only to be embroiled in a murder mystery—but by the end of the volume, his clay son has come to life. And in the final volume, set in present-day Reykjavík, Josef's story becomes science fiction as he crosses paths with the outlandish CEO of a biotech company (based closely on reality) who brings the story of genetics and genesis full circle. But the future, according to Sjón, is not so dark as it seems.

In CoDex 1962, Sjón has woven ancient and modern material and folklore and cosmic myths into a singular masterpiece—encompassing genre fiction, theology, expressionist film, comic strips, fortean studies, genetics, and, of course, the rich tradition of Icelandic storytelling.
I refer you to this review, which seems to offer a good summary: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2420353489?book_show_action=true&from_review_page=1

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CoDex_1962:_A_Trilogy

5. The Islanders + The Dream Archipelago + The Evidence, by Christopher Priest.
I've read the first two of these years ago and am reading the third, now. Each book stands alone, and the order in which they are read isn't really material. The Islanders is largely a gazetteer, a book that describes several of the islands in the Dream Archipelago and is interspersed with short stories set on some of them. The Dream Archipelago is just short stories that take place within the setting. The Evidence is a novel that takes place within the setting. These works are very inventive, the stories are... odd, and unsettling in ways that can be hard to describe. Together, these three work out to 966 pages.

6. The Foundation Trilogy, by Isaac Asimov
Also listed among the best SF ever written, this is a classic trilogy by one of the three fathers of SF. 679 Pages.

7. Dangerous Visions + Again, Dangerous Visions, edited by Harlan Ellison,
A classic collection of groundbreaking SF short stories. This would be very different from reading a novel, but rewarding for the club, I think. I'm sure there would be lots of ideas to discuss each week. 592 + 790 pages, so that's longer than any anything we've done up to now, but doable within a year, I think.

8. The Sarantine Mosaic by Guy Gavriel Kay.
This comprises two novels: Sailing to Sarantium and Lord of Emperors, adding up to 953 pages. We did read one of his books before with only mixed success, and this book follows in the same vein of sitting on the fence between fantasy and historical fiction. This work is his masterpiece, as far as I'm concerned. It gives us a fantastic treatment of the story of Justinian, so I'm sure there's fodder for comparison in the discussion topics.

9. The Book That Shall Not be Named.
No point going there again, I don't think. I still think it would be great, though.

Please share your thoughts on the above. Got any others to add? Please suggest them below.

Story of Your Life is a science fiction short story written by Ted Chiang. It was first published in 1998. The story revolves around a renowned linguist and how she makes a breakthrough in communicating with the aliens that have landed all over the world in massive spaceships. 
“Despite knowing the journey and where it leads, I embrace it and welcome every moment.”
What would you do if you somehow chance upon the ability to be able to see your future?
Will that scare you, or will you be hopeful? Or both?

In 2016 the film Arrival was released, based on this story. Blurb about the film says

Linguistics professor Louise Banks (Amy Adams) leads an elite team of investigators when gigantic spaceships touch down in 12 locations around the world. As nations teeter on the verge of global war, Banks and her crew must race against time to find a way to communicate with the extraterrestrial visitors. Hoping to unravel the mystery, she takes a chance that could threaten her life and quite possibly all of mankind.

Link for the book is https://www.amazon.co.uk/Stories-Your-Life-Others-Chiang-ebook/dp/B00L2EQODK (Kindle, £5.99)
Link for the film is https://www.amazon.co.uk/Arrival-Amy-Adams/dp/B08289YB2J (Rent £3.49, Buy £7.99)

(or similar in other national Amazon sites)

I'm hoping that our discussion will cover both stories and how they are both similar and dissimilar. I am taking the book as the definitive version and the film as a variation thereof, but others might feel that the film should take precedence.

You might enjoy some of the other short stories in the book version, and if there's enthusiasm I'm sure we can briefly include some chatter about them. The blurb about the whole book runs

With Stories of Your Life and Others, his masterful first collection, multiple-award-winning author Ted Chiang deftly blends human emotion and scientific rationalism in eight remarkably diverse stories, all told in his trademark precise and evocative prose.
From a soaring Babylonian tower that connects a flat Earth with the firmament above, to a world where angelic visitations are a wondrous and terrifying part of everyday life; from a neural modification that eliminates the appeal of physical beauty, to an alien language that challenges our very perception of time and reality. . . Chiang's rigorously imagined fantasia invites us to question our understanding of the universe and our place in it. 

My nomination for November is Piranesi (Susanna Clarke)

It's one of those books that's hard to describe without spoiling it (and many reviews and descriptions out there do spoil it in part - I went in almost blind and enjoyed the book all the more for it). What I will say is that it's a book with a very small cast, and a world of sculptures echoing our world. The nature of the world, the nature of those in the cast, the memories of the narrating character are all mysteries. The narrative is all from the point of view of the narrator's diary entries.

I really enjoyed this one, and want to discuss it with others who have also read it. It's also a short and easy read, despite the mystery of everything. The very sketchy description is deliberate - enjoy!

Books:
https://www.amazon.com/Languages-Pao-Jack-Vance/dp/1619471086

Kindle:
https://www.amazon.com/Languages-Pao-Jack-Vance-ebook/dp/B00846FW82/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=The+languages+of+Pao&qid=1600386832&s=digital-text&sr=1-1

I'm still wavering between two choices for the November book, one new, one old, and very different books.

The first is Piranesi (Susanna Clarke), which I read recently and adored. It would be interesting to discuss. It's about a small world with a very small cast of characters, and written in the form of journal entries by the antagonist. Although everything about the protagonist and the world is a mystery, it's an easy read. I think it's perhaps best read knowing as little as possible about it, so I've tried to say something without giving too much away.

The second is The Broken Sword (Poul Anderson). It's a Viking era fantasy novel patterned after Norse sagas, featuring the war between the elves and the trolls, and a doomed hero. If I was going to list my influences, this would be high on the list, and I've not read it for quite a while now.

Life is beautiful, and life is stupid.

This is a comedy book about the Eurovision Song Contest in Space, told in a style similar to Douglas Adams. It started as a bet to write a novel about Eurovision, but ended up as something (I think) more than that. The "plot" is that humanity has discovered the galactic civilisation, but will be wiped out unless a washed-up glam rock band can finish somewhere other than last in the Metagalactic Grand Prix. Hijinks ensue.

From reviews, people seem to find the first 50-odd pages difficult, but it improves after that.

https://goodreads.com/book/show/13661.Tehanu

(I'm on my phone right now, so copying more than the link is tough) Twenty years after writing The Farthest Shore, Le Guin returned to the world of Earthsea with a much older perspective. We'll read this book in August and discuss in early September.

My pick for our July book is The Great Eastern by Howard A. Rodman. Here's the back cover blurb:

A sprawling adventure pitting two of literature’s most iconic anti-heroes against each other: Captain Nemo and Captain Ahab. Caught between them: real-life British engineer Isambard Kingdom Brunel, builder of the century’s greatest ship, The Great Eastern. But when he’s kidnapped by Nemo to help design a submarine with which to fight the laying of the Translatlantic cable - linking the two colonialist forces Nemo hates, England and the US - Brunel finds himself going up against his own ship, and the strange man hired to protect it, Captain Ahab, in a battle for the soul of the 19th century.

And here's an excerpt from a review. I'm halfway through the book now and quite agree with this, however I expect I may be in for some battle from the likes of you that dislike Moby Dick. But if reading Moby Dick for the slow read is going to be my white whale, then maybe this book is my gold doubloon, nailed to the mast in an effort to entice you to join me at the end!

I'm just kidding - I know I won't change anyone's mind. Hopefully you'll indulge me. One thing's for certain - this is like the polar opposite of the Broken Earth trilogy.

Ultimately, The Great Eastern reads like a sprawling 19th-century novel that rollicks with the sense of adventure and mystery that so informs Verne’s best work. It is an engaging tale, a kind of return to what adventurous literature used to be that never loses sight of where literature — and its most complex, unforgettable characters — can still go.

https://lareviewofbooks.org/article/past-and-pastiche-in-howard-a-rodmans-the-great-eastern/

And special incentive for @clash_bowley (to whom I already owe 2 years worth of book club fees for making him buy a book he couldn't read, so why not go for the trifecta) Brian Eno is credited in the acknowledgements section.

I have two we could read.

• A Memory Called Empire by Arkady Martine (and review), recent Hugo-winner. It's a high-stakes political thriller with interesting things to say about imperialism (from both sides of the act).
• Space Opera by Catherynne Valente (review) is a well-done comedy, of Eurovision in Space, but with a real life-affirming heart about art and what it means to be human.

I've read them both and liked them.

Which would people prefer? (I don't promise to pay any attention to replies!)

The Jazz Age is in full swing, but Casiopea Tun is too busy cleaning the floors of her wealthy grandfather’s house to listen to any fast tunes. Nevertheless, she dreams of a life far from her dusty small town in southern Mexico. A life she can call her own.

Yet this new life seems as distant as the stars, until the day she finds a curious wooden box in her grandfather’s room. She opens it—and accidentally frees the spirit of the Mayan god of death, who requests her help in recovering his throne from his treacherous brother. Failure will mean Casiopea’s demise, but success could make her dreams come true.

In the company of the strangely alluring god and armed with her wits, Casiopea begins an adventure that will take her on a cross-country odyssey from the jungles of Yucatán to the bright lights of Mexico City—and deep into the darkness of the Mayan underworld.

I was attracted to it when I read Book Page's description: "The ever-wonderful Silvia Moreno-Garcia’s superb world building and lush prose bring Jazz Age Mexico to life in this stunning historical fantasy that plays with archetypes from Greek and Mayan mythology alike."

Book Marks, a book review aggregator, gives it a "Rave" meta-review. https://bookmarks.reviews/reviews/gods-of-jade-and-shadow/

Amazon has it for $11.99 Kindle, $12.69 paperback, and $18.43 hardback. https://smile.amazon.com/Gods-Jade-Shadow-Silvia-Moreno-Garcia-ebook/dp/B07KDX5NTF

If you prefer to support local booksellers, Book Shop has it for $11.99 e-book, not sure what format(s), (https://bookshop.papertrell.com/purchase.aspx?isbn=9780525620761&shelfid=cc543536-bfa0-466b-a9b4-6742b5d46f68) and $14.72 paperback (https://bookshop.org/books/gods-of-jade-and-shadow/9780525620778).

Well, this is a book about the Kesh. It has heavily influenced my play, but I am not sure what genre it is, even though it is fiction. I find I make a lot of comparisons to PKD that I have read, even though he and UKLG are quite different writers. Looking forward to hearing what it invokes and evokes among and from us.

There are a few editions of this book. I have the LoA edition, but I think that any will do. There are extensions and post mortem releases, feel free to discuss wehat they contribute as well. This had a whole multimedia aspect as well - there is an album of electronic music that goes with it. Very of the time. As far as I am aware there were no figurines though.

Available online and in ebook:

https://www.amazon.ca/s?k=always+coming+home&ref=nb_sb_noss_1

https://www.amazon.com/s?k=always+coming+home&ref=nb_sb_noss_1

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Always-Coming-Home-S-F-MASTERWORKS-ebook/dp/B01DT7MWWO/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=always+coming+home&qid=1585673089&sr=8-1 (only 2 pounds!)

[NOTE: GIVEN THIS IS A LONGER BOOK, WE'LL READ THIS BOOK AT THE END OF MAY - Apocryphal]

I've been meaning to read Rivers of London for some time, and got slightly captivated by the fact that the opening chapter is set a few yards up the road from where I used to work in London, before giving up on all that and moving out here to Cumbria (me, I mean, not the book). But all the street names and such like are hugely familiar to me.

An Amazon (UK) link is https://www.amazon.co.uk/Rivers-London-First-novel-Book-ebook/dp/B004K1EC1S/ - it's available in all kinds of formats including (allegedly) mp3 if that's your thing.

The blurb says

--

My name is Peter Grant and until January I was just probationary constable in that mighty army for justice known to all right-thinking people as the Metropolitan Police Service (and as the Filth to everybody else). My only concerns in life were how to avoid a transfer to the Case Progression Unit - we do paperwork so real coppers don't have to - and finding a way to climb into the panties of the outrageously perky WPC Leslie May. Then one night, in pursuance of a murder inquiry, I tried to take a witness statement from someone who was dead but disturbingly voluble, and that brought me to the attention of Inspector Nightingale, the last wizard in England.

Now I'm a Detective Constable and a trainee wizard, the first apprentice in fifty years, and my world has become somewhat more complicated: nests of vampires in Purley, negotiating a truce between the warring god and goddess of the Thames, and digging up graves in Covent Garden ... and there's something festering at the heart of the city I love, a malicious vengeful spirit that takes ordinary Londoners and twists them into grotesque mannequins to act out its drama of violence and despair.

The spirit of riot and rebellion has awakened in the city, and it's falling to me to bring order out of chaos - or die trying.

--

Now, it's fair warning to say that some of the 1* reviews of this book are from people who struggled with the very UK-English narrative style of the author - even more so than David Black in this month's Gone to Sea in a Bucket - so we'll see how we get on collectively with it.

I fully expect to be reading this book by myself, so hoot away. And before I am castigated for it, there is indeed a WWII Submariner RPG - US centered, it is true, but easily adapted to British Service.

Far in the future, the World Controllers have created the ideal society. Through clever use of genetic engineering, brainwashing and recreational sex and drugs all its members are happy consumers. Bernard Marx seems alone harbouring an ill-defined longing to break free. A visit to one of the few remaining Savage Reservations where the old, imperfect life still continues, may be the cure for his distress...

As well as being a classic of SF, it seems like a book that has some parallels with the world we see around us. Something perhaps to explore in our discussions?

And if that's not enough to whet your appetite, read Margaret Atwood's comments on the book.

Book Three of Ursula K. Le Guin's Earthsea CycleDarkness threatens to overtake Earthsea: the world and its wizards are losing their magic. Despite being wearied with age, Ged Sparrowhawk -- Archmage, wizard, and dragonlord -- embarks on a daring, treacherous journey, accompanied by Enlad's young Prince Arren, to discover the reasons behind this devastating pattern of loss. Together they will sail to the farthest reaches of their world -- even beyond the realm of death -- as they seek to restore magic to a land desperately thirsty for it.

We'll discuss the book in early December. Looking forward to it!

I've suggested Brave New World, a classic of SF. describing a dystopia of soft social control and the erosion of individuality. There could be interesting parallels to draw with current events.

Another novel(-ella) that came across my radar is This is How You Lose the Time War, a romance between two soldiers on opposite sides of a time war. I don't know much about it, other than there were lots of people talking about it and liking it.

For something a bit more pulpy, there's Jade City (and another review), a cross between a 1930s gangster pulp and a wuxia romp, where the wire-fu is powered by "magical" jade and the setting is a newly-independent island, akin to Taiwan or Hong Kong. I got about half-way through it before being ambushed by other books.

Any comments or suggestions? Anything people are keen to read, or desperate to avoid?