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HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!
Love it
One week left to go of July!!! How are people getting on with Ancestral Night? Depending how we're all getting on I aim to post discussion starters next weekend. Please shout if this is too early.
I am more than half way. Hope to be done on time!
Done,
Sorry! I misread the 30% as 50%, so I am about the same as Apocryphal.
I can hold off a bit longer if you like: just let me know by Saturday
I started late, but catching up fast!
Discussion starters now in place whenever you're ready
also @clash_bowley have you reached any conclusions as to what book you might choose for September?
Not yet, @RichardAbbott!
OK, Richard - I would like to do "The Man who Fell to Earth" by Walter Tevis. I have seen the movie but I think reading the book would be rewarding.
The Man who Fell to Earth by Walter Tevis now set up in the monthly discussions area - now's the time to set up notifications for it! I have also added the blurb about it as a discussion.
Only songs from the Station to Station album!
Hello everyone, still a little bit of chatter going on about Ancestral Night but this is a reminder that the August choice is The Buried Giant, with discussion to be led by @BarnerCobblewood.
I have been hard at work catching up on reading The Man Who Fell To Earth to lead my discussion... Dammit! Did it again! Wrong book!
Maybe we should read The Buried Giant who fell to Earth?
Hi everyone, lots of great conversation going about The Buried Giant but I thought it worth reminding everyone that at the end of September we have @clash_bowley leading discussion about The Man Who Fell to Earth.
After that, the normal sequence would have @Apocryphal in October, @NeilNjae in November, and me in December. But as always @WildCard if you have time and inclination to do something please shout. I'm thinking about A Master of Djinn by P Djeli Clark. Anyone else have plans yet?
For October, I'm thinking of offering Berserker, by Fred Saberhagen.
This became a series with titles like Berserker Man and Berserker Planet, but starting it all off was a fix-up novel in 1967 just called Berserker. It's composed of the first 11 short stories in the setting:
Without a Though
Goodlife
Patron of the Arts
The Peacemaker
Stone Place
What T and I Did
Mr. Jester
Masque of the Red Shift
Sign of the Wolf
In the Temple of Mars
The Face of the Deep
Berserkers are implacable military machines from elsewhere, deadly flotsam that drift into human space. Humans find various ways of dealing with them as described in the various stories, invariably by being human. Overall, from what I remember of my first read many years ago, the book has an SF existential horror vibe. Although I'm pretty sure this isn't the first instance of this theme in SF, I think the book may have gone on the inspire such things as the Cylons of Battlestar Galactica and Star Trek's Borg ships.
It seems to be available as used paperback or kindle or audio:
Canada (also the Booktrader might have it)
https://www.amazon.ca/gp/product/B00A4Q4FLK?ref_=dbs_m_mng_rwt_calw_tkin_3&storeType=ebooks&qid=1662905800&sr=1-1
UK
https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00A4Q4FLK?ref_=dbs_m_mng_rwt_calw_tkin_3&storeType=ebooks&qid=1662907175&sr=8-1
USA
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00A4Q4FLK?ref_=dbs_m_mng_rwt_calw_tkin_3&storeType=ebooks&qid=1662907310&sr=8-1
Please take a look and let me know if it looks available to you. If anyone had difficulty, I can pick something else.
This is the 1967 Ace Paperback cover:
Seems there is no problem obtaining it here in the UK
Maybe. I have been following the discussion of The Buried Giant, which I read a couple of years ago, and I’ll probably follow along for The Man Who Fell to Earth, which I read as a teenager.
After being woefully understaffed for over a year, I do have two new staff members, one who needs little direct oversight (yay!) and one who needs a bit more handholding. It is possible I might have some time for reading. We’re three weeks into the semester, and I’ve actually been able to limit my evenings or weekend work to three times a week. If that holds, I’m going to have lots more time to read. Fingers crossed.
I’m going to commit to reading and discussing Berserker, or whatever selection is finalized. If I’m able to keep that commitment, I’ll try to join in regularly and resume my place in leading discussion.
Fantastic. Just let us know whenever: schedules in the group can easily be shuffled around!