Science Fiction Aficionados discussion

hi everyone!

this month's theme is apparently MARK MONDAY and after the October poll came in at a tie, I chose Samuel R. Delany's Nova.

from checking my best friend Wikipedia's page on the novel, I've learned that Nova is a space opera about cyborgs and tarot cards and has parallels to Jason & the Argonauts and the Quest for the Holy Grail. wow! this book is even more intriguing than I realized.

it was nominated for the Hugo Award for Best Novel in 1969.

I'm excited to read this one. I hope folks can join me!

I finished it last night and I must confess I am mystified and baffled.

Just did not grab me. I enjoyed a lot of the imagery and some of the interactions, but I kept waiting for something.

I've just stickytaped on the cover of my '77 pb, to see if it can stand up to another read. Out of the Delanys I read this wasn't one I greatly related to, but I thought he was mindboggling in general. Time I read this again.

I read this earlier this year and really enjoyed it, but yeah, I agree that it is mind blogging. This is the only Delany novel I've read so far.

I am interested to see what people reading the book this month have to say about it. :)

I read it earlier this year for another book club and I loved it! For some reason, it just sucked me in and thrilled me.

I am about 3/4s through and enjoying it, even though I am sure I am missing things! This seems to be my Samuel Delany month, as I started Nova after reading my first Delany book Babel-17, which I loved.

Finished! I really enjoyed it. Not quite as much as Babel 17 but still very good. There is so much packed into it. The point that there had been no change in 800 years that had been as important as the change that had culminated by 1950 that resulted in so many people being able to understand what others in the world were saying. The example of how in the UK, there were accents and ways of speaking that made English spoken in different places in the UK not understandable to each other, while in the US, so much larger, the spread of communication and transportation had resulted in a common way of speaking -- yes there were regional accents and words, but for the most part people from around the states understood each other. It made me think about how much more prevalent English speakers are in Europe than when I first traveled there 15 years ago. It does seem to be coming to be a fairly common language. One young lady in Germany told us that in school they were given the choice of learning British English or American English. She chose American English and I must say that her accent was very much American!

just finished it! got rather a late start due to a busy month.

I loved it.

Delany's prose reminds me of a couple musicians I like, John Cage and John Zorn. Cage because they both create strange, shimmering beauty out of disparate parts that I wouldn't expect to find beautiful. Zorn because I usually have no idea what is going to come next, what one part will turn into, and what that will turn into. the music analogy occurred to me fairly early because the futuristic music that Mouse creates is so central to the story.

is there hard science in this book? I am not a science guy, not remotely, and a lot of what Delany was describing flew right over my head. so much so that I couldn't tell if it was actual science or if it was Delany was using science in a fantastical way.

one of the things I often notice when reading science fiction from earlier eras is how much these authors can pack in such a short number of pages. just slightly over 200 pages! and yet Delany successfully develops multiple characters, an entire future society, a revenge narrative, and much else in those pages. very, very impressive.

loved the use of Tarot. I think the only other science fiction I've read that had such heavy use was Piers Anthony's Tarot series. and now I'm a little embarrassed that I've mentioned Piers Anthony. but he had some good novels!

I'm a bit shaky on the Grail Quest within this novel. it appears central but at the same time its use was somewhat obscure to me. I have to think on that a little bit, maybe do some research.

one of the things I like about New Wave science fiction authors is just how literary they can get. I have no problem with straightforward 'genre prose' but I just really, really love the artistry of more experimental writers who don't handhold readers from point A to B and who treat their prose with a combination of playfulness and seriousness, like it's a fun challenge for them to write that they intend to be a fun challenge to read. that kind of writing really hits different parts of my brain in a way that is really exciting to me.

Enjoyed Mark's review. Perhaps had I read it before reading the book, I might have enjoyed the book more.

Glad I'm not the only one that really loved it.

Ha ha, finished with two and half hours left of October!

Loved it. It's the best prose I've read in ages.

Alex wrote: "Ha ha, finished with two and half hours left of October!

Loved it. It's the best prose I've read in ages."

This^^^^ I am really glad I read this-it can be taken so many ways, and gave me a lot to think about!

Alex wrote: "Ha ha, finished with two and half hours left of October!

Loved it. It's the best prose I've read in ages."

you made it into the winner's circle!

I'm so glad every one else had a good experience too. In another group I'm in, we read it and I think I was the only one that loved it. I nearly read it in one sitting. I was so glad I paid the $2 to get it via interlibrary loan.