SciFi and Fantasy Book Club discussion

Brexit's really gone to your head, Diane XD

There's only one time zone now. Brexit means Brexit!

XD

Allison wrote: "Brexit's really gone to your head, Diane XD"

LOL! I don't know how I feel about us both thinking up Brexit jokes in response to this.

Haha! Great minds! As an American I fully relate to the mindset that everyone must do what we do ;-)

This time works for me as well.

Okay I updated the thread title and the first post to reflect the books we're reading (Three Body with a possibility of American Gods) and the date and time: Sunday, May 17 at 11 am Eastern.

Please do speak up though if this time and date don't work for you and you would like to join as I bet there's a bit of wiggle room for most of us :)

Still so bummed about forgetting the last chat; the books were such, that I could've even been coerced to open my mouth for an opinion. I don't think I was doing anything of significance just then either - just sitting idly by the screen.

Will be glad, if I remember to come lurking for this next one again <:D

I enjoyed both 3BP and AG, with an edge for 3BP. The series of which 3BP is the first entry starts good and finishes amazing.

I live in Asia and am quite busy, so it's unlikely I'll be able to join any of these, but I'll keep an eye out just in case.

Actually, if the time is shifted an hour or two earlier from 11 am EST I might be able to make it.

How do we feel about 10 am Eastern?

I have church at 10 (on-line but live), but can do 9AM?

Yikes, 9 am is early for me and crazy for the West coast. Kaa, Hank? I think you're our more westerly friends. And Hank, it's your Zoom lol

Is that easier or harder for Silvana?

I am an early riser so still in my comfort zone. I turn into a pumpkin about 12:00am eastern so I worry about the upper end of the time range not the lower.

Don't forget to vote in the re-reads thread since this is where the chat book options are coming from.

Good point Melanie! Here's the link if someone has managed to miss it:

https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

Oof, 6 is very early for me, but I could make it work.

this should be better for Sil and just atrocious for western Americans and eastern Americans who need coffee and a nap for mornings to begin on sundays. haha!

but we'll try it! I'll update the time tomorrow.

Hi y'all, thanks for thinking of me!
I am fine with 11 AM or 10 AM EST. Don't want people getting up too early because of me :D

Besides, though I already read 3BP, I won't be able to participate fully as I only have my paltry review as reference.

Here is an event happening soon! Neil Gaiman am NK Jemisin on Livestream. Sorry I’m not getting this out sooner. https://www.bard.edu/news/details/?id.... I thought you all might be interested as per the discussion of American Gods.

I've updated the time to 9 am Eastern.

I hope you know how much I like you all =P

Melissa, thanks for sending that link, I enjoyed listening to the discussion. Made me want to go back and read more from both authors.

We got up at 6.30am today to walk the dogs, so I may be better prepared for this than I thought. It's getting to the time of year when early morning is the only time of day when it's cool enough to go outside here.

So 7am Eastern it is then.

Don't make me fly over to the U.K. and throw the Wheel of Time at you! Assuming I can actually lift them all.

Ryan wrote: "So 7am Eastern it is then."

No, that won't work, it still hasn't cooled off enough until 5am or so here on the west coast

I'm so confused what time it will actually be, because it has changed so many times! Yes, I know the first post has the most recent time listed, but my inner calendar isn't keeping up :D

If anyone else is confused, or you just need to know when this will be in your timezone, check here!

haha 9 am eastern.

I refuse to be ready to make the thoughts happen before then for anyone. Not so much refuse as I don't think I'm physically capable. I guess if I stayed up all night...

I mean, it's going to be 4PM my time, and I'm not sure I'll be properly awake. I can't even imagine trying to speak to humans at 6AM.

You all make me laugh!

Anna wrote: "I mean, it's going to be 4PM my time, and I'm not sure I'll be properly awake. I can't even imagine trying to speak to humans at 6AM."

I know I don't really count as a person or being talked to, but 6 am for you is 11 pm for me, and you've definitely messaged me then. I think one time you sent me cat pictures, even.

Ryan wrote: "You all make me laugh!"

Phenomenal! Such conduct is the prerogative of the truly wise, after all! Gotta keep all my hufflemuffins and ravencuties happy!

lol, I often set myself alarms/notifications like "send Allison emu pictures" and "remind Allison that chocolate is yummy", and some of them might've been at 6AM :P

haha

Christopher wrote: "Melissa, thanks for sending that link, I enjoyed listening to the discussion. Made me want to go back and read more from both authors." I am glad you saw it! It was very interesting to hear them talk together.

Now that some of you are officially starting your weekends, a reminder that we're meeting this Sunday, 9 am EST because I like you all more than common sense would suggest! ;-)

Can't wait to talk 3 Body Problem with you! If you have any topics you'd like to discuss as a group, please remember to jot them down to bring up in the meeting, or, if you'd rather I continue moderating, send 'em over! Audio and visual are both of course optional, so however you'd find this most enjoyable, make it so!

Oh! Thanks for the reminder! See you on Sunday!

I posted this in another GR group and was planning on asking a more succinct question along the same lines for Sunday but I haven't figured out what that question is yet.

For the last fortnight or more I've been mulling over what I perceive to be a lack of imagination in speculative fiction and I wanted to challenge people about what good SFF has done besides provide a bit of escapism, which can be true of any work of fiction. What new horizons or frontiers have our minds ventured into because of SFF or what real world change (besides automatic doors and ipads due to Star Trek) has it brought us?

And so I ask is SFF really helpful or are we lying to ourselves?

Where is the speculative fiction that proposes ideas about differently / better functioning societies? Whys it in such short supply? It can't be that everyone is living such a wonderful life that utopian fiction is unnecessary.

Is it (mostly) a publishing issue? There's a long, but barely acknowledged history of the publishing industry releasing and promoting political works that enforce rather than challenge conformity. Do you think that's still an issue? Think of much lauded science fiction writer, Philip K. Dick, writing an alternative history of the allied forces losing WWII at the height of the civil rights movement as if to tell minorities in the US that they should stop complaining as things could be worse.

Fahrenheit 451, a science fiction classic, is often incorrectly thought of as a story of government censorship but is actually about anti intellectualism and the society we'd live in if those pesky minorities got their way in complaining about offensive artistic material. Its not hard to imagine that if the mind that created Fahrenheit 451 were alive today it would be donning a MAGA hat.

I hope that's enough to kickstart a conversation about how speculative fiction has helped you personally.

Are you suggesting that Bradbury would be a Trump supporter? Why?

As to your main question: aside from a few unusual works, written fiction, in general, has had little impact on society in general. That's not the point. Does there need to be any point other than entertainment and escapism? It's also a bit ridiculous to suggest that we have ipads and automatic doors because of Star Trek - even if the ideas originated there, advancing technology would have produced them anyway.

Let’s not discuss this here. I think that was meant to be something to discuss on Sunday during VBC, and then the discussion can continue in a new thread in members’ chat. Otherwise this thread will become a mess of broken conversations.

Just one of the possible topics to discuss on VBC after the 3BP chat and one that I now have concerns about bringing up. :/

Alternative/preferable possibilities that I've just now thought of include:
- Why do debut novels get such a bad rap? Or... if authors get better with time and experience then why do so many series end poorly?
- Are there any rules in SFF that shouldn't be broken? If so, which?
- What's your comfort read?

This is today, in just under three hours!

Oh gosh, I might be super late but will try to join!

I didn't manage to get to The Three Body Problem, so I'll sit it out to avoid spoilers, but I hope you all have lots of fun!

I probably won't be too active today since I'm technically going to be working but I look forward to hearing people's thoughts.

I’ll be there too but most of the time on mute 🤐. Look forward to hearing the discussion. I wasn’t a huge fan of the book but maybe it will inspire a re-read later.

See you all in a moment! I want you to know I forgot to set an alarm, so I bolted upright this morning, yelled (or tried to yell, but it takes me a second for speech to come back online after sleeping) "oh shit!" and looked at the clock. So, you were my first thought this morning! I'll miss those of you who aren't joining! We'll see you next time hopefully.

!