SF&F Literati Meet October 26!

Time-Travel Fuels Steampunk Mystery

Date: October 27,2014-7:00 p.m.

Title: Infernal Devices

Author: K.W. Jeter

Publisher: Osprey Publishing Ltd.

Available from: Fine booksellers, including Barnes & Noble

Meeting Location: Barnes & Noble #2352
11323 W 95th Street, Overland Park, KS 66214

Overview from Barnes & Noble:

“He inherited a watchmaker’s store—and a whole heap of trouble. But idle sometime-musician George has little talent for clockwork. And when a shadowy figure tries to steal an old device from the premises, George finds himself embroiled in a mystery of time travel, music and sexual intrigue. A genuine lost classic, a Steampunk original whose time has come.” 

Please note that K.W. Jeter does not seem to have an official author website. If you would like to know more about him, you may enjoy looking at the biographical information from Wikipedia, Amazon, GoodReads, and Facebook.

Start reading now for November!  

Implacable Strangeness in the Universe

Date: November 24, 2014-7:00 p.m.

Title: Burning Paradise

Author: Robert Charles Wilson

Publisher: Tom Doherty Associates 

Available from: Fine booksellers, including Barnes & Noble

Meeting Location: Barnes & Noble #2352, 2^nd Floor
11323 W 95th Street, Overland Park, KS 66214

Overview from Barnes & Noble:

“From Robert Charles Wilson, the author of the Hugo-winning Spin, comes Burning Paradise, a new tale of humans coming to grips with a universe of implacable strangeness.

“Cassie Klyne, nineteen years old, lives in the United States in the year 2015—but it’s not our United States, and it’s not our 2015.

“Cassie’s world has been at peace since the Great Armistice of 1918. There was no World War II, no Great Depression. Poverty is declining, prosperity is increasing everywhere; social instability is rare. But Cassie knows the world isn’t what it seems. Her parents were part of a group who gradually discovered the awful truth: that for decades—back to the dawn of radio communications—human progress has been interfered with, made more peaceful and benign, by an extraterrestrial entity. That by interfering with our communications, this entity has tweaked history in massive and subtle ways. That humanity is, for purposes unknown, being farmed.

“Cassie’s parents were killed for this knowledge, along with most of the other members of their group. Since then, the survivors have scattered and gone into hiding. Cassie and her younger brother Thomas now live with her aunt Nerissa, who shares these dangerous secrets. Others live nearby. For eight years they have attempted to lead unexceptional lives in order to escape detection. The tactic has worked.

“Until now. Because the killers are back. And they’re not human.”

IMAGE CREDITS: Many thanks to the blog, "Solar Bridge" for the cover image of Infernal Devices, and to GoodReads for the cover of Burning Paradise.

Are you Reading?

SF&F Literati Announce New Fall-Winter Selections

Here are the selections for, L-R: October, November, January, and February.

If you haven't gotten the word yet, here is the latest group of book selections for the SF&F Literati book club group. The group meets at 7:00 p.m. on the fourth Monday of each month, except in May (when they meet on the third Monday because of ConQuesT) and December (too close to Christmas).

Barnes & Noble #2352 is the venue.

They meet at the Barnes & Noble Booksellers at Oak Park Mall, on the second floor by the windows. Here are location details:

Barnes & Nobles Booksellers-Oak Park Mall

Barnes & Noble 2352
11323 W 95th Street, Overland Park, KS 66214
913-492-8187

Store Hours
Sun 10:00AM-7:00PM | Mon-Sat 9:00AM-10:00PM

The remaining meetings for 2014 and their selections:

Cover art for Infernal Devices

October 27: Infernal Devices, by K.W. Jeter
Available from Barnes & Noble and other fine booksellers. 

“He inherited a watchmaker’s store—and a whole heap of trouble. But idle sometime-musician George has little talent for clockwork. And when a shadowy figure tries to steal an old device from the premises, George finds himself embroiled in a mystery of time travel, music and sexual intrigue. A genuine lost classic, a steampunk original whose time has come.”

November 24: Burning Paradise, by Robert Charles Wilson, available from Barnes & Noble and other fine booksellers.

“Cassie Klyne, nineteen years old, lives in the United States in the year 2015—but it’s not our United States, and it’s not our 2015.

Wilson's Burning Paradise

“Cassie’s world has been at peace since the Great Armistice of 1918. There was no World War II, no Great Depression. Poverty is declining, prosperity is increasing everywhere; social instability is rare. But Cassie knows the world isn’t what it seems. Her parents were part of a group who gradually discovered the awful truth: that for decades—back to the dawn of radio communications—human progress has been interfered with, made more peaceful and benign, by an extraterrestrial entity. That by interfering with our communications, this entity has tweaked history in massive and subtle ways. That humanity is, for purposes unknown, being farmed.

“Cassie’s parents were killed for this knowledge, along with most of the other members of their group. Since then, the survivors have scattered and gone into hiding. Cassie and her younger brother Thomas now live with her aunt Nerissa, who shares these dangerous secrets. Others live nearby. For eight years they have attempted to lead unexceptional lives in order to escape detection. The tactic has worked.

“Until now. Because the killers are back. And they’re not human.”

The meetings so far planned for 2015 and their selections:
January 26: Count to a Trillion, by John C. Wright. 
February 23: The Rapture of the Nerds, by Cory Doctorow and Charles Stross

Watch this blog for more information!

IMAGE CREDITS: The photo of the four book selections is from the SF&F Literati Facebook Page. The photo of the Oak Park Barnes & Noble location is courtesy of Barnes & Noble. Cover art for Infernal Devices is from Solarbridge Files. That of Burning Paradise is from GoodReads. Many thanks to all!