Who are the Kansas City SF&F Literati?
They are a
KaCSFFS-allied group of book lovers who meet (almost) every
Fourth Monday of the Month to discuss a pre-selected book in the
science fiction, fantasy, or related speculative genres. All are welcome to attend their meetings at the
Oak Park Mall Barnes & Noble Booksellers in Overland Park Kansas, or to participate in discussion follow-ups on
the group's Facebook page.
What are collective reviews?
They are compilations of discussion summaries and participants' comments, taken from posts on the Facebook group and re-formatted into a short review of one or just a few paragraphs.
Why these books? Why now?
Each book reviewed here
was a Selection of the Month for the group during 2017. Selections are normally chosen three times each year, in January (spring selections), April (summer selections), and August (fall-winter selections, including the following January).
We're
posting them now for two reasons:
(1) The group does not meet in December (this month's meeting would have fallen on Christmas Day, when most locals have other things going on!).
(2) We hope these reviews may offer you timely ideas for books to give (or avoid giving) as winter holiday gifts!
Our 2017 Book Reviews:
January: Throne of the Crescent Moon, by Saladin Ahmed
Seven out of the ten who came to the discussion said they'd liked this book, though a couple of them said it didn't leave much of an impression. "One of the things I liked about it, is that the powers were not over the top. They are enhanced, but not super power," on online commenter wrote. "I liked how they spoke their cadence; I kept using my Jewish voice, although they [the characters] are not Jewish," another wrote. "Great book!" a third wrote.
February: Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children, by Ransom Riggs
Eight out of fifteen people liked this book, though some had more difficulty with it after they watched to movie while they were reading it. Most seemed to agree with online commenters who wrote, "Finished the book, liked it. Already read second book in series, have hold placed for third book," and "I enjoyed [it] . . . it was a good first YA book in a series."
March: Mr. Adam, by Pat Frank
The group often includes sf from the past for one selection out of the year, but this vintage book from 1946 didn't fare as well with our 2017-era readers (71 years later) as some of the year's other selections: four out of seven said they didn't like it, while only two said they did.
As one online commenter put it, "dragged in the middle, ending was predictable." "Too much telling not enough showing," another wrote. There was some appreciation for the differences in historical period: "I kept hearing the 1940s news voice," one noted. "Is this satire, and [we're] missing out on it?" "Yes," another replied, "he wanted to do a satire on government bureaucracy with a thin veil of SF." But at least one wrote, "I liked the Robots."
April: Updraft, by Fran Wilde
Three out of the six who attended the April discussion said they liked it, while the other three were more indifferent--none came right out and said they didn't like it. "It started real slow," one online commenter said, but also "the premise was intriguing." "We decided the author needed to do more world building," another said.
"I think it might have been the audiobook [that kept] taking me out of the story . . . I actually fell asleep on the last 40 minutes of the book," (ouch!). Another wrote, "I wasn't sure if the main villain was killed or not." Others, however, were more positive: "There is enough to this world that had me intrigued to know more," one wrote. Said another: "I liked it, but definitely agree the author could do more world building. I was confused [about] the conflicts between mother (Trader) and child (now Singer)."
May: Quantum Night, by Robert J. Sawyer
This selection represents the group's annual preference for choosing a book for the May discussion that was written by the year's
ConQuesT Author Guest of Honor--who in 2017 was
Robert J. Sawyer. Unfortunately for Mr. Sawyer, however, of the six who started the book, only three liked it, and three were "meh" votes. The comments weren't very encouraging, either, although one did note, "The author clearly has a soul (he drops lots of
Star Trek references!)."
"Comically bad in some areas," one commenter said. "Court scene was radically bad; wanted to stop the interrogation since it was flawed: no defense lawyer would allow his witness to proceed while so unprepared," another wrote. A third complained, "Useless side plot (international tensions), or does that happen to make it politically relevant?" Yet another: "The mentor would change personality as needed for the plot."
There was general dislike for the high number of psychopaths in the story: "28% are psychopaths, then how can you get out of the Stone Age? You would struggle at the tribal level. Well written but . . . flawed." "Highly functional psychopaths," another wrote, "don't make the news." "Never discussed psychopaths who weren't dramatic," a third said. "Not just uncaring but evil. Why must the extreme always be so prominent in this story?" "Is it acceptable as a reader to have psychopaths be this prevalent in the society?" another wrote. The narrator, too, took a beating: "When a narrator becomes a psychopath, the narrator then loses his soul," one wrote. "The narrator doesn't suffer as he should have," another said.
June: Last Call at the Nightshade Lounge, by Paul Krueger
This selection (humorous/suspenseful urban fantasy--
or is it sf?) got much better reactions than the last several books, though far fewer posted comments in all. Of the nine who weighed in on it, only one was a "meh." The others all said they liked it. "The teacher seemed pretty cardboard," one said.
However, most of the commenters were in tune with the one who wrote, "When the pink elephants showed up in the first chapter, I knew I was in for a good time," then added, "I found that this book gave me a respect for the old classic cocktails." Another summed it up: "The idea sounded hokey, but I couldn't put it down! Read in pretty much one sitting. Finished it, liked it."
July: Radiance, by Catherynne M. Valente
Unfortunately, the group was once again less than positive about the July selection.
Eight started the book, three finished, and six said they didn't like it, though a few struggled to find either nice or neutral things to say. "There were pieces that were imaginative and interesting," one commenter said. "I like the fact that we live in a world where this can be published," another said. "This is a novel which really isn't a novel,"a third noted.
Others were less tolerant. "I can count on one hand books I have never finished. This one I hated most," one said. "I have read other things by this author and liked it, but I was disappointed in this one," another commenter said. "The story line is disjointed because it jumps from movie script to different format[s]. The timeline is bad. The ship manifests were worst." "The audiobook is worst because [of] all these timelines," a different commenter said, while a third wrote, "I had the audiobook and was 45 minutes into it, when I had a friend who was driving to pull over [to] the library so I could drop it off and pick up something else to listen to." One commenter congratulated another: "I am impressed that you finished it." "It was a regular slog," another added.
August: Just one Damned Thing After Another, by Jodi Taylor
Of the ten who started this one, nine finished it and they were evenly split between "like" votes and "meh" votes. Many of the less-positive comments regarded the time-travel aspect: "People are dying, historians are not helping? No protection?" one wrote. "Shameless ripoff of TV's
Timeless - had enough sense to send muscle," another said.
[Editor's note: Timeless first aired in 2016; One Damned Thing was published in 2013. Perhaps the alleged ripoff involved time travel?] "Formulaic: cardboard, obligatory scenes: Let's go see a T-Rex," a third comment read. "Second [book] probably already sold, so too much in 1st book." "Understand it's first novel, give author some slack, but cliche ending--iterations of your past/my future, etc. Too much like magic," another said. At the meeting, the group went into a side-discussion of other approaches to time travel for a while.
The humor drew both positive and negative comments--sometimes in a single comment: "Sometimes, [I] liked the snarkiness, but infuriating-unnecessary snarkiness [was] not too amusing." "Trying to be funny or just poor writing?" another wondered. "Self-depreciating," said one. "Still didn't believe the author was female--main character seemed male but with tits," another remarked.
Yet other comments were more strongly positive: "Hilarious, snarky historian humor," one said. "Read pretty quickly," another added. "Fun, light, moved fast enough that complaints didn't last long," a third said. "I read it. I enjoyed it," a fourth put in. The moderator added, "Many folks would read the next book, since they are light & enjoyable--a winter read."
September: The Outsourcerer's Apprentice, by Tom Holt
Of the eleven who started this one, six liked it, and at least eight read it all the way through. One of the non-finishers "thought it was dragging. There were very funny bits that made me laugh out loud, but . . . lost patience." Another liked and finished it, but agreed it "Did drag a bit at times," which elicited a reply from another, "Ya think?"
One person noted he "thought the plot was there just to pin scenes to." "I enjoyed it, but wouldn't read another in the series," another said. A third noted she was reading it aloud to a friend. "We're enjoying it," she added.
October: Lightless, by C. A. Higgins
Nine out of the ten who started this book had finished it by the time they went to the October meeting. Only two were willing to say they actually liked it, however. Three didn't, and the other five voted "meh." "I liked it as a first novel," one commenter said. "While it was the first book of a trilogy, I am not motivated to read the rest," another said. "I thought this was a book with lost opportunities," the first one added. "There [were] some interesting ideas that didn't go anywhere."
"[The] AI as a child was interesting, but it took too long to get there," one commenter wrote. "This was a 25-page short story that someone added 200 pages to," another said. "This was a police [procedural] wrapped in science fiction." "I was annoyed that I didn't really care who survived," a different commenter said. "Our non-AI protagonist didn't exhibit enough competence to get my sympathy."
Two things stood out as "pet peeves" for several commenters. First: "All the A names were annoying," one said, while another wrote, "[I] wish [they] had a different name for the ships and character names: several started with letter A." The other was calling the government "The System." Two different commenters wrote, "Really?" in response to this.
November: The Clown Service, by Guy Adams
Only four intrepid folk showed up for the November discussion--and their reactions were mixed. At least one had not completed the book by the meeting.
"Popcorn fiction," one said. "
Went in with low expectations and was pleasantly
surprised. A little slow to start. Seemed derivative." Another said, "Only one person in the department? Really turned
off by the book's title — why would it make me want to read the book?"
Several drew comparisons with Charles Stross's The Laundry Files.
However, another person said, "Characters
were written well. Curious about the minor characters who encounter main
character, give him info, then seem to forget knowing him on next meeting."
That's it for 2017--but wait! There's MORE!
The
cycle starts again on January 22, 2018, with a discussion of
Seeds of Earth, by
Michael Cobley. Do you have your copy yet? Buy or reserve one soon,
so you can join in (whether in the Kansas City area, or from afar via the group's Facebook page)! We hope to see you in January!
IMAGES: The book cover images shown are from earlier posts to this blog. Please follow the links on the month-names for more specific information.
Book: Noumenon
A mosaic novel of discovery, Noumenon—in a series of vignettes—examines the dedication, adventure, growth, and fear of having your entire world consist of nine ships in the vacuum of space. The men and women, and even the AI, must learn to work and live together in harmony, as their original DNA is continuously replicated and they are born again and again into a thousand new lives. With the stars their home and the unknown their destination, they are on a voyage of many lifetimes—an odyssey to understand what lies beyond the limits of human knowledge and imagination.
A mosaic novel of discovery, Noumenon—in a series of vignettes—examines the dedication, adventure, growth, and fear of having your entire world consist of nine ships in the vacuum of space. The men and women, and even the AI, must learn to work and live together in harmony, as their original DNA is continuously replicated and they are born again and again into a thousand new lives. With the stars their home and the unknown their destination, they are on a voyage of many lifetimes—an odyssey to understand what lies beyond the limits of human knowledge and imagination.
