Litsy

The Calculating Stars: A Lady Astronaut Novel | Mary Robinette Kowal

@Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks @Eggs #SpringSkies #BkClubRead

Reading this book in April for the #LitsySciFiBookClub #LSFBC which I host. It is a reread for myself. I enjoyed this book and look forward to visiting with the characters again.

Karisimo Have you read the whole series? 4w

TheSpineView @Karisimo Yes. Book 1 and 3 are my favorites 4w

Eggs 💙🖤💙 Perfect 4w

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julesG Same. I'm going to enjoy the audiobook shortly before our discussion. 4w

Karisimo @TheSpineView good to hear! 4w

TheSpineView @Eggs 😊 4w

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TheSpineView

The Man Who Fell to Earth | Walter Tevis

Here are a few questions on The Man Who Fell to Earth by Walter Tevis. These are just to get us started. Please feel free to discuss anything about this book. There was a lot going in it and I would love to hear your thoughts. #LitsySciFiBookClub #LSFBC

@Larkken @Deblovestoread @bnp @Johanna414 @BookmarkTavern @julesG @sebrittainclark @BookBelle84 @Readergrrl @CSeydel @Roary47 @LeeRHarry

TheSpineView @Lizpixie @Ruthiella @PaperbackPirate @PageShifter @kwmg40 @majkia @AuthorCjwhitcomb @Bookwomble @wanderinglynn @MerlinTheSlightlyAwkward @Klou @RamsFan1963 1mo

TheSpineView @BookwormAHN @LeticiaToraci @CatLass007 @AmandaBlaze @psalva @Karisimo @BethM @rretzler @Lauredhel 1mo

Ruthiella 1. think at least in part the book is to show how humans can‘t see beyond their own limited understanding and perspective, to our own detriment.
2. Was he an alcoholic? I never thought of him that way, interesting! In any case, I found him relatable in his need for solitude coupled with his need for companionship.
3. I never saw Newton as a Christ figure. Icarus fits in that his ambitions were too high and were ultimately his downfall. 1mo

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Bookwomble 1. That vested interest will outweigh wisdom. That we don't learn from experience. That technology can't save us if our intentions continue to be domination through force.
2. Tevis was actively alcoholic when he wrote the book, and alcoholism was a feature of many of his stories. I thought it an interesting inversion of culture shock, as historically alcoholism is a factor in the collapse of a colonised culture. Saying that, Newton does lose... 1mo

Bookwomble ... himself in American culture, "goes native", and perhaps alcohol is the haven of the alienated alien.
3. There's an early scene in which Newton sees a picture of Christ crucified and sees him as Anthean, so the comparison is there, but I think as a contrast between Christ's arrival being the salvation of the fallen universe and Newton's failure to save anything. The fate of Icarus is the overarching metaphor: the fall of Anthean civilisation... 1mo

Bookwomble ... through the misuse of technology, the incipient fall of human civilization, the literal and metaphorical fall of Newton from space to earth, and from grace to purgatory, if not damnation. Rumpelstiltskin span straw into gold, and Newton arrived not just with literal gold, but with the prime materials to create wealth from, essentially, nothing. Photography is the innovation most mentioned: wealth created by the conversion of the real into... 1mo

Bookwomble ... an image, and faery gold is traditionally illusory, lacks intrinsic value and eventually reverts to leaves and dust.
(My apologies for hogging bandwidth.) 1mo

kwmg40 Good observations here. I don't really have anything to add to the discussion, but the rest of you have given me more to think about. 1mo

rretzler I would agree that there have been some good observations. While reading the book, I felt that I could see the handwriting on the wall when Newton started at first to drink, as if that would ultimately lead to his downfall. So in answer to that question, I think it made him more human. But perhaps the Antheans were “human” anyway, as their civilization is a cautionary tale for our own. 4w

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TheSpineView

The Last Gifts of the Universe | Rory August

The April selection for the #LitsySciFiBookClub #LSFBC is The Last Gifts of the Universe by Rory August. At 203 pages it should be a quick read. I hope everyone one will enjoy April's selection. If you want to be added or removed from the tag list, please let me know. Happy Reading!

Discuss for March's selection, The Man Who Fell to Earth, will start in a couple of days. You still have time to read/finish because this one is short also.

TheSpineView @LitsyEvents @Larkken @Deblovestoread @bnp @Johanna414 @BookmarkTavern @julesG @sebrittainclark @BookBelle84 @Readergrrl @Roary47 1mo

TheSpineView @LeeRHarry @Lizpixie @Ruthiella @PaperbackPirate @PageShifter @kwmg40 @majkia @AuthorCjwhitcomb @Bookwomble @wanderinglynn @MerlinTheSlightlyAwkward @Klou 1mo

TheSpineView @RamsFan1963 @BookwormAHN @LeticiaToraci @CatLass007 @AmandaBlaze @psalva @Karisimo @BethM @rretzler @Lauredhel 1mo

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CatLass007 According to Amazon and ThriftBooks this book won‘t be released until October. Do you have an ARC? 1mo

CatLass007 Also, I wasn‘t tagged when the voting was posted. 1mo

kwmg40 I'm afraid I'll have to sit this one out. I can't find any copies in my local libraries or bookstores, and while Amazon and Kobo offer e-books, they won't be available until October! This may be a problem just in Canada, though. 1mo

PaperbackPirate Same for the US @kwmg40 . 1mo

rretzler Looks like it‘s the same for me (and I voted for it 🤣) 1mo

TheSpineView @CatLass007 My bad. Sorry, you are on my list and I some how over looked you. Squirrel brain!!🤦‍♀️ 1mo

TheSpineView @CatLass007 GoodReads said it was published on April 5, 2022???? Yet I see it is pre-order only on Amazon and the release date is October 1st. Wow, I took what GoodReads said as correct and didn't check Amazon. @rretzler @PaperbackPirate @kwmg40. We will have to put this one until a later date. That will mean we will read The Calculing Stars unless you guys want to recast votes. Let me know. 1mo

CatLass007 The description on Litsy says it‘s being released in September. So who knows how any information is accurate? Nobody‘s fault. I read the blurb and it sounds entertaining because cat. I think The Calculating Stars sounds like a great idea! 1mo

TheSpineView @CatLass007 I was looking forward to this one. Kind of bummed that we have to wait until October. 1mo

CatLass007 We‘ll have plenty of other adventures between now and then. 1mo

TheSpineView @CatLass007 Truth! 1mo

CatLass007 😘 1mo

julesG It was self-published in April 2022, when I bought it. So I guess a publishing house snatched it up and is re-releasing it. Honestly didn't know about this when I nominated the book. MEA CULPA 1mo

kwmg40 No problem, and I'm fine with The Calculating Stars. I've read it already and am not sure I'll reread but I'd be happy to participate in discussions with everyone else. 1mo

RamsFan1963 I'm fine with switching to The Calculating Stars. I'm not sure if my library has a copy, but I've seen several copies for under $10 on ebay. 1mo

AmandaBlaze I'm fine with

The Calculating Stars (Lady Astronaut, #1)

1mo

LitsyEvents Would you like us to hold off on reposting this since there might be a change in the book? 1mo

TheSpineView @LitsyEvents Yes, please 1mo

julesG I'm fine with Calculating Stars, too. In case you were wondering. 😁 1mo

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Bookwomble

The Man Who Fell to Earth | Walter Tevis

pick

Breughel's "The Fall of Icarus", explicitly referenced at the novel's start, sets the tone of grand failure. This is a pessimistic examination of humanity's probable (though not certain) inability to save itself from destruction. While Tevis had nuclear apocalypse in mind, there are parallels with the structural inability of vested interests to deal with the present climate crisis.
Re-read upgrade from 4 to 5⭐
#LitsySciFiBookClub #LSFBC ?

Bookwomble Thomas Jerome Newton, the eponymous protagonist and failed Christ figure, doubly unable to effect the salvation of his own dying people and that of his earthly planet of exile, is endearingly tragic in his inability to escape the perverse machinations of government agencies. Understandable though these may be, political advantage trumps wisdom.
The people of Newton's home planet, Anthea, learn about human culture from TV and radio broadcasts, and (edited) 1mo

Bookwomble ... I wonder whether the name Thomas Jerome is a nod to cartoon antagonists Tom and Jerry, and the cat & mouse game of deception and obfuscation played by both earthlings & Antheans?
It's hard to identify Newton's home planet, as the information seems contradictory. Venus and Mars are too close, despite hints and possibly deceptive denials. Jupiter seems about the right distance, and as Anthea was a daughter of Jupiter to an ocean nymph, one of ⬇️ (edited) 1mo

Bookwomble ... the Jovian moons is a possible candidate.
My movie tie-in edition states that Bowie wrote the film score, which he did but director Nicholas Roeg decided not to use it, indicating the book was prepared for press before the film release. Bowie did rework his compositions for the second side of his album, Low, with its iconic cover art from the film.
There is apparently a lot of Tevis autobiography in the novel: as a child he was isolated due ⬇️ (edited) 1mo

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Bookwomble ... to illness, was uprooted from the city to rural Kansas, and was an alcoholic whose drinking significantly impacted his ability to work.
For a short novel, there's a lot going on, and I'm glad I re-read it 👽 (edited) 1mo

batsy This book sounds super intriguing, and that painting is one of my favourites 💜 1mo

Bookwomble @batsy I love it, but it has a mixed Litsy reception at 59%. Library Thing rating is 3.85 and GR is 4.05, so more highly regarded on those platforms. Just to give you a more democratic indication than my personal view 😄 The painting is intriguing, particularly in the way the title event is very much backgrounded. 1mo

batsy @Bookwomble Yes, something both hopeful and depressing in the depiction of that major event (hiz legs sticking out of the water) and life just going in the foreground. Re: the book, sometimes the most interesting ones have exactly this kind of mixed reception 🙂 1mo

kwmg40 Nice analysis of the book. I have to admit that the deep pessimism of the story affected my enjoyment of it, but I find that I'm still musing on the themes of the book. 1mo

Bookwomble @kwmg40 Thank you 😊 And your comment seems to bear out that of @batsy 🤝 I have a deep vein of pessimism, so maybe it struck a chord with me 😏 1mo

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Bookwomble

The Man Who Fell to Earth | Walter Tevis

#TenuousLiteraryConnection 1: The epigraph for TMWFTE is a verse by Hart Crane, who was friends with poet Samuel Loveman, who was also a friend of H. P. Lovecraft, whose story "The Statement of Randolph Carter" I've just read, in which the doomed character Harley Warren is based on Loveman. (Yes, this is exceedingly tenuous!)
#LSFBC #BooksAndBowie

Bookwomble #TenuousLiteraryConnection 2: The cover of my edition is painted by George Underwood, David Bowie's childhood friend turned album and book cover artist, whose punch to the eye during a fight over a girl caused the injury resulting in heterochromia that contributed to David's air of otherworldliness, which was part of the mystique Nicholas Reg utilised when casting him in the film adaptation as alien visitor, Thomas Jerome Newton.
#BooksAndBowie 1mo

BarbaraBB Interesting! And a worthy photo for your profile as well! 1mo

bibliothecarivs A striking image 1mo

Bookwomble @BarbaraBB I have it (at least the "Low" album cover version) on a t-shirt, too ? 1mo

Bookwomble @bibliothecarivs It's one of my favourite Bowie images, and I've wanted that coat since forever! 1mo

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Bookwomble

The Man Who Fell to Earth | Walter Tevis

I'm starting The Man Who Fell to Earth for the March #LitsySciFiBookClub choice, and at 170 pages it hopefully won't take long. This is a re-read for me and I remember enjoying it, although I note the reviews of other #LSFBC members are mixed, so let's see if I enjoy it as much the second time around. Undoubtedly, my judgement will be positively affected by the Bowie connection 😁

psalva I remember it was so-so for me, but I think I may reread it at some point. I really want to see the Bowie film, however! 1mo

Bookwomble @psalva As far as the film goes, I really am biased! However it is considered a classic by most professional film critics, so you're probably safe in trusting their judgment 😊 1mo

quietlycuriouskate I recall this as one of the saddest books I've read. I have yet to see the film; I want to watch it but am not looking forward to the likely emotional fall-out. On a lighter note, I often think of Thomas Jerome Newton when I am subjected to the cacophony that passes for music in the locker room at the pool. 1mo

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The_Book_Ninja This was actually on the TV the other day. I turned the tv over and it was mostly finished…My wife said “Oh he was so handsome”. I went and made a cup of tea. That‘s my 2nd Bowie story. 1mo

Bookwomble @quietlycuriouskate I'm about half way through the book, and the film tracks pretty well up to this point. Tevis definitely hasn't set out to write an optimistic view of the future. I prefer to read listening to music; my wife finds most music a discordant jangle of random sounds, so possibly she's Anthean! 👽 1mo

Bookwomble @The_Book_Ninja Great story! 🫖😄 Mrs JT obviously has good taste 😁 1mo

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TheSpineView

The Ferryman: A Novel | Justin Cronin

Here are a few questions to start the discussion of our Jan/Feb selection, The Ferryman by Justin Cronin. Everyone is welcome to participate. Please discussion anything you want, these questions are just to get us started. #LitsySciFiBookClub #LSFBC @LitsyEvents

My thoughts: I thought the one theme was misconception of reality and contained elements that reminded me of The Matrix and Total Recall. I also think the author was ts us to question..

TheSpineView The concept of might makes right. Though firmly in the Sci-Fi genre it is also a mystery/thriller too. I thought a couple of the twists were really good and yes there was some great world building. There was a section in the begging then again in the middle that the plot dragged. I liked that was not a huge data dump at the beginning. The ending worked, but for my personal preference, I would have liked all the characters to have left the dream. 2mo

TheSpineView @Larkken @Deblovestoread @bnp @Johanna414 @BookmarkTavern @julesG @sebrittainclark @BookBelle84 @Readergrrl @CSeydel @Roary47 @LeeRHarry @Lizpixie @Ruthiella @PaperbackPirate 2mo

TheSpineView @PageShifter @kwmg40 @majkia @AuthorCjwhitcomb @Bookwomble @wanderinglynn @MerlinTheSlightlyAwkward @Klou @RamsFan1963 @BookwormAHN @LeticiaToraci @CatLass007 2mo

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TheSpineView @AmandaBlaze @psalva @Karisimo @BethM Please let me know if you want to be added or removed from the tag list. 2mo

julesG I DNF'd somewhere around the first third. It reminded me too much of Neal Stephenson's books and how much I dislike them. In other words, too "epic" and/or slow for me. 2mo

CatLass007 There was a TV show in the UK called Life on Mars. The ending was that the lead character was in a coma and was dreaming all the strange events that occurred. When they recreated the TV show in the US, they changed the ending. In that, the characters were on a sleeper ship on the way to Mars. There was some sort of storm and the AI gave them interesting dreams to get them through that experience. So I had a thought that something like (cont)⬇️ 2mo

CatLass007 that was happening here. And I wasn‘t too far off base. 2mo

Ruthiella I think the message was not dissimilar from other modern SF books regarding climate change repercussions and it also dealt with that age-old juxtaposition of the haves and the have nots.

Personally I think we spent too much time in Prospra and not as much quality time in the second half after the twist. But otherwise the world building was fine.

I liked the ending. It worked for me. I could see where others might be disappointed, however. 2mo

BethM I agree with much of what @Ruthiella said. The book could have easily been at least 100 pages shorter- it bogged down in the middle. In the balance I really liked it and was excited to read it every night. 2mo

kwmg40 I too agree with @Ruthiella. I liked the book a lot but felt very disoriented after the big twist. I would have appreciated more time in the second half, with correspondingly less time in the first. 2mo

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TheSpineView

The Man Who Fell to Earth | Walter Tevis

The winner for our March selection is The Man Who Fell to Earth by Walter Tevis. I found a copy at my library and it is also available as an ebook. Since my library is small, I am hoping you guys don't have any problem getting your hands on a copy. The page count is only 209 so it should be a quick read. Enjoy!

@Larkken @Deblovestoread @bnp @Johanna414 @BookmarkTavern @julesG @sebrittainclark @BookBelle84 @Readergrrl @CSeydel

TheSpineView @Roary47 @LeeRHarry @Lizpixie @Ruthiella @PaperbackPirate @PageShifter @kwmg40 @majkia @AuthorCjwhitcomb @book 2mo

TheSpineView @Bookwomble @wanderinglynn @MerlinTheSlightlyAwkward @klou @RamsFan1963 @BookwormAHN @LeticiaToraci @CatLass007 @AmandaBlaze @psalva @Karisimo @BethM 2mo

TheSpineView #LitsySciFiBookClub #LSFBC @LitsyEvents 2mo

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kwmg40 Fortunately, my library has an available copy! 2mo

TheSpineView @kwmg40 Awesome!💜📖🛸 2mo

BookwormAHN Audible has it and I believe it's one of their free titles. 2mo

TheSpineView @BookwormAHN Good to know. Thanks for that tidbit! 2mo

PageShifter I couldn't find it from the library but I'll check bookstores 2mo

Ruthiella My library has it on ebook and audio! Which is in part why it got my vote! 😆 2mo

TheSpineView @PageShifter 🌞 2mo

TheSpineView @Ruthiella 👍 2mo

Bookwomble Yay! I'm excited to re-read this one. I have two copies: one I've read that has a fairly boring generic cover, and one I haven't read that has a film tie-in cover, which is the one I'll be using 😊 2mo

TheSpineView @Bookwomble 😎😎😎 2mo

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LitsyEvents

Untitled | Untitled

From @TheSpineView
Original post:
https://www.litsy.com/web/post/2706997

“ It is time to choose our next book to read for #LitsySciFiBookClub #LSFBC
Voting will be open through the weekend. Please choose one book from among the 8 suggestions. If anyone wants to be added or removed from this group, please let me know.”

TheSpineView Thanks! 2mo

rretzler @TheSpineView please add me to the tag. 2mo

TheSpineView @rretzler Added. Glad to have you. 2mo

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TheSpineView

Untitled | Untitled

It is time to choose our next book to read for #LitsySciFiBookClub #LSFBC
Voting will be open through the weekend. Please choose one book from among the 8 suggestions. If anyone wants to be added or removed from this group, please let me know.
@Larkken @Deblovestoread @bnp @Johanna414 @BookmarkTavern @julesG @sebrittainclark @BookBelle84 @Readergrrl @CSeydel @Roary47 @Books_et_al