What we’re about
The Sci Fi Book Club was founded in 2014 as a way to formally explore the genre of Science Fiction. With books ranging from classics to new releases and from novels to short stories, we aim for diversity in our selections.
Club members have one month to read the book the group has agreed on. We meet via Zoom on the third Sunday of each month to talk about our reading and all things Sci Fi. Our hope is that members will come ready to contribute to the conversation both in their thoughts on the given book and with any insight into related media that might inform our discussion.
Occassionally we will all decide to take some extra time on a book, but members should plan on four weeks to complete the reading. You do not have to have finished the book to come to the meeting. We hope to see you either way, there's always plenty to talk about. Find out more at thescifibookclub.com.
Upcoming events (4)
See all- Crystal Society - Max HarmsLink visible for attendees
Hi all,
This month's selection takes place is the near future. Technology and society have continued to chug along and our first encounter with aliens did not go as planned. This is where we find the people of Earth as Crystal Society begins. The story follows a group of people trying to safely navigate this world, with the help of an AI.
Book of the Month
Crystal Society - Max Harms (2017)This is a very highly reviewed book on Goodreads and there are some interesting reviews for it online (examples here and here). I'm super curious to see what Crystal Society has in store. You can find it at your local bookstore and on Audible, but you can also find it for free in a wide variety of digital formats on the book's dedicated website here.
To join a Book Club meeting, all you will need is YOURSELF. If you haven’t had a chance to finish the book, we still would love for you to join us in the discussion.
- More Than Human - Theodore SturgeonLink visible for attendees
Hi all,
More Human Than Human has been on my to-read list for a long time. It's one of the classics but I've had a hard time fitting it into the other themes we've been exploring. And that's mostly because of the strong writing of the author, Theodore Sturgeon. SciFi Mind put it well in their review: "From the beginning, it’s clear you’re in the hands of a master. Forget genre, this is just great fiction writing."
Book of the Month
More Than Human - Theodore Sturgeon (1953)More Than Human is about six people—each with a distinct and extraordinary power—who wander the Earth until they find each other. When they do, they begin to realize that they are much more together. I don't want to go too much further so as to avoid spoilers, but it should be a really interesting read. The novel is actually a weaving together of three of Sturgeon's novellas, “The Fabulous Idiot”, “Baby is Three” (this was the first written) and “Morality”. Let's see what this 1953 classic has in store for us.
To join a Book Club meeting, all you will need is YOURSELF. If you haven’t had a chance to finish the book, we still would love for you to join us in the discussion.
- Ministry for the Future - Kim Stanley RobinsonLink visible for attendees
Hi all,
I have a confession, I've never read anything by Kim Stanley Robinson. I've had Red Mars and Green Mars on my list for a long time but never seem to get to them. When I received a couple of recommendations for Robinson's new (and rumored-to-be-final novel), Ministry of the Future, I had to look into it. In my research, I see that this is a polarizing book. Some love it, others think it's a bit too scattered. We shall see!
Book of the Month
Ministry for the Future - Kim Stanley Robinson (2020)The most interesting reviews that I've found have been from the Ancillary Review of Books, one from the Guardian, and this one from Bill Gates, who calls it "a scary but hopeful novel about climate change." At its core, Ministry is a novel about an international task force tackling global heating. The Guardian calls it a "chilling yet hopeful vision of how the next few decades might unfold".
This quote from the Ancillary Review of Books caught my eye. I am curious to see how Robinson balances a complex narrative and science while also taking a non-traditional approach to storytelling. "Take my claim that The Ministry for the Future is a modernist novel. There are many reasons to say so: Ministry is a patchwork of multiple voices, multiple perspectives, to the point where the protagonist of the book may fairly be said to be not any individual, but rather global society over the next fifty or so years as it develops and, slowly, unevenly, improves in that time."
To join a Book Club meeting, all you will need is YOURSELF. If you haven’t had a chance to finish the book, we still would love for you to join us in the discussion.
