About us
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 and join the Discord community here.
Upcoming events
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Streaming Passes for the Brooklyn SciFi Film Festival
·OnlineOnlineHi everybody!
The Brooklyn SciFi Film Festival kicks off its seventh season with over 200 independent Sci-Fi films from 34 countries streaming online for two weeks. The festival is an annual celebration of independent science fiction filmmaking, and over the years, BSFFF has highlighted hundreds of bold voices in the genre.
Grab your digital pass on Eventbrite to unlock a Netflix-style platform that you can search by category and even host virtual watch parties with friends. This year, we celebrate 60 Years of Star Trek with a series of Trek fan films, panels, and interactive events. The Sixth Borough anthology series also returns each night of the festival, dropping a new episode of hand-picked, standout science fiction films.
Purchase your online festival pass via Eventbrite here, your rsvp to this Meetup event is not enough. If you're prompted for a discount code, use SIFIBookClubBSF26 for 15% off.
Let us know some of your favorites in the comments!
If you're in the NYC area, we hope you'll join us for an in-person event, as well. Check out the lineup and join us if you can.
Cheers,
Jon & Meghan14 attendees
Look to Windward - Ian M. Banks
·OnlineOnlineHi all,
So glad to have our Iain M. Banks selection finalized for November. As we’ve discussed previously, the books in the Culture series are connected, but don’t necessarily need to be read in order. The Club really enjoyed Book 2, The Player of Games, and I’m curious to see where in the universe we land with Book 7, 2000’s Look to Windward.
sophyanempire has a solid review of this entry in the Culture series, calling Look to Windward “exciting, tense, sad and heroic.” She notes that from there, “the book grows in scope, showing multiple perspectives, almost all of them from a non-human alien point of view.”
The Guardian also has a great review from when the book was first published. Phil Daoust writes that “Banks has tremendous fun with his giant canvas” in Windward.
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.
Not able to join us in person for events? The Sci Fi Book Club is on Discord. Join us and keep the conversation going.
A reminder that Book Club takes a break each October, so while Look to Windward has a fairly large page count, we’ll essentially have two months to read our pick.
Cheers,
Jon
22 attendees
Mission of Gravity - Hal Clement
·OnlineOnlineHi everybody,
Back for another team investigating an alien planet. This time we have a true classic, Hal Clement's seminal 1954 gritty sci fi novel, Missions of Gravity. This one has been on the list for a while and I'm so glad it was on theme enough to get on the survey.
Book of the Month
Mission of Gravity - Hal Clement (1954)From a good review on Skiffy.ca, "Originally serialized in 1953 in the magazine Astounding Science Fiction, the tale was published in book form the following year. Decades later, it was awarded a Retro Hugo, for excellence in SF’s pioneering era.
Mission of Gravity is an archetypal example of what the kids call “hard science fiction”, a subgenre in which the characters within the SF story solve physical problems with physical –largely technological– means. The science tends to be solid, even the speculative science, and the rules are intensely consistent within the boundaries of the story."
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.
Not able to join us in person for events? The Sci Fi Book Club is on Discord. Join us and keep the conversation going.
18 attendees
Past events
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