For September’s Book Club we will be reading Throne of the Crescent Moon by Saladin Ahmed. Pitched to the group as “Arabian Nights-like,” this medieval fantasy is based in a complicated political metropolis that seems to be a combination of historic Baghdad and an Arabic fairy tale. In it, a ghul-hunter takes one last job, but needs help from some friends and assistant—a mage, an alchemist and a Dervish warrior—plus a shape-shifter. NPR called it “ ‘Lord of the Rings’ meets the Arab Spring,” and it was nominated for the Hugo and Nebula Best Book Awards, and won the Locus Award for Best First Novel.

At August’s Book Club we discussed Dark Orbit by Carolyn Ives Gilman. A First Contact novel that got decidedly mixed reviews from the group, with most really enjoying it or really disliking it, it hews closely to a LeGuin model but perhaps without the same kind of skill that supports LeGuin’s novels. What some saw as anti-science, others found hand-wavey or, alternately, thought-provoking. More detailed notes available at Positron Chicago.

When: Monday, September 14th, 2015 6:30pm-7:30pm
Where: Filter Cafe 1373-75 N. Milwaukee Ave

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