[bksvol-discuss] Next Meeting of the Science Fiction Club, Thursday, September 8, 2011

From: "Evan Reese" <mentat1@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
To: <bookshare-discuss@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>, "bob Acosta" <boacosta@xxxxxxxxxxx>, <bksvol-discuss@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>, <scifi@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Date: Sat, 13 Aug 2011 19:14:36 -0400

Hello Folks,

Our last meeting was another great one, including a very thoughtful discussion, 
inspired by our book, Empire by Orson Scott Card, which most of us liked.

The next meeting of the Science Fiction club will be on Thursday, September 8, 
2011.

Time: 9 PM Eastern, 8 PM Central, 7 PM Mountain, 6 PM Pacific, and 01:00 UTC.

Place: Book Nook at:

http://conference321.com/masteradmin/room.asp?id=rs7867a2369e0e

This month, we'll be reading a tale of alien contact in a medieval German town, 
along with the story of the contemporary couple who uncover this mystery. Our 
book is Eifelheim by Michael Flynn.

This one's available from both Bookshare and as a digital download from BARD.

The Bookshare version is at:

http://www.bookshare.org/browse/book/288996

and the link to the BARD version is at:

http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.nls/db.66272

Here's the NLS synopsis:

Mathematical historian Tom Schwoerin becomes
obsessed with Eifelheim, a medieval German town that
mysteriously vanished during the plague. Tom uncovers
evidence that fourteenth-century priest Pastor Dietrich
encountered aliens--which validates interdimensional-travel
theories posed by Tom's physicist lover, Sharon. Dietrich's
tale unfolds alongside Tom's present-day investigations. Hugo Award nominee.

Here's Bookshare's long synopsis:

Over the centuries, one small town in Germany has disappeared and never been 
resettled.
Tom, a historian, and his theoretical physicist girlfriend Sharon, become 
interested.
By all logic, the town should have survived. What's so special about Eifelheim? 
Father
Dietrich is the village priest of Eifelheim, in the year 1348, when the Black 
Death
is gathering strength but is still not nearby. Dietrich is an educated man, and 
to
his astonishment becomes the first contact person between humanity and an alien 
race
from a distant star, when their ship crashes in the nearby forest. It is a time 
of
wonders, in the shadow of the plague. Flynn gives us the full richness and 
strangeness
of medieval life, as well as some terrific aliens. Tom and Sharon, and Father 
Deitrich
have a strange destiny of tragedy and triumph in this brilliant SF novel.

Finally, here's another description from Booklist taken from Amazon's page for 
this book:

In the fourteenth century, the Black Death ravaged Europe. Most towns decimated 
by
it were eventually resettled, except for Eifelheim, despite its ideal location. 
Mathematical
historian Tom discovers this anomaly and an unexpected connection to his 
domestic
partner Sharon's research in theoretical physics, which seems to be leading to a
method of interdimensional travel. In fact, as Eifelheim's priest back then, 
Father
Dietrich, relates, before the plague's arrival, an interstellar ship crashed 
nearby.
The encounters between its passengers and the people of Oberhochwald, as 
Eifelheim
was first called, reflect the panoply of attitudes of the time, from fear of the
foreign to love and charity for one's neighbors to the ideas of nascent natural 
philosophy
(science), and the aliens' reactions are equally fascinating. Flynn credibly 
maintains
the voice of a man whose worldview is based on concepts almost entirely foreign 
to
the modern mind, and he makes a tense and thrilling story of historical research
out of the contemporary portions of the tale.

This is one that will not be easily forgotten, so I hope lots of people will 
read it and come to talk about it with us next month.

Evan

[bksvol-discuss] Next Meeting of the Science Fiction Club, Thursday, September 8, 2011

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