
Okay. So some people took umbrage at my earlier portrayal of the genesis of our newest bookclub. I admit it, I took a few liberties with the facts. So let me now present the absolutely unadorned facts of the situation.
The time: The grim darkness of the future. The scene: A dim passageway filled with smoke and fire. Scorchmarks from lasers have blackened the walls. Two soldiers, wearing space armour and bearing slightly smoldering copies of McSweeney's #8733
in their pockets, huddle outside the range of fire. The roar of a space cruiser can be heard overhead. Jason: (firing his raygun at the enemy) Let's start a science fiction bookclub! We should totally have a science fiction bookclub!
Jocelyn: No argument here. Go for it. (fires laser) Watch out for that droid!
Jason: (dodges gamma ray beams) What book should we pick?
Jocelyn: Who's this "we"?
Jason: You're my partner in crime. You love science fiction and fantasy. (punches remote drone out of the air) Take that, robot scum!
Jocelyn: Good hit there. When will this so-called "In Store SF Bookclub" happen?
Jason: Second Monday of every month at seven pm. So the first meeting will be February 8th. If we live that long....
Jocelyn: You'd better get a book selected then.
Jason: I know! I need ideas. And definitely not a space opera.
Jocelyn: Yeah, I'm pretty sick of grand intergalatic battles too. (fires laser gun into a cloud of smoke) How about Tim Powers'
The Anubis Gates? It's a classic time-travel story. I loved it.
Jason: (dons oxygen mask and goggles) Hey, great. Let's do it.
Jocelyn: (also puts on mask and goggles) I hope people enjoy awesomely complex stories about werewolves, lost poets, evil secret societies, and Old London.
Jason: Sounds like fun! Alright, let's move out! Remember, the only good cyborg...
Jocelyn: ...is a dead cyborg!
(exit stage left, pursued by robots) That's how it happened.
Please join us for the inaugural meeting of the Boswell In-Store SF/F Bookclub, after we return from the grim darkness of the future. We'll be reading
The Anubis Gates at the first meeting (which is indeed February 8th, at 7 pm). Come even if you didn't read it. Come even if you hated it. We like lively discussion. Please leave all blasters at home, though.