Info | Edinburgh SF Book Group

I was contacted by Jer White about the Edinburgh SF Book Group and thought it was great that a bunch of people meet up regularly to read and discuss SF. He sent me some info on the group, so please have a read:

The Edinburgh SF Book Group was created by Joe Gordon in September 2003. Originally meeting in Waterstone's Edinburgh, we now meet once a month in Henderson's on Hanover Street to discuss the group's book-of-the-month. We take it in turns to choose a book for the group to read: this way everyone has a chance to see their favourites aired and hopefully expose us all to writers and areas we may not have encountered before.

We're called the "Edinburgh SF Book Group" but as well as science-fiction we cover fantasy, magic realism, horror, anything that has a slight genre twist to it. The very first book we discussed was Richard Morgan's "Altered Carbon." More recently we have picked works by the likes of Ken Macleod, Michael Chabon, Kurt Vonnegut, Angela Carter, and Vernor Vinge.

We sometimes hear from the authors themselves: for example, when we read "The Holy Machine" Chris Beckett sent us a wonderful series of emails where he described his themes, motivations, and provided us with some reading tips and things to look out for in the book. We've also heard for Jon Courtenay Grimwood, Jeff VanderMeer, Hal Duncan and several of the SF writers based in Edinburgh.

Of the dozen or so folk that come along regularly, the split is around half and half male and female, and with the varied backgrounds and professions this all makes for fun and lively discussions. The book for February was chosen by our newest member Lisa who chose "Fahrenheit 451" by Ray Bradbury. However, she's gone for the Authorized Graphic Novel version by Tim Hamilton, since "it might be interesting to see this classic story told in a different format."

If you'd like to know more, check our websites below or email Jer at jer@pansentient.com

Better yet, read this months pick and come along!

The next meeting takes place on Tuesday 23rd February - head along if it's close to you!