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I would like to give members a rough idea of what we have planned for 2013 so far:

From January 18 to the end of Feb, we will have Ian leading us through The City & The City.

From March 4 to March 31, we will have Nataliya leading us through Embassytown.

From some time in April June or July (yet to be confirmed) we will have Richard leading us through Railsea.

Watch this space for more items in the not too distant future.

I found it thks!

Trav, I am working on the assumption that the TCATC group read will finish at the end of Feb, as per your original post.

Can I plan around this?

Sure, Ian, please tell me the exact date that you would like it to finish on, since i am poised to send out an event invite, but am still awaiting this info from you.

Would you like it to finish 28 Feb? Or can i make it a few days earlier-- let's say 25 Feb to allow a few days for end discussion?

Make it six weeks after 18 Jan, whatever day of the week that is.

Um.. exactly six weeks would be March 1.

That might leave us very little time to close off and prepare for Nataliya's group read of Embassytown which starts March 4. Unfortunately, this is the only time that Nataliya has available.

I wonder, would you feel more comfortable then moving it on a bit, perhaps, until after Embassytown? I suppose earlier than 18 Jan won't suit? The latter might squeeze many of us for time, since it's quite short notice..

All right, i'll just set it to end 28 February, then. People must hurry up and read faster if they want to follow all our reads, heh.

An adjustment has been made to our future reading schedule.

We anticipated that members might want to take a breather from reading CM after reading three in a row, and so we have moved our read of Railsea, which is to be led by our inimitable mod Richard, to the June the first.

Don't forget that we have the ever-popular Nataliya coming up with a read of Embassytown, as soon as Ian has finished with his very competent and excellent discussion of The City & The City.

Watch this space for more detail in the near future. :)

Anybody still interested in starting The City and The City is still very welcome.

Theoretically, we're only two weeks into a six week read, but it is very easy to read and many who started at the beginning of the schedule have already finished it.

Don't feel that any section of the discussion is complete already.

It's not complete without you!

Oh and I love the way that female discussion leaders are judged by their popularity and male ones by their competence. He he.

Hmm. All right, well, then, Embassytown will be led by our ever so efficient and competent super-gyneacologist Dr Nataliya, and aren't you people loving the read currently being led by our one and only superpopular- Mr ex-Pharaoh, who has decided to flex his charisma and come out of the Egyptian closet to show his non-mummified visage to the world?

;)

Aah, that's better, thank you.

I am enjoying TC&TC discussions and I'm looking forward to Embassytown in March. For now though, something else (though coincidentally, it's not totally dissimilar to TC&TC).

Cecily wrote: "I am enjoying TC&TC discussions and I'm looking forward to Embassytown in March. For now though, something else (though coincidentally, it's not totally dissimilar to TC&TC)."

Alastair Reynolds?

Ian wrote: "Alastair Reynolds?"

Yes, "Century Rain": http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/94.... It's sci-fi, but it's also a noir detective romp between two different versions of a single city.

Right at this moment I'm entangled with Alastair Reynolds's Revelation Space. It is the first Space Opera I've read in a good while. So far it has an unusual prose structure for a Space Opera, it is keyed with clues like a Mystery, and Noir--all unexpected. The Noir and the Mystery aspects are typically turn-offs for me; but so far Alistair Reynolds has me hooked. A new writer to me, an inexpensive used paperback, and so-far an unexpected gem.

But I came to this thread for another reason, Traveler.

Has there been a to-be-discussed/already-discussed schedule hidden somewhere beyond my minimal apprehension?

The Scar has already been group-read and discussed, correct?

I'm not normally a mystery/detective reader either (though I do like things a little dark/bleak), but you'll be safe on that score with most of Reynolds' books. If you enjoy the three Revelation Space volumes, Chasm City is set in the same universe, though it's more or less a standalone story.

Mosca wrote: "Right at this moment I'm entangled with Alastair Reynolds's Revelation Space. It is the first Space Opera I've read in a good while. So far it has an unusual prose structure for a Space Opera, it ..."

I was planning to do the Scar around Novemberish, Mosca, and was thinking to space the reads a bit further apart so our members have a chance to read other authors in between.

Why, are you very keen on the Scar, do you want it sooner?

I have to go right now, but i can PM you tomorrow, if you like. ...or PM me if you had a specific idea?

Traveler, thanks.

Schedule these reads as you see fit. But I am pleased that you are scheduling these reads patiently.

My interest in China Miéville is genuine, but not feverish. The two unread books most appealing are The Scar and Embassytown. I own an unread copy of The Scar. A purchase of Embassytown is in the works.

I may yet sit by the fire with the esteemed and admired Dr. Nataliya; but my purchase of Embassytown has not yet cleared; and my mind is a muddle. So time is truth.

Your efforts are appreciated, Traveller.

Yes, I hardly think there is anyone who reads a single author exclusively; so... gaps between the reads might be a good idea. :)

People, an announcement. Richard can now officially only take on the Railsea discussion sometime either late in June, probably closer to July, or in July; so we'll have quite a gap in our schedule until this discussion.

I hope everyone is happy with taking a break for a month or two.

If there were any of the members who would be interested in leading a discussion about something short themselves before that, please contact me via PM if you want it announced, or simply start a discussion in the appropriate area once we've finished Nataliya's read.. (It could be anything really- such as a short story or an online essay or interview by CM).

Nothing stops members from discussing issues in any area of the group while book discussions are going on, of course, but I'm talking about something a bit more involved than just casual remarks- just to keep the ball rolling inbetween group reads if there's quite a gap before the next book discussion.
It would be nice to have little discussions about this and that inbetween our bigger, actual book discussions.

We could even have a bit of fun writing some fanfic, if you like. :)

Much as I've enjoyed TC&TC and Embassytown, two in as many months is enough for me, for the time being. But don't let me hold anyone else back.

Traveller wrote: "we could even have a bit of fun writing fan fic"
seeing as I have not been able to take part in the discussions,I would be really up for this!

Magdelanye wrote: "Traveller wrote: "we could even have a bit of fun writing fan fic"
seeing as I have not been able to take part in the discussions,I would be really up for this!"

There's already a folder for that, Mags, so just do your piece, start a topic in that folder and make sure to mention the book or series that yout fic is based on. I think that if we post fan-fic, we need to do a little prefacing post at the start, in which you can say what you like but do tell whether you want the fic to be interactive or not. In other words, if you want to be the only person posting on that story, say so, but if you would like others to join in and help build your story, then mention that as well. Doing the latter (making it interactive with other members) can, besides being great fun, also be quite frustrating, because they will take your story off-track. So, i think one has to decide beforehand if you want to do a serious story, that just you will have control of, or if the point of your fan-fic is social interaction, in which case, everybody can have a bit of fun joining in, but you might not end up with much by way of a story.

If you do decide to start a fan-fic thread, so as to keep the integrity of the 'story' I'll start a separate comment thread for people to comment on the fic, (or you could do that yourself, of course).

Well, go at it whenever you're ready! I'm a bit strapped for time atm, which is why i haven't been joining in the discussions, but will certainly have a look at any fan-fic, and attempt to join in if it is of the interactive variety. :)

Traveller wrote:
There's already a folder for that.."

Technologically challenged as I am, I've found the folder but most likely will format it awkwardly. The best I can do is offer the opening of what I hope will be a lively interactive story,based on the intruiging concept,presented quite differntly in
The Scar, of a crack in the world. I have no idea of where this will go nor any need to control the action.
Please feel free to adjust format if necessary.
I hope this will go somewhere I cant yet imagine,before I do!

Hi Magdelanye, i've slightly changed the name of the topic in order to distinguish it from other fan-fic threads should anyone wish to make a different one in future, and i've also created a seperate thread in which we can comment on the actual snippets of fanfic being posted, so as not to mess up the continuity of the story in the thread. I'll start contributing to the fic a bit later this weekend. Thanks for starting it! :)

Mags, did you see we're starting a Le Guin read soon? Once that is done, we'll do Railsea, and once that is done, we'll do The Scar, and then we'll all be set to go do fanfic on The Scar.

Maybe we should stick to doing fanfic of the books the group has read already? That way, we'll have a lot of common themes to riff on. :D

The Le Guin Poll has been up for 2 weeks now, and it appears that The Left Hand of Darkness is the winner.

A group of members have agreed that we start our discussion on the weekend of April 27, so do try to read a chapter or two by then so that we'll have something to discuss, but never fear if you don't have the time! We will wait for you. :)
..but we do want to finish before our Railsea discussion, so roll up with 'em Le Guin volumes under your arms, folks!

See you there soon! I'll post a link to the threads for the upcoming discussion shortly.

Hooray!!

Railsea officially scheduled for June 15, which will be introduced to us by our quiet-but-super Richard. I'm really looking forward to have Richard lead us through this popular novel.

What is the scheduled completion date for the Le Guin?

Ian wrote: "What is the scheduled completion date for the Le Guin?"

Around May 13. Then we can have a break to read something else with other groups until Railsea starts. Why, are you getting addicted to Mievillians? Want us to squeeze in another one or a novella or short stories before Railsea?

I want to squeeze in some Proust.

Sure, should work!

Where's Railsea?

Derek wrote: "Where's Railsea?"

On my kindle ... I'm about 100 pages into it and was wondering the same thing.

Yes, I know. The last time I spoke to Richard, he was making noises that he might not have time to lead it anymore. Is there anybody else who would like to lead it, if he gives the final indication that he can't, or shall we make it a group effort and divide it into, say 4 pieces and let a different member "lead" each section?

It might just turn out to be a very successful experiment. What do you guys think?

I was sort-of planning to go by memory of this not-too-distantly-read book, but since I still had some Kobo credit, and it's the cheapest Miéville on Kobo, I broke down and actually bought a copy, so I guess I could handle some of the leadership duties.

So is Railsea the next one then? Just curious!

It is - it was scheduled to start this past weekend.

I'll hopefully be able to contribute way more to upcoming discussions; last semester was the semester from hell... My students seemed to have more catastrophes between my 4 classes than all the others I've taught before combined! [All the absences made for lots of repeating myself and lots of late work. Only teaching 2 classes this semester!]

Ok, Richard definitely can't make it, so let's make it a group effort. Who wants to go first?

I haven't read much of it yet, so I dabs going third or last. Unless one of you guys can't start with it this week then I can quickly start it? Tell you what, I'll just set up the threads; or for now the first thread at least, and then you guys just go for it?

I'll link to the first thread from here as soon as I have it set up.

I'm not up for the first one, as I haven't started rereading yet, but I'll take the second.

Okay guys, go for the first 60-100 pages here http://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/1...

Let's take it a few chapters at a time, roundabout 60-100 pages for a start and just see how it goes.

..so don't acecss that thread if you fear spoilers unless you're about 60-100 pages in.

I'm going to do my best to catch up. I'll be away again a bit next week, but I'm going to set up all the threads before then, at least.

I hope the discussion will gain its own momentum and be as awesome as many of the discussions we've had before! :))

Hi guys! Our members couldn't wait for a formal read-together of The Scar, and most of us have read it already, so if you've recently read it of feel like re-reading it, or haven't read it yet, do join our informal discussions here http://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/1...

Three spoiler threads have been added for your convenience, starting here: http://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/1...

This links to an overview of the The Scar threads: http://www.goodreads.com/topic/group_...

Here is a thread for Tigana by Guy Gavriel Kay,

http://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/1...

and here is one for River of Stars, by the same author.
http://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/1...

There have been calls for us to read Iron Council next. Will members be able to get hold of it in the next week or so? Our reading of The Scar and Railsea has pretty much wound down by now, so we might as well grab another Mieville and complete the Bas-Lag trilogy.

Apparently Iron Council takes place back in New Crubozon. I think it will be nice to re-visit the ol' place again!

That sounds good to me. Getting a copy shouldn't be difficult.

Good, so now we have three for the discussion, myself and Magdelanye included. Let's hope we can rally some more people. :)
Shall we have discussions start on Friday officially? (Though we can start reading sooner, of course.)

Hello everyone! Our read of Iron Council is still going, with some wonderful insights by members, so if you're reading it or have read it fairly recently, do make a plan to pop in on the discussion, of which you can get an overview here:
/topic/group...

There has been quite a few buddy reads requested by fellow members, so, in response to these requests, our fantasy read for December will be Deathless by Catherynne M. Valente, starting at /topic/show/... and our SF read will be Snow Crash by Neal Stephenson starting at: /topic/show/...

If there is anyone who wants to read both and would like us to space them farther apart, please let me know!