All events start at 8.30pm unless otherwise specified. A summary is also available in calendar format.
Social meetings are on Thursday evenings, in New Hall bar. If this is unavailable at short notice, social meetings will move to the Castle Inn. Likewise, social meetings may be held in the Castle Inn outside Full Term.
Jómslunch: a buffet lunch is held each Sunday during Full Term, in conjunction with the Cambridge Tolkien Society. Food is typically available between 12.30pm and 2pm. Please mail soc-cusfs at lists dot cam dot ac dot uk if you would like to take part, so that we know how much food to buy.
| Sunday 30 April | Discussion: Tim Powers | Queens', room V16 | ||
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| A discussion of the works of fantasy author Tim Powers. | ||||
| Sunday 7 May | Discussion: Douglas Adams | Queens', room V16 | ||
| It's been a little over 20 years since The Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy was launched on unsuspecting radio-listening, literary and eventually television-watching public. Does its bizarre style of surrealist and/or absurdist humour stand the test of time, or does it lose something on subsequent re-readings? Was Mostly Harmless an unnecessary extension to the classic Trilogy of Four Parts? Has anyone been to the room in St John's in which parts of the Dirk Gently series were set? All these and many similar questions will hopefully be asked (and maybe even answered) at this discussion. | ||||
| Sunday 14 May | Discussion: Mervyn Peake | Selwyn | ||
| A discussion of the works of fantasy author Mervyn Peake. | ||||
| Wednesday 17 May | Speaker meeting: Juliet McKenna | Queens', Old Kitchens | ||
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Juliet McKenna, author of The Thief's Gamble, The Swordsman's Oath, and The Gambler's Fortune, will be coming to talk about her experiences as an author. Please come along, either to ask questions or just to find out more. Here's a snippet - her own comments on The Thief's Gamble, as reproduced on Amazon: "I wrote this book because I was wondering if anyone else wanted to read fantasy with characters who had lived lives of their own, whose personal concerns were at least as important to them as whatever epoch-shaking events they might be caught up in. On a purely personal level, I was also finding much of the fantasy I was reading unrealistic; I know that sounds like a contradiction in terms, but think about it for a moment. Other things I was getting tired of included heroines who went through their adventures untouched by human hand until ending up as the hero's reward in the final chapter, and even more so farm boys who turned out to be princes (unaccountably mislaid) or wizards (hugely powerful but not wishing to take over the world on account of being such darn nice guys) without anyone realising. Some writers can tell these tales extremely well, but I was finding a limit to what even the most inventive author could bring to the traditional hero tale. I wanted to write about a world where things like politics, religion and sex are facts of everyday life, rather than cosmos-shaping forces. After studying history at school, university and latterly just out in interest, I wanted a fantasy world where there is change, progression, advances in science and technology, literature and philosophy, where the world goes on its way quite independently of whatever it is that has the wizards and heroes running around in circles. The more I worked on it, the more the ideas came together and The Thief's Gamble was the result." |
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| Sunday 21 May | AGM and games evening | Clare Colony, room 12A | ||
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The traditional Easter Term games evening is, once again, the Annual General Meeting of the Science Fiction Society. Come along and see the new Committee being elected, join in the ludicrous election of our six new Permanent Vice-Presidents, and then spend the rest of the evening playing various bizarre games, both SF and non-SF. If you're interested in any committee post, please come along; the committee consists of a Chairbeing, Secretary, Junior Treasurer, Membership Secretary, Librarian and TTBA Editor, plus other positions co-opted on as necessary (including this year a Minutes Secretary). |
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| Wednesday 24 May | Reading | 16 Bateman Street, room 7 | ||
| Bring along your favourite pieces of Science Fiction and Fantasy Literature. Whether it's something obscure that you want other people to hear, or something popular you just think is a perfect example of the writer's art, bring it along and share it with the rest of us. | ||||
| Saturday 24 June 6.45pm for 7.30 |
Veizla | Trinity, Althurston (?) Room | ||
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The Annual Dinner of Jómsborg the New - full details here. |
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| Sunday 25 June 12 noon |
Summerthing | Start from Trinity Bridge | ||
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Jómsborg's annual river voyage and picnic - full details here. |
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Last edited: 24 June 2004, by Mark Waller
Status: up to date with all available missives
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