All events start at 7.30pm unless otherwise specified.
| Sunday 25 April | Discussion: Walter Jon Williams | 155 Gilbert Road | ||
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| Walter Jon Williams does it all. His Metropolitan gives us a future city where magic is generated, harnessed, and billed to the customer. Aristoi explores virtual realities and multiple personalities, Knight Moves follows the search for FTL communication and travel between scattered human colonies, and his Dread Empire's Fall space opera trilogy asks what happens when a totalitarian regime comes to an end. Join us to discuss his work. | ||||
| Thursday 29 April | Cocktails Workshop | 155 Gilbert Road | ||
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Join us for our annual foray into cocktail invention. For a small fee
(£6 for members, £7 for non-members) we provide unlimited
ingredients for your mad schemes. Previous concoctions can be found in the
CUSFS drinks list. Please email by 6pm Sunday 25th April if you intend to come so we can judge how much to buy. |
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| Sunday 2 May | Discussion: Religion in fantasy and SF | 155 Gilbert Road | ||
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Many authors introduce religion into their work. Sometimes it seems
that it's a commentary on real-world religions; sometimes the religion
stands for something else - and sometimes it's just there to add local
colour or help unstick the plot. Is this done well? Does it help
the story? In some cases we actually get to see god(s) as characters
in the story - do we like it? Come and talk about religion, faith and the like at our discussion. (We promise not to talk about the truth or otherwise of any real religions!) |
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| Thursday 6 May | Reading Evening | New Hall bar | ||
| Bring along a short piece of Science Fiction and Fantasy Literature (either a (very!) short story, or an extract from something longer - no more than 4 or 5 pages is a good rule of thumb) to scare, impress, or entertain the company. Introduce us to someone new, or convert us to an old favourite. Alternatively, come to listen to what others have brought to read, and be enlightened, amused, horrified, or just confused. | ||||
| Sunday 9 May | Discussion: Mary Gentle | 6 Ainsworth Court | ||
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Mary Gentle is not the most prolific of authors, but what she may lack in
quantity, she more than makes up in quality. Her SF and fantasy are
thought-provoking and inventive in setting and characters: her invented
worlds include "the city at the heart of the world", ruled by giant rats and
a cabal of gods, an alternate Civil War England with Queen Carola and Olivia
the Protector, and a medieval Europe where Mithraism never died out, and
Carthage survives "under the Penitence". The characters who inhabit these
worlds are distinctively drawn, and very human in their imperfections; we
clearly see them change and grow as their stories proceed. Interestingly,
for an author who does not explicitly espouse feminism, most of Gentle's
protagonists are women. To quote the Encyclopedia of Fantasy, Mary Gentle
"is a writer of violence; her style is muscular and thrusting; her
conclusions tend to be dangerous; and her stories are never comfortable." Intrigued? Want to know more, to agree or disagree? Come along, ask questions, and maybe find some answers about this fascinating author. |
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| Sunday 16 May | Discussion: Buffy, Angel and Firefly: the Whedonverse | 11 Atherton Close | ||
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Joss Whedon had it all, just over a year ago: Buffy was in its final
season, Angel was going strong in its fourth, and he had his
western-in-space, Firefly, making its debut onto American screens. And now
all three have left the small screen. Come and indulge in the memories of the glorious Whedon-era this Sunday. Just what was it about Buffy that caused so much passion in fans and critics alike? How did it evolve over its 7 years? How has Angel staked (so sorry...) out its own turf? What do we want to see in the upcoming Firefly film, Serenity? And finally, and most importantly for our sanity, what can we watch now? During the course of the evening we will show an episode of Buffy. Wish us monsters. |
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| Saturday 12 June 6.30 for 7.30 |
The Veizla | New Hall meet at the Porters' Lodge |
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| The Veizla is the annual dinner of Jómsborg the New, and also marks the inauguration of a new Reeve and Companions. Full details are now available. | ||||
| Sunday 13 June Meeting time: 12 noon |
The Summerthing | Meeting point: Trinity Bridge | ||
| Join Jómsborg the New on its annual water-borne expedition up the Cam, for a self-catering picnic in Grantchester Meadows. Full details are now available. | ||||
| Saturday 19 June 9am - 10pm |
CTS: Lord of the Rings BBC Radio adaptation charity reading | Borders, Market Street | ||
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A charity reading of Tolkien's epic by kind permission of the Tolkien
Estate, Michael Bakewell and Brian Sibley, performed by members of the
Cambridge Tolkien Society. Come along for an hour or two, or even the whole day, enjoy, and help to support the National Trust! Further details |
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Last recorded update: 24 June 2004, by Mark Waller
Status: up to date with all available missives
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