BSFG is at it again… A Viking Ball with mead, dancing, and food is coming your way. Start 2023 the right way!

This Ball is organised by BSFG members and Marthe is beyond thankful.

You can buy your tickets here: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/viking-ball-tickets-490376398007

What we enjoyed about the book:

• Setting and time great, fluffy story, very detailed, expanded throughout the novel
• “Completely fell in love with it”
• Writing style creates magic
• Atmosphere and immersion great
• Would love to read another story set in the same universe
• Best part of it was the magical setting and vibe
• “Night Circus” idea was so wonderful
• Wonderful world
• Shows described in quite a lot of detail, at first boring and then it became more interesting
• “Very enchanting”
• Story boring when reading it for the second tme, enchantment better when one reads it for the first time
• Right headspace needed
• One person’s Secret Santa gift was this book and it was quite enchanting, but also very criticial –> maybe better to read it when one is younger
• Fairy tale style
• So much unused potential
• Dreamers really cool
• Childlike wonder created very well
• Twins are col and sweet
• Ballroom scene cool
• Conversation about stories great
• Tarot foreshadowing cool

What we discussed:

• Plot and characters not that great
• If details annoy you, then the book isn’t for you
• Borderline abuse of the pupils was terrible
• Main characters showed little emotion and the reader received very little insight –> frustrating
• Fairy tale style also explains the lack of emotions
• Romance a bit boring
• Underwhelmnig story, big setup and lots of foreshadowing and then nothing
• Readers don’t really understand *why* the two main characters fall in love, it’s very distant
• Ending super anticlimatic
• Lovers have no chemistry???
  Ending confusing
• W. telling the story cool, but how the plot is resolved was meh
• Magic system quite weak
• Maybe more clarity would have helped create more suspense
• Reader kept in the dark for too long: bargain should have been introduced earlier
• Father as ghost terrible, stalking

Ratings:

• 3/5 stars lot of shortcomings but a great sense of wonder, parts enjoyable
• 5 stars when reading it for the first time
• 4.5 stars now so many issues but still really nice, “I truly connect with it”
• Was a 5 star rating 10 years ago, now a solid 3/5

What we enjoyed about the book:

• Police procedure / mystery mixture well done
• Steampunk cool, world building works, “does not go overboard”
• Great diversity: racism, cultural appropriation covered as topics
• Multilayered narrative, good plottwists
• Setting great, previous novellas tie into the world/larger universe cool
• Characters really cool, “I just love Fatma as a character, she’s just so stubborn”
• Woman in a world of men cool
• Siti is awesome
• “I love H. the most”; strong personality, relatable
• “I love U., he sounds like a great guy”
• Characters very well done
• Historical, not taking place in the present, wonderful
• Critical view of colonialism, the Empire, great –> in the middle of things
• Timeline cool, background of mysticism, fighting back, decolonialisation, different reactions in connection to the loss of power of colonialism
• Queer rep. great, healthy relationship with realistic fights, “cute”
• Star-crossed lovers (supernatural touch)
• Cultural representation accurate, insults correct, everyday language fitting
• inaccurate idea of pledging one’s service to a family; connection to the otherworld, scary, djinns creepy in Islam: “they can come to our world but we can’t come to theirs”
• Fluffy djnn ❤ ❤ ❤ ❤ ❤
• Faster pacing at the end good
• Hard-boiled detective with soft side but with great, diverse representation was nice
• Humour great, slightly absurdist
• Role that religion great, peaceful co-existance nice
• Linguistic awareness great; “oh your English is really good”
• Fashion bit great, fashion as a battle suit
• “F. is such a cool person, I just wanna hang out with her”
• Transformation into an angel a bit random
• Bypassing the curse through clues was smart
• Curse: forgetting about the seal was great, how they managed to remember it was great, nice investigation twist
• Everybody actually came back, that was nice
• Would make a great series, cinematography, would need to be made by Egyptians in Egypt but probably would not happen
• Audiobook is great
• F. policing the supernatural is hilarious
• Mixture of genres great
• Ending 100% wholesome
• Queer acceptance nice
• Djimn non-binary great, can take on various genders
• Set in the past but all the futuristic bits fun, not typical 20th century, alternate history with magic
• Feminist / empowerment content
• F. fights a patriarchal world and fights for her place in it, battles sexism, “felt very natural”
• Diplomacy great
• German delegation / Kaiser hilarious

What we discussed:

• Villain clear ver early on sadly
• Pacing at the beginning off
• “Jumping the shark” ending; steampunk mecha surprise attacking Kairo, all cool characters prepare for a final bossfight, deus ex machina villain, pacing off / too much at the ending
• Lots of steampunk stereotypes and tropes; steampunk for of an aesthetic (style over substance?) and it holds true for this book
• Too many details in one short book, maybe two books? –> not having known the novellas before
• So many exclamation marks 😀
• Plot sometimes unclear because of plethora of details
• Pacing off in general, sometimes hard to stay immersed
• Lots of swordfighting, bit ridiculous when there are guns, but it’s also cool
• Police does very little paperwork, could have more interrogation / police procedure, H. is doing the paperwork for F.
• Timeline quite condensed
• Summit: not many Arabic countries mentioned, weird
• More people from neighbouring countries needed, feels weird that they’re ignored
• Transculturality could be expanded, more magical creatures could be explored
• “I would love a spin off”
• Villain part of the story became unrealistic comedy
• “I’ll forgive you. She’s such a Karen” :D:D:D:D:D:D
• “It would have been funny, had Fatma been the villain”

Ratings:

• 4/5 “great read for a steampunk novel, well written, I hope there are going to be more sequel, investigation part great”
• 4/5 fluffy djinns “I love that it was historical and intersectional even though parts could be improved, I hope there will be more books”
• 4/5 ninja, despite the inaccuracies, really enjoyable, different cultures and religions depicted well
• 4.5/5 in a basket “had a lot of fun, would love more”
• 3.5/5 “good idea, fun, too much in one book, I love the characters”, –> “three fluffy djinns and half a puppy”
• 4/5 “just had fun”
• 4/5 bowler hats
• 3/5 “I loved the world building and the aesthetics”, prodigy detective bit conventional

It was a blast, thank you everyone! Special thanks to all the lovely helpers who made this event possible ♥️

PS: The Secret Santa Exchange 2022 is live! Check your emails or check out the Discord Server in order to sign up!

Things we liked about the book:

• Psychological dimension interesting; existential crisis of Louis, mortality
• Philosophical dimension interesting
• Louis unwillingly funny, not always serious and creepy
• Hella gay
• Practical language
• Only having one person to rely on / trust; Louis / Lestat difference nice
• Louis heavily dislikes him but mourns him
• Setting, clichee Gothic-ness of it all
• Vibes are great, atmosphere, darkness
• Transformation of stereotypes, debunking garlic, but still sleep in coffins
• “the whole on drugs feeling of it” is enjoyable
• Things escalate quickly, guilty pleasure watching it
• Claudia angelic ethereal creature (innocence, doll) vs. her mean spirit
• Transformation throughout the novel
• Claudia a very tragic character (inspired by Anne Rice’s real daughter)
• Extremes of morality portrayed: nihilism vs. hedonism, existentialism, moral conflicts galore
• Louis fun emo vampire
• Framing device really cool, interviewer too scared, Louis can’t stop talking
• Louis’ dady issues are hilarious
• Power and control fascinating
• Red flags everybody!!!!
• Part 1 great, part 2 meh
• Language nice, poetic, creates a vivid sense of place and atmosphere
• Beautiful language, monologues: “that’s the drama I want from a vampire”
• We want blood!
• Genre-defining book
• Time fascinating
• Lack of morality fascinating
• Le Fanu as a blueprint: also super toxic
• Your own conscience worse than anything else

Things we discussed:

• Infuriating ending: “make me a vampire” after hours of drama and trauma
• Excessively long descriptions or dialogues, could’ve been cut
• Europe part too short, Eastern Europe artifical, nothing felt authentic, nothing added up
• Racism / slavery depiction terrible, great deconstruction in the new series
• Very (terribly) white
• Lestat’s obsession with Louis weird; turned him because of his money; toxic
• Lestat’s father story weird
• Lestat lonely, too proud to be honest, no healthy relationship in this entire book
• Relationship with Claudia is really icky
• Claudia seems much more mature, calls her “lover”, sooo problematic, pedophilia much????
• Claudia terribly sexualized, disgusting

How would you rate the book?

• 3/5 teeth because of morality
• 3/5 some parts enjoyable/funny
• 3/5 bit boring at times, language nice, no good characters, “I just like the villains”
• 3.5/5 childsize coffins
• 3.5/5 bites
• 2.5/5 “this one’s too much for me”
• 3.5/5 philosophical depression, also for a book from 1976 despite all the problematic bits quite nice and gay
• 3/5 easy to read, not hard to read
• 4/5 world shattering
• 3/5 “I wish it was not from Louis’ perspective”

Ignore all other programmes, this is the only one!

Hi everyone,

If you’d like to sign up for the Masked Ball, please book yourself a ticket via Eventbrite and carefully read through the information provided: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/bonn-speculative-fiction-group-masked-ball-tickets-423927317017

Please bring 2€, your own cutlery/plate/glass, a negative COVID test with you. If you like, you can bring veggie / vegan snacks. 🙂 Please come in costume and with a mask.

There will be dancing, tarot readings, general merrymaking and ghosts. Be prepared to encounter creepy creatures!

You can sign up for the Ball NOW and until October 27:

https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/bonn-speculative-fiction-group-masked-ball-tickets-423927317017

Please be aware that:

– You need a negative COVID test

– You need to bring the 2€ entry fee for drinks

– You need to bring your own glass/plate & cutlery

– You need to be masked & in costume

– Optional: bring vegan or veggie snacks for everyone to share

There will be Ceilidh dancing, Tarot readings, and a lot of fun. Please be aware that there might be ghosts, vampires, and other creepy creatures lurking in the dark!

The event takes place in Room 1.006 in the Celtic Department which is at the other end of the main building basically. If you’re standing at Sinn & Leffers & you’re looking at the main building, you will notice a small entryway that leads you into Etscheidhof. Turn right, there is a glass door, proceed to the first floor, turn right again. You’re not in Narnia, you’ve found our Samhain Masked Ball!

The event is limited to 50 participants. Please only register if you plan on coming and if you can no longer make it, please deregister so your spot is free again!

What we talked about 🙂

• “An Absoluteley Remarkable Thing” by Hank Green: “did not feel science fiction-y”, contemporary, YA-ish, really cool
• “Rule of Wolves” by Leigh Bardugo: “cannot for the life of me finish it”, other person also did not really like it, especially the ending
• “Good Omens” by Pratchett / Gaiman: “I really liked it, it’s hilarious”, really similar to “Hitchhiker’s Guide”
• “The Daughter of Doctor Moreau” by Silvia Moreno-Garcia: retelling of H.G. Well’s “Island”, interesting take, Mexico & politics important and interesting, major plottwist predictable but entertaining, romance-vibes
• “Ninth House” by Leigh Bardugo: so much trauma, dark academia, too dark, Yale part confusing for non-Yale people

Other books we talked about:

• “Dante and Aristotle discover the Secrets of the Universe”: really sweet friendship to romance; “they’re so precious”; sequel also enjoyable, better than part one according to one person
• “Atlas Six” not a recommendation: characters unlikeable, predictable, bit like “The Secret History” (Tartt) but failed to create characters that you cared for
• “Babel” by Kuang: Oxford dark academia, none of us had read it yet, but we’re interested
• “Anxious People” by Fredrik Backmann: funny, bankrobbery gone wrong, also a Netflix show, mental health issues, “most surprising read this far”
• “The Anthropocene Reviewed” by John Green: non-fiction, touching, wonderful audiobook read by John himself
• “Carrie Soto Is Back” by Taylor Jenkins Reid: entertaining about a professional tennis player, “I just liked a book about tennis, what is going on”, well written, brandnew
• “Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo” + other Reid novels: wonderful
• “Daisy Jones and the Six” audiobook can be recommended
• “Coraline” by Neil Gaiman: “I loved the movie and wanted to read the book”, creepy enough for scaring kids, delightful, fun