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UID:189@sciencefictionbookclub.org
DTSTART;TZID=Europe/London:20161212T180000
DTEND;TZID=Europe/London:20161212T210000
DTSTAMP:20250321T124251Z
URL:https://www.sciencefictionbookclub.org/events/230485924/
SUMMARY:THE SPARROW - Mary Doria Russell - Mr President's 5th Annual Xmas B
 ook Choice
DESCRIPTION:There are strictly limited places available for one single meet
 ing to discuss...\n\nJust like the previous four years we will be having o
 nly one December meeting\, on our usual second Monday of the month\, and I
  am very pleased to announce that once again it`s chosen by our President 
 the late great Mr Iain M. Banks.\n\n\n\nMary Doria Russell`s THE SPARROW i
 s one of the most widely praised & awarded SF works in the English languag
 e over the last 20 years. Layered with religious and cultural symbolism it
  defied peoples people`s expectations of SF\, has became a popular piece o
 f SF cannon over that time and has been in print continuously since it`s f
 irst publication twenty years ago in 1996.\n\nFather Emilio Sandoz\, a Jes
 uit linguist\, heads a team of scientists and explorers on an expedition t
 o the planet Rakhat\, where contact has been established with two apparent
 ly primitive races\, the Runa and the Jana`ata. Beyond all expectations on
 e of these peoples have started transmitting by radio but while the UN deb
 ates the moral issues of cultural contamination that any investigation wou
 ld bring\, the Vatican equips a ship and sets off.\n\nThey meant no harm.\
 n\nThe narrative shifts back and forth between 2016\, when contact is firs
 t made\, and 2060\, to a Vatican inquest interrogating the maimed and brok
 en Sandoz. A palaeoanthropologist\, Russell makes the descriptions of the 
 inhabitants of Rakhat both convincing and unsettling.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\
 n\nEvery penny of all dues paid to this meeting is being donated to Macmil
 lan Cancer Care\, who do amazing work supporting and caring for people wit
 h cancer and their families. The organiser\, Your Glorious Leader ®\, wil
 l be making up the PayPal Dues.\nPlease help support Macmillan by reading 
 a great book. \n\n
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 t/uploads/2025/03/The_Sparrow.jpg
LOCATION:The Golden Lion\, 25 King Street\, St James\, London\, SW1Y 6QY\, 
 United Kingdom
GEO:51.506294;-0.137464
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