SF CLUB
Next Meeting: September 1st at 9 PM EST
We Will Discuss:
Spare Parts For The Mind by Greg Egan (Asimov’s)
By Degrees And Dilatory Time by S.L. Huang (Strange Horizons)
About The SF Club
The SF Club originated as a spinoff of the Beijing Science Fiction Reading Group, with the new one hosted in the United States. Created by Matt Stein, the SF Club has been run by myself for over four years. Meetings are online via Google Meet every first and third Tuesdays of the month at 9 PM EST. Meetings typically last two hours from 9 to 11, but Google Meet requires a different host for the second half. If you are unable to attend until 10 PM, let me know so I can direct you to the second half of the meeting.
We welcome new members! The SF Club is a relaxed environment where people can converse about speculative fiction (almost always science fiction). Even if you can’t complete the entire reading you can still attend and take part in conversations. We welcome diverse perspectives, from longtime SF enthusiasts to newcomers to the genre. Contact me or another attendee for details.
For those who attend, suggestions for future pieces to discuss are encouraged.
Works Discussed From Previous Meetings
2026
| Date | Primary Piece | Secondary (if any) |
|---|---|---|
| Sep #1 | Spare Parts For The Mind by Greg Egan (Asimov’s) | By Degrees And Dilatory Time by S.L. Huang (Strange Horizons) |
| Aug #2 | The Martian (film) | There Will Come Soft Rains by Ray Bradbury (short story) (Also: A Little Journey by Ray Bradbury (Galaxy)) |
| Aug #1 | The Martian by Andy Weir (novel) | |
| Jul #2 | Nausicaa Of The Valley Of The Wind (film) | Hello! Hello! Hello! by Fiona Jones (Clarkesworld) |
| Jul #1 | no meeting | |
| Jun #2 | There Is No Anti-Memetics Division by QNTM (novel) | |
| Jun #1 | Mickey 17 (film) | There Is No Anti-Memetics Division by QNTM (novel) |
| May #2 | The Secret Life Of Bots by Suzanne Palmer (Clarkesworld) | Murder On The Eris Express by Beth Goder (Analog) |
| May #1 | Fantastic Planet (film) | |
| Apr #2 | Je Ne Regrette Rein by James Patrick Kelly (Clarkesworld) | Tongtong’s Summer by Xia Jia (Invisible Planets) |
| Apr #1 | Project Hail Mary (film) | |
| Mar #2 | Pluribus episodes 7, 8, 9 (television) | |
| Mar #1 | Pluribus episodes 4, 5, 6 (television) | |
| Feb #2 | Pluribus episodes 1, 2, 3 (television) | |
| Feb #1 | Liking What You See: A Documentary by Ted Chiang (Story Of Your Life And Others) | To Helen by Bella Han (Clarkesworld) |
| Jan #2 | Ball Lightning by Cixin Liu (novel) | The Stones At Tengen by R.H. Wesley (Clarkesworld) |
| Jan #1 | Ball Lightning by Cixin Liu (novel) |
2025
| Date | Primary Piece | Secondary (if any) |
|---|---|---|
| Dec #2 | Her (film) | Wire Mother by Isabel J Kim (Clarkesworld) |
| Dec #1 | no meeting | |
| Nov #2 | Where The Axe Is Buried by Ray Naylor (novel) | |
| Nov #1 | Where The Axe Is Buried by Ray Naylor (novel) | |
| Oct #2 | The Thing (film) | The Things by Peter Watts (Clarkesworld) |
| Oct #1 | Common Side Effects episodes 7, 8, 9, 10 (television) | Light Of Other Days by Bob Shaw |
| Sep #2 | Common Side Effects episodes 4, 5, 6 (television) | Himalia by Carrie Vaughn (Clarkesworld) |
| Sep #1 | Common Side Effects episodes 1, 2, 3 (television) | The Hanging Tower Of Babel by Wang Zhenzhen (Clarkesworld) |
| Aug #2 | The City Of Silence by Ma Boyong (Invisible Planets) | The Rattler by Leonid Kaganov (Asimov’s) |
| Aug #1 | Descent by Wole Talabi (Clarkesworld) | Music Of A Different Sphere by Stanley Schmidt (Analog) |
| Jul #2 | Murderbot episodes 9, 10 (television) | Reconstructing “The Goldenrod Conspiracy,” Edina Room, Saturday 2:30-3:30 by Gabriela Santiago (Lightspeed) |
| Jul #1 | Murderbot episodes 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 (television) | |
| Jun #2 | Murderbot episodes 1, 2 | The Twenty-One Second God by Peter Watts (Lightspeed) |
| Jun #1 | The 28th by Mark Stasenko (Future Tense Fiction) | Death And The Gorgon by Greg Egan (Asimov’s) |
| May #2 | Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir (novel) | This Good Lesson Keep by James Van Pelt (Asimov’s) |
| May #1 | Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir (novel) | |
| Apr #2 | Severance season 2 episodes 8, 9, 10 (television) | |
| Apr #1 | Severance season 2 episodes 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 (television) | |
| Mar #2 | Black Mirror season 1 episodes 2, 3 | I’m Not A Robot (short film) |
| Mar #1 | Old Seeds by Owen Leddy (Giganotosaurus) | Sins Of The Children by Adrian Tchaikovsky (Asterisk Magazine) |
| Feb #2 | Tower Of Babylon by Ted Chiang (Story Of Your Life And Others) | Didicosm by Greg Egan (Analog) |
| Feb #1 | Wanting Things by Cal Ritterhoff (Clarkesworld) | The Coffee Machine by Celia Corral-Vázquez (Clarkesworld) |
| Jan #2 | Murderbot IV: Exit Strategy by Martha Wells (novella) | |
| Jan #1 | no meeting |
2024
| Date | Primary Piece | Secondary (if any) |
|---|---|---|
| Dec #2 | no meeting | |
| Dec #1 | Mars Express (film) | |
| Nov #2 | Parable Of The Sower by Octavia Butler (novel) | Star Trek: Deep Space Nine season 3 episodes 11, 12 (television) |
| Nov #1 | Parable Of The Sower by Octavia Butler (novel) | |
| Oct #2 | Alien (film) | |
| Oct #1 | Early Adopter by Zach Be (Asimov’s) | Where Am I by Daniel Dennett (Also: I’ll Miss Myself by John Wiswell (Reactor)) |
| Sep #2 | The Cold Equations by Tom Godwin (Amazing Stories) (Also: The Cold Calculations by Amiee Ogden (Clarkesworld) | Stowaway (film) |
| Sep #1 | no meeting | |
| Aug #2 | Eddies Are The Worst by Bo Balder (Clarkesworld) | We Built This City by Marie Vibbert (Clarkesworld) |
| Aug #1 | Murderbot III: Rogue Protocol by Martha Wells (novella) | |
| Jul #2 | Solidity by Greg Egan (Asimov’s) | Valuable Humans In Transit by QNTM |
| Jul #1 | Lathe Of Heaven (film) | |
| Jun #2 | A Record Of Lost Time by Regina Kanyu Wong (Lightspeed) | A Well-Fed Companion by Congyun Gu (Reactor) |
| Jun #1 | The Story Of Your Life by Ted Chiang (Story Of Your Life And Others) | Arrival (film) |
| May #2 | 1K Suns project (short film series) | The Sunset Suite by Matthew O. Fromboluti (Beneath Ceaseless Skies) |
| May #1 | The Plasticity Of Being by Renan Bernardo (Reactor) | The Jaxican’s Authentic Reconstruction Of Taco Tuesday #37 by Stephen Granade (Strange Horizons) |
| Apr #2 | The Three Body Problem (television) | |
| Apr #1 | The Three Body Problem (television) | |
| Mar #2 | Monolith (film) | |
| Mar #1 | A City On Mars by Kelly and Zach Weinersmith (nonfiction) | |
| Feb #2 | Nextype by Sam Kyung Yoo (Strange Horizons) | Blood Music by Greg Bear (short story) |
| Feb #1 | Better Living Through Algorithms by Naomi Kritzer (Clarkesworld) | Vast And Trunkless Legs Of Stone by Carrie Vaughn (Clarkesworld) |
| Jan #2 | The Passing Of The Dragon by Ken Liu (Reactor) | |
| Jan #1 | Murderbot II: Artificial Condition by Martha Wells |
2023
| Date | Primary Piece | Secondary (if any) |
|---|---|---|
| Dec #2 | no meeting | |
| Dec #1 | Oppenheimer (film) | |
| Nov #2 | Scavengers Reign (television) | |
| Nov #1 | Scavengers Reign (television) | |
| Oct #2 | Nightfall by Isaac Asimov | Mnemonic Longings by Marlon Ortiz (The Magazine Fantasy & Science Fiction) |
| Oct #1 | Money In The Bank by John Kessel and Bruce Sterling (Lightspeed) | Falling Off The Edge Of The World by Suzanne Palmer (Asimov’s) |
| Sep #2 | Severance (television) | |
| Sep #1 | Three Bodies At Mitanni by Seth Dickinson (Analog) | The Best We Can by Carrie Vaughn (Reactor) |
| Aug #2 | Murderbot I: All Systems Red by Martha Wells | |
| Aug #1 | Amrit by Kiran Kaur Saini (The Magazine Of Fantasy & Science Fiction) | Cat Pictures Please by Naomi Kritzer (Clarkesworld) |
| Jul #2 | The Power Of Apollo (16) by Marianne J Dyson (Analog) | The Science Behind The Power Of Apollo (16) by Marianne J Dyson (Analog) |
| Jul #1 | The Greatest Home Run In Baseball History by PH Lee (Strange Horizons) | |
| Jun #2 | Moon (film) | |
| Jun #1 | The Machine Stops by EM Forester (short story) | |
| May #2 | Calf Cleaving In The Benthic Black by Isabel J Kim (Clarkesworld) | Dick Pig by Ian Muneswar (Nightmare Magazine) |
| May #1 | Night Running by Greg Egan (Asimov’s) | In The Time Of The Telperi Flower by David-Christopher Gelhea (Gigantosaurus) (Also: The Virtue Of Unfaithful Translations by Minsoo Kang (New Suns Anthology / Lightspeed)) |
| Apr #2 | His Guns Could Not Protect Him by Sam J Miller (Lightspeed) | Ernestine by Octavia Cade (Asimov’s) |
| Apr #1 | Baby, I Love You by Zhao Haihong (The Way Spring Arrives) | Somewhere, It’s About To Be Spring by Samantha Murray (Clarkesworld) |
| Mar #2 | no meeting | |
| Mar #1 | Timekeeper’s Symphony by Ken Liu (Clarkesworld) | The Chronologist by Ian MacLaod (Reactor) |
| Feb #2 | Murder By Pixel: Crime And Responsibility In The Digital Darkness by SL Huang (Clarkesworld) | |
| Feb #1 | The Destination Star by Gregory Marlow (Strange Horizons) | Nine Billion Names Of God by Arthur C Clarke (short story) |
| Jan #2 | A Psalm For The Wild-Built by Becky Chambers (novella) | |
| Jan #1 | Primordial Soup And Salad by Gene Doucette (Lightspeed) |