Murray MacLachlan writes
The meeting is 2 April – Alexandra Pierce on First Contact – Adrian Tchaikovsky’s “Shroud” and other great SF novels”

First Contact is one of the great science fiction themes and award-winning author Adrian Tchaikovsky has outdone himself with Shroud. Published on 25 February, Shroud has been favourably reviewed in Locus by Alexandra Pierce herself and in tonight’s talk she will expand on Tchaikovsky’s achievement in the context of many other impressive First Contact novels.

It’ll be a fine night! Alex will be speaking in person, travelling to our meeting from her home in country Victoria to be with us in person. Of course the Zoom meeting will be part of our meeting as usual, so please join on line if you can’t make it in person.

Other great news – our speaker on 7 May is travelling US author James Cambias who will be here in Melbourne discussing his seventh Baen Books novel, The Miranda Conspiracy, and of his Billion Worlds venue and writing in that “allegedly juveniles, but we know better than that” Robert Heinlein tradition.

Perry Middlemiss will be speaking in July on the novels of award-winning Taswegian author Robbie Arnott.

Nova Mob meeting 2 April 2025 – Alexandra Pierce on First Contact – Adrian Tchaikovsky’s “Shroud” and other great SF novels

“The most common Communications scenario in sf – often but not always Linguistic in nature – involves the meeting of humans with Aliens. These are generally called first-contact stories, and perhaps the best known of them is “First Contact” (May 1945 Astounding) by Murray Leinster…”
(Langford et al, SF Encyclopedia)

Pan MacMillan Australia tell us about Shroud –

“They looked into darkness. The darkness looked back . . .
     An utterly gripping story of survival on a hostile planet from Adrian Tchaikovsky, author of the Arthur C. Clarke Award-winning Children of Time.
A commercial expedition to a distant star system discovers a pitch-black moon alive with radio activity. Its high-gravity, high-pressure, zero-oxygen environment is deadly to human life, but ripe for exploitation. They named it Shroud.
     Under no circumstances can a human survive Shroud’s inhospitable surface – but a catastrophic accident forces Juna Ceelander and Mai Ste Etienne to make an emergency landing in a barely adequate escape vehicle. Alone, and fighting for survival, the two women embark on a gruelling journey across land, sea and air in search of salvation.
     But as they travel, Juna and Mai begin to understand Shroud’s unnerving alien species. It also begins to understand them. If they escape Shroud, they’ll somehow have to explain the impossible and translate the incredible. That is, if they make it back at all . . .”

“Adrian Tchaikovsky was born in Woodhall Spa, Lincolnshire, has practised law and now writes full time. He’s also studied stage-fighting, perpetrated amateur dramatics and has a keen interest in entomology and table-top games.

“Adrian is the author of the critically acclaimed Shadows of the Apt series, the Echoes of the Fall series and other novels, novellas and short stories. Children of Time won the prestigious Arthur C. Clarke Award, and Children of Ruin and Shards of Earth both won the British Science Fiction Award for Best Novel. The Tiger and the Wolf won the British Fantasy Award for Best Fantasy Novel, while And Put Away Childish Things won the BSFA Award for Best Shorter Fiction.”

Alexandra Pierce reviews novels for Locus and edits Speculative Insight magazine and web site, and we strongly recommend all to you.

Please share this invitation to this forthcoming meeting with like-minded friends and fans

Face to face

You are invited to an in-person Nova Mob meeting at:
Wednesday 2 April 2025 8.00pm – 9.00 (formal close), first floor Creative Hub.
Lift access. Stairs access. Both available.

Zoom meeting closes about 9.20pm or so.

Kensington Town Hall 30 – 34 Bellair St
Kensington Melbourne VIC 3031

By Zoom – simulcast

Zoom session opened from the Kensington Town Hall.
You are invited to a scheduled Zoom meeting.
Wednesday 2 April 2025 8.00pm – 9.30 pm Canberra, Melbourne, Sydney time; 7.30pm – 9.00pm Adelaide time; 6.30pm – 8.00 pm Darwin time; 5.00pm – 6.30 pm Perth time; 9.00am – 10.30am London time;
1.00am – 2.30am PST the night before

Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/4177583193?pwd=VjdPL1BhSTBNclN2YnRsejN3Y1hlUT09
Passcode: nova
Meeting ID: 417 758 3193

💥 💥 💥

Melbourne Fannish Drinks

Melbourne SF pub meetup. Second Wednesday of every month
Next meetup: Wednesday 9 April.

It’s an open invitation to all. The Nixon Hotel, 757 Bourke St, Docklands. https://nixonhotel.au/

Time: 6pm+
Westwards towards the Yarra waters from the north end of Southern Cross Station.
Nearest train station: Southern Cross (exit the Bourke Street end and turn left)
There is a lift outside and to the right of the Channel 9 building at concourse level, which takes you down to Bourke St level.

Convenor: Perry Middlemiss
No RSVP required.

💥 💥 💥

The Electric State on Netflix

Very expensive and with many negative reviews, yet The Electric State’s sensibility comes through in the look of the feature-length movie just released. Mob members may recall discussion of Simon Stålenhag’s book as one of the short-listed candidates for the 2019 Clarke Award, this was at a meeting co-ordinated by Justin Ackroyd.

A role-playing game has been launched to accompany the Netflix movie. It includes previously unseen art. Even so, we go back to Simon Stålenhag’s generous web site, which has almost all of The Electric State posted on line. It looks glorious, and the images enlarge to high definition.

https://www.simonstalenhag.se/es.html

Of Mammoths and Hairy Mice

Chris Flynn was a fine guest at the Nova Mob as his book Mammoth became UQP’s surprise biggest best-seller of 2020. So when the Guardian reported that woolly mice have been created as a step on the path to recreating mammoths, we got in touch.

https://www.theguardian.com/science/2025/mar/04/genetically-modified-woolly-mice-mammoth

“Yes, they’ve been inundated with offers to buy them since the announcement. Not for sale, but how long can they resist that potential goldmine? Next thing we’ll see is tusked dogs and horned cats. Hybrid pets will be en vogue in the coming years. SF comes for us all eventually.

“Wait until some muppet creates a shark/octopus or a crocodile/bear. We won’t be laughing then. What could possibly go wrong?

“Best wishes, Chris Flynn”.

James Cambias – 7 May – The Miranda Conspiracy – Baen Books

Jim Cambias writes “I’m making my first visit to Australia in April and May, and I’ll be in Melbourne between May 6 and May 9. I’d love to meet some of Australia’s SF fan community. My seventh novel, The Miranda Conspiracy, just came out.”
Jim will be our guest speaker on 7 May!

Baen Books are pure quill SF and it’s a real pleasure to welcome Jim and his wife to Melbourne! They will be joining our pre-Mob pub meetup dining too.
Here’s the Baen page for his new book:
https://www.baen.com/the-miranda-conspiracy.html
Jim’s personal blog is here: https://www.jamescambias.com

“Political intrigue on Uranus’s moon Miranda, intertwined mysteries among the super-rich ruling class, and a lost treasure from deep space add up to trouble for Adya, Daslakh, and Zee. Unravel The Miranda Conspiracy, a new Billion Worlds novel now available from Baen Books!”

Nova Mob About and Contact Us

Nova Mob on social media: We’re on Mastodon. Click the invite to follow
https://mastodonbooks.net/@NovaMob
https://mastodonbooks.net/invite/YECXVBUk
nova@aussiebb.com.au

Friends, out-of-town guests, and new arrivals – you are always welcome and have an open invitation to the Mob’s face-to-face and Zoom meetings.
First time arrivals – free. Otherwise a $5 donation for expenses please.
Face-to-face meetings are at the Kensington Town Hall:
https://activemelbourne.ymca.org.au/venues/kensington-town-hall
Face to face, the Kensington Town Hall has ample parking and excellent disability access. Kensington Railway Station is 13 minutes travel from Flinders St Station on the Craigieburn line.
Bus routes via Metlink Journey Planner.
Please don’t attend if you have symptoms that could be COVID 19 or similar. Our COVID-safe Plan continues to apply and we remain mask-friendly for those who wear them.
Murray MacLachlan|
Convenor