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The Con
My god! It's full of starfruit!
A hotel hosts a science fiction convention, a meeting of the Jane Austen Society, and, just possibly, an extraterrestrial presence. Enter a middle-aged SF fan with a troubled past, a lonely Janeite, a pair of genius fangirls, a nerd power couple, a duo of geeky brothers, Miss Austen's most disreputable character, and an elite athlete epically out of her element.
And, of course, Azogo of Uirtkauwea'ki.
Through syllabus and syllabub, cosplay and quests, a robot battle in a parking garage, an intoxicated visit to the Augur of Quaoar, an intimate three-body problem, and an Anglican LARP, our heroes must answer the cosmic question: does anything we do matter? Or is it all just a con?
Includes related stories Troll Bridge and Do You See What I See?
A hotel hosts a science fiction convention, a meeting of the Jane Austen Society, and, just possibly, an extraterrestrial presence. Enter a middle-aged SF fan with a troubled past, a lonely Janeite, a pair of genius fangirls, a nerd power couple, a duo of geeky brothers, Miss Austen's most disreputable character, and an elite athlete epically out of her element.
And, of course, Azogo of Uirtkauwea'ki.
Through syllabus and syllabub, cosplay and quests, a robot battle in a parking garage, an intoxicated visit to the Augur of Quaoar, an intimate three-body problem, and an Anglican LARP, our heroes must answer the cosmic question: does anything we do matter? Or is it all just a con?
Includes related stories Troll Bridge and Do You See What I See?
240 pages, Paperback
Published November 13, 2020
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
January 17, 2021
All Aboard the Fen-ish Express
As a fan myself, I can attest to the trruthfulness of this account of several days at an SF Convention. The experience is seen (more or less) thru the eyes of a young couple just starting their alliance (Kate the jock and Chelsea the "cute one"), an older cosplayer seeking romantic adventure(Lady Susan Vernon the 'Janeite', dressed in meticulously accurate Regency garb), and a middle-aged fan (Telfyn Tyde, mentally-ill-but-properly-medicated), who might be seeing an actual alien.…
As a fan myself, I can attest to the trruthfulness of this account of several days at an SF Convention. The experience is seen (more or less) thru the eyes of a young couple just starting their alliance (Kate the jock and Chelsea the "cute one"), an older cosplayer seeking romantic adventure(Lady Susan Vernon the 'Janeite', dressed in meticulously accurate Regency garb), and a middle-aged fan (Telfyn Tyde, mentally-ill-but-properly-medicated), who might be seeing an actual alien.…
April 24, 2025
If you are into the SF convention scene in a way that you don't feel like an outsider there, this book is for you. Me, I always feel a little like an outsider? I mean that this book felt to me a lot like those times at conventions when I suddenly realize that everyone else in the room had a more similar childhood than mine.
Which is neither here nor there. I can appreciate a look at another world. I wanted more nuance to Lady Susan... her Austenesque voice was fun at first, but it felt at times unnecessarily obfuscating, when Austen's own prose is so clear to a modern audience. Still, she was the character that came through the strongest.
The short story "Troll Bridge" which accompanies the novella was my favorite part. A nicely structured tale of vengeance and youth. The other short story was less structured.
Overall, I'll give it points for ambition, but I wish the author had slowed down and really inhabited his characters.
Which is neither here nor there. I can appreciate a look at another world. I wanted more nuance to Lady Susan... her Austenesque voice was fun at first, but it felt at times unnecessarily obfuscating, when Austen's own prose is so clear to a modern audience. Still, she was the character that came through the strongest.
The short story "Troll Bridge" which accompanies the novella was my favorite part. A nicely structured tale of vengeance and youth. The other short story was less structured.
Overall, I'll give it points for ambition, but I wish the author had slowed down and really inhabited his characters.
December 6, 2020
I had read JD DeLuzio before on the internet, but this is the first long form book of his I've read. If I had to describe «The Con» dryly, I would say it's the combined story of stories of a group of attendants to a con(vention), but that's like saying a convention is a combination of talks and panels. Sure, those are necessary ingredients, but the sum is a lot more.
Through private communication, the author mentioned this book being «a bit chaotic» (indeed, it took me a while to register all the characters and their relations) but that only helps capture the chaotic nature of the setting, the people attending and the stories they are. Narrating in purely linear fashion would be easy, and slightly boring.
Given its nature, I can't comment on a single story, but I can tell you this book gave me a satisfying short experience and a bittersweet good bye, just like conventions do. I'll be sure to revisit this one
Through private communication, the author mentioned this book being «a bit chaotic» (indeed, it took me a while to register all the characters and their relations) but that only helps capture the chaotic nature of the setting, the people attending and the stories they are. Narrating in purely linear fashion would be easy, and slightly boring.
Given its nature, I can't comment on a single story, but I can tell you this book gave me a satisfying short experience and a bittersweet good bye, just like conventions do. I'll be sure to revisit this one
December 24, 2022
I attended an author event and decided to try this way outside my normal reading book. Well, it was so confusing to me, but I suspect it was well-written for its normal reader base, so I had to give it at least the 3 stars.
If you are into sci-fi conventions and cos-play and are a whole lot younger than my age group, I suspect you would enjoy this.
If you are into sci-fi conventions and cos-play and are a whole lot younger than my age group, I suspect you would enjoy this.
October 8, 2023
Three stars, except I remember quite a lot of this six months on (-ish), which is worth an extra star.
November 18, 2020
Weird, funny little book about a sf convention, Jane Austen & an alien. It's not Hitchhiker's Guide level funny, but it's pretty funny, & makes up for it with realistic type characters & an interesting crazy dude telling the story. I have only been to 2 sf & comic conventions & this reads like 1/2 the stuff that happens & 1/2 the stuff you wish would happen. Never read Jane Austin & I'm sure I missed something something in those parts but it was no real problem. The writer is juggling so many things it's ok when he fumbles 1 of them. I wish we knew for sure about the alien, but it's that kind of book.
If Patti's real, I wanna meet her. She's totes the GOAT of geek girls.
If Patti's real, I wanna meet her. She's totes the GOAT of geek girls.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews