The New Frontiers: Contemporary Sci-Fi and Fantasy Reading Group

You asked, we answered; due to popular demand, we’ve opened up a second Sci-Fi and Fantasy Reading Group!

Join Andrew as he leads you on a guided tour of what’s new and good in the world of Science Fiction and Fantasy. From fresh genre trailblazers, to thoughtful re-examinations of classic tropes, let us help you find your new favourite voice in the realms of spaceships and magic swords.

For June, we travel to World War 2 Paris, where things are not all as they seem. The French Resistance and the Nazis are locked in a different kind of conflict. A conflict that harnesses dreams and surrealism to make deadly weapons and monsters. A conflict that might never end.

1941. In the chaos of wartime Marseille, American engineer and occult disciple Jack Parsons stumbles onto a clandestine anti-Nazi group, including Surrealist theorist André Breton. In the strange games of dissident diplomats, exiled revolutionaries, and avant-garde artists, Parsons finds and channels hope. But what he unwittingly unleashes is the power of dreams and nightmares, changing the war and the world for ever.

1950. A lone Surrealist fighter, Thibaut, walks a new, hallucinogenic Paris, where Nazis and the Resistance are trapped in unending conflict, and the streets are stalked by living images and texts - and by the forces of Hell. To escape the city, Thibaut must join forces with Sam, an American photographer intent on recording the ruins, and make common cause with a powerful, enigmatic figure of chance and rebellion: the exquisite corpse.

But Sam is being hunted. And new secrets will emerge that will test all their loyalties - to each other, to Paris old and new, and to reality itself.

There’s no need to prepare anything - just come ready to voice your opinions, and enjoy a glass of wine while you're at it!

Each entry place costs £5, fully redeemable as a voucher towards a copy of the book. We hope you’ll join us for some great conversation.