The next gathering of OffWorlders will be at 7:00 PM on December 11, at the WordSpace World Headquarters, 415 North Tyler Street.

Author Neal Stephenson continues to be our focus, but any one interested in science fiction is invited. This session we will watch a couple of short interviews with Stephenson and discuss, among other things,  his concern that science fiction has abandoned optimism for increasingly dystopian visions of the future. We will also take a few passages from his novel Anathem as starting points for discussion.

Yes, Anathem is a 900 page novel, but don’t be put off. You will not be the only person in the room to have not read it, or for that matter to have not even opened it. But a single sentence from the book could keep us immersed for the entire session. As Mr. Stephenson says, “Science Fiction is idea porn.”

Let us know if you plan to attend by going to the OffWorld event listing on the WordSpace Facebook page. Or just show up around 7:00 on Dec 11th.

For a preview, here is the video of Stephenson on Optimism

Here is