If you want to join us for the io9 Book Club this month, be sure to start reading Catherynne M. Valente's Palimpsest, to prepare for our November 2 meeting. But wait - what is this io9 Book Club?
Allow me to explain. For those unfamiliar with the io9 book club, here's how it works: You read the book. We create a special book club post on io9 when the meeting is in session (it starts Tuesday the 2nd), and everybody talks about the book in comments for a few days. Later that week, we hope that Valente will join us, so you can ask her burning questions you have about the book (and about her new novel, which just came out!).
Want to know more about Palimpsest? You can read our review of it here, where we said:
Palimpsest is urban fantasy at its most literal: Valente has created a city that is like an erotic fantasy, if only such fantasies always meant something else. In this smart, melancholy story, all sex has a subtext. The four main characters each wake up after a night of passionate sex (or a day, or an afternoon) to discover that they suddenly have strange new tattoos somewhere on their bodies. Their tattoos look strangely like pieces of a map, which in fact they turn out to be. Gradually they realize that the people they've been having sex with are gateways to the city of Palimpsest. Though only for one night at a time. After dreaming of the wondrous city, tourists always awaken back in our world.
So get reading, and we'll meet up to talk about it on November 2.