122. (June 2023) Theory of Bastards, by Audrey Schulman — The Tabletop Roleplayers' Book Club

Theory of Bastards - Q6: The Ending

clash_bowley — Tue, 04 Jul 2023 15:41:14 +0000

How do you feel about the way the book ended?

Theory of Bastards - Q3: Science!

clash_bowley — Tue, 04 Jul 2023 15:31:45 +0000

Science and technology are in the forefront of the book. In technology, an implanted interface called a Bindi (which is the red dot Hindu people wear on their brows) connects everyone into an internet of things, interfacing with everything from doors to books. Food can be printed on a 3D printer. Cars are driverless. These are all extrapolations from current technology. It is the failure of the Bindis during the sandstorm which causes the (local?) collapse of civilization, and of course this technology causes the severe weather like the sandstorm in the first place. The science is mainly in the study of Bonobos by Frankie and Stotts - Theories, experimentation, and discovery about Humans and Bonobo are all central.

Is this enough to imply a greater setting beyond the Institute? Does this carry through properly through the novel? Is this enough to serve as the base for what happens?

Theory of Bastards - Q5: Pain

clash_bowley — Tue, 04 Jul 2023 15:40:08 +0000

Frankie was afflicted with severe Endometriosis. I had a friend long ago who had this, and it caused her severe pain, so I understood, but most people have never heard of it. Frankie was shaped by this experience in many ways, even to the freedom from pain she found after her hysterectomy - it shaped her. Did this long discussion of her disease spread throughout the book in flashbacks work for you? Did you believe it? Did you understand Frankie and what she subsequently did better?

Theory of Bastards - Q1: Is this a Science Fiction Novel?

clash_bowley — Tue, 04 Jul 2023 15:08:39 +0000

Theory of bastards is marketed as a Science Fiction novel, and while it is full of science, and is fiction, is it Science Fiction?

Theory of Bastards - Q4: Characters

clash_bowley — Tue, 04 Jul 2023 15:34:41 +0000

Were the characters drawn well? Did they engage you? Were they real individuals to you, or types? Was the relationship between Frankie and Stotts realistic? Did it work? Were the Bonobos appealing to you?

Theory of Bastards - Q8: Overall Impressions

clash_bowley — Tue, 04 Jul 2023 15:43:48 +0000

What were your overall impressions of this book? How did you feel while reading and after? How did it affect you?

Theory of Bastards - Q2: Book Structure

clash_bowley — Tue, 04 Jul 2023 15:17:39 +0000

Theory of bastards is separated into three starkly different sections - The Setup, The Sandstorm, and The Aftermath. The Setup involves getting to know the main characters - Frankie, Stotts, and the Bonobo tribe, Mama, Goliath, Touch, Houdina, and the rest. The Sandstorm concentrates on keeping the Bonobo tribe alive through the ordeal, with the ramping up of sexual tension between Frankie and Stotts. The Aftermath deals with the widespread destruction of civilization and the escape of the Bonobo to freedom.

Was this all believable? How did it all work? Why do you think the author chose to follow the path she took?

Theory of Bastards - Q7: Gaming

clash_bowley — Tue, 04 Jul 2023 15:42:31 +0000

Was there anything you felt you might take from this book for your gaming? Anything inspire you?

Cover blurb of Theory of Bastards

RichardAbbott — Thu, 18 May 2023 07:26:40 +0000

A new world, no longer brave.

It's the near future, a time of new technologies – "bodyware" implants having replaced most past means of communication – but also of climate change and dwindling resources.

Francine is a luminary in her field of evolutionary science. She joins the Foundation to study a colony of bonobo apes: remarkable animals, and the perfect creatures to certify her revolutionary feminist theory of reproduction.

When the terrible, dry winds rise up and cut off the Foundation, silencing all the devices and endangering the survival of animals and humans alike, Francine and the man she has grown to love make a decision that may determine the possibility of a premature ending or a chance to start life over.

A literary novel with elements of dystopia and science fiction, Theory of Bastards is an absorbing, recognizable story that will keep readers turning the pages.

About Audrey Schulman

RichardAbbott — Thu, 18 May 2023 07:28:16 +0000

Audrey Schulman is the author of four previous novels: Three Weeks in December (Europa 2012), Swimming with Jonah, The Cage, and A House Named Brazil. Her work has been translated into eleven languages. Born in Montreal, she now lives in Cambridge, Massachusetts, where she runs HEET, a non-profit.