It’s time to kick-off another week of fabulous story-telling in voice, brought to Second Life by the staff and volunteers at the Seanchai Library.

As always, all times SLT, and unless otherwise stated, events will be held on the Seanchai Library’s home on Imagination Island.

Sunday, April 12th, 13:30: Tea Time with Kipling

In the beginning were the words, and the words were with Rudyard Kipling.

Well, OK, not quite that beginning, given I’ve referring to 1902, and the first appearance of Kipling’s Just So tales. But given this is a delightful collection of fantastical pourquoi or origin stories, telling of how certain things came to be, then I think you’ll get my drift.

Now regarded as some of his best-known stories, and an ever popular read for adults with young children, the stories gathered under the enfolding title, were originally little vignettes written and told for the express amusement of Kipling’s first daughter.

Join Caledonia Skytower and John Moreland as read from this wonderful collection. You might just finding out out How the Camel Got His Hump or perhaps How the Armadillo Happened or even – How the Elephant got his Trunk!

Monday April 13th, 19:00: Jack of Shadows Concludes

Gyro Muggins concludes Roger Zelazny’s 1971 novel which mixes science-fiction and fantasy, the title of which is an homage to Jack Vance.

The story takes place on a tidally locked planet – that is, one whose rotation about its axis precisely matches its orbit around its parent body, thus the same face is always presented to the parent body (just like our own Moon always presents the same face towards Earth). Given that the parent object in this case is the planet’s Sun, it means that one side of the planet exists in perpetual daylight – and is the seat of science; while the other lingers in perpetual night – and has become the seat of magic.

It is from the latter that the protagonist of the story – Shadowjack – comes. Even among his own kind, he is unusual, for the manner in which he draws upon his power; something which can, in the right circumstances make him exceptionally potent. However, when placed in either complete light or complete darkness, he is almost powerless. Jack’s only friend, Morningstar is doomed to what is effectively eternal punishment unless Jack can cross between the two realms of light and dark, combining his abilities with the power of science. Thus Jack must risk being lost in total light or total darkness in order to rescue Morningstar. And if he fails, who might rescue him?

Tuesday April 14th, 19:00: A Walk in the Woods Concludes



By his own admission, Bill Bryson isn’t the world’s greatest adventurer. This being the case, you’d think he’d have serious misgivings about undertaking this particular “walk in the woods”, as he disarmingly calls it: taking the 3,500 kilometre (2,200 mile) Appalachian Trail – a journey which would take five months to complete.

Travelling with his good friend “Stephen Katz”, the book is both a humorous guide to the trail and a set of serious and insightful comments / discussion on the trail’s history as it winds its way from Georgia (where Bryson was living at the time the book was written in 1998), to Maine. These discussions cover a broad range of subject including the sociology, ecology, trees, plants, animals and people of the states through which the trail passes (Georgia, North Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, West Virginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Vermont, New Hampshire, and Maine).

Join Kayden Oconnell as he completes his retracing Bryson’s footsteps through the pages of this classic.

Wednesday April 15th

06:00: Confessions of a Failed Southern Lady

Freda Frostbite and Trolly Trollop open the pages of Florence King’s 1985 classic memoir.

The book opens by relating a tale of King’s Granny determining that the American side of her family (King’s father was English), had once owned land in Virginia awarded to them by royal grant on the basis of having read some of William Thackeray’s 1852 novel, The History of Henry Esmond, Esq.

From there it progresses through stories of her upbringing in a still racially-segregated Washington DC during the 1930s and 1940s, her time at college and onward into her adult life which was, in part, shaped by her bisexuality, and her leaning towards her own sex as partners.

Told with verve and flourish, wit and style, Confessions of a Failed South Lady may well be embellished in places, it may be slightly outrageous or dark in others; but it also deals with deeper issues, such as that of femininity, and matters of sexuality and family. Thus it presents a prefect blend of humour and insight that make it a delight to read.

To quote from the cover: “Florence may have been a disappointment to her Granny, whose dream of rearing a Perfect Southern Lady would never be quite fulfilled. But after all, as Florence reminds us, ‘no matter which sex I went to bed with, I never smoked on the street’.”

19:00: Christie’s Detectives

Join Caledonia Skytower as she presents short stories featuring Agatha Christe’s beloved detectives: Parker Pyne, Jane Marple and Hercule Poirot.

Thursday April 16th

19:00: Silver Birch, Blood Moon

Shandon Loring continues through another anthology edited by Ellen Datlow and Terri Windling. In Silver Birch, Blood Moon, they bring together 21 tales by some of today’s leading writers in a volume focused taking cherished tales of childhood and re-imagining them into sophisticated, seductive, fairy tales for adults. The stories gathered within the covers of this anthology include:

The tale of a jealous prince who plots the destruction of his hated brother’s wedding by inventing a “magic” suit of clothing visible only to the pure at heart

The story of a young girl’s strange fairy tale obsession which results in a brutal murder

The tragic tale of an embittered mother, who must care for her dying son as he is trapped within a thicket guarding a sleeping beauty

The revelation of what happens when a group of violent outcasts within a desolate industrial wasteland attempt to lay the myths of one Millennium to rest, only to give terrifying birth to those of the next.

Join Shandon Loring as he opens the pages of this latest collection from Datlow and Windling, and see if it is one of these stories or something else contained within the volume which falls under his gaze…

21:00 Seanchai Late Night

Details TBA – check the Seanchai blog for more.

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Please check with the Seanchai Library SL’s blog for updates and for additions or changes to the week’s schedule. The featured charity for April / May is Habitat for Humanity, with a vision of a world where everyone has a decent place to live – a safe and clean place to call home.



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