It’s time to kick-off another week of fabulous story-telling in voice, brought to Second Life and Kitely by the staff and volunteers at the Seanchai Library.
As always, all times SLT / PDT, and unless otherwise stated, events will be held on the Seanchai Library’s home on Imagination Island, or at their Kitely Homeworld.
Sunday, March 8th
11:00: Seanchai Kitely: Ireland – Land of the Poets
With Caledonia Skytower and Shandon Loring at Seanchai Library’s Celtic world (grid.kitely.com:8002/InisArcain)
13:30: Seanchai SL: Tea Time at Baker Street
Caledonia, Kaydon OConnell and Corwyn Allen reconvene at the rooms of 221B Baker Street to this week read the story of The Man With the Twisted Lip, which first appeared in The Strand Magazine in December 1891.
Whilst assisting a friend of Mrs Watson but recovering her husband, an opium addict, from a den in the East End of London, Watson is surprised to see Holmes, in disguise, also in the den, attempting to obtain information relating to a case.
It seems a respectable businessman Mr. Neville St. Clair has vanished, and his wife is convinced she she him at an upper floor window of the opium den. But when the police raid the place, Mrs. St Clair in their company, all they find is a dishevelled beggar known locally as Hugh Boone.
However, when a toy her husband had said he would buy for their son, together with some of St. Clair’s clothes in the room, a wider search is carried out, and St. Clair coat, loaded with small change is found in the Thames just below the den, foul play is suspected, and Boone is arrested.
Holmes is initially convinced St Clair has been murdered, although no body is found and Boone reveals nothing. But then Mrs. St Clair receives a letter from her husband, and the mystery deepens.
Monday, March 9th
06:00: The Emerald Atlas
Cata Charisma continues his reading of John Stephens’ The emerald Atlas, the first volume in his fantasy trilogy for young adults, The Books of Beginning.
Having been passed from pillar to post through orphanages, three siblings, Kate, Emma, and Michael, find themselves lodged at the home of one Dr. Stanislaus Pym. Kate, the eldest of the three is driven by a promise made by her mother, that if Kate protects her younger sister and brother, then their family will be one day reunited.
But in their explorations of Dr. Pym’s house the three of them find their way into the basement, where they come across a mysterious door and a equally mysterious emerald-covered booth, entirely without text. When an old photograph touches the blank pages of the book, however, the three are immediately transported to the time and place depicted in the photograph. Her they find themselves in a realm populated by witches, henchmen, giants, dwarves and more – and one Dr. Stanislaus Pym, a good deal younger than when they last saw him in his house…
19:00: Starswarm
Starswarm Station is a remote research station established to study strange alien life. The planet on which it is located is the home of the starswarm, intelligent plants living under the planet’s shallow lakes and seas, and roaming bands of centaur-like creatures dubbed “haters”.
The station is also home to Kip, a teenage boy living under the guardianship of his “uncle”. However, as Kip begins to discover, he has another guardian: Gwen, an AI system his mother had been working on, prior to her death, and which communicates with Kip via a small implant placed inside his brain at birth.
Gwen knows far more about the planet and the lifeforms it harbours than Kip could imagine. It also knows a lot about the company that runs the station and, for all intents and purposes, “owns” the planet on which it sits.
Slowly, Gwen reveals these various truths to Kip, including his own destiny. But in doing so, it puts Kip, and potentially the entire station, at risk.
Join Gyro Muggins as he commences a reading of Jerry Pournelle’s 1998 novel intended for teenage readers but which offers an interesting look at subjects such as neural nets and living computer systems.
Tuesday March 10th, 19:00: Saint Patrick and Friends
With Caedmon Sharkfin.
Wednesday March 11th, 19:00: Bard: The Odyssey of the Irish
Caledonia Skytower reads selections from Morgan Llywelyn’s 1984 historical fantasy novel depicting a hypothetical 4th century migration of Galicians to Ireland, led by Amergin the bard.
Thursday March 12th, 19:00: Celtic Myths and Magick
With Shandon Loring.
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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 January / early March is Project Children, teaching and building peace in Northern Ireland, one child at a time.
Inara Pey: Living in a Modemworld 