Category: Events

It’s time to highlight another week of storytelling in Voice by the staff and volunteers at the Seanchai Library. As always, all times SLT, and events are held at the Library’s home at Holly Kai Park, unless otherwise indicated.

Sunday, August 19th, 14:00: A Study in Enerald, a Lovefest Special

With Corwyn Allen, Kayden Oconnell & Caledonia Skytower.

Who could possibly pour Arthur Conan Doyle and H.P. Lovecraft into the cooking pot of the imagination, add a sprinkling of their own verve and narrative powers, then simmer for a while to see what happens? That was the aim of editors Michael Reaves and John Pelan, who challenged 18 authors to do just that for the 2003 anthology Shadows Over Baker Street.

Of the 18 stories published within it, Neil Gaiman’s A Study In Emerald stands as the lead-out story and one of the finest examples of Holmesian / Cthulhu cross-over mythos written.

Meet the narrator, a Major in the Army of Albion (the British Army), late returned from a terrible war in Afghanistan and who received a physical wound to his arm, as well as mental injuries. Without a home in London – the result of his mental trauma – he fortuitously meets a singularly observant, brusque and easily given to keeping strange hours, fellow whilst at Barts Hospital, and the two enter into shared lodgings at Baker Street.

It soon emerges that the Major’s Friend (that’s all we know him as) is a “consulting detective” often called into assist the police with their more perplexing crimes. And so it is that Friend and the Major are engaged in dealing with the murder of an alien noble from Germany. This brings about an audience with The Queen, one of the monarchs of the Old Ones, who have ruled the world in the wake of Humanity’s defeat 700 years earlier, before – after a brief trip to see a stage show – the Major’s Friend is announces he has confirmed the identity of one of those responsible for the murder of the alien noble, and that he was assisted by a surgeon with a limp.

But is it simply a matter of case closed, and “off to the Yard with him, Inspector Lestrade!”? Hardly. There is a richness to the tale that goes beyond the obvious. Drawing most evidently on A Study in Scarlet, the tale also references other works in the Holmes canon – notably A Scandal in Bohemia, The Adventure of the Greek Interpreter, The Adventure of the Empty House and The Valley of Fear. In doing so, Gaiman offers up a story fans of Holmes and Cthulhu alike will find more that satisfying; but it is also one that also has a mystery of its own that reaches beyond the murder and its resolution: just who, really, is hero and villain here? The clues are there to be found; some are obvious (I’ve mentioned perhaps the most obvious one above), while others are a little more … academic, shall we say?

But even without a deeper knowledge of all things Holmes and Watson, this is a tale perfectly bridging the mythologies of Conan Doyle and Lovecraft, guaranteed to sate the appetites of all who hear it.

Travel to the 7th annual Lovefest in Second life to hear more!

Monday, August 20th 19:00: The R-Master

In the 21st century utopia has arrived in the form of a repressive but seemingly benevolent, if omnipresent, bureaucracy. Their perfectly ordered world, seemingly run for the benefit of all, is actually ruled with an iron fist. In claiming to have people’s best interest at heart, those in power keep the population occupied and docile with menial tasks and the promise of advancement with the aid of the strictly controlled drug, R-47.

For the vast majority, R-47 actually does nothing.But for a special few, observed and selected by the ruling Council, it can massively enhance their intellect, elevating them to the status of “R-Masters” allowing them to solve problems, see advancements, and help ensure – wittingly or not – the Council’s control over the world, cosseted and pampered well away from the drudgery of ordinary life.

However, there is a darker side to R-47: just as it can elevate the intellect of some of those chosen to receive it, so to can it reduce them to imbeciles – and there is no way of knowing who the outcome might be in advance. Wally Ho is one selected to receive R-47 – and suffers the latter fate.

Determining it will raise his problem-solving abilities and restore his brother, Etter Ho obtains R-47 and takes it. But, once elevated to the privileged ranks of the R-Masters and witness the truth behind the Council’s rule, Etter determines the established status quo cannot allowed to continue, and Big Brother must be brought to heel.

Join Gyro Muggins as he reads Gordon R. Dickson’s 1973 novel about life in what is now our times!

Tuesday, August 21st

The Library is closed for the evening.

Wednesday, August 22nd 19:00: Tales of the Arabian Nights

With Caledonia Skytower – check the Seanchai Blog nearer the time for more details.

Thursday, August 23rd

14:00: Fireside Tales

With Dubhna Rhiadra – check the Seanchai Blog nearer the time for more details.

19:00: The Lurking Fear

Shandon Loring takes us back into Lovercraft’s world with the 1922 short story of four chapters.

When a monster hunter and his assistants are drawn to Catskills mountains in search of a “lurking fear”, a storm forces them to seek shelter in the abandoned Martense mansion – one for the hunter’s companions to disappear, seemingly taken by a demonic creature whose shadow is cast on the chimney breast by a flash of lightning.

Determined to complete his task of uncovering whatever lies within the area, he continues his investigations, initially – if briefly – with the help of a journalist. As the hunter’s search for the truth continues, he finds that everything is connected to the Martense mansion where he and his assistants first sought shelter, and the local storms themselves appear to play a natural role in things. And so it is that he hides within the abandoned house, resolute to find the truth…

Also presented in Kitelyhop://grid.kitely.com:8002/Seanchai/144/129/29.

21:00: Seanchai Late Night

Contemporary science fiction and fantasy with Finn Zeddmore.

Saturday, August 25th 14:00: Seanchai Library at Lovefest

Join Seanchai library for Lovecraftian tales at the 7th annual Second Life Lovefest.

---

Please check with the Seanchai Library’s blog for updates and for additions or changes to the week’s schedule.

The current charity is Feed a Smile.

It’s time to highlight another week of storytelling in Voice by the staff and volunteers at the Seanchai Library. As always, all times SLT, and events are held at the Library’s home at Holly Kai Park, unless otherwise indicated.

Sunday, August 12th

13:30: Tea-Time on the Orient Express – Conclusion

Join Seanchai Library and friends As they reach their final destination: a climatic 90-minutes session that sees a stranded train rescued and Hercule Poirot reaches his conclusions regarding a case most perplexing.

It should have been a route trip aboard the luxurious carriages of the Compagnie Internationale des Wagons-Lits’, Simplon-Orient Express. Yes, arrangements have been made in a rush, yes, it looked as if he would have to make the journey in the confines of 2nd class, but at least Poirot would make it back to London and the business requiring his urgent attention. Then his friend, M Bouc, who just happens to be a director of the company and travelling on the same train, arranges to have Poirot “upgraded” to first class and his accustomed comforts.

All is set for a most agreeable journey, but for the presence of one man: Samuel Ratchett, a noisome American, also aboard the train, and who accosts Poirot, claiming someone is trying to kill him, and demanding Poirot aid him. Refusing on account of finding Ratchett a disagreeable fellow and not at all whom he appears to be, the detective endeavours to enjoy the journey, finding his fellow first-class passengers a most curious group.

Ratchett, however has other ideas – or at least, someone does. With the train caught in a snow drift, the American is found dead in his sleeping cabin, and Poirot, now convinced of “Ratchetts” true identity – that of a child kidnapper and murderer known as  Cassetti –  finds himself cast into a familiar role of determining who is responsible.

But who – who among the group of travellers killed “Ratchett”? The hard, but quintessentially polite Englishman, Colonel Arbuthnot? The suspiciously acting Count and Countess Andrenyi? The cool and unruffled  Mary Debenham? The mysterious and distracting Mrs. Hubbard, who herself probably is not whom she appears to be? The Russian Princess Dragomiroff, frequently giving to lying?

Or might it have been Cyrus Hardman, the flamboyant detective from New York City, whose “assistance” in the case seems less than genuine? Or perhaps it was  Hector McQueen, “Ratchett’s” personal assistant – or any one of five other possible suspects? All of them appear to have a link either to “Ratchett” or to his most heinous of crimes and a reason for wanting him dead. Was it one of them? Some of them? All of them? Or – none of them?!

Board the Orient Express one last time in a special setting, as Seanchai library reaches the conclusion of this most famous and engaging of Agatha Christie’s novels!

18:00: Magicland Storytime

When a fortune-teller’s tent appears in the market square of Baltese city, orphan Peter Augustus Duchene knows the questions that he needs to ask: Does his sister still live? If so, how can he find her?

The fortune-teller’s mysterious answer that an elephant – an elephant! – will lead him to his sister, sets off a chain of events so remarkable, so impossible, that you will hardly dare to believe it’s true. And thus we’re off on a wondrous adventure of the kind only Newbery Medalist Kate DiCamillo could tell.

In this timeless fable, she evokes the largest of themes — hope and belonging, desire and compassion — with the lightness of a magician’s touch, and we are joined in a world of What if? Why not? Could it be?

Join Calaedonia Skytower at the Golden Horseshoe for this most enchanting of stories.

Monday, August 13th 19:00: The R-Master

In the 21st century utopia has arrived in the form of a repressive but seemingly benevolent, if omnipresent, bureaucracy. Their perfectly ordered world, seemingly run for the benefit of all, is actually ruled with an iron fist.  In claiming to have people’s best interest at heart, those in power keep the population occupied and docile with menial tasks and the promise of advancement with the aid of the strictly controlled drug, R-47.

For the vast majority, R-47 actually does nothing.But for a special few, observed and selected by the ruling Council, it can massively enhance their intellect, elevating them to the status of “R-Masters” allowing them to solve problems, see advancements, and help ensure – wittingly or not – the Council’s control over the world, cosseted and pampered well away from the drudgery of ordinary life.

However, there is a darker side to R-47: just as it can elevate the intellect of some of those chosen to receive it, so to can it reduce them to imbeciles – and there is no way of knowing who the outcome might be in advance. Wally Ho is one selected to receive R-47 – and suffers the latter fate.

Determining it will raise his problem-solving abilities and restore his brother, Etter Ho obtains R-47 and takes it. But, once elevated to the privileged ranks of the R-Masters and witness the truth behind the Council’s rule, Etter determines the established status quo cannot allowed to continue, and Big Brother must be brought to heel.

Join Gyro Muggins as he reads Gordon R. Dickson’s 1973 novel about life in what is now our times!

Tuesday, August 14th

The Library is closed for the evening.

Wednesday, August 15th 19:00: Mythos

The Greek myths are the greatest stories ever told, passed down through millennia and inspiring writers and artists as varied as Shakespeare, Michelangelo, James Joyce and Walt Disney.

They are embedded deeply in the traditions, tales and cultural DNA of the West. In Stephen Fry’s hands the stories of the titans and gods become a brilliantly entertaining account of ribaldry and revelry, warfare and worship, debauchery, love affairs and life lessons, slayings and suicides, triumphs and tragedies.

Through them, you’ll once again fall in love with Zeus, marvel at the birth of Athena, wince at Cronus and Gaia’s revenge on Ouranos, weep with King Midas and hunt with the beautiful and ferocious Artemis.

Thursday, August 16th

14:00: Fireside Tales: The Ghost of the Bridge

Caledonia shares more from her latest short story, inspired by Pfaffenthal 1867 in SL, and a legendary ghost from Luxembourg.

The Virtual Pfaffenthal, July 2015 – blog post

19:00 FLAMING ANGEL (a Tale of Suspense)

Shandon Loring reads Frederick C. Davis’s tale. Also presented in Kitelyhop://grid.kitely.com:8002/Seanchai/144/129/29.

 

---

Please check with the Seanchai Library’s blog for updates and for additions or changes to the week’s schedule.

The current charity is Feed a Smile.

It’s time to highlight another week of storytelling in Voice by the staff and volunteers at the Seanchai Library. As always, all times SLT, and events are held at the Library’s home at Holly Kai Park, unless otherwise indicated.

Sunday, August 5th 13:30: Tea-Time on the Orient Express

Join Seanchai Library and friends aboard one of the most luxurious means of rail travel, the Orient Express, as they continue their investigations into the most disagreeable events that have occurred en route to Paris.

Having been required to return to London from Istanbul post-haste, Hercule Poirot sought passage aboard the most famous train, gaining seat initially in second class, only to be “upgraded” to first class by his friend – and member of the board of directors for Compagnie Internationale des Wagons-Lits, the operators of the service – M Bouc. Prior to his “upgrade”, Poirot is accosted by one Samuel Ratchett, an American also travelling on the train, who demands the detective’s aide as he believes his life is in danger. However, Poirot refuses, on account of finding the American a distasteful individual.

Then, on the night after his upgrade to the sleeping berth next to Ratchett’s, he is woken by two events: the first is that the train has become stranded in snow not far from the city of Vinkovci in Yugoslavia. The second is the discovery that Ratchett’s fears about his safety were correct: his has been murdered in his cabin. But who is responsible?

With nowhere to go until assistance for the stricken locomotive arrives, Poirot sets out to discover – did someone board the train in secret to put an end to Ratchett, or was one of his fellow passengers in fact the murderer? And what of Ratchett himself? Was he really all he seemed?

Offered in a special setting, Murder on the Orient Express, one of Agatha Christie’s most popular stories, continues into its second weekend reading!

Monday, August 6th 19:00: The Drowning World

They call it the Drowning World; Fluva, a planet on the fringes of the Commonwealth where the rain is – but for one month in the year – maddeningly torrential. For Chief Administrator Lauren Matthias, it is a new posting; one which comes with a major requirement: keeping the indigenous and warlike Sakuntala and immigrant and hard-working Deyzara, from annihilating one another.

But when the vessel used by bio-prospector Shadrach Hasselemoga crashes in Viisiiviisii, an immense, mostly unexplored jungle, and the wettest place on the planet, Matthias must dispatch a team made up of one Sakuntala and one Deyzara on a rescue mission. Can the two form an alliance long enough to both rescue Hasselemoga and survive the deadly jungle?

But as the mission unfolds, Matthias realises something much bigger and darker is occurring on Fluva. A mysterious presence is at work, manipulating events, one which not only puts the lives of the rescue mission at risk, but also her own – and which could ultimately threaten the Commonwealth itself!

Join Gyro Muggins as he reads story #21 in Alan Dean Foster’s Humanx Commonwealth series.

Tuesday, August 7th 1900: Brief Cases

Corwyn Allen dives into Jim Butcher’s 2018 collection of several of his excellent short stories and novellas from the universe of Harry Dresden.

The tales presented here not only offer excellent short narratives that dabble between the scenes of the other novels in the Dresden Universe series, they even encompass what might be Dresden’s greatest challenge…

….Becoming a father.

Wednesday, August 8th 19:00: Mythos

The Greek myths are the greatest stories ever told, passed down through millennia and inspiring writers and artists as varied as Shakespeare, Michelangelo, James Joyce and Walt Disney.

They are embedded deeply in the traditions, tales and cultural DNA of the West. In Stephen Fry’s hands the stories of the titans and gods become a brilliantly entertaining account of ribaldry and revelry, warfare and worship, debauchery, love affairs and life lessons, slayings and suicides, triumphs and tragedies.

Through them, you’ll once again fall in love with Zeus, marvel at the birth of Athena, wince at Cronus and Gaia’s revenge on Ouranos, weep with King Midas and hunt with the beautiful and ferocious Artemis.

Thursday, August 9th

14:00: Fireside Tales: The Following Shoes are a Gift from the Pope

With Caledonia Skytower.

19:00: The Ghost of the Bridge

Caledonia shares a draft of her latest short story, inspired by Pfaffenthal 1867 in SL, and a legendary ghost from Luxembourg.

The Virtual Pfaffenthal, July 2015 – blog post

21:00 Seanchai Late Night

Finn Zeddmore shares contemporary Sci-Fi-Fantasy.

---

Please check with the Seanchai Library’s blog for updates and for additions or changes to the week’s schedule.

The current charity is Feed a Smile.

It’s time to highlight another week of storytelling in Voice by the staff and volunteers at the Seanchai Library. As always, all times SLT, and events are held at the Library’s home at Holly Kai Park, unless otherwise indicated.

Sunday, July 29th

13:30: Tea-Time on the Orient Express

Join Seanchai Library and friends aboard one of the most luxurious means of rail travel, the Orient Express, as they continue their investigations into the most disagreeable events that have occurred en route to Paris.

Having been required to return to London from Istanbul post-haste, Hercule Poirot sought passage aboard the most famous train, gaining seat initially in second class, only to be “upgraded” to first class by his friend – and member of the board of directors for Compagnie Internationale des Wagons-Lits, the operators of the service – M Bouc. Prior to his “upgrade”, Poirot is accosted by one Samuel Ratchett, an American also travelling on the train, who demands the detective’s aide as he believes his life is in danger. However, Poirot refuses, on account of finding the American a distasteful individual.

Then, on the night after his upgrade to the sleeping berth next to Ratchett’s, he is woken by two events: the first is that the train has become stranded in snow not far from the city of Vinkovci in Yugoslavia. The second is the discovery that Ratchett’s fears about his safety were correct: his has been murdered in his cabin. But who is responsible?

With nowhere to go until assistance for the stricken locomotive arrives, Poirot sets out to discover – did someone board the train in secret to put an end to Ratchett, or was one of his fellow passengers in fact the murderer? And what of Ratchett himself? Was he really all he seemed?

Offered in a special setting, Murder on the Orient Express, one of Agatha Christie’s most popular stories, continues into its second weekend reading!

18:00: Magicland Storytime

When a fortune-teller’s tent appears in the market square of Baltese city, orphan Peter Augustus Duchene knows the questions that he needs to ask: Does his sister still live? If so, how can he find her?

The fortune-teller’s mysterious answer that an elephant – an elephant! – will lead him to his sister, sets off a chain of events so remarkable, so impossible, that you will hardly dare to believe it’s true. And thus we’re off on a wondrous adventure of the kind only Newbery Medalist Kate DiCamillo could tell.

In this timeless fable, she evokes the largest of themes — hope and belonging, desire and compassion — with the lightness of a magician’s touch, and we are joined in a world of What if? Why not? Could it be?

Join Calaedonia Skytower at the Golden Horseshoe for this most enchanting of stories.

Monday, July 30th 19:00: The Drowning World

They call it the Drowning World; Fluva, a planet on the fringes of the Commonwealth where the rain is – but for one month in the year – maddeningly torrential. For Chief Administrator Lauren Matthias, it is a new posting; one which comes with a major requirement: keeping the indigenous and warlike Sakuntala and immigrant and hard-working Deyzara, from annihilating one another.

But when the vessel used by bio-prospector Shadrach Hasselemoga crashes in Viisiiviisii, an immense, mostly unexplored jungle, and the wettest place on the planet, Matthias must dispatch a team made up of one Sakuntala and one Deyzara on a rescue mission. Can the two form an alliance long enough to both rescue Hasselemoga and survive the deadly jungle?

But as the mission unfolds, Matthias realises something much bigger and darker is occurring on Fluva. A mysterious presence is at work, manipulating events, one which not only puts the lives of the rescue mission at risk, but also her own – and which could ultimately threaten the Commonwealth itself!

Join Gyro Muggins as he reads story #21 in Alan Dean Foster’s Humanx Commonwealth series.

Tuesday, July 31st 1900: Brief Cases

Corwyn Allen dives into Jim Butcher’s 2018 collection of several of his excellent short stories and novellas from the universe of Harry Dresden.

The tales presented here not only offer excellent short narratives that dabble between the scenes of the other novels in the Dresden Universe series, they even encompass what might be Dresden’s greatest challenge…

….Becoming a father.

Wednesday, August 1st 19:00: Mythos

The Greek myths are the greatest stories ever told, passed down through millennia and inspiring writers and artists as varied as Shakespeare, Michelangelo, James Joyce and Walt Disney.

They are embedded deeply in the traditions, tales and cultural DNA of the West. In Stephen Fry’s hands the stories of the titans and gods become a brilliantly entertaining account of ribaldry and revelry, warfare and worship, debauchery, love affairs and life lessons, slayings and suicides, triumphs and tragedies.

Through them, you’ll once again fall in love with Zeus, marvel at the birth of Athena, wince at Cronus and Gaia’s revenge on Ouranos, weep with King Midas and hunt with the beautiful and ferocious Artemis.

Thursday, August 2nd

14:00: Fireside Tales

Bryn Taleweaver brings ghostly tales to the fireside!

19:00: Weird Westerns: The Banshee Singer and The Magic Grindstone

Shandon Loring reads two tales from Lon Thomas Williams’ collection of Weird Westerns featuring Deputy Marshal Lee Winters. Also presented in Kitely (hop://grid.kitely.com:8002/Seanchai/144/129/29).

 

---

Please check with the Seanchai Library’s blog for updates and for additions or changes to the week’s schedule.

The current charity is Feed a Smile.