BOOK CLUB | SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 20 | 11 AM–1 PM | FREE

Illiterati: Gen X Book Club
The Three-Body Problem by Cixin Liu (SECOND HALF)

Illiterati: Gen X Book Club will meet at FUSION on Sunday, September 20, from 11 AM–1 PM. This month’s book club is on The Three-Body Problem by Cixin Liu.

Participants will discuss the first half of this reading on August 23, then the rest of the book on September 20.

The Three-Body Problem by Cixin Liu is a sweeping, mind-bending hard sci-fi novel. It brilliantly blends Chinese history, complex astrophysics, and philosophy. While some readers may find the pacing slow and the characters detached, its monumental, terrifying scope makes it an unforgettable and genre-defining read.

The story spans two distinct eras: the turbulent Chinese Cultural Revolution of the 1960s and the present day. It follows Ye Wenjie, an astrophysicist who, after experiencing profound tragedy, makes a fateful decision to contact an alien civilization. When this alien race—the Trisolarans—decides to invade a dying Earth, humanity is forced into a desperate, existential countdown.

Unlike conventional alien invasion stories featuring explosions and space battles, Liu focuses heavily on scientists and great thinkers. The battlefield is in the laboratory, and the narrative questions what humanity is capable of sacrificing to ensure its survival.

Overall, if you are a fan of "golden age" hard science fiction in the vein of Arthur C. Clarke or Isaac Asimov, The Three-Body Problem is an absolute must-read. It requires some patience with the pacing and science, but it ultimately pays off with a dizzying, intellectually stimulating experience that will fundamentally reshape how you look at the universe.

- - - = participants bring snacks to share! = - - -

Illiterati: Gen X Book Club is a media-positive book group. Audiobookers and Podcasters are welcome too. Prepare yourself for lively, non-disrespectful discussion. BYO snacks and drinks!

This book club is FREE and open to the public!

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The above summary review was generated by a G AI text search (and was provided by the event host, Illiterati: Gen X Book Club), which also included the following information on water usage for G AI summaries:

For a traditional text-based search, Google estimates the footprint is just about 0.0003 liters (roughly 1/10th of a teaspoon) per query.

However, if you use the AI-powered Google Gemini, the water used to generate the answer and cool the data centers jumps to about 0.26 milliliters (about 5 drops).

The water is used primarily for evaporative cooling in data centers and at power plants generating the electricity needed to run the hardware.

The consumption breaks down as follows:

• Traditional Keyword Search: ~0.0003 L (water to cool data centers and generate electricity).

• Google Gemini AI Query: ~0.00026 L (about 5 drops).

• Viral AI Estimates: Up to 500 mL (one water bottle). (Viral high-end estimates count the broader, full lifecycle of electricity generation and model training).

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All are welcome. The club will be discussing books related to Generation X. You're welcome to BYO snacks and drinks. Look in the photos section on Meetup.com for the current reading list. If you have reading suggestions please send them to genxbookclub@gmail.com, and keep in mind:

• Authors should be born between 1960 and 1980. Outliers will want good reasons to be included. Any books over 400 pages may be discussed over multiple months.

• Folks are welcome to attend even if they haven't finished the book, and audio versions are fair game.

• Gen X Book Club is looking for discussion above agreement, but being mean will not be tolerated. Disagreement can be lovely as long as it remains respectful.

ABOUT ILLITERATI: GEN X BOOK CLUB

“Things are weird. The adults are all gone. We've been left to fend for ourselves by the light of an empty fridge.

Gen X was made for this. We got ourselves to the mall food court, looking for each other without appearing to care. Let's read Gen X literature. Let's discuss it as if it's real. As our ultimate rebellious act in a dying world we'll make it so.

Now that we've found a couple of interested slackers we'll crack open Eggers, Wurtzel, Safran Foer. Hewlett & Martin. If all goes well and follows in reasonable order we'll start with early Gen X authors and move to the later. Maybe rinse occasionally with something hopeish from outside the timeline, like Allie Brosh.

But when does it all go well and follow in reasonable order?”