Sci-Fi Discussion: The Case of the Blood-Stained Tower & Most Things
Details
Do you like science fiction? Join the Jefferson Humanists Sci Fi Discussion Group where we discuss sci-fi short stories, novellas and movies. We typically meet by Zoom on the 4th Thursday of each month and occasionally meet in-person to watch sci-fi movies.
If you would like to be added to our email list to find out about the next sci fi stories we plan to discuss, email SciFi@jeffersonhumanists.org
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In September, we invite you to read two short stories: The Case of the Blood-Stained Tower by Ray Nayler and Most Things by Rick Larson.
The Case of the Blood-Stained Tower (17 pages)
Ray Nayler’s “The Case of the Blood-Stained Tower” presents a haunting narrative in which two boys' journey is halted by a brutal battle, leading to an estate owner’s chilling plan to display a fallen soldier's reconstructed skeleton. The atmospheric and philosophical story explores themes of objectification and the institutionalization of the spoils of war.
Most Things (22 pages)
Two drug-addled, hired guns kidnap a whistleblowing, quantum biologist who's fleeing her shady employer, and the transdimensional parasite it accidentally pulled out of a pocket reality called the Slip, in a wired, foul-mouthed chase toward the coast. It's a genre-bending mashup of cyberpunk crime thriller and cosmic-horror-turned-transcendence, asking what "consciousness" and "death" even mean once there's an escape hatch built into the fabric of reality itself.
Please read these stories on your own and come
to the meeting on September 24th to share your thoughts.
You can find a copy of The Case of the Bloodstained Tower at https://www.raynayler.net/the-case-of-the-blood-stained-tower.html and a copy of Most Things at https://asimovs.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/MostThingsMayNeverHappen_Larson-Story-PDF-1.pdf
RSVP to this Meetup or email SciFi@jeffersonhumanists.org. Only those who RSVP will receive the Zoom link for the discussion.
To get on the JH Sci Fi Discussion Group mail list, email SciFi@jeffersonhumanists.org
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