Peter F. Hamilton Brought Me Back to SF

Yesterday was one of those wonderful days when wonderful surprises happen and anything seems possible. I had an afternoon shift at the Hammett and when I arrived there the word was already circulating around that in the morning the renowned SF author Peter F. Hamilton had been at the Otherland Bookstore, asking if he can sign his books on the shelves.

Wolf from Otherland is a super fan of Hamilton and had been in touch with him a couple of years ago, but an event never happened. So seeing him buzzing around the shop, signing his books, Wolf decided to make the best of the situation and asked him if he has time in the evening. And he did! It was announced on various SF channels and bookstore doors that Peter F. Hamilton is in town and despite the very short notice a couple of people actually showed up.

The talk was very inspiring. Even though I have read my fair share of space opera, it has never been my favorite niche. Listening to Hamilton yesterday, I remembered how much joy Science Fiction brought to me in the past; complete escape from my own reality, yet in a plausible way that exclusively speaks to the intellect. I already don't have much reading time as it is, but I still decided to return to Science Fiction some more and give more weight to the genre in the future. Incidentally I met the moderator of the Meetup Berlin Science Fiction Club with which I used to read and discuss before the pandemic and he gave me the schedule for the remaining year, so that might be a possibility to jump back on the Science Fiction train.

As to the event yesterday, we all got our signatures and went to have dinner together, it was fun and perfect!