B is for Bookclub

I want to thank those of you who put out ideas for authors to be read by my fantasy/scifi book club. As you may know, next month we will be reading a book by a fantasy/scifi author whose name starts with a B. Once more, I don't want to dictate to my reading group which books should be read so I'll provide the following list and ask all of you to vote which book I should recommend to my group.

1. The Mucker by Edgar Rice Burroughs


2. Beyond 30 by Edgar Rice Burroughs


3. Elfstones of Shannara by Terry Brooks


4. Wishsong of Shannara by Terry Brooks


5. Something Wicked This Way Comes by Ray Bradbury


6. The Hallowed Hunt by Lois McMaster Bujold


7. The Book of Jhereg by Steven Brust

Eric, who is a part of my group, mentioned that he was thinking Brooks for B and I am a pretty big Brooks fan. Sword of Shannara is a pastiche to the Lord of the Rings, with a little post-apocalyptic fare, but Elfstones and Wishsong are wonderful fairy-tales which I would be happy to re-read.

The Mucker and Beyond 30 are often overlooked adventure tales by Edgar Rice Burroughs. I have found both to be quick, and pleasant, reads. They are very much products of their times, and they lack the "fantastic" element of Burroughs' Mars/Venus/Moonmaid stuff, but they make for a good look at the history of the genre.

The Hallowed Hunt by Lois McMaster Bujold is a good representation of where Fantasy is at today as a genre.

The Book of Jhereg is a remastered version of the first Taltos novel. The author has made slight changes to make the narrative more consistent with later books. These books are essentially hard-boiled Fantasy novels, think Mike Hammer meets magic.

As for Something Wicked This Way Comes, does it really need justification? Classic.

So, I leave the voting up to you and I will make my recommendation to the group on Thursday (after we have discussed the latest Star Wars novel) based on your comments.

As for the Star Wars novel, I will post a review of the book on Friday.