[EN World Book Club] Suggestions & Selectors

If you weren't aware, we've been tossing around the idea of doing an "EN World Book Club" here on the message boards. (See EN World Book Club Thread for more background.)

This thread is for people to suggest books for consderation, and for people to volunteer to select a book for reading.

If you suggest a book, please plan on participating in the discussion.

Basic concept is this: Once per month one person who has expressed interest in choosing a reading selection will be tapped to offer up their choice. Everyone who is interested will procure a copy of said book and have roughly one month to read it. Discussion will begin at that time, and continue for as long as necessary.
The guidelines for selection (and by extension, suggestion) are:

• Book must be in print (check to see if Amazon has it available).
• Should be something that you would expect a majority of participants would enjoy reading.
• Should be something that will engender thoughtful discussion.
• Shouldn't be anything that would make Eric's (or Morrus') Grandma's eyes pop out.

So, if you have some reading suggestions, or wish to participate as an "editorial member", express so here. I will keep this post updated with the list of books and volunteers.
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Suggestions:

• Gods in Darkness, Karl Edward Wagner & Ken Kelly
• The Scar, China Mieville
• Guns, Germs & Steel, Jared Diamond
• Caeser's Legion, Stephen Dando-Collins
• Man in the Iron Mask, Alexandre Dumas
• Three Musketeers, Alexandre Dumas
• Huchback of Notre Dame, Victor Hugo
• 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, Jules Verne
• The Count of Monte Cristo, Alexandre Dumas
• The Sea-hawk, Rafael Sabatini
• Kidnapped, Robert Louis Stevenson
• Tigana, Guy Gavriel Kay
• The Tower of Fear, Glen Cook
• The White Company, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
• The Illiad, Homer
• The Odyssey, Homer
• Sailing to Sarantium, Guy Gavriel Kay
• The Wasp Factory, Iain Banks
• The Anubis Gates,Tim Powers
• The Moreau Omnibus, S. Andrew Swann
• Men of Iron, Howard Pyle
• The Forever War, Joe Haldeman
• Enders Game, Orson Scott Card
• The Divine Comedy: The Inferno, the Purgatorio, and the Paradiso, Dante Alighieri
• All the Bells on Earth, James P. Blaylock
• Stranger in a Strange Land, Robert A. Heinlein
• Battlefield Earth, L. Ron Hubbard
• Dracula, Bram Stoker
• Beowulf, translator Seamus Heaney
• Shogun, James Clavell
• Frankenstein, Mary Shelley
• Guns of the South, Harry Turtledove
• The House of the Scorpion, Nancy Farmer
• The Facts of Life, Graham Joyce
• Life of Pi, Yann Martel
• The Black Company, Glen Cook
• The Reader, Bernhard Schlink
• To Reign In Hell, Steven Burst
• Pattern Recognition, William Gibson
• Dawn of Amber, John Betancourt
• Darwin's Radio, Greg Bear
• Voyage, Stephen Baxter
• Evolution: A Novel, Stephen Baxter
• Dream Park, Larry Niven & Steven Barnes
• On Basilisk Station, David Weber
• Island of Doctor Moreau, H.G. Wells
• Rhapsody, Elizabeth Haydon
• All Tomorrow's Parties, William Gibson
• Neuromancer, William Gibson
• The Mote in God's Eye, Larry Niven & Jerry Pournelle
• Sundiver, David Brin
• Startide Rising, David Brin
• Cryptonomicon, Neal Stephenson
• Foreigner, C. J. Cherryh
• Legend, David Gemmell
• Wyrm, Mark Fabi
• Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep, Phillip K. Dick
• Man in the High Castle, Phillip K. Dick
• Ubik, Phillip K. Dick
• Bones of the Earth, Michael Swanwick
• Blood Music, Greg Bear
• At The Mountains of Madness, H.P. Lovecraft
• The Lions of Al-Rassan, Guy Gavriel Kay
• The Sword of Shannara, Terry Brooks
• High Deryni, Katherine Kurtz
• The Positronic Man, Issac Asimov & Robert Silverberg
• Ender's Game, Orson Scott Card
• The Years of Rice and Salt, Kim Stanley Robinson
• Three Hearts and Three Lions, Poul Anderson
• The High Crusade, Poul Anderson
• The Broken Sword, Poul Anderson
• The Crusades Through Arab Eyes, Amin Maalouf
• Perdido Street Station, China Mieville
• Jack of Kinrowan, Charles de Lint
• Light, M. John Harrison
• The Hollow Man, Dan Simmons
• A Knight of Ghosts and Shadows, Mercedes Lackey
• Black Gryphon, Mercedes Lackey
• Dragonsdawn, Anne McCaffrey
• Neverwhere, Neil Gaiman
• King Rat, China Mieville
• Guilty Pleasures, Laurell K. Hamilton
• Bones of the Earth, Michael Swanwick
• Slow River, Nicola Griffith
• Ammonite, Nicola Griffith
• Making History, Stephen Fry
• Choke, Chuck Palahniuk
• Sewer, Gas & Electric: The Public Works Trilogy, Matt Ruff
• I Am Legend, Richard Matheson
• Vampire$, John Steakley

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Editorial Members:

• JoeGKushner
• FraserRonald
• Dacileva
• reddist
• Tsyr
• Michael Tree
• LightPhoenix
• jester47 (September 2003 Selection) Selected: Dragondoom by Dennis L. McKiernan ---- DISCUSSION THREAD
• JoeBlank (November 2003 Selection) Selected: Tigana by Guy Gavriel Kay ---- DISCUSSION THREAD
• zenld (January 2004 Selection) Selected: Pattern Recognition by William Gibson ---- DISCUSSION THREAD
• Sam (February 2004 Selection) Selected: Eragon by Christopher Paolini ---- DISCUSSION THREAD
• Cthulhu's Librarian (April 2004 Selection) Selected: The Anubis Gates by Tim Powers

How about Gods in Darkness, the complete novels of Kane? He's one of the only real anti-heroes I've ever read and it's a fascinating contrast to say Drizzt who is a moody hero if you will or Elric, a 'villain' only by his moral weakness.

http://www.pricefarmer.com/cgi-bin/farm?isbn=189238924X

I REALLY don't want to start off with a negative comment, but could we try to keep the price of the books under $20.00? If we want to encourage people to buy, read and discuss a book, I don't think that we should start the group off with a book that has a list price of $35.00 (or $28 if you buy it at Amazon).

Sorry Joe, I'd love to read the book you suggested, but I don't know how many people we would get to drop that much $ on a book. Many of my friends never buy hardcovers, and I suspect that may be true for people on the boards as well.

In a book group that I belonged to here at UVA, we had a stipulation that a book had to be in paperback (mass market or tradepaper) for it to be considered as a selection. Do we want to do something like that here, or am I just making a nusence of myself?

Thanks for hearing me out.

Rich

I'd like to suggest The Scar by China Mieville.
It is on the ballot for best novel for both the Hugo and World Fantasy awards this year. While set in the same world as his previous novel Perdido Street Station, it is not a series, and stands completely alone.

Amazon.com

Here is one review:
From Publishers Weekly
In this stand-alone novel set in the same monster-haunted universe as last year's much-praised Perdido Street Station, British author Mieville, one of the most talented new writers in the field, takes us on a gripping hunt to capture a magical sea-creature so large that it could snack on Moby Dick, and that's just for starters. Armada, a floating city made up of the hulls of thousands of captured vessels, travels slowly across the world of Bas-Lag, sending out its pirate ships to prey on the unwary, gradually assembling the supplies and captive personnel it needs to create a stupendous work of dark magic. Bellis Coldwine, an embittered, lonely woman, exiled from the great city of New Crobuzon, is merely one of a host of people accidentally trapped in Armada's far-flung net, but she soon finds herself playing a vital role in the byzantine plans of the city's half-mad rulers. The author creates a marvelously detailed floating civilization filled with dark, eccentric characters worthy of Mervyn Peake or Charles Dickens, including the aptly named Coldwine, a translator who has devoted much of her life to dead languages; Uther Doul, the superhuman soldier/scholar who refuses to do anything more than follow orders; and Silas Fennec, the secret agent whose perverse magic has made him something more and less than human. Together they sail through treacherous, magic-ridden seas, on a quest for the Scar, a place where reality mutates and all things become possible. This is state-of-the-art dark fantasy and a likely candidate for any number of award nominations. (July 2). Forecast: Perdido Street Station won the Arthur C. Clarke Award and the British Fantasy Award. A major publicity push including a six-city author tour should help win new readers in the U.S.
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.

(edit: spelling)

Some books that were on previous reading lists, that turned out to be great:

Jared Diamond's Guns, Germs and Steel
Stephen Dando-Collins' Caesar's Legion

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Also, we might consider books that are readily available from libraries, for those of us who are unemployed and would rather spend money on housing and food...

Though I'm sure that one of you bas****s lives somewhere near me, because previous book suggestions mysteriously became checked-out from the local library system (which includes three counties!) right after suggestions have been made...

Heretic Apostate said:

Also, we might consider books that are readily available from libraries, for those of us who are unemployed and would rather spend money on housing and food...

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While I am employed, the library comment does appeal to me as well.

And how abou these classic selections (and they're ones I haven't read yet):

Man in the Iron Mask
Three Musketeers
Huchback of Notre Dame
20,000 Leagues Under the Sea

I'd suggest The Count of Monte Cristo, but I finally read that one last year.

kingpaul said:

I'd suggest The Count of Monte Cristo, but I finally read that one last year.

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Just because you've read it somewhat recently, don't hold back on suggesting it. If you enjoyed it and think it would be worth reading and discussing, put it out there.

I'd also like to suggest people don't suggest books that are part of a series. I hadn't notived anyone who had yet, so hopefully it will not be a problem.

The Sea-Hawk
by Rafael Sabatini
$11.16

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/t...f=sr_1_1/002-7772668-6892842?v=glance&s=books

For those who love adventure in exotic and far off times and places, Rafael Sabatini was a godsend. And this one is certainly up there among his successes! Here is a tale about an English gentleman of Cornwall, Sir Oliver Tressilian, who is betrayed into ignominy and bondage by a dastardly kinsman who covets Sir Oliver's wealth and, incidentally, safety for himself. Sir Oliver ends up finding a new and successful life in another culture but cannot forgive what has been done to him so that, when the time comes, he cannot but throw all he has won away in a search for vengeance against those who have wronged him. How this all works out (and it's not that hard to predict though fun to follow as it unfolds), is the subject of this tight little tale of Barbary pirates on the Mediterranean.

(part of a review from Amazon)


Kidnapped (Penguin Classics)
by Robert Louis Stevenson
$7.95

Kidnapped by Robert Louis Stevenson remains one of the classic coming-of-age stories for children and young adults today. After the death of his father, David Balfour sets out to meet his uncle and claim his inheritance. This adventure takes him through the highlands of Scotland where he embarks upon a long journey back from treachery and deceit. The reading by David Rintoul, whose voice is easily recognizable from his roles in several PBS productions such as Pride and Prejudice, translates the written word into an auditory landscape of Scotland. He interprets each character using several voices. As the story progresses, listeners can hear David changing from an uncertain and hesitant youth, to the assured and forthright young man he becomes at the conclusion. Without any special effects, the fight among the crew of the Coventry in the RoundhouseAchairs pushed over, the sounds of the sea hitting against the great shipAbecomes easily visualized. the reader's skill setting the stage and showing the growth of the character is phenomenal. While this is an abridgement, the story flows easily and gives a full picture from beginning to end. This audiobook is a wonderful way to introduce this style of literature to young readers who may feel inhibited by reading the language of Stevenson. Whether read for enjoyment or to enrich the learning experience, this is a must for every serious library collection of the classics.

Treasure Island or The Black Arrow by Stevenson are also good classic reads.

Crothian said:

I'd also like to suggest people don't suggest books that are part of a series. I hadn't notived anyone who had yet, so hopefully it will not be a problem.

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I don't think there's much problem with suggesting a book that's the first in a series. Suggesting a book in the middle of a series would be bad.