I chose Thune's Vision because I believe it's a great book. That may not be the deepest analysis ever done or the best possible endorsement, but it's the truth. I might have chosen it even if this were not a Club devoted to a unique subgenre of fiction. I can imagine myself in your average reading club, confidently pointing at the cover of Thune's Vision, surrounded by housewives and other Normal Ordinary Responsible Persons, and telling them to stop reading garbage ("Excuse me, but what's this Paulo Coelho nonsense?") and read something useful for once. "Especially that part where Athan disembowels a bunch of underwater abominations. That was pretty cool," I would tell them.
We don't read any book here, though, but those that represent the spirit and style of fiction that was once popular and emulated, but now has waned, even if there are already many signs of a resurgence. And Thune's Vision is one of those signs. And what's more, if someone who doesn't know much about fantasy (or someone burned out by today's fantasy novels) asked me for a book to get into the genre, this would be one of those I'd prescribe as a good starting point. It is well written (in my opinion, a surprisingly uncommon thing in fantasy,) it is short, it has humor, it is exciting (and what's the point of reading fantasy if it's not exciting?), and sometimes it can be quite deep if you pay enough attention.
As I had already written a somewhat long analysis of the book on my blog, I won't write a standard review here because I don't want to repeat myself. However, I'll comment a few things about the main themes of the stories, the qualities in which they excel, or just... funny stuff that I found interesting. Until then, you can read Nathan Housley's commentaries or take a peek at my review.
