Seeking Science Fiction Recommendations
Feb. 21st, 2012 05:51 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
Someone I know has turned to me for help. Her male cousin
I have a few clues, but haven't read extensively in recent SF. I could recommend a bunch of books that were great 20 to 60 years ago.
I'm looking for suggestions for books published recently-- let's say in the 21st century-- that are a nearly-sure bet to interest someone who fits the description above. Books that would make a suitable gift.
(At 13, he's probably ready to read some SF published for adults, but really good young-adult stories are also worth considering. And I gather there are a lot of good ones around these days.)
"is turning 13 I think… I always buy him books. He is really smart, more geeky than dreamy and likes science fiction. Any suggestions??"I don't know more about his reading habits than this.
I have a few clues, but haven't read extensively in recent SF. I could recommend a bunch of books that were great 20 to 60 years ago.
I'm looking for suggestions for books published recently-- let's say in the 21st century-- that are a nearly-sure bet to interest someone who fits the description above. Books that would make a suitable gift.
(At 13, he's probably ready to read some SF published for adults, but really good young-adult stories are also worth considering. And I gather there are a lot of good ones around these days.)
no subject
Date: 2012-02-22 12:09 am (UTC)If I was going to pick one Old School science fiction book for a teenager, I'd pick Arthur C. Clarke's RENDEZVOUS WITH RAMA. Just that, ignore the co-authored sequels.
no subject
Date: 2012-02-22 04:25 pm (UTC)(no subject)
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From:no subject
Date: 2012-02-22 01:41 am (UTC)Here's a review of the first novel from BoingBoing:
http://boingboing.net/2009/10/06/scott-westerfelds-le.html
All books are out now.
no subject
Date: 2012-02-22 06:27 pm (UTC)(no subject)
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Date: 2012-02-22 01:48 am (UTC)Also if he did like it, he might be tempted to pick the sequel Rule 34, which as you can guess by the title he's definitely too young for.
And of course there's always Lois Mcmaster Bujold's Vorkosigan Saga books, but the ones published in this century (A Civil Campaign excluded) have been pretty dire.
no subject
Date: 2012-02-22 05:03 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-02-22 02:09 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-02-22 02:41 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-02-22 04:34 pm (UTC)Next they asked for an SF story with a dragon, so we're reading Timothy Zahn's Dragonback series (all titled Dragon And $Noun).
Stephen Gould's _Jumper_ and _Wildside_.
John Barnes' _Orbital Resonance_.
The Vlad Taltos books by Steven Brust.
Holly Black's Curseworkers books -- White Cat?, Red Glove
John Hemry's JAG in Space books.
(no subject)
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Date: 2012-02-22 03:06 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-02-22 03:08 am (UTC)Night Angel trilogy, Brent Weeks.
no subject
Date: 2012-02-22 03:14 am (UTC)Neil Gaiman's 'Coraline' is a good YA book that won a Hugo, a Nebula, and a Bram Stoker award, and it has the added advantage of a good movie adaptation available. His "The Graveyard Book" won the 2009 Hugo for best book, Locus award for best YA, and Wikipedia claims it was the first novel win both the Carnegie and Newbery medals.
All of those were published since 2001. I am sure there are plenty of others, but those are the ones I have read that come to mind.
no subject
Date: 2012-02-22 05:04 pm (UTC)(no subject)
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Date: 2012-02-22 03:15 am (UTC)You might also consider any of the Alex Benedict books by Jack McDevitt. Not written as YA, but good clean fun sort-of mysteries set in space and on other planets way in the future. If he likes fantasy, not just SF, then I would also recommend Throne of the Crescent Moon by Saladin Ahmed.
no subject
Date: 2012-02-22 01:13 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-02-22 10:56 am (UTC)Kids' books:
Philip Reeve: Mortal Engines
Oisin McGann: Gods and Machines; Small Minded Giants, and Ancient Appetites are all very good.
From the adult market:
Stephen Baxter writes modern old fashioned sf (ie no sex)
Karen Travis: either her copyright work, starting with City of Pearl, or one of her Clone war books for Star Wars (she is a bestseller with a huge teen boy fan base)
Greg Egan's Schild's Ladder
Bujold: Warrior's Apprentice
Ken MacLeod, Learning the World is a nice economic space opera
Justina Robson, Natural History
(no subject)
From:no subject
Date: 2012-02-22 02:07 pm (UTC)If someone asked me about submarine novels, I'd be doing them a grave disservice by pointing them to the latest flavor of the month while not telling them about Ned Beach because "they're old".
no subject
Date: 2012-02-22 03:20 pm (UTC)I am an expert on books from 20 to 60 years ago. So I can make good recommendations about those.
What I need is to learn about more recent books.
Clear?
(no subject)
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Date: 2012-02-22 08:15 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-02-22 04:40 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-02-22 08:26 pm (UTC)(no subject)
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Date: 2012-02-22 04:42 pm (UTC)MM9 by Hiroshi Yamamoto (scientists and the science of fighting godzilla monsters; action! funny! cool!)
America Pacifica (ice age hits world, teenage hero on refugee island made of rotting seaweed particle board)
The End by Nora Olsen (post apocalypse teenagers)
Leviathan Wakes (not specifically YA but new-ish space opera and I think would be good for teenagers)
no subject
Date: 2012-02-22 05:01 pm (UTC)The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins (the sequels are not as good but probably irresistible for a fan of the first book)
Black Hole Sun by David Macinnis Gill
I solidly recommend anything from Scott Westerfeld, but in particular Peeps, which is a vampire novel (from just before the current vampire craze) with solid science behind the vampires and lots of gross information about parasites and is just generally a really fun book.
no subject
Date: 2012-02-22 11:12 pm (UTC)I think of The Hunger Games books as really being one book that was split into three because That Is How Long YA Books Are.
no subject
Date: 2012-02-22 05:14 pm (UTC)Kieli series by Yukako Kabei
Lord of the Sands of Time by Issui Ogawa
Cage of Zeus by Sayuri Ueda
The Apotheosis Trilogy by S. Andrew Swann
Dread Empire Falls Trilogy by Walter Jon Williams
The Chronoliths by Robert Charles Wilson
Stories of Your Life by Ted Chiang
Note that for the first two you have to make sure you're getting the novels instead of the manga.
(no subject)
From:no subject
Date: 2012-02-22 08:32 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-02-22 06:15 pm (UTC)Both Charles Stross (Laundryverse) and John Scalzi can fit into the cynical-but-lighthearted mindset that appeals to plenty of teens.
Ryk Spoor has already pimped his books. I'd probably recommend Grand Central Arena first.
Dave Freer's Rats, Bats, and Vats.
Diplomatic Immunity by Lois Bujold, of course. But you have to start earlier. I imagine Elizabeth Bear also has some books that fit, but I can't give titles. Keeping It Real by Justina Robson.
no subject
Date: 2012-02-22 06:17 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-02-22 06:17 pm (UTC)YA - Kelly Armstrong's Darkest Power series. It is about young werewolves and magic users that have been genetically altered and go on the run from the group that did the altering. There is a bit of teen romance.
Adult - The Honor Harrington series by David Weber. It is all about the military and spaceships and war. If the lad digs tech stuff, he can find it here in spades. There are some adult themes about relationships, but if isn't interested, he will skim over them.
no subject
Date: 2012-02-23 04:12 am (UTC)The Way We Fall - Megan Crewe - 2012 - deadly virus sweeps through a small Eastern Canadian island community
Life as We Knew It - Susan Beth Pfeffer - 2006 - catastrophe leads to a family quietly starving and freezing to death at home.
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Date: 2012-02-22 07:46 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-02-23 05:48 pm (UTC)(no subject)
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Date: 2012-02-22 09:31 pm (UTC)The Hunger Games x 1000
Haddix new series The Missing is good, if a bit uneven.
I’m am not personally a fan of Neal Shusterman’s books (Unwind was fairly good but Everlost made me want to throw things in frustration) but he is quite popular among boys that age.
also, the Firebirds anthologies are always good as gifts, because it’s less likely he has already read them and will also probably expose him to several new authors and not just one or two.
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Date: 2012-02-22 09:36 pm (UTC)How about Terry Pratchett's _The Nation_? I'd say it's better described as fantasy but more practical than dreamy.
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Date: 2012-02-22 10:24 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-02-24 12:23 am (UTC)