06-25-2009, 09:25 PM | #31 | |
Wizard
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On the other hand, no secret is made of the fact that Belisarius' wife is an ex-whore as is the empress of the Roman empire. The books never get into any explicit details, but knowledge of the former profession of these two wives is quite well known. I also support pilotbob's vote for Ender's game. It has nothing to do with thermopylae other than being martial. However, it is an eleven book series that is quite popular with young guys. |
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06-26-2009, 05:27 PM | #32 |
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Aha! An excuse to post something I've wanted to pass on for years!
It's sci-fi, sort of, but Edgar Rice Burroughs wrote a series of books described here. I read them in my mid-20s and thought they would have been absolutely perfect at 12-14 (they were still enjoyable as an adult). |
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06-27-2009, 01:37 AM | #33 | |
space cadet
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the follow-up regards an earlier suggestion of some of the works of David Drake. If you look up David's web site, he has notes on almost all of his books that sometimes include the classical background of the underlying idea. Most of his SF has some situation from history that triggers the basic story, and you could use this to help select one or more of his books. The suggestion is the 1632 series by Eric Flint and numerous collaborators. This is alternate history, but set in a part of history that can be inherently interesting, and that has lots of nonfiction resources if you find yourself craving more detail. 1632 is available in the Baen Free Library, and the multi-threaded sequels are also available from Baen. |
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06-27-2009, 02:25 AM | #34 |
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umm
Eoin Colfers Artemis Fowl series, I rather liked them.
Stephen Lawheads books would be relatively age appropriate and they are relatively easy reads. Anne McCaffrey and Mercedes Lackey are indeed good as well. I remember reading a really good book about the Spartan war a while back ago... totally can't remember the name though. That is all I can think of in the way of suggestions currently. Amy |
06-27-2009, 03:55 AM | #35 | |
Wizard
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06-27-2009, 04:22 AM | #36 | |
The Grand Mouse 高貴的老鼠
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Oh - and here's a cover I made for the omnibus. |
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06-27-2009, 01:56 PM | #37 |
fruminous edugeek
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Running out of books to recommend for your son-- that's a good problem to have!
Any of Heinlein's young adult novels are likely to please. Heinlein is very aware of history and references it in his works frequently. Tamora Pierce is also an excellent writer with a strong knowledge of history which she uses to help the realism of her fantasy books. Both of these authors are accessible, but don't "talk down" to their readers. Good choices for smart kids. You may wish to check out Mercedes Lackey or Anne McCaffrey yourself before recommending their books, as both authors tend to include at least some sexual content (in some cases rather a lot-- Lackey's characters, in particular, seem to be prone to being raped). If some sexual content doesn't bother you, and you think your son would be interested in exploring other parts of history, Jessica Amanda Salmonson's Tomoe Gozen series or Barry Hughes' Bridge of Birds books (set in semi-historical Japan and China, respectively) are good reads. Or James Clavell's Shogun, for that matter. And someone who really enjoys history is likely to enjoy Tolkein, even though his "history" was invented. I would also suggest fantasy authors Garth Nix and Shannon Hale, both of whom incorporate historical and folktale content in their works. Jonathan Stroud has already been mentioned, and I second that recommendation -- that would be a sort of alternate history. Orson Scott Card's "Alvin the Maker" series falls into the same sort of category. Getting closer to your original question, I'd recommend Gillian Bradshaw's books set in the Byzantine period, particularly The Beacon at Alexandria and Imperial Purple. |
06-27-2009, 09:11 PM | #38 |
Semper Carpe Bufo
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These may be a little young for him, I read them all when I was 8.
Heinlein juveniles, Rocket Ship Galileo, 1947 Space Cadet, 1948 Red Planet, 1949 Farmer in the Sky, 1950 Between Planets, 1951 The Rolling Stones aka Space Family Stone, 1952 Starman Jones, 1953 The Star Beast, 1954 Tunnel in the Sky, 1955 Time for the Stars, 1956 Citizen of the Galaxy, 1957 Have Space Suit—Will Travel, 1958 Have you looked into Greek and Roman Mythology? |
06-28-2009, 12:15 AM | #39 | |
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yep!
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Amy |
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07-04-2009, 02:08 PM | #40 | |
Mommy of Many Interests
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THANK YOU ALL!!!! and Follow-up
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We are off to the beach next week and hopefully will have enough to keep him entertained (besides the sun, the ocean, the golf, the pool, the ocean... and *shiver* girls in bikinis *shiver*). As an aside, when I went to our local independent bookstore to try to find David Gemmell books, they had never heard of him. Of course, I couldn't remember the name of the author (assuming that, as book experts, *THEY* would know). When they didn't know, they let me use their computer to log into Mobileread. Needless to say, they were fascinated by Mobileread and were happy to discover David Gemmell as well. Thanks again, everyone! Cheers... |
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