[Hitch]

Originally Posted by ATDrake

The Chronicles of Prydain (Wikipedia) by Lloyd Alexander is a simply wondeful classic epic high fantasy series loosely based on Welsh mythology and I highly recommend it if it seems compatible with what the parents would allow. It's got a few Newbery Medals and a Disney film adaptation, and there is no overt sexuality in it and even the one reference to sexual assault as a threat that I recall is very, very veiled. Also one of my personal favourites, which I still re-read from time to time.

I'm not actually sure what "the parents would allow," but I remember being shocked, years ago, when they were dating, and they said some things to me that, at the time, I thought were a joke. I realized shortly into the conversation that they weren't joking; they were very, very devout. So, while it's been 20 years since that discussion, give or take, and all that--they may well have mellowed--it seems best not to tread too closely to any material that they MIGHT find objectionable. They didn't, after all, get tied in with that crowd that originally objected to the HP books, on the basis that they were "heresy" or whatever that crapola was. He's read those, and he's read the Riordan whats-its books--with the Greek Gods--so apparently, they're not so close-minded that exploring other worlds, avenues, beliefs, etc., is not acceptable to them.

What I don't know is, if, at 11, they've had "the talk," and if so, how much, etc. Nor do I think that they'd be comfortable with me asking, and honestly, I don't really want to. Thus, I figure, stay away, if at all humanly possible, from any sexual themes for a few years. By the time he's 15, he'll be like most normal 15-y.o. boys, and reading something like "Dragonflight" will be tame stuff indeed. ;-) I honestly simply thought that the theme (in the DOP books) of the dragonriders having sex, due to their DRAGONS having sex, regardless of the gender of the rider, might not be apropos for a boy his age. Honestly, as a non-parent, I just don't know. Ergo, here be dragons (pun intended) and I figure, "just don't go there."

Terry Pratchett's Only You Can Save Mankind and the other books in the Johnny Maxwell trilogy are a bit more sci-fi IMHO, and you said that the kid prefers fantasy? But they're pretty good, and you could also try Pratchett's Discworld books for younger readers such as The Amazing Maurice and His Educated Rodents and the Tiffany Aching series, which should mostly fit your requirements (there's a bit of innuendo in the latter due to the occasional presence of Nanny Ogg being, well, Nanny Ogg, but nothing overt).

I'm hoping that if I get him a series or two that he likes, he might be open to trying recs that aren't straight up "epic quest" fantasy like HP and Riordan. So, yes, I'll definitely think about Pratchett and the Aching series.

Diana Wynne Jones has many kids/YA-suitable fantasy novels, and perhaps the best to start with might be Howl's Moving Castle due to the possible appeal of the anime adaptation, and the Chrestomanci books are also very good, although both are tilted to a slightly younger audience, IMHO. My personal favourite is actually Fire and Hemlock, but it's probably not a good general recommend because it's a bit of an experimental sort of storytelling type of novel.

More sfnal, but from a devout Christian author, Madeleine L'Engle's A Wrinkle in Time and its associated sequels & spinoffs are also quite good and should surely pass muster with the parents, although they might not be to the kid's taste if he prefers epic quest type stuff.

I think I asked about this a moment ago, but I thought that Wrinkle was more children, than YA? More 8-9 y.o.-suited?

Hitch