Fantasy Recs for 11-y.o. boy?

[pdurrant]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

Another good series he might like is the Shannara series by Terry Brooks. I suggest he read in chronological order.

Surely the best reading order is publication order...

[DrNefario]

I read Sword of Shannara at quite a young age, and it put me off Brooks forever. Even more boring than The Two Towers.

[Hitch]

Originally Posted by DrNefario

I read Sword of Shannara at quite a young age, and it put me off Brooks forever. Even more boring than The Two Towers.

Oh, no...NOTHING is more of a slog than the Two Towers. Heresy, I know, to devotees of LOTR, but, maaaaaaaaaan.

Hitch

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by DrNefario

I read Sword of Shannara at quite a young age, and it put me off Brooks forever. Even more boring than The Two Towers.

Then you've never read the series in chronological order. It's very good that way.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by pdurrant

Surely the best reading order is publication order...

Having read some of the series in published order and some in chronological order, I'd stick with chronological order.

[Hitch]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

Having read some of the series in published order and some in chronological order, I'd stick with chronological order.

Uh, I dunno. I see that the DOP series is now "recommended" to be read in chronological order, and I disagree with that. I was burning with curiosity to find out what on EARTH (pun intended) had happened to the Pernese to make them medieval, when they'd come to the planet from presumably our own. I wondered if the Pernese would have arrived via some type of cross-over with another McCaffrey novel--as so many have had (brain-brawn ship, for example, in that Dinosaur Planet book--can't remember the name now). I was very pleased to read the explanatory books, after I'd been hooked into the world of Pern. (Plus, it seems that the son's books just aren't quite the "wow" that his mum's were, and I myself found some of her very later books, not necessarily DOP, but...I forget which, now, sort of...well, boring. Hard to say aloud, but true.)

Just sayin'.

Isn't there also some debate on this topic raging about Narnia, as well? Read them in chron, not published, order?

Hitch

[crich70]

Originally Posted by Hitch

Uh, I dunno. I see that the DOP series is now "recommended" to be read in chronological order, and I disagree with that. I was burning with curiosity to find out what on EARTH (pun intended) had happened to the Pernese to make them medieval, when they'd come to the planet from presumably our own. I wondered if the Pernese would have arrived via some type of cross-over with another McCaffrey novel--as so many have had (brain-brawn ship, for example, in that Dinosaur Planet book--can't remember the name now). I was very pleased to read the explanatory books, after I'd been hooked into the world of Pern. (Plus, it seems that the son's books just aren't quite the "wow" that his mum's were, and I myself found some of her very later books, not necessarily DOP, but...I forget which, now, sort of...well, boring. Hard to say aloud, but true.)

Just sayin'.

Isn't there also some debate on this topic raging about Narnia, as well? Read them in chron, not published, order?

Hitch

Certainly you could argue that one should read "The Magician's Nephew" before "The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe" as it does explain how some things in Narnia came to be as they are, but it isn't necessary to do so I don't think.

[Nyssa]

Originally Posted by crich70

Certainly you could argue that one should read "The Magician's Nephew" before "The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe" as it does explain how some things in Narnia came to be as they are, but it isn't necessary to do so I don't think.

I got further when I started reading the Narnia Chronicles in Publication order than I did when I tried Chronological order, which did surprise me, as I tend to prefer reading series in Chronological order.

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by crich70

Certainly you could argue that one should read "The Magician's Nephew" before "The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe" as it does explain how some things in Narnia came to be as they are, but it isn't necessary to do so I don't think.

It's not only unnecessary to do so, but doing so will completely spoil the "discovery" of Narnia which lies at the core of TLTW&TW. I really would not recommend reading TMN first, for that reason.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by Hitch

Uh, I dunno. I see that the DOP series is now "recommended" to be read in chronological order, and I disagree with that. I was burning with curiosity to find out what on EARTH (pun intended) had happened to the Pernese to make them medieval, when they'd come to the planet from presumably our own. I wondered if the Pernese would have arrived via some type of cross-over with another McCaffrey novel--as so many have had (brain-brawn ship, for example, in that Dinosaur Planet book--can't remember the name now). I was very pleased to read the explanatory books, after I'd been hooked into the world of Pern. (Plus, it seems that the son's books just aren't quite the "wow" that his mum's were, and I myself found some of her very later books, not necessarily DOP, but...I forget which, now, sort of...well, boring. Hard to say aloud, but true.)

Just sayin'.

Isn't there also some debate on this topic raging about Narnia, as well? Read them in chron, not published, order?

Hitch

The Pern series can be read in Chronological order or published order. Narnia is another issue. if you read it in Chronological order, the first book is not all that good. If you read it in published order, you'll get hooked.

Shannara is yet another thing and I think chronological order is best.

[pegasi&prefects]

I would actually rec Lord of the Rings if he's not a reluctant reader: I was seven and determined to prove a librarian who said I was too young wrong, and I had never read anything like it, I was captivated.

Put me firmly on the publication order side of the debate for Narnia. You want to know who Jadis becomes before you meet her, and seeing Narnia being created and another world dying right before Narnia dies has more impact.

[JaneD]

If he's interested in humorous fare, the three books in the The Hero's Guide to Saving Your Kingdom series by Christopher Healy are very funny. Plays on the current craze for re-telling fairy tales, with the angle that it's from the various Princes' points of view. Kind of a meta about what it means to be a hero, but funny. Squeaky clean like a Disney movie, too: no sex or religious themes. My son's around the same age and really loves these books.

[JSWolf]

Speaking of funny, if he's enough knowledge of other fantasy books/stories, Discworld (Terry Pratchett) would then be very good. If not, wait until he's read enough so he'll get most of the jokes in Discworld.

[Rbneader]

Originally Posted by Hitch

Hi, guys:

As I mentioned here: https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sho...d.php?t=253455 , I'm looking for SERIES recs for an 11-year old. His folks are Christian--I don't know how devout, but certainly somewhat--and being a no-kids person myself, I want to be careful to not accidentally offend them by giving him anything with overt sexual references--this is why I'm not giving him Dragonflight, to start him on the DOP series by McCaffrey. I'm already planning on giving him The Dark Rising. He's read HP and is finishing Rick Riordan's series about Poseidon's kid (sorry, can't remember the name). I'm unsure if he's read The Golden Compass books, have asked. I am planning on giving him the Harper Hall trilogy--the YA books that Anne McCaffrey herself wrote.

His preference is fantasy, as opposed to Sci-Fi. He prefers larger books, in a series.

Will appreciate any thoughts on this. I presume he prefers male protags over female, but this is an unknown.

Thanks mucho in advance,
Hitch

Debra Doyle's Circle of Magic series is a really excellent kids series about a young teen who decides to become a mage and the adventures he has along the way. I remember it as more mystical and magical than Harry Potter, and a very different take on magical coming-of-age.
https://www.goodreads.com/series/53633-circle-of-magic

Patricia C. Wrede's Enchanted Forest series and Lyra series are great. Enchanted Forest is about as family-values-friendly as fantasy fiction gets, and also very funny. There's not a lot of action in the first one, it's more of a detective novel. The Lyra series are a more typical action-adventure fantasy series.
http://pcwrede.com/books/enchanted-forest/

Tamora Pierce's Circle of Magic series (not related to Doyle's) is also good. I'd avoid Tamora Pierce's other series though, they're aimed at older teenagers.

I read Lord of the Rings at that age and loved it. Parts of it were a huge drag, though. I'd suggest starting with The Hobbit.

Andre Norton wrote a good kids series, the Star Ka'at series, but they're science fantasy. It's about alien telepathic cats who make contact with earth kids. If he was just a little older I'd suggest Andre Norton's Witch World books, which are a brilliant fantasy series. Her work is almost all family-values-friendly but sometimes she deals with more mature themes.
http://andre-norton-books.com/index....r-ka-at-series

And I have to say - I think you're doing him a disservice by focusing on male protagonists. Most children at that age don't have a problem separating 'main character in a book' and 'my self', and sometimes a difference makes things even more interesting. What else do we read fantasy for then to explore other worlds and perspectives?

I definitely don't think the Discworld or Shannara series are appropriate for 11 year olds. The one Shannara book I tried had rape in it. Discworld will mostly go over his head. Also, even the YA Discworld books push Wiccan religion pretty hard. His parents might not want to have that discussion yet. My family also didn't think the Pern books were OK for tweens - some are, but many aren't because of sexual content - so YMMV on how much his parents like that one. Might be good to wait a few years?

[meeera]

Originally Posted by Rbneader

And I have to say - I think you're doing him a disservice by focusing on male protagonists. Most children at that age can distinguish between 'main character in a book' and 'my self', and sometimes that makes things even more interesting.

I have to agree with this. Girls read books with male and female protagonists perfectly happily, and so will boys unless they are pushed (subtly, or not) to do otherwise. Mine loves the Tamora Pierce books, Hunger Games series, etc, because no-one has told him (or implied to him) that he's not supposed to.

Unfortunately a lot of boys nowadays will read far more books with male protagonists - but that's not a state of affairs to be desired, and there are ways to stop it from happening. It is a wonderful thing that books can put all people into the heads of people of a different gender, race, sexuality, etc, to vicariously experience the world a little differently.