action, adventure, fantasy for teens?

[AndrewH]

I quite liked Anne McCaffrey's dragonrider series when I was about that age.

Originally Posted by queentess

The Hobbit (which I loved) or Lord of the Rings (which I haven't been able to get through...).

I tore through the Lord of the Rings as a teenager, but just couldn't get into The Hobbit. I'm sure I tried reading it a dozen times over the years before I finally finished it.

[emonti8384]

Anthony Horowitz, Charlie Higson, James Patterson -Maximum Ride series, Orson Scott Card, Neal Shusterman, John Flanagan, Cassandra Clare, Christopher Paolini, James Dashner, Allison van Diepen, Scott Westerfeld. Ummm, running out of stuff... I've read most authors but there are a few that are new... I always liked Hatchet by Gary Paulsen, lol.

[aquabel]

I second The Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel series by Michael Scott. I'm an adult but am currently reading it now, and am on book 3. Even as an adult I'm currently enjoying it.

[Anke Wehner]

The Bartimaeus trilogy by Johnathan Stroud.

The Amazing Maurice and his Educated Rodents by Terry Pratchett. And maybe his Tiffany Aching books - The Wee Free Men, A Hat Full of Sky and Wintersmith

[queentess]

Originally Posted by ccowie

I agree that the Earthsea Trilogy is great, but for some reason both my son and daughter had trouble really getting into it.

Yeah.... I guess they were good books back in the day, but I can't stand them either. I finished the first one and attempted the second, but they were just dry, unemotional, and things seemed to happen very quickly for no reason at all and with very little detail.

[Williamlk]

The Hobbit was one of the very first books I remember reading. I couldn't put it down. I still love it.

[rsand27]

I would recommend Peter Pan. It's probably my favorite book and first read it at 22. It's the epitome of all the things you are looking for and still has some strong themes that are really relevant at that age - Peter's unwillingness to grow up coupled with Captain Hook (the grown-up) chased down by time (ticking crocodile). It's nothing like that silly animated Disney movie.

I liked the Hobbit much more than Lord of the Rings. As much I enjoy the LOTR movies, I just couldn't get past page 150 or so in Fellowship. All they do is eat lol. The Hobbit has some of that too, and from what I remember a dozen flat tag-along dwarf characters, but it's still enjoyable.

I'm a hardcore advocate of graphic novels, and there's nothing more action/adventure than superheroes. "All-Star Superman" and "Irredeemable" are some top-notch graphic novels. Jeff Smith's "Bone" is published by Scholastic and is amazing. It's fantasy, humor, action, and adventure all in one. It's really a one-of-a-kind work and you can get the entire 1300 page (I think) omnibus edition for quite a reasonable price (as far as graphic novels go, especially of this size). Otherwise, there are full-color volumes available that break it down story by story.

[BenG]

X-Isle by Steve Augarde looks interesting.
http://www.amazon.com/X-Isle-Steve-A.../dp/0385751931

[Elfwreck]

I loved Keith Laumer's Retief books and James H. Schmitz' Telzey Amberdon series as a teen; I was delighted to see some of each at the Baen Free Library.

Laumer | Schmitz
Baen also has a recommended YA reading list.

[mpd123]

hi,
maybe the dragonlance books by weis and hickman or the dr who books, any of the pratchett books,young james bond or the conan doyle books and maybe the hornblower series.

must say the hobbit is the first proper book i read and i have re-read it every year for the last 21 years, absolutely brilliant.

cheers,mick.

[bbusybookworm]

At that age, I was just getting into SF and loved everything by Asimov.

Still, I'll suggest starting with the following

The "I Robot" Short Story Collection

The Original Foundation trilogy:
1) Foundation
2) Foundation and Empire.
3) Second Foundation.

The Robots Series
1) The Caves of Steel
2) The Naked Sun
3) The Robots of Dawn
4) Robots and Empire

The Rest of His works can follow, depending on how he enjoys this.

I'll also recommend Most of Robert Heinleins work, though I enjoyed the following the most

1) Have Space Suit—Will Travel
2) The Moon is a Harsh Mistress
3) Glory Road
4) Time enough for Love
5) The Rolling Stones
6) Citizen of the Galaxy
7) Double Star
8) Methuselah's Children

I'll also suggest the works of E.E "Doc"Smith More specificly his Lensman series if you can find them as they are unfortunately no longer widely available. His is the first or one of the first space operas, and while dated is a lot of fun.

1) Triplanatery
2) First Lensman
3) Galactic Patrol
4) Grey Lensman
5) Second Stage Lensmen
6) Children of the Lens

In fantasy I'll suggest starting with the works of David Eddings.

Namely,

1) The Redemption of Althalus
2) The Belgariad series

• Pawn of Prophecy (1982)
• Queen of Sorcery (1982)
• Magician's Gambit (1983)
• Castle of Wizardry (1984)
• Enchanters' End Game (1984)

3) The Elenium series

• The Diamond Throne (1989)
• The Ruby Knight (1990)
• The Sapphire Rose (1991)

While I enjoy the sequels to the series as well. many only prefer the original series so I suggest he start with these.

Finally, anything and everything by Terry Pratchett. While many prefer to read in Publication order, I prefer to read in the individual series set in the same world. The L-Space website has a very handy reading guide which I have linked to below.

[fantasyfan]

The Japanese writer, Fuyumi Ono has written some marvelous fantasies set in her imagined world of "The 12 Kingdoms". They have been made into an anime series under that name. There are some significant differences between the anime series and the novels. The novels have a greater psychological depth and the characters are better developed. The series includes some additional characters and is quite fast-paced. The four novels in the sequence which have so far been published in English are:

Sea of Shadow
Sea of Wind
The Vast Spread of the Seas
Skies of Dawn

The books are available through Amazon, but I'm not aware of any e-book versions.

[fantasyfan]

I've mentioned Andre Norton on a number of other threads. She wrote really interesting, fast-paced page-turners which appeal to young {and older} adults. Her books were quite popular in several school libraries I know about.

Generally she favoured fantasy and science fiction themes--both of which appeal to young adults. Norton's characters--both male and female have considerably more psychological depth than is common in these genres. She developed her own fascinating literary style which evokes the dark, medieval sort of fantasy landscape which is frequently the dominant type of fictional universe she creates.

Her novels are available in e-book format and a good selection can be downloaded for free from Project Gutenberg, Many Books, or Feedbooks in various mobile formats. Amazon includes her in several anthologies of science fiction, pulp literature and fantasy.

[BenBanned]

I would like second Norton, Ive only read Operation Time Search but I dont think it will be the last. It was a light, yet in depth, and quick read. I actually pulled the book out of somebodys trash, anyway check her out.

[Frida Fantastic]

Two recommendations here:

The Tales of Alvin Maker series by Orson Scott Card. It takes place during an alternate history frontier America with a very interesting magic/knack system, and it follows a boy who has a powerful knack for making things. It follows the character from his birth to as a young man. I think it is classified as a Young Adult series, but I can see adults enjoying this series too. It's one of my favourite series to this day.

I would also recommend Sabriel by Garth Nix. It's a dark fantasy book with an old magical kingdom that exists side by side with a relatively more normal early 20th C Australia/Britain type nation. The young female protagonist is from a long line of neuromancers and has to rescue her father from the depths of death, and of course, save the world from an undead army takeover. That sort of thing. It's a page turner with one of the most fascinating fantasy worlds I've ever read.