Sci-fi/Fantasy recommendations

[pwalker8]

The Hunger Games is a Sci-Fi trilogy that might fit the bill. Real popular in the teem crowd, she may have already read it.

[ccowie]

When my daughter was 15 she wanted to read Sci Fi. I gave her a long list, she read many, but in the end two series emerged as her far and away favourites: the Ender's Game books and the Beggars in Spain series by Nancy Kress.

[Geralt]

Fantasy
The Hobbit
The Princess Bride
The Night Circus
Coraline
Bartimaeus Trilogy
The Riyria Revelations series

Sci-fi
Ender's Game
The Hunger Games

[pdurrant]

Originally Posted by pearsjd

I'm looking for some sc-fi/fantasy for my 15 yr old daughter.[...]

The Young Wizards series by Diane Duane. Starts with "So You Want To Be A Wizard".

If going for ebooks, I'd recommend the updated New Millennium editions available from their web site.

http://ebooksdirect.dianeduane.com/c...ennium-edition

[eschwartz]

The Fablehaven, Candy Shop War and Beyonders series', by Brandon Mull. Fantasy, involves children who have to save the world.

Fablehaven -- magical world hidden within the real one, magical beings who by ancient covenant are restricted to certain areas guarded from mundane sight. A secret group wants to free thousands of demons from an ancient inter-dimensional prison.

The Beyonders -- Jason Walker stumbles through a temporary gateway (an imaginative one! he was eaten by a hippo) into an alternate dimension/world named Lyrian. He ends up involved in a plot to overthrow a tyrant wizard King.

The Candy Shop War -- a group of friends get introduced to the magic candy created by an old woman who opened a candy shop. Using the magical effects of the various candies, they end up in a race to protect water from the Fountain of Youth from being abused.

---

The Heir Chronicles, and The Seven Realms series' By Cinda Williams Chima.

The Heir Chronicles -- a group of hereditary magical "guilds", ruled by the wizards who force warriors to fight in the Tournaments, the outcome of which allocates possession of "The Hoard", a collection of ancient magical artifacts. The main character, last known member of the Warrior Guild (he just found out about this stuff) tries to break this tradition with the help of friends and family.

The Seven Realms -- set in a medieval-style world, the Princess of the Fells fights to retain the power of the throne amongst the petty plots of wizards and the threat of a cruel, power-mad prince who is currently busy slaughtering his brothers for the throne.

[eschwartz]

Jasper Fforde, writes The Chronicles of Kazam, Thursday Next, and Nursery Crime. All feature a certain zany style of humor equal to Terry Pratchett or Douglas Adams.

The Chronicles of Kazam:

In the good old days, magic was indispensable—it could both save a kingdom and clear a clogged drain. But now magic is fading: drain cleaner is cheaper than a spell, and magic carpets are used for pizza delivery. Fifteen-year-old foundling Jennifer Strange runs Kazam, an employment agency for magicians—but it’s hard to stay in business when magic is drying up. And then the visions start, predicting the death of the world’s last dragon at the hands of an unnamed Dragonslayer. If the visions are true, everything will change for Kazam—and for Jennifer. Because something is coming. Something known as . . . Big Magic.

Thursday Next:

Fans of Douglas Adams and P. G. Wodehouse will love visiting Jasper Fforde's Great Britain, circa 1985, when time travel is routine, cloning is a reality (dodos are the resurrected pet of choice), and literature is taken very, very seriously: it’s a bibliophile’s dream. England is a virtual police state where an aunt can get lost (literally) in a Wordsworth poem and forging Byronic verse is a punishable offense. All this is business as usual for Thursday Next, renowned Special Operative in literary detection. But when someone begins kidnapping characters from works of literature and plucks Jane Eyre from the pages of Brontë's novel, Thursday is faced with the challenge of her career.

Nursery Crime -- set in the BookWorld, as introduced in Thursday Next (but only to the reader who read both and recognizes the clear references).

Fforde's whimsical fifth novel, his first not to feature literary detective Thursday Next, is consistently witty, but its conceit—putting a criminal spin on nursery rhymes—wears a bit thin. Det. Jack Spratt, the dedicated but underappreciated investigator in the Reading, England, Nursery Crimes Division, is depressed because the court finds the three little pigs "not guilty of all charges relating to the first-degree murder of Mr. Wolff." Working with an ambitious young detective, Mary Mary ("Quite Contrary"), Spratt later takes on the case of "fall guy" Humpty Dumpty. Fforde crafts a police procedural out of this bizarre alternative universe that prizes, as The Eyre Affair does, literacy (detectives, for example, garner recognition less for solving crimes than by writing articles about cases for the likes of Amazing Crime Stories or Sleuth Illustrated). While it can be charming to encounter Mrs. Hubbard or Tom Thomm or to hear Spratt bemoan "illegal straw-into-gold dens" in this unusual context, the novel's broad satire overshadows elements like plot, conflict and characterization. The result is unusually clever but not compelling in the least.

[eschwartz]

The Seems, by John Hulme and Michael Wexler:

Twelve-year-old Becker Drane has definitely got the coolest job of any seventh grader in Highland Park, New Jersey. He works as a Fixer for The Seems. From the Department of Weather to the Department of Sleep, The Seems is a secret organization that makes sure our world keeps running -- and more importantly, sticks to The Plan that's been made for it. When a Glitch is reported in the Department of Sleep, Becker is dispatched to Fix it, but he's not so sure this is a routine mission. Could the Bed Bugs, who are behind our Worst Nightmares, be responsible for the problem? Or maybe it's The Tide, an underground organization bent on destroying The Seems? No matter what, Becker's in for quite an adventure, and it'll take all his training, a little luck, and the coolest Tools™ known in (or out of) The Seems to Fix the problem. Look out for the other books in the Seems series: The Split Second and The Lost Train of Thought!

[eschwartz]

Good Omens, by Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett:

There is a distinct hint of Armageddon in the air. According to The Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter, Witch (recorded, thankfully, in 1655, before she blew up her entire village and all its inhabitants, who had gathered to watch her burn), the world will end on a Saturday. Next Saturday, in fact. So the armies of Good and Evil are amassing, the Four Bikers of the Apocalypse are revving up their mighty hogs and hitting the road, and the world's last two remaining witch-finders are getting ready to fight the good fight, armed with awkwardly antiquated instructions and stick pins. Atlantis is rising, frogs are falling, tempers are flaring. . . . Right. Everything appears to be going according to Divine Plan.

Except that a somewhat fussy angel and a fast-living demon -- each of whom has lived among Earth's mortals for many millennia and has grown rather fond of the lifestyle -- are not particularly looking forward to the coming Rapture. If Crowley and Aziraphale are going to stop it from happening, they've got to find and kill the Antichrist (which is a shame, as he's a really nice kid). There's just one glitch: someone seems to have misplaced him. . . .

[Hampshire Nanny]

I'd recommend the Tortall series by Tamora Pierce. Early books were relatively short and published in Quartets. Later books are longer, so there fewer books per cycle. (Tamora Pierce has said, "The limit on most novels for teenagers--up until recently, at least--is 200 manuscript pages (about 250 pages in final book form). ... Thanks to J.K. Rowling and Philip Pullman, we're now being given a bit more room")

The Song of the Lioness Quartet:
1. Alanna: The First Adventure
2. In the Hand of the Goddess
3. The Woman Who Rides Like a Man
4. Lioness Rampant

The Immortals Quartet:
1. Wild Magic
2. Wolf Speaker
3. The Emperor Mage
4. The Realms of the Gods

Protector of the Small Quartet
1. First Test
2. Page
3. Squire
4. Lady Knight

Daughter of the Lioness
1. Trickster's Choice
2. Trickster's Queen

Legend of Beka Cooper
1. Terrier
2. Bloodhound
3. Mastiff

[crossi]

James Schmitz's books Esp The Witches of Karres and Demon Breed.
All of Andre Norton's both S.F. and Fantasy.
James White Hospital Station books about a multispecies hospital station in space.
Lois Bujold's Vorkosiggan series
Susan Cooper's THe Dark is Rising series.
Mercedes Lackey's Arrows of the Queen and others.
Patricia Mckillip's The Changeling Sea and Riddlemaster.
Robin Mckinley's The Hero and the Crown and The Blue Sword.
Tamora Pierce's series starting with Alanna about a girl who switches place with her brother to be trained as a page.
All of Terry Pratchett's books.
All of those I think would be suitable for a 15 yr old and I still enjoy them at my age.

[hildea]

Lots of great suggestions here. Some more:

Trudi Canavan: The Black Magician triology. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/...agicians_Guild . Rich people's children get tested for magical talent, and the best ones get to learn magic. When the slum girl Sonea is found to be able to use raw magical power, things get interesting.

Bujold's SF series was recommended above, I second that, and would add her fantasy series too:

Chalion, https://www.goodreads.com/series/43463-chalion
"A man broken in body and spirit, Cazaril, has returned to the noble household he once served as page, and is named, to his great surprise, as the secretary-tutor to the beautiful, strong-willed sister of the impetuous boy who is next in line to rule.
It is an assignment Cazaril dreads, for it will ultimately lead him to the place he fears most, the royal court of Cardegoss..."

The Sharing Knife, https://www.goodreads.com/series/444...-sharing-knife . Farmers work the land. Lakewalkers keep aloof, fight blight bogles, and (it's rumored) pratice necromancy. Then a farmer girl and a lakewalker patroller get thrown together, and the world won't be the same...

And a standalone: The Spirit Ring, https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/...om_search=true . Renaissance Italy, with magic. "Fiametta Beneforte dreamed of making beautiful and enchanted "objets d'art, " but alas her magician-goldsmith father was more likely to have her scrub the kiln than study magic. After all, it was a waste to train a mere daughter beyond the needs of the moment."

If she is willing to try urban fantasy, there are also lots of great books.

Sarah Rees Brennan: Demon's Lexicon series. https://www.goodreads.com/series/447...emon-s-lexicon Nick has a bad day. The sink is leaking, his dinner is getting cold, and he has to get rid of the body a magician - again. Even worse: A couple of kids from school show up, asking for help, and his brother is far too nice for his own good.
Here's a free short story from the same universe: http://sarahtales.livejournal.com/164555.html#cutid1 (but stay away from her other free stories from the same world, they are spoilery).

Maureen Johnson: The Name of the Star. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/...om_search=true Coming from Louisiana to London to go to a boarding school in London is difficult enough. But then someone begins reenacting Jack the Ripper's murders, and Rory starts seeing people that others can't see.
The author will be giving out a prequel novella for free soon: http://maureenjohnsonbooks.tumblr.co...y-in-the-Smoke

Originally Posted by JSWolf

I agree with the Pern books, but not Le Guin. I think Le Guin will put her to sleep.

I read the Earthsea books as a teenager, and loved them. I reread one of them recently, and still liked it a lot.

[eschwartz]

Originally Posted by hildea

Sarah Rees Brennan: Demon's Lexicon series. https://www.goodreads.com/series/447...emon-s-lexicon Nick has a bad day. The sink is leaking, his dinner is getting cold, and he has to get rid of the body a magician - again. Even worse: A couple of kids from school show up, asking for help, and his brother is far too nice for his own good.
Here's a free short story from the same universe: http://sarahtales.livejournal.com/164555.html#cutid1 (but stay away from her other free stories from the same world, they are spoilery).

Ooooh Free story! Thanks! (I didn't realize there were any.)

I found the full list here: http://sarahreesbrennan.com/extras/

[Rbneader]

Andre Norton is my go-to for women reading fantasy and sci-fi. She wrote excellent books with strong characters, wonderful stories and interesting cultures.

In the Witch World series, I especially like Year of the Unicorn, Key of the Keplian, the Crystal Gryphon series and the first 3 Witch World books. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andre_...hy#Witch_World

Scent of Magic is also great. I would avoid The Wind in the Stone - it's not good.

If you want sci-fi with dragons geared for an under-18 audience, try Jane Yolen's Pit Dragon Chronicles:

Dragon's Blood (1982)
Heart's Blood (1984)
A Sending of Dragons (1987)
Dragon's Heart (2009)

Patricia C. Wrede writes excellent fantasy. My favorite is probably her Enchanted Forest Chronicles, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patric...est_Chronicles

Dealing with Dragons (1990)
Searching for Dragons (1991)
Calling on Dragons (1993)
Talking to Dragons (1995)


Other than that, it's hard without knowing her. Many authors are aiming sci-fi at older readers. My take on some authors recommended earlier:

I'm not sure Anne McCaffrey is what you're looking for - she can be a bit graphic, and I think some of the Pern books feature very strange relationships. I definitely wouldn't give her books to teenagers

I don't necessarily recommend Tamora Pierce's books. They're good, but not great, and they certainly promote promiscuity. I would give them to a 15 year old after discussing fantasy vs. reality, and how contraception and relationships actually work.

Lois McMaster Bujold tackles some very serious issues, like rape, sexual politics, transfengender, attempted suicide, etc. Some of her books depict rape fairly graphically, and the aftermath of sexual assault is a major theme in Warrior's Apprentice, the first book in the Vorkosigan series. I definitely wouldn't give them to a typical 15 year-old.

[pearsjd]

Again thanks so much for all the suggestions. I really appreciate the detail of some of the posts. I plan to quick read anything I'm not familiar with. We're pretty open with our kids but I don't want any surprises. This daughter and her 18 yr old sister would prefer no sex talk at all. That limits the scifi I know and I don't read a lot of fantasy.

Susan

[crich70]

Originally Posted by pearsjd

Again thanks so much for all the suggestions. I really appreciate the detail of some of the posts. I plan to quick read anything I'm not familiar with. We're pretty open with our kids but I don't want any surprises. This daughter and her 18 yr old sister would prefer no sex talk at all. That limits the scifi I know and I don't read a lot of fantasy.

Susan

Well the Wizardry series by Cook is pretty clean as far as that goes and Stasheff's Wizard in Rhyme series is a bit comedic

Spoiler:

for example(if I recall right) the hero from our world recites the words from the tablet the statue of liberty holds and the village square is filled with beggars all of a sudden

. The Dark is Rising is a 5 volume set based on King Arthur and Diane Duane's young Wizard are young teens as the series starts. Nary a word of sex talk in all of them as far as I recall.