'Clean' Sci Fi, Fantasy, or Classic Recommendations

[Bricorn]

I'm not going to recommend. Only posting to say that, if you only read within your comfort zone, it won't help you to grow as a person.

[Dr. Drib]

Per your 'Classic Recommendations":

Almost anything by Wilkie Collins.

For your extra added convenience, a link to a wonderful collection is supplied right below the sentence you are currently reading:

https://www.amazon.com/Delphi-Comple...3417014&sr=8-1

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by Dr. Drib

Per your 'Classic Recommendations":

Almost anything by Wilkie Collins.

For your extra added convenience, a link to a wonderful collection is supplied right below the sentence you are currently reading:

https://www.amazon.com/Delphi-Comple...3417014&sr=8-1

Given you said almost anything, what work(s) by Wilkie Collins would you not recommend to the OP?

[DiapDealer]

Moderator Notice
Give it a rest, Jon.

[Pilgrim86]

Originally Posted by Dr. Drib

Per your 'Classic Recommendations":

Almost anything by Wilkie Collins.

For your extra added convenience, a link to a wonderful collection is supplied right below the sentence you are currently reading:

https://www.amazon.com/Delphi-Comple...3417014&sr=8-1

Got it.

[Pilgrim86]

Originally Posted by Bricorn

I'm not going to recommend. Only posting to say that, if you only read within your comfort zone, it won't help you to grow as a person.

Sure, i would agree with considering vantage points, but i am puzzled how i might apply vulgarities, blasphemous language, and magic to the idea of personal growth. These are the issues that i am trying to filter out, not necessarily ideas, unless, of course, we wish to diagnose from an intellectual perspective what is beautiful, attractive, etc. for artistic contemplation. But lets be honest, readers generally do not do that with vulgarities...

[hildea]

Originally Posted by Dr. Drib

Almost anything by Wilkie Collins.

I liked "Woman in White" a lot. Sarah Rees Brennan wrote a hilarious parody of it here, with historical commentary: https://www.sarahreesbrennan.com/201...alentines-day/ NB! The parody spoils everything that happens, so if you don't want that, read it after you've read the book.

Another possible promising series: The Grantville series starting with "1632", by Eric Flint. A modern American town gets transported to Germany in 1632. (The books don't explain how that happens, it's treated as a freak of nature, not something magical or supernatural.)
A couple caveats:

• Since there were a lot of religious schisms in Europe at that time, there's some discussion about that at times (for instance king Gustav Vasa has some strong opinions on a protestant state, and cardinal Richelieu makes a political decision about what message to give about God's intentions in a specific situation).
• There's one sex scene in the first book, very much about emotions and very little about specific physical acts. (It's the wedding night for a couple where the bride has had an extremely rough life so far, and we see her surprise and joy in discovering the difference between sex with a husband who loves and respects her versus her previous experiences with an enemy soldier who treated her as a possession)

[crossi]

Don Quixote, USA by Richard Powell.
This isn't SF, Fantasy or classic but it's definitely clean and funny if you don't mind tongue in cheek stereotypes. Check the reviews on Amazon.
https://www.amazon.com/Don-Quixote-U.../dp/B008MZZ3FM

Maybe it is a classic. It's old enough since I first read it as a Readers Digest Condensed book probably sometime around 1964.

[Sirtel]

The Coldfire Trilogy by C. S. Friedman

It's basically SF, the descendants of space colonists on an alien planet hundreds of years later. While it's not religious fiction, it's quite sympathetic to Christianity.

No sex scenes that I remember. Pretty dark, though. I loved it.

Come to think of it, The Seafort series by David Feintuch may fit the bill too. Space adventure. I don't think there was explicit sex in it. The main character is pretty religious.

[crossi]

Did anyone mention Little Fuzzy by Piper? Love that book and also Fuzzy Bones and Golden Fuzzy though those last two aren't available as ebooks and are by different writers.

[wold]

Just finished Triplanetary (1948), which together First Lensman is available from Gutenberg / Standard Books. An SF oldie, but OK, and also by your specs.

There's Lee Stephen's recent Epic Universe series (SF). Stephen publicly mentions being Christian, so you're safe there. If you like(d) UFO/X-COM games, you'll enjoy them. He writes fluently, though early books could be condensed (some endless socialising in #2 or #3...), and some may object to a few unlikely events. By the 4/5th book it's improved a lot IMHO. Dawn of Destiny (2006) is free on amazon.

One more, Cyberiad (1965) by Lem Stanislaw, and some of his other (mostly SF) works. He does satire here and there, but can't recall anything explicitly critical of religion, though it might be there (living in the USSR). He liked Borges, who also wrote some nice fantastical stories.

[Neil101]

Originally Posted by Sirtel

The Coldfire Trilogy by C. S. Friedman

It's basically SF, the descendants of space colonists on an alien planet hundreds of years later. While it's not religious fiction, it's quite sympathetic to Christianity.

No sex scenes that I remember. Pretty dark, though. I loved it.

1 of his requests "and that does not present magic in a positive or neutral light. "

If i remember correctly it does have magic of sorts.

[Sirtel]

Originally Posted by Neil101

1 of his requests "and that does not present magic in a positive or neutral light. "

If i remember correctly it does have magic of sorts.

It's not really magic, because it has more or less scientific explanation. And if one takes the ending of the trilogy into account, it should fit.

[ZodWallop]

Originally Posted by Greg Anos

...You may not have likes Asimov's Foundation series (I not really a fan of them myself), But try I, Robot or The Caves Of Steel.

Yes, I'd also recommend The Caves of Steel by Asimov. I did not care for Foundation myself. But Asimov's robot books were much better experiences. The Caves of Steel is the first. Then there's The Naked Sun and The Robots of Dawn.

These are science fiction murder mysteries. But there is very little 'on screen' violence, no sex and no swearing (that I remember anyway). Indeed, in the first book, there's even a fun little religious discussion between the detective Elijah and his wife Jezebel, regarding the role her Biblical namesake played.

Asimov was an atheist. But he didn't push any such agenda in the work I've read.

Most Arthur C. Clarke would also fit the bill and is highly recommended. Like Asimov, Clarke was an Atheist (as were many/most of the Golden Age sci-fi writers) and he can be a bit more explicit about it than Asimov. You might want to avoid Childhood's End for instance.

But I would recommend 2001: A Space Odyssey. It does posit evolution as a given. But it is thought provoking sci-fi with no sex or swearing and very little violence.

[ZodWallop]

Originally Posted by Calenorn

You know, the wizards are always evil in all those Conan stories.

Yeah, if you were going to read fantasy, Howard's 'low fantasy'/sword and sorcery style would fit the bill. Magic, when you see it at all, is always mysterious and scary and probably evil. There are no 'good' wizards. But the Conan stories could be pretty violent. He was a barbarian swordsman.

Also, due to the time they were written, they aren't the most culturally sensitive things ever written. It doesn't bother me, but given the other restrictions the OP mentioned, it is worth a mention.