Fantasy Recs for 11-y.o. boy?

[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.

(n.b.: I actually find the new "ordering" of the series, coupled with the books by her son, confusing. Were I recommending them to adult readers, I'd STILL definitely tell them to start with Dragonflight, and work their way through the books in order of writing--not "chronological" order of the storyline of the books, FWIW.)

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

[issybird]

How about the Bartimaeus trilogy by Jonathan Stroud? Magic/fantasy and not sci-fi, with steampunk elements. Boy protagonist and squeaky clean as I recall. Very well done; I prefer it to Potter.

[Hitch]

Originally Posted by issybird

How about the Bartimaeus trilogy by Jonathan Stroud? Magic/fantasy and not sci-fi, with steampunk elements. Boy protagonist and squeaky clean as I recall. Very well done; I prefer it to Potter.

Thank you! I'll look into it. It sounds perfect for another one of my intentions--to broaden his reading horizons, as well. Not to mention, I'm a big steampunk fan, myself.

Thanks much.
Hitch

[pdurrant]

The Misenchanted Sword by Lawrence Watt-Evans.
So You Want To Be A Wizard by Diane Duane
Only You Can Save Mankind by Terry Pratchett
Magician by Raymond E. Feist

[Hitch]

Originally Posted by pdurrant

The Misenchanted Sword by Lawrence Watt-Evans.
So You Want To Be A Wizard by Diane Duane
Only You Can Save Mankind by Terry Pratchett
Magician by Raymond E. Feist

Thank you, Paul. I've heard good things about all of these. And I've read Pratchett, of course. Not that one, interestingly enough. Hmmm....

Hitch

[elaysee]

(On tablet here, sorry for typos and brevity.)

Lloyd Alexander / Prydain
Diana Wynne Jones - not very series oriented, maybe Dark Lord of Derkholm and sequel?
Edward Eager - also not series and very old school - Knight's Castle 1st?
Patricia McKillip - Riddle-Master of Hed
Megan Whalen Turner's Attolia books? - have only read half of first, but male protagonist and didn't some win some awards?
Brian Jacques - Redwall? - likewise have not read

anthology Firebirds - lots of children's fantasy authors, might provide further likes

Would appreciate input if I'm off appropriateness-wise on things I free-associated & haven't read.

[meeera]

Diana Wynne Jones! Yes, almost ALL of it. Chrestomanci Chronicles is a great place to start, also Archer's Goon, and the Moving Castle series.

[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.

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).

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.

[AlbertaCowboy]

I'll second the Chronicles of Prydain.
Also The Belgariad and Elenium series by David Eddings

[crich70]

The Chronicles of Prydain are also the basis of Disney's movie "The Black Cauldron." In fact I think the middle book of the series bore that name. And the books are available at Kobo though not cheap at $19.99

Kobo US

[Hampshire Nanny]

Originally Posted by Hitch

I'm unsure if he's read The Golden Compass books, have asked.

I would discourage providing the Golden Compass books. Many parents here led a boycott on these books. I found them disturbing, and I normally don't have a problem with book content.

Originally Posted by elaysee

Brian Jacques - Redwall? - likewise have not read

Definitely Redwall and its sequels.

What about The Chronicles of Narnia? Or Wrinkle in Time and its sequels?

I just finished Peter and the Starcatchers and loved it. There are four in this series by Dave Barry and Ridley Pearson. Earlier this year I read all three books in Rick Riiordan's Kane Chronicles and enjoyed them very much.

I read The Mysterious Benedict Society a while back and thought it was delightful.

Books by Jane Yolen: Pit Dragon series, Wizard's Hall, and Sword of the Rightful King all have male protagonists.

Books by Bruce Coville: MoonGobble and Me series, Goblins in the Castle, and The Magic Shop series.

I haven't read The Underland Chronicles, but it's very well regarded.

[ATDrake]

Originally Posted by AlbertaCowboy

I'll second the Chronicles of Prydain.
Also The Belgariad and Elenium series by David Eddings

A caveat on Eddings' Elenium/Tamuli series: while it's not overtly sexual beyond a wink wink nudge nudge say no more kind of innuendo, there are not-so-veiled mentions of sexual abuse of minors, sexual assault of women, and there's a royal incest plot point in there, to boot. While none of this is being presented as a good thing (and occasionally treated in an annoyingly jokey way), it's still firmly present and may well be the sort of thing that the parents could object to. Also, there's a lot of violence in them.

I don't recall anything really similar in the way of warnable content in the Belgariad/Malloreon books, but it's been a long time since I read them.

(For the record, Elenium/Tamuli is my favourite out of Eddings' work and I own the books in two languages and I did actually read them and the Belgariad/Malloreon by the time I was 12, but I grew up in a thoroughly irreligious household that didn't monitor my reading at all. So YMMV under other conditions.)

Originally Posted by crich70

The Chronicles of Prydain are also the basis of Disney's movie "The Black Cauldron." In fact I think the middle book of the series bore that name. And the books are available at Kobo though not cheap at $19.99

Kobo US

I dunno, 5 high-quality books for an amortized cost of $4 each seems pretty good (not available in Canada, though; OTOH our versions have the original Evaline Ness* covers), although of course a further discount or couponability would be welcome. But it's missing the short story collection and I'm holding out for a price-drop on the 50th anniversary edition of The Book of Three, which contains extra interviews and such.

Lawrence Watt-Evans' Ethshar series mentioned upthread should also be good for at least the first few books in the series and several volumes thereafter in terms of both sex and violence. They do get a bit more "adult" after a certain point, but they're the kind of books that the kid can grow with.

Diane Duane's also-mentioned Young Wizards series is also one of my favourites, but IMHO, the stories get more rambly and co-dependent and the quality drops a bit sometime after #5, and right now they seem to embroiled in some kind of multi-book plot†, so YMMV as to whether to give out what eventually becomes an episodic to-be-continued sort of series (the first 4 books are solidly self-contained, though and #1-2 are really very good). That said, the author does periodically offer deep-discount sales on the entire set of them via her webstore, if she keeps operating it under the new EU VAT changes.

* Married to Elliot Ness, of The Untouchables fame, as it turns out.

† Or maybe it just feels that way because it seems like half the time it's about preventing some impending war or other which I can't recall whether or not it's the same overall Lone Power-ed kind of war that just got spread all over, or specific individual wars that arose on their own and IIRC I got this unfinished feeling from reading the most recent few-in-series, though that was a while ago and I may not be recalling them correctly.

[Hitch]

Originally Posted by Hampshire Nanny

I would discourage providing the Golden Compass books. Many parents here led a boycott on these books. I found them disturbing, and I normally don't have a problem with book content.

Sorry, feel compelled to ask: why? What did you think was disturbing? boycott? For content, or..?

Definitely Redwall and its sequels.

What about The Chronicles of Narnia? Or Wrinkle in Time and its sequels?

I just finished Peter and the Starcatchers and loved it. There are four in this series by Dave Barry and Ridley Pearson. Earlier this year I read all three books in Rick Riiordan's Kane Chronicles and enjoyed them very much.

I'd mentioned, perhaps in the other thread, that I'd asked the parents if he'd read Narnia. At 11, he's possibly now too old for them--I seem to recall reading them when I was 8-9, but if he hasn't, I might buy them for him. And yes, the same is my question about Wrinkle in Time--there seems to be a general consensus that this is also aimed at 8-9 y.o.'s, isn't it?

I read The Mysterious Benedict Society a while back and thought it was delightful.

Books by Jane Yolen: Pit Dragon series, Wizard's Hall, and Sword of the Rightful King all have male protagonists.

Books by Bruce Coville: MoonGobble and Me series, Goblins in the Castle, and The Magic Shop series.

I haven't read The Underland Chronicles, but it's very well regarded.

I'll look into all of those, thanks. Interested in your reply about the Golden Compass books?

Hitch

[ATDrake]

Originally Posted by Hitch

And yes, the same is my question about Wrinkle in Time--there seems to be a general consensus that this is also aimed at 8-9 y.o.'s, isn't it?

AWIT itself and maybe the immediate sequel A Wind in the Door are geared towards younger readers, but from the 3rd book onward, they begin tilting very YA, with teen protagonists and plot points involving the threat of nuclear disaster and domestic abuse in the 3rd book, the imminent drowning of the entire population in the 4th book, and a possible offering of human sacrifice in the 5th. And the spinoff tie-in books involve injury due to industrial espionage/sabotage, incurable diseases with no hope of recovery, and other more adult themes, while still remaining YA-friendly in terms of sex/violence content.

L'Engle treats them all in a reasonable manner and her status as a Christian writer might let you get away with presenting them as the more horizons-expanding sorts of books, which they are, in a way.

[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