I want to buy a sci-fi/fantasy book that is appropriate for an 11 year old boy.

I wanted to buy him Titan by John Varley, but there are too many lesbian sex scenes in the book.

Any recommendations would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

I got my start on Terry Brook's The Sword of Shannara. Well, it was the first book I bought with my own money after reading a lot of my dads Larry Niven and Harry Harrison stuff.

I would highly recomend it. One of my favorite books of all time. The Sci-Fi stuff might be a little steep for him but any of the Known Space series by Niven or the first books in the Stainless Steel Rat series by Harrison would be good. It's what I cut my teeth on around 14.

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Why did the cat fall off the roof?
Because he lost his mu.

I just destroyed the periodic table. I only recognize the element of surprise.

2001 was an excellent read, I liked it when I was 14, which was 6 months ago

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Aim high (but don't blow yourself up)!- Homer Hickam

In Soviet Russia, UFO report you!- Phil Plait

Clear skies Maksutov.

in fantasy, let me recommend the excellent, hugely funny books of Terry Pratchett (one sex scene I can think of in the entire series, and it's not in the slightest explicit). my boyfriend likes pretty much anything by Tamora Pierce, though I frankly do not. I read Dune at not much older than 11, but I was an exceptional child. depending on the 11-year-old, the Vorkosigan saga by Lois McMaster Bujold might work, but it would take a relatively mature 11-year-old. (but there's no explicit sex, little violence, and little swearing. it's just that the themes are pretty dark. and both Shards of Honor and Barryar, available in omnibus as Cordelia's Honor, have war in 'em.)

there's the Tripod series by (brief pause as Gillian looks at her bookshelf) John Christopher. there's the works of Edward Eager and E. Nesbit, both of which are actually written for children. there's various books by Robin McKinley, though not Deerskin, which is based on an old and dark fairy tale. some of the Pern books, but again, it depends on the 11-year-old. there's the Riddlemaster of Hed series by Patricia McKillip, which I think I did read at 11.

and, of course, there's good ol' Harry Potter. and The Hobbit, the only Tolkein I ever finished.

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Gillian

"Now everyone was giving her that kind of look UFOlogists get when they suddenly say, 'Hey, if you shade your eyes you can see it is just a flock of geese after all.'"

"You can't erase icing."

"I can't believe it doesn't work! I found it on the internet, man!"

Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy

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There is a theory which states that if ever anybody discovers exactly what the Universe is for and why it is here, it will instantly disappear and be replaced by something even more bizarre and inexplicable. There is another theory which states that this has already happened.
-Douglas Adams
Aim high (but don't blow yourself up)!- Homer Hickam

In Soviet Russia, UFO report you!- Phil Plait

Clear skies Maksutov.

Jack L Chalker's Demons at Rainbow Bridge series.

Dave Wolverton's Golden Queen series.

R. A. Salvatore's Drizit books. (Fantasy equal to Brooks and Tolkien.)

Piers Anthony's Blue Adept series.

You need to read the above plus Marrow by Robert Reed and Kiln People by David Brin. Those are the two greatest I have read in a while and went right to the top shelf on the bookcase with the best of the best when I was done with them. Simon Greens new Nightside series is a must read as well.

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Why did the cat fall off the roof?
Because he lost his mu.

I just destroyed the periodic table. I only recognize the element of surprise.

If it doesn't have to be recent stuff, I would recommend a lot of the early Larry Niven stuff ("Known Universe").

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At night the stars put on a show for free (Carole King)

Thank you all!

Foundation trilogy by Isaac Asimov. Nice, light, easy reading

Pete

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PJE

There's so much I don't know about astrophysics. I wish I had read that book by that wheelchair guy.

The 'His Dark Materials' Series by Phillip Pullman. The first book was called 'Northern lights' when I read it, but has been reprinted as 'The golden Compass'. I haven't read the final instalment though....

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"Properly read, the Bible is the most potent force for atheism ever conceived." - Isaac Asimov

The Greatest Action hero and role model of all time, is Conan, but only of the tales written by Robert E. Howard, of which there are several, and Le spauge decamp is good, but no one writes like Howard.

Conan is everything every young boy wants to grow up to be, he is Chivarious naturally, yet wild and above all else, strong, but not so much of body, as in the mind of the character in the books.. his attitude is one of strenght and rightness, and calm wisdom.. He lacks prejudices, and always saves the ladies... vanqueshes evil left and right and usually saved the kingdom or land from a tyrant or wizard of evil intent.

I would fully recommend them to any young boy, assuming he is smart enough to know that knives hurt.. and are not toys.

The Movie of Conan.. is Not Conan.. they just bought the name, and changed the story so badly as to leave Conan as a dumb baboon with some skill.

when in the books he is, as ive said, everything I have always wanted to be...
Assuming i was 6.4 feet tall and 260 lbs of lean muscle, and lived 10,000 years ago.
-MT
Other than that.. Piers Anthonys Xanth series is very nice..
also The Chroinicles of Narnia are most excellent as i read them as an adult.

Probubly the best thing to give him is a giant.. super sized reference book, and Howards Conan Novels... Barnes and Nobles carry many.

The Conan books written by Steve Perry are excellent. Nice, light, fast entertaining reads. He only wrote about 5 of them sadly.

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Why did the cat fall off the roof?
Because he lost his mu.

I just destroyed the periodic table. I only recognize the element of surprise.

A book with a plot reminiscent of Titan, but less racy: Arthur C. Clarke's Rendezvous with Rama.

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"All your bias are belong to us." Ara Pacis
"A witty saying proves nothing." Voltaire

Forgot about that one. That's one of the books I read around 14 that got me into Sci-Fi.

(changed inot to into)

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Why did the cat fall off the roof?
Because he lost his mu.

I just destroyed the periodic table. I only recognize the element of surprise.

I second the Tripod series, which I read in elementary school (actually, I started with the prequel, "When the Tripods Came," and read the others a few years later).
2001 was another I read as a wee lad, though in middle school.
There's a few novellas by Heinlein that were fun to read when I was about that age: Tunnel in the Sky, Citizen of the Galaxy, Farmer in the Sky, Space Cadet, Between Planets, Starship Troopers, quite a few more. Mostly his earlier works.

Asimov and Clarke are also be worth looking at.

oh, yeah--A Wrinkle In Time! classic and intended for about that age level.

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Gillian

"Now everyone was giving her that kind of look UFOlogists get when they suddenly say, 'Hey, if you shade your eyes you can see it is just a flock of geese after all.'"

"You can't erase icing."

"I can't believe it doesn't work! I found it on the internet, man!"

I second the Pratchett suggestion as easy fun reading.

When I was a kid that age I was reading Robert Heinlein books, and though they are dated, they are not so deeply written as to be inaccessible to a child. Adventurous stuff to me.

SOmething else I liked were the Tom Swift books. The old originals are probably better read as an adult retrospectively, but the TOm Swift Junior stuff was adventurous. I haven't look through the youth shelves lately, but for all I know there are Tom Swift III books. I think Tom appealed to me because I was a "science nerd" kind of kid, and Tom was all about using science and technology to get where he wanted to go, he invented things.

GO to the bookstore and look in the youth section, and there are a whole pile of "series" books. We had Hardy Boys and Nancy Drew along with Tom Swift, but I know ther are all manner of series out these days. Our kid liked the Goosebumps series for a while. With a series, if he likes a book, there are a whole lot more with the same characters waiting for his developing interest.

Arthur Clarke was a favorite, and don't overlook short story collections.

And IV. Reading the III books is one of the fondest memories of my teens.

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"All your bias are belong to us." Ara Pacis
"A witty saying proves nothing." Voltaire

Pratchett is fun indeed, but hard to get into; it's difficult to know where to start. I found my first experience of Pratchett rather dull, but his universe grows with the reading, and, as you come to appreciate the characters more, the whole really does become far greater than the sum of its parts.

Terry Brooks ripped off Tolkien so shamelessly there really isn't much point in reading him- read The Lord of the Rings instead. It's far better.

When I was eleven I was reading Asimov's future history novels (Robots-Empire-Foundation), and I still recommend them, though, like Heinlein, there is some open discussion of sex, particularly in the later books. The Tripods are great fun, and (but?) very definitely aimed at kids.

His Dark Materials is a mixed bag. The first book is phenomenal, the second OK, but by the third book Pullman seems to go completely off his rocker. The last is certainly not intended as a children's novel and shouldn't be seen as such, but the first is fine for kids.

Narnia is beautifully written, but be prepared for some religious allegory which can get tiresome at times, especially in the final book, which is also loaded with a lot of weird anti-Islamic subtexts.

I would definitely reccomend the first three novels of the Hitchhiker series (the last two are not really kiddie friendly and quite frankly, they're crap). I can safely credit Douglas Adams with forming a great deal of my own personal philosophy.

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I think fish is nice, but then I think that rain is wet, so who am I to judge?

It's gotten to the point where careful investigation is needed just to tell parody from reality. I think that means reality is broken.- Noclevername.

I'll have to give Prachets stuff a second chance then. I couldn't get into the first one.

Ideas do not exist in a vacuum. Saying Terry Brooks ripped off Tolkien is like saying Star Trek ripped off Star Wars. Every fantasy writer since Tolkien has most if not all of the same type of characters and situations in thier story. The next time your at the bookstore pick up most Fantasy hardcovers and you will be able to pick out Gandolf, Frodo, Aragorn, Smaug, Sheelob, Gimli, Black Riders, The White City, and countless other Tolkien references on the cover. Did Tolkien rip off the Brothers Grim and Viking Mythology then?

If you still count this as ripping off Tolkien Brooks got rich writting a series of books beloved by millions of fans. No shame in that. He also wrote a lot more books then Tolkien did.

I like Brooks and Tolkien equally. You are forgeting that Brooks has written about 13 books in the Shannara series as well. Obviously they can't all "Rip" off Tolkien.

__________________
Why did the cat fall off the roof?
Because he lost his mu.

I just destroyed the periodic table. I only recognize the element of surprise.