Suggest fantasy books/series for a 14 yr old.
February 27, 2016 10:33 PM Subscribe
Suggest some fantasy books/series for my 14 yr old son. He's keen to read some more. Among things he's already read: Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings, Percy Jackson, Mortal Engines. We have in mind the His Dark Materials trilogy. What else? He enjoys reading and reads well.
Personally I found the Hamish X series by Canadian comic Sean Cullen hilarious, my son less so. Kind of like Jasper fforde plus Tom Holt for kids, with pirates. Speaking of which I very much loved Jasper Fforde youth fantasy books, my son not so much.
posted by chapps at 11:13 PM on February 27, 2016
posted by chapps at 11:13 PM on February 27, 2016
The Time Quintet series by Madeline L'Engle (A Wrinkle in Time, A Wind in the Door, A Swiftly Tilting Planet, Many Waters, An Acceptable Time)
Stardust by Neil Gaiman
The Earthsea series by Ursula K. Le Guin (A Wizard of Earthsea, The Tombs of Atuan, The Farthest Shore, Tehanu, Tales from Earthsea, The Other Wind)
I was very into the Dragonriders of Pern series by Anne McCaffrey when I was his age.
Would The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy interest him?
posted by erst at 11:37 PM on February 27, 2016 [6 favorites]
Stardust by Neil Gaiman
The Earthsea series by Ursula K. Le Guin (A Wizard of Earthsea, The Tombs of Atuan, The Farthest Shore, Tehanu, Tales from Earthsea, The Other Wind)
I was very into the Dragonriders of Pern series by Anne McCaffrey when I was his age.
Would The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy interest him?
posted by erst at 11:37 PM on February 27, 2016 [6 favorites]
The Dragaeran books by Steven Brust. And his Khaavren Romances series as well. I started with Jhereg in high school back in the '80s and I'm still eagerly gobbling up new books in the series as they're still coming out. If he likes Brust's style, there will be quite a few books for him to enjoy.
posted by zengargoyle at 11:45 PM on February 27, 2016 [1 favorite]
posted by zengargoyle at 11:45 PM on February 27, 2016 [1 favorite]
The Discworld series by Terry Pratchett, maybe. It's comedic, with a British humor sensibility (kind of like the Hitchhiker Guide series).
posted by Chocolate Pickle at 11:49 PM on February 27, 2016 [4 favorites]
posted by Chocolate Pickle at 11:49 PM on February 27, 2016 [4 favorites]
I second the Earthsea Quartet, especially if he really liked the world-building in The Lord of the Rings and Harry Potter; Earthsea is as textured and epic-feeling as TLOTR and also takes magic very seriously as an element in daily life and as a skill / talent / risk.
posted by Aravis76 at 12:15 AM on February 28, 2016 [6 favorites]
posted by Aravis76 at 12:15 AM on February 28, 2016 [6 favorites]
He might like the Sword of the Spirits series. Set in a post apocalyptic Medieval-ish society, it's a fun series that ends kind of sadly, if I remember correctly (not in any horrible way, just not a happy end). There's even a Camelot style love triangle!
What about Garth Nix's series? There's the Abhorsen one, and the Keys To the Kingdom one, my sons loved both of these.
posted by glitter at 12:41 AM on February 28, 2016 [2 favorites]
What about Garth Nix's series? There's the Abhorsen one, and the Keys To the Kingdom one, my sons loved both of these.
posted by glitter at 12:41 AM on February 28, 2016 [2 favorites]
If your son has not read the first three books of DUNE, he can not understand religion, politics, and sociology for the rest of his life.
DUNE is that important.
There's a whole backstory about the author's life and influences, that I believe informs but does not really explain how this DUNE MYTHOLOGY came about.
Not fantasy genre, but the only novel that comes close to DUNE without touching it at all is F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby. Even 30 or so years after Fitzgerald's death, Hemmingway was still lamenting in his diary that he did not have Fitzgerald's talent. Frank Herbert, by far, eclipses Fitzgerald in terms of subject matter. Fitzgerald left out religion, unless you were microscopically assessing his references. Herbert made religion and especially esotericism a focal point. Herbert encompassed a wider canvass.
Fitzgerald is my favorite author. My son is named after a Herbert character. You do the math :))
posted by jbenben at 12:42 AM on February 28, 2016 [2 favorites]
DUNE is that important.
There's a whole backstory about the author's life and influences, that I believe informs but does not really explain how this DUNE MYTHOLOGY came about.
Not fantasy genre, but the only novel that comes close to DUNE without touching it at all is F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby. Even 30 or so years after Fitzgerald's death, Hemmingway was still lamenting in his diary that he did not have Fitzgerald's talent. Frank Herbert, by far, eclipses Fitzgerald in terms of subject matter. Fitzgerald left out religion, unless you were microscopically assessing his references. Herbert made religion and especially esotericism a focal point. Herbert encompassed a wider canvass.
Fitzgerald is my favorite author. My son is named after a Herbert character. You do the math :))
posted by jbenben at 12:42 AM on February 28, 2016 [2 favorites]
The So You Want to be a Wizard series by Diane Duane. I passed it on to a friend who held on to that used paperback for ten years so his daughter could read it (she was a baby), claims it's better than HP. Not sure about the last bit, but I read them all as an adult and loved them.
posted by jrobin276 at 1:53 AM on February 28, 2016 [2 favorites]
posted by jrobin276 at 1:53 AM on February 28, 2016 [2 favorites]
Susan Cooper's series, The Dark is Rising. The first book in the series, Over Sea, Under Stone was written something like 15 years before the second one and has a very different tone, so if he isn't drawn in by that one, you can skip directly to the second book: The Dark is Rising. If you happened to see movie advertisements for the awful film that came out a while ago loosely based on The Dark is Rising, forget them: the book is totally different.
T.H. White's The Sword in the Stone. The rest of The Once and Future King is amazing, but harder to get into when you're 14, while The Sword in the Stone is just fun and is also gorgeously written (which you wouldn't know from the Disney movie).
posted by colfax at 2:24 AM on February 28, 2016 [8 favorites]
T.H. White's The Sword in the Stone. The rest of The Once and Future King is amazing, but harder to get into when you're 14, while The Sword in the Stone is just fun and is also gorgeously written (which you wouldn't know from the Disney movie).
posted by colfax at 2:24 AM on February 28, 2016 [8 favorites]
My kid likes Eragon, though he's a bit younger than your son.
For a 14 year old reading at a high level I'd try Westerfeld's Leviathan series, Ness's Chaos Walking series and Brown's Red Rising series. They are all fairly recent and gripping reads.
posted by Cuke at 5:17 AM on February 28, 2016
For a 14 year old reading at a high level I'd try Westerfeld's Leviathan series, Ness's Chaos Walking series and Brown's Red Rising series. They are all fairly recent and gripping reads.
posted by Cuke at 5:17 AM on February 28, 2016
The Maze Runner series is pretty popular right now. Also not sci fi, but check out Carl Hiassen's YA books. (His adult books have some racy moments.)
posted by gnutron at 5:35 AM on February 28, 2016
posted by gnutron at 5:35 AM on February 28, 2016
My daughter likes the Eragon series currently, and she went through a huge Tamora Pierce phase as well.
And Terry Pratchett.
posted by leahwrenn at 6:22 AM on February 28, 2016
And Terry Pratchett.
posted by leahwrenn at 6:22 AM on February 28, 2016
The Chronicles of Prydain by Lloyd Alexander
posted by nicwolff at 6:39 AM on February 28, 2016 [4 favorites]
Seconding The Dark is Rising series.
Also, despite how I feel about him as a human being, Orson Scott Card's writing is really fantastic. I loved the Ender series at that age, but also loved his more fantasy-y and much less well-known Homecoming Saga (starting with The Memory of Earth). Enchantment is also great and definitely more on the fantasy side of the SciFi/Fantasy divide.
posted by Betelgeuse at 6:52 AM on February 28, 2016 [1 favorite]
Also, despite how I feel about him as a human being, Orson Scott Card's writing is really fantastic. I loved the Ender series at that age, but also loved his more fantasy-y and much less well-known Homecoming Saga (starting with The Memory of Earth). Enchantment is also great and definitely more on the fantasy side of the SciFi/Fantasy divide.
posted by Betelgeuse at 6:52 AM on February 28, 2016 [1 favorite]
Also endorsing Garth Nix and Lloyd Alexander.
Some of Diana Wynne Jones I think would work, like the Chrestomanci series maybe. Since she wrote a lot, this guide can help you decide what might work for your son.
Megan Whalen Turner's The Queen's Thief series. You might try also Mary Hoffman's City of Masks (start of a series; can be read on its own). Some of Margaret Mahy also may work, such as Alchemy. John Marsden's Tomorrow When The War Began series.
posted by gudrun at 7:05 AM on February 28, 2016 [2 favorites]
Some of Diana Wynne Jones I think would work, like the Chrestomanci series maybe. Since she wrote a lot, this guide can help you decide what might work for your son.
Megan Whalen Turner's The Queen's Thief series. You might try also Mary Hoffman's City of Masks (start of a series; can be read on its own). Some of Margaret Mahy also may work, such as Alchemy. John Marsden's Tomorrow When The War Began series.
posted by gudrun at 7:05 AM on February 28, 2016 [2 favorites]
There are some great suggestions here. Tamora Pierce is my go-to rec for fantasy. She's amazing. The Song of the Lioness series is your standard swords-and-magic-and-knights fantasy, and then there's three or four other series that come before and after, all even better than that one (SOTL is my sentimental favorite series, but her writing vastly improved over time); the Circle of Magic series is a magic-schooling series which might be better if he likes Harry Potter. Please, please consider giving your son books with female lead characters - it is as important for boys to read books with girl leads as it is for girls!
Earthsea, L'Engle, Nix, the Dark in Rising - all pretty great!
posted by john_snow at 7:16 AM on February 28, 2016 [5 favorites]
Earthsea, L'Engle, Nix, the Dark in Rising - all pretty great!
posted by john_snow at 7:16 AM on February 28, 2016 [5 favorites]
Lloyd Alexander in the house! Prydain 4 life! Those books are the best. I can't wait for my kids to get old enough to read them.
posted by jferngler at 7:38 AM on February 28, 2016 [1 favorite]
posted by jferngler at 7:38 AM on February 28, 2016 [1 favorite]
Terry Pratchett, Niel Gaiman, The Dresden Files series. I also was way into Stephen King when I was his age, I guess more horror than fantasy , but definitely has elements of the supernatural.
posted by Green Eyed Monster at 7:47 AM on February 28, 2016 [1 favorite]
posted by Green Eyed Monster at 7:47 AM on February 28, 2016 [1 favorite]
John Christopher's "Tripod" trilogy. Actually now there's four, he wrote a prequel later, but you're probably better of reading When the Tripods Came later, too. Start with The White Mountains.
Seconding _Dune_ (although I've found all sequels impenetrable) and the Dragonriders of Pern.
posted by Rash at 8:49 AM on February 28, 2016 [3 favorites]
Seconding _Dune_ (although I've found all sequels impenetrable) and the Dragonriders of Pern.
posted by Rash at 8:49 AM on February 28, 2016 [3 favorites]
I love the Lloyd Alexander books, but they may feel a little young for a 14 year old.
Some of the authors I read around that age were:
Terry Brooks
David Eddings
Raymond E Feist
Tad Williams
Dave Duncan
Robert Jordan
For more modern authors, Brenden Sanderson and Patrick Rothfuss are great.
All of them tell a good story without feeling like a kids book but also without the graphic sex and violence of books like Game of Thrones.
posted by nalyd at 9:15 AM on February 28, 2016 [1 favorite]
Some of the authors I read around that age were:
Terry Brooks
David Eddings
Raymond E Feist
Tad Williams
Dave Duncan
Robert Jordan
For more modern authors, Brenden Sanderson and Patrick Rothfuss are great.
All of them tell a good story without feeling like a kids book but also without the graphic sex and violence of books like Game of Thrones.
posted by nalyd at 9:15 AM on February 28, 2016 [1 favorite]
I loved the Dragonlance books when I was his age.
The Chronicles series is a great introduction to the Dragonlance universe, and he can explore from there, although the Legends series is a good next step.
posted by Fister Roboto at 9:29 AM on February 28, 2016 [1 favorite]
The Chronicles series is a great introduction to the Dragonlance universe, and he can explore from there, although the Legends series is a good next step.
posted by Fister Roboto at 9:29 AM on February 28, 2016 [1 favorite]
Response by poster: Wow. Thanks you all so much for the suggestions! Off to the book store :)
posted by maupuia at 10:14 AM on February 28, 2016
posted by maupuia at 10:14 AM on February 28, 2016
I can't recommend Brandon Sanderson's Mistborn series highly enough - particularly the first trilogy. If I had a time machine, those books would be in the first care package to my younger self. Featuring: an awesome, flawed female protagonist + philosophical musings on morality and religion + tons of camaraderie and high-stakes gambits.
Also His Dark Materials is a great choice, and I'm thirding Dune.
posted by crone islander at 12:13 PM on February 28, 2016
Also His Dark Materials is a great choice, and I'm thirding Dune.
posted by crone islander at 12:13 PM on February 28, 2016
Fred Saberhagen's Books of Swords series and subsequest Books of Lost Swords.
posted by Hatashran at 12:52 PM on February 28, 2016
posted by Hatashran at 12:52 PM on February 28, 2016
Goblin Emperor by Katherine Addison. Complex, gorgeous language, fantastical but relative to the human experience, not graphic or unnecessarily violent.
posted by AliceBlue at 2:44 PM on February 28, 2016
posted by AliceBlue at 2:44 PM on February 28, 2016
Christopher Paolini, Inheritance Cycle, the author himself was not much older than 14 when he started writing it...quite elaborate world!
posted by forthright at 4:04 PM on February 28, 2016
posted by forthright at 4:04 PM on February 28, 2016
Joe Abercrombie's Shattered Sea trilogy is very good. Abercrombie's known for being gritty and dark and violent but he tones it down a lot for this young adult series which is still aimed at more mature audiences.
Tightly written, characters are plausibly virtuous/flawed, strong female characters, thoughtful ethics (not everything's black/white, but there is a good underlying sense of "right" and "wrong"), and there are good role-model characters.
Not strictly young adult, but S.M. Stirlings Nantucket and Emberverse series are very approachable and features a lot of young people/teens.
posted by porpoise at 11:20 AM on February 29, 2016
Tightly written, characters are plausibly virtuous/flawed, strong female characters, thoughtful ethics (not everything's black/white, but there is a good underlying sense of "right" and "wrong"), and there are good role-model characters.
Not strictly young adult, but S.M. Stirlings Nantucket and Emberverse series are very approachable and features a lot of young people/teens.
posted by porpoise at 11:20 AM on February 29, 2016
I started reading the Robert Jordan series when I was that age - and they'll last for ages as they're all LONG. Brandon Sanderson finishes the series - and he's excellent. I'd second the Terry Brooks recommendation as well.
My ALL TIME favourite, though, which would be good for a kid that age with a high reading level, is Guy Gavriel Kay. His first trilogy (The Fionavar Tapestry) starts with The Summer Tree. Gorgeous books...
Something a little more fun, even if they're getting dated, is Piers Anthony... and there's lots of books in the series to keep him going for a little while!
posted by johnsohl at 12:44 PM on February 29, 2016
My ALL TIME favourite, though, which would be good for a kid that age with a high reading level, is Guy Gavriel Kay. His first trilogy (The Fionavar Tapestry) starts with The Summer Tree. Gorgeous books...
Something a little more fun, even if they're getting dated, is Piers Anthony... and there's lots of books in the series to keep him going for a little while!
posted by johnsohl at 12:44 PM on February 29, 2016
Nthing the Garth Nix Abhorsen books. I love these & foist them on everyone who liked Dark Is Rising, Harry Potter, Prydain, Earthsea, etc.
I was going to suggest Colin Meloy’s Wildwood books for a contemporary take on the CS Lewis Narnia books & was surprised to see no mention of Narnia yet. I now have a whole lot of misgivings about those books but ye cats did they thrill me when I was in my early teens. Mebbe try The Lion, the Witch, & the Wardrobe & see if he's interested?
posted by miles per flower at 1:34 PM on February 29, 2016
I was going to suggest Colin Meloy’s Wildwood books for a contemporary take on the CS Lewis Narnia books & was surprised to see no mention of Narnia yet. I now have a whole lot of misgivings about those books but ye cats did they thrill me when I was in my early teens. Mebbe try The Lion, the Witch, & the Wardrobe & see if he's interested?
posted by miles per flower at 1:34 PM on February 29, 2016
My little brother, to whom I gave the Dune books when he was about 14-15 and who is now 18, still says that was the best present he's ever gotten. He also liked the Gormenghast series at that age, which I have not read but honestly sounds awesome (seems to be less the "magic" school of fantasy and more in the vein Gothic surrealism?).
posted by bugperson at 7:36 AM on March 1, 2016
posted by bugperson at 7:36 AM on March 1, 2016
All Terry Pratchett is excellent but the Tiffany Aching books are just something else entirely. I definitely recommend them.
posted by h00py at 5:23 AM on March 2, 2016
posted by h00py at 5:23 AM on March 2, 2016
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Oldie but goodie: The Book of Three, which is first in the excellent black cauldron series.
posted by chapps at 11:09 PM on February 27, 2016