Looking for science fiction book recommendations

June 26, 2017 7:31 AM

My son, 15, is difficult to find books for. Despite the saying, he tends to judge them by the cover. He'll be away for a few weeks, with limited access to computers, so I'm looking to find some science fiction books for him.

He has read and enjoyed almost everything by Neal Stephenson, though he admits he has struggled to get through some of the long tangents Stephenson is famous for. He has enjoyed the three books in the Three Body Problem trilogy. He's read a bit of Scalzi (Old Man's War, Redshirts), he liked The Martian. He's read all the HGTTG books.

He liked Ender's Game when he was younger but seriously fuck OSC. No problematic works and/or authors, please.

I've tried to spring some Arthur C. Clarke on him but I think that may be a bit dated. Ditto some of the other classic SciFi authors. ("Some day, men will walk on the moon while their best girls stay home with robot butlers!") Newish stuff is preferred.

He's a fast reader, so longer works are preferred, but I'll take any suggestions. He does not have an eReader, so paperback/hardcover books only.

He's 15. Adult topics are mostly fine, as long as it's not, like, porn in space.

posted by bondcliff to Media & Arts (49 answers total)

The Expanse is my favorite ongoing series right now. They are big books with cool ideas but are also easy to read.
posted by something something at 7:34 AM on June 26, 2017 [6 favorites]

Iain M Banks - Culture novels (start with Consider Phlebas, Player Of Games, or Use Of Weapons)
Alastair Reynolds - Revelation Space
posted by EndsOfInvention at 7:35 AM on June 26, 2017 [10 favorites]

Charles Stross - The Atrocity Archives (if he'd be into modernised Lovecraftian sci-fi stuff - it's very nerdy, the main character is basically an IT support guy).
posted by EndsOfInvention at 7:38 AM on June 26, 2017 [4 favorites]

Lois McMaster Bujold's Vorkosigan saga - I'd probably recommend starting with The Warrior's Apprentice for a 15 year old boy.

Wildside by Steven Gould is one I gave to my nephews when they were teenagers and I believe they enjoyed it.
posted by Kriesa at 7:39 AM on June 26, 2017 [9 favorites]

well from Clarke, the Rama trilogy isn't dated as far as i can sense. I loved them at that age (and now too). also, the starbridge series from AC Crispin is excellent as well (if he's ok with female lead characters!)
posted by chasles at 7:39 AM on June 26, 2017

The faster-moving Philip K. Dick stories might work:

- Flow My Tears, the Policeman Said
- Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?
- The Man in the High Castle

Probably my bias, but though he wrote long ago, his stuff still seems far more forward-thinking than so many current writers.
posted by ignignokt at 7:44 AM on June 26, 2017 [1 favorite]

Ursula K LeGuin - specifically, The Left Hand of Darkness, and The Disposessed.
posted by entropone at 7:46 AM on June 26, 2017 [6 favorites]

Ken MacLeod - start with the Cosmonaut Keep / Dark Light / Engine City trilogy. Excellent hard sci-fi/space opera with nuanced politics.

Also amazing is Ann Leckie - Ancillary Justice and its two sequels.
posted by heatherlogan at 7:47 AM on June 26, 2017 [3 favorites]

Blindsight by Peter Watts, maybe? I'd also recommend Mary Roach if he's interested in lighter pop-sci nonfiction, Packing For Mars specifically.
posted by backseatpilot at 7:48 AM on June 26, 2017

I liked Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep a lot at that age and The Man in the High Castle might be good as well.

William Gibson may seem a bit dated, but he might enjoy many of his books, especially given that he enjoyed Stephenson.

Ancillary Justice by Ann Leckie.

I don't know that I would have enjoyed the Dispossed at 15 but Le Guin's Earthsea books might be good.

He, She, and It by Marge Piercy.

Maybe some of the classic Heinlein novels with accompanying discussion of why parts of his concepts are problematic.
posted by Candleman at 7:51 AM on June 26, 2017 [1 favorite]

Seconding Lois McMaster Bujold's Vorkosigan saga and Anne Leckie's Imperial Radch trilogy.

Paolo Bacigalupi's The Windup Girl

China Meiville's The City and The City
posted by carrioncomfort at 7:51 AM on June 26, 2017 [5 favorites]

Larry Niven's Known Space. Give him Ringworld! Also, the Heinlein Juveniles: Red Planet, Have Space Suit, Will Travel and maybe Starman Jones. Look for these at your library; the original hardbacks have the most appealing cover art.
posted by Rash at 8:04 AM on June 26, 2017

How does he feel about swashbuckling planetary adventure? Ammonite is a fast-paced, exciting adventure novel with some space stuff.

Kim Stanley Robinson's Red Mars seems like a natural fit - lots of space adventure, lots of politics, lots of "here is how we go to Mars". Blue and Green may or may not be of interest - I bogged down in the middle of the second one because there's only so much utopia I can handle.

You might conceivably try him on "a superb space opera", Celia Holland's Floating Worlds. It's a very odd book and he'll definitely be among a select crowd if he's read it.

Oh, also, if you're starting him on Iain Banks, The Algebraist is extremely engaging and, while grotesque in passages, somewhat less grim than many of the Culture books. There is a passage in Consider Phlebas that is pretty homophobic, too, so I'm not super into that one. (I don't think Banks meant it that way; I think he was not very alert to how we learn homophobic stereotypes and unthinkingly replicated one. But I very do not enjoy that part.)
posted by Frowner at 8:05 AM on June 26, 2017

Our just-turned-sixteen reader of such books really likes:

Brandon Sanderson's work

The Hitchhiker's Guide and Dirk Gently books by Douglas Adams.

S.M. Stirling's Emberverse series.

He recently read Connie Willis' Doomsday Book, about a time-traveling historian who ends up living through the Black Plague.

He recently tried some Sherri Tepper, specifically The Family Tree, which I think he liked.
posted by Orlop at 8:09 AM on June 26, 2017

Dan Simmons' Hyperion series.
posted by Autumnheart at 8:17 AM on June 26, 2017 [1 favorite]

Kid was made for...

Greg Bear's Darwin's Radio and sequel. Maybe Blood Music also?
WWW Trilogy - don't let the dopey title fool you
Silo Series (aka Wool &c.)
Lexicon and Brilliance and almost every book listed in this thread (aka "smart" scifi thrillers)

Also very much agree with Connie Willis. I like China Meiville but I find him a little dense and hard to get through, not page-turner-y. Dick, and Gibson's newer stuff would work but Dick can be really fuddy duddy with gender roles so be a little cautious.
posted by jessamyn at 8:18 AM on June 26, 2017 [1 favorite]

Okay, there's a lot of good sci-fi suggestions in here, but I think some of it is off the mark. I read and loved Leguin and Clarke when I was his age, but it's very different from Stephenson. Going specifically off of the things you describe in your post, I'm going to recommend a few specific books:

Austin Grossman - Soon, I Will Be Invincible (A gritty superhero novel from the perspective of the supervillain)

Richard Morgan - Altered Carbon (A crazy scifi detective story with a lot of action. Not "Porn in Space" but there are several sex scenes.)

Greg Egan - Quarantine (Another action-heavy story. This one is extremely smart hard science fiction that explores some of the crazier aspects of quantum physics.)
posted by 256 at 8:26 AM on June 26, 2017 [2 favorites]

Vernor Vinge's "Across Realtime" is a collection of related novellas that would be about right for his age. Good page-turner. He's a great writer in general, but that's the recommendation that comes to mind.
posted by adamrice at 8:29 AM on June 26, 2017

Seconding Douglas Adams, and also Terry Pratchett. Some of Pratchett's books are marketed for teens-- The Shepherd's Crown, and there are others. But all of them should be OK.
posted by BibiRose at 8:31 AM on June 26, 2017

The City and the City is so amazing! I never thought anything could top Perdido Street Station, but that one did! I also really like Embassytown for his attempt at creating a linguistics for a totally foreign language.
posted by janey47 at 8:34 AM on June 26, 2017

Well, it's time for him to start in on Gibson then, isn't it?
posted by humboldt32 at 8:42 AM on June 26, 2017 [1 favorite]

2nding Bujold's Vorkosigan series and starting with Warrior's Apprentice!
posted by anotherthink at 8:45 AM on June 26, 2017 [1 favorite]

Altered Carbon is pretty violent/sexy for 15 (I read it at a fairly sheltered but well read 16 or 17 and it weirded me out a bit).

Nthing Ann Leckie.

Has he read Dune?
posted by quaking fajita at 8:49 AM on June 26, 2017

Lots of great suggestions in here. My recommendations:

William Gibson - especially the "Blue Ant" books (Pattern Recognition, Spook Country, and Zero History). His most recent, The Peripheral, would also probably work.

Vernor Vinge - Rainbows End

Warren Ellis - Normal

I'm not a fan of Cory Doctorow's work, but I find I'm in the minority on that, and his work fits right in with Stephenson's. (Who I do like.)
posted by Fish Sauce at 8:58 AM on June 26, 2017

The 1st 4 books in Stephen King's Gunslinger series. Have not read them, they are on my list. But King is a terrific writer, appeals to young males, and if he likes it, the series goes to 12 books, so something to look forward to.
Stephen King's The Stand is really good, really long, so, great if you are limited for # of books. King had the uncut version released; I have not read it, so have no opinion. He's a compulsive writer, so the edits were for length.
Frank Herbert, Dune, is a classic for a reason. (waves at quaking fajita)
Field of Dreams was based on WP Kinsella's Shoeless Joe, which is a wonderful. Not SF
Most of my selections are old, but have held up.
posted by theora55 at 9:02 AM on June 26, 2017 [1 favorite]

Speaking of classic for a reason, has he read The The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings? There are newer editions with updated covers. Having summer and a chance to read these for the 1st time - I'm envious.
posted by theora55 at 9:06 AM on June 26, 2017

If veering away from SF is ok... I have to also recommend Ben Aaronovitch's Rivers of London series (the first book was published as Midnight Riot in North America). Think modern British police procedurals with magic in the tradition of Isaac Newton. Super readable page-turners. I love this series! (Aaronovitch has also written Doctor Who novelisations.)
posted by heatherlogan at 9:11 AM on June 26, 2017 [1 favorite]

Tanya Huff's Valor novels - military SF; I haven't read the last couple yet, but the first three are solid and fun.
posted by current resident at 9:27 AM on June 26, 2017 [2 favorites]

If the aspect of SF that appeals to him is the use of an alternate world to present things that routinely happen in ours in ways that he's never thought about before, rather than all the zoom lasers biff conquest kapow yadda yadda, he could do a lot worse than Mervyn Peake's Titus Groan books. They made a tremendous impression on me as a 15 year old science fiction afficionado.

And if he's a fast reader, he's going to experience the same thing I did with those works: the prose is dense. I was 14 pages into the first one when I realized that I really only had half a clue WTF was going on with it, went back to page 1 and took it again slowly. Peake's writing is to be savoured like your grandmother's Christmas pudding, not scoffed like a Stephen King twinkie. It packs masses of story into each exquisitely crafted sentence.
posted by flabdablet at 9:31 AM on June 26, 2017

Nthing the Banks Culture books. The main thing I’d heard about these books before I read them was that they had lefty politics (something something techno-anarchist utopia) and when I finally got around to reading them I was surprised by how like conventional action movies they are. Suspenseful buildups, big explosions, spy stuff, one cliffhanger after another. They go down pretty easy, is what I mean, and I would have gobbled them up at 15.

Also, a few recommendations related to Neal Stephenson:

- If it’s the swashbuckly stuff in Stephenson that your son likes: the Vorkosigan books, as above.

- If it’s the space stuff: Kim Stanley Robinson’s Red Mars, and lots of Alastair Reynolds. Also: Robert Charles Wilson’s Spin Books (Spin, Axis, Vortex) are a lighter read and pretty engaging, as is M.J. Locke’s Up Against It.

- If it’s the imaginative far-future stuff: Gibson, for sure. (Obligatory/delightful teaser: Neal Stephenson's response to the question “In a fight between you and William Gibson, who would win?”)

Also, be ye warned: I think Peter Watts and M. John Harrison (esp. Light and sequels) might fit the bill here but there is some unsettling sex stuff in both and I’d be cautious about pointing a 15-year-old toward 'em.
posted by miles per flower at 9:47 AM on June 26, 2017

At that age, I loved Vonnegut, especially The Sirens of Titan and Cat's Cradle.
posted by Mchelly at 10:05 AM on June 26, 2017 [2 favorites]

I want to second Tanya Huff's Valor/Confederation series. Fun and action packed, great humor, does a very realistic job of capturing actual feel of military relationships. Also, there's a slow and thoughtful exploration of how war impacts people fighting it during and after their time in the military. The book is about adults who have adult sex lives, but there's nothing smutty. In fact, 15 is a great age to be exposed to such good examples of sexual relationships and (not) gender roles as these books provide. Much better than Stephenson. There's also no big deal queer relationships and characters and long storylines spanning multiple books about disability, injury, and mental illness that are so skillfully and naturally done that they never feel didactic. I also adore the cover art for the series.
posted by congen at 10:10 AM on June 26, 2017 [1 favorite]

Some ideas:

Fallen Dragon by Peter F. Hamilton


Kilobyte by Piers Anthony (it's about an MMORPG... a VR MMORPG!)

I really liked the Anne McCaffrey Pern books, there's a metric ton of them: Pern Books. There's some other series she did as well.



Also, I'll echo the recommendation for Hyperion and PKD books.
posted by teabag at 10:13 AM on June 26, 2017

Stopping in for the standard anti-rec of Pern for its rapeyness and homophobia.

There's a sad dearth of female SF writers here, and I tend to think that 15-year-old boys tend to avoid female voices for reasons of our patriarchal culture.

I would recommend The Pride of Chanur and its sequels by CJ Cherryh, because they are plotty but exciting space opera with feline aliens and lots of politics. If he likes those, there are literally dozens more where they came from.

All Systems Red by Martha Wells is a great little novella from the point of view of a security cyborg who calls themself Murderbot. Also, Martha Wells' Raksura novels have marvelous alien peoples, landscapes, and adventures, with cool twists on gender roles.

Rachel Manija Brown and Sherwood Smith have a very exciting and fun YA-ish post-apocalyptic series full of adventures, teenage romance, and food porn starting with Stranger. Three books are out, the final one is due next year, I think.

Nnedi Okorafor's Lagoon is a near-future novel about when the aliens arrive -- in a lagoon in Nigeria. It's a great challenge to the idea that the aliens are always going to talk to America first.

If your son has read Neal Stephenson, he's up for N. K. Jemisin: give him a copy of The Fifth Season.

Debra Doyle and James MacDonald's Mageworlds novels are very Star-Wars-influenced, fun space operas.

Vonda McIntyre made a joke at a con about a tv series that never got made, and then decided to write the novels of it anyway. The Starfarers novels are fun lightweight space opera adventures.

Courtney Schafer's The Whitefire Crossing and its sequels are plotty adventure fantasies full of mountaineering and interpersonal drama.

Elizabeth Moon has gobs of mil-SF to explore, including the Vatta's War sequence. If he's more into fantasy, The Deed of Paksennarion is a pretty great look at a fantasy military grounded in real military experience.
posted by suelac at 10:34 AM on June 26, 2017 [14 favorites]

I also recommend the Culture series, after seeing it recommended here so many times. I got it for my sci-fi loving husband for Christmas and it's easily the best gift I've ever managed to pick out for him.
posted by joan_holloway at 10:37 AM on June 26, 2017 [1 favorite]

Okay, so I agree with suelac in that there should probably be more women authors recommended, and I was remiss for not including any, so I'm going to add Maureen F. McHugh to my list (I'm trying to keep it to stuff similar to the Stephenson, because that's really my SF/F wheelhouse, though I'm happy to include my nthing for Ann Leckie & N.K. Jemisin). Some of her books, like China Mountain Zhang, aren't entirely unproblematic (and will certainly contain some sex), but I think they manage to stay on the right side of the line for the most part, and she's so clear-eyed it's nuts.

I'm also going to add Lauren Beukes to my earlier recommendations.
posted by Fish Sauce at 11:10 AM on June 26, 2017 [1 favorite]

Phillip Jose Farmer's River world Series.
Its great adventure driven Sci-fi from an old master of Scifi. I didn't read it as problematic (10 years ago), but someone will let me know if it is.

Also, from a female author, try "Fortune's Pawn" and the next two books after it. Bad ass lady in a power suit fighting aliens and a new unknown "thing". Sooo much fun.
posted by GreatValhalla at 11:30 AM on June 26, 2017

I haven't seen Armor (John Steakley) mentioned.
Vernor Vinge's stuff, but it gets a little 'out there'.

Niven and Heinlein were just what I needed at 15ish. But that was long ago. The aforementioned Culture books are better by far.

Maybe some William Gibson?

(Consider this another Leckie vote too! And Jo Walton's books were great, but I'm not sure I'd have thought so at 15. I hope your kid's smarter than I was then.)
posted by DigDoug at 11:34 AM on June 26, 2017

Nthing Banks, especially Consider Phlebas. I have so much love for that book and have since it came out when I was 18.
I also liked the River World Series at a young age. Also, John Varley, although the themes may be a little adult, depending on the kid.
And Peter F. Hamilton is great for long actions packed space opera.
posted by conifer at 11:35 AM on June 26, 2017

After reading one of Stanislaw Lem's books (The Cyberiad) on a friend's recommendation years ago, I was inspired to seek out and read everything he wrote (in English translation of course). He had many styles, comic, tragedy, sardonic; Solaris is nothing like Tales of Pirx the Pilot. I was never disappointed. Lem, a serious intellectual, is one of sci fi's giants. Recommended for those wanting to move beyond space opera.
posted by lathrop at 12:22 PM on June 26, 2017 [1 favorite]

He should try Neil Asher, the spatterjay books are interesting.
posted by 445supermag at 12:43 PM on June 26, 2017

Could you give him fifty bucks and drop him at a good-sized bookstore (or specialist SF bookstore) for a couple of hours?

That aside, I'll second Hyperion by Simmons, and I would further recommend Vernor Vinge's A Fire Upon the Deep and A Deepness in the Sky.
posted by turbid dahlia at 5:35 PM on June 26, 2017 [1 favorite]

Everything upthread is a good suggestion - long time sci fi reader here, trolling for new ideas. Based on your question, most of the recommendations are veering towards hard sci fi. A few comments on authors that were mentioned and a couple of authors I didn't see mentioned:

David Brin - The Uplift War series. He has lots of other books, but this would be a great starting point for a 15 year old.

One commenter mentioned MeFi's own Charlie Stross, with the Atrocity Archives. I'm a huge fan of the Atrocity Archives, but he also has a number of sci fi novels that might fit the bill. These might be a little more sketchy for a 15 year old: Accelerando, Iron Sunrise, Singularity Sky. There is also the Merchant Prince series which might be interesting and not be too-adult.

Other authors that might be interesting for your teen (these are also hard sci fi authors who have a background as professional scientists before becoming authors): Greg Egan and Gregory Benford. It has been a while since I've read either, so I don't have any specific recommendations there; they both have a large body of works.

Michael Crichton (of Jurassic Park fame) has a large collection of novels and would match your constraints.

Winding back the clock, Larry Niven and the known-space series; there are literally dozens of books and short stories here that may be a fit.

Nancy Kress (Sleepless/Beggars in Spain) was another favorite of mine, though there are a bunch of libertarian/anti-libertarian themes that might need to be discussed with a teenager.

Wrapping up, I'm especially fond of some of the authors mentioned upthread: Ian Banks, Neil Asher, Dan Simmons, Vernor Vinge. Also mentioned upthread: I'm a big fan of China Mieville and Richard Morgan, but they seem a little edgy for a 15 year old.
posted by kovacs at 9:39 PM on June 26, 2017

I highly recommend the Liaden books by Sharon Lee and Steve Miller. Many of the books, after the first two, have sympathetic child and adolescent characters, growing into actual adulthood.

Another book I recommend often is Emergence, by David R. Palmer.
posted by Bruce H. at 1:30 AM on June 27, 2017

Julian Mays Saga of the exiles series (Amazon link)

Then, the prequels:
Intervention
Jack the Bodiless
Diamond Mask
Magnificat

Rich writing, wild ideas, and probably my fave SF series ever.
posted by flutable at 2:47 AM on June 27, 2017

Another vote for Hyperion series by Dan Simmons.

They are very literary. If you want top shelf SF littered with John Keats and other literary inspirations then get the series of four books. No greasy kids' stuff here. It's as horror infused as "Aliens" with a strong dose of Catholicism in space, poetry, detective work, family tragedy, reincarnation, priests on drugs, love, Terminator-like man vs. machine war, interstellar civilizations, mutants, and on and on.

I have yet to find a series that paints more beautiful and other worldly pictures as this. This is pure brain food from soup to nuts. I'd put it up against something universally good like LOTR any day.
posted by Lord Fancy Pants at 10:29 AM on June 27, 2017

Just read Madeline Ashby's Locus Award nominated Company Town: "New Arcadia is a city-sized oil rig off the coast of the Canadian Maritimes, now owned by one very wealthy, powerful, byzantine family: Lynch Ltd. Hwa is of the few people in her community (which constitutes the whole rig) to forgo bio-engineered enhancements."
posted by spamandkimchi at 11:42 AM on June 27, 2017

Also an oldie but goodie for multiple strong female characters - Elizabeth Moon's Serrano Legacy series. I found it when I got sick of the overly overt political lessons in David Weber's Honor Harrington series.
posted by spamandkimchi at 11:45 AM on June 27, 2017 [1 favorite]

Maria Doria Russell, The Sparrow.
posted by the duck by the oboe at 2:12 AM on June 29, 2017