# Good Quality Science Fiction



## moselle (Apr 6, 2010)

My (almost) 15yo son is asking for some science fiction to read. Dh read lots of SciFi when he was young and said he couldn't recommend any of it . I read Dune and Ender's Game a good while ago but I can't remember if they would be appropriate. 

Any suggestions for good quaity, young-person appropriate books?


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## rbcbob (Apr 6, 2010)

Good Quality Science Fiction?

_Origin of Species?_


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## MLCOPE2 (Apr 6, 2010)

Can't go wrong with Star Wars.


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## Skyler (Apr 6, 2010)

Most sci-fi isn't good quality, appropriate or not.

There's the Left Behind series, I suppose... C.S. Lewis had a sci-fi trilogy, but I've never read it.

The Ender's Game series was one of the few I've read that was good quality, but I'm not sure about its appropriateness for a 15-year-old. I personally wouldn't recommend it to my fifteen-year-old (if I had one).


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## MLCOPE2 (Apr 6, 2010)

Skyler said:


> There's the Left Behind series, I suppose...


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## Skyler (Apr 6, 2010)

MLCOPE2 said:


> Can't go wrong with Star Wars.


 
Unless you start getting into all the books that people wrote around the Star Wars universe. Then you run the gamut from appropriate to inappropriate, and from poor quality to ridiculously poor quality. Same goes for Star Trek.


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## MLCOPE2 (Apr 6, 2010)

Skyler said:


> MLCOPE2 said:
> 
> 
> > Can't go wrong with Star Wars.
> ...


 
True, unfortunate, but true.


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## Osage Bluestem (Apr 6, 2010)

Edit. Nevermind


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## MLCOPE2 (Apr 6, 2010)

The screenplay for Tron.


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## Skyler (Apr 6, 2010)

MLCOPE2 said:


> The screenplay for Tron.


 
Tron was good, I agree.


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## Osage Bluestem (Apr 6, 2010)

moselle said:


> My (almost) 15yo son is asking for some science fiction to read. Dh read lots of SciFi when he was young and said he couldn't recommend any of it . I read Dune and Ender's Game a good while ago but I can't remember if they would be appropriate.
> 
> Any suggestions for good quaity, young-person appropriate books?


 
I honestly can't think of anything I could recommend that doesn't have sexual references or excessive gore in it. I've read a lot of fantasy sci/fi. Maybe you could just have him read The Lord of the Rings series and the Narnia series.


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## Ask Mr. Religion (Apr 6, 2010)

Read all six books of the _Foundation Trilogy_. Everyone after Asimov basically ripped him off. 

AMR


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## CalvinandHodges (Apr 6, 2010)

Hi:

Most of Robert Heinlein's early works, _Space Cadet, Starship Troopers, Citizen of the Galaxy, The Menace From Earth, Have Spacesuit Will Travel, etc._ I enjoyed Larry Niven's early work as well, _Tales From the Known Universe, Gil the ARM, Ringworld._

Enjoy,

Rob


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## py3ak (Apr 6, 2010)

C.S. Lewis' _Space Trilogy_ is great. Each one is very different, but they are all good. For beautiful writing I think _Perelandra_ is the best, but for moral criticism _That Hideous Strength_ is hard to beat. But I'd be sorry to have missed _Out of the Silent Planet_.

What people consider appropriate for a 15-year old can vary widely: I don't remember much science fiction that I would personally recommend: I do remember liking James Blish, both his tellings of actual _Star Trek_ episodes and his own independent fiction, though I probably wouldn't enjoy him now. But it's not uncommon for kids in a certain stage to like things that are rather horrible, but still have pretty good taste when they through that epoch.


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## TimV (Apr 6, 2010)

The first of the Ender series is OK. The last is really poor quality p0rn. Stuff by Raymond Feist is really good, and not anywhere near as bad as most, but there's bad stuff in it. You may want to look at Edgar Rice Burroughs who in addition to Tarzan has a Mars series.


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## Philip (Apr 6, 2010)

_1984_ is a classic, but could probably use some parental editing (some rather graphic sex scenes in there--sticky notes are a good way to edit without damaging the book). Also, _Fahrenheit 451_ is considered a classic in the dystopic sci-fi genre.

The _Foundation_ series is also excellent.

And of course there's always classic sci-fi like _Around the World in 80 Days_, _20,000 Leagues Under the Sea_, _Journey to the Center of the Earth_, and _From the Earth to the Moon_ by Jules Verne or _War of the Worlds_ and _The Invisible Man_ by H. G. Welles.

Lewis's _Space Trilogy_ is also good, if he's on the mature end of the 15-year-old spectrum (_That Hideous Strength_, though, needs some sort of background knowledge of the Oxbridge university system and 20th century analytic philosophy and scientism in order to have full effect).


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## JM (Apr 6, 2010)

Dune novels.


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## Poimen (Apr 7, 2010)

Isaac Asimov is brilliant and quite humourous. However I would be cautious with some of his later work because it implies some 'scenes' of a sexual nature, though rarely does he ever write about it in detail. 

A safe place to start are his short stories: _Bicentennial Man, I, Robot_ etc.


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## py3ak (Apr 7, 2010)

I don't think I would recommend _Dune_ - certainly not to a 15-year old. I think the way those books employ certain content is exceptionable. If he could stomach _Dune_, he'd be better off reading Stephen R. Donaldson's _Gap_ series.


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## puritanpilgrim (Apr 7, 2010)

I read Asimov when I was 15. I don't remember anything sexual. It's funny though. Any science fiction I read is always compared to Asimov. It's almost like, when my dad gave me his books, he became the plumbline.


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## TimV (Apr 7, 2010)

Asimov had a particularly violent hatred of Christianity, and it came through by pushing evolution and psychology as replacements for religion. But as been said, the sexuality isn't as explicit as it is today, probably due mostly to the time he wrote.

Dune is more spiritual, as are all of Herbert's works. Creating gods is a theme throughout his works, but the sexuality gets really over the top, like in Helstrom's Hive.

The problem with SciFi and Fantasy is that if one restricts oneself to Biblical themes, one can't write in either genre.

Perhaps you could try alternate history for the kid? Eric Flynn has a series about a 20th century Virginia mining town taken back in time to the 100 years war in Germany. Still lots of sex and bad language, though.


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## JM (Apr 7, 2010)

Sorry folks, I didn't see the reader was 15! 

I normally suggest, for a 15 year old, is something from our YP collection or a dystopian work such as The Bar Code Tattoo by Weyn.


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## moselle (Apr 7, 2010)

Thanks Everyone! I think I'll do a quick search at our public library and see what they have - some of those stories that have become films might interest him. Interesting about Asimov's perpective - ds is often better at picking out the anti-Christian aspects of literature than I am. Short stories might be a good place to start. And I'd forgotten about Verne and Wells.


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## py3ak (Apr 7, 2010)

I forgot to mention these: _Canticle for Leibowitz_ is good, and so is _I Am Legend_. The latter contains some reference to sexual temptation, but it isn't prurient.


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## JennyG (Apr 7, 2010)

I agree that C S Lewis' Cosmic trilogy is brilliant and nothing in it to object to anywhere that I can think of - but it might still be heavy going for someone that age.
Is John Wyndham known in the US? His are more accessible I would say - vintage, but that means nothing unsuitable, and real page-turners .
_Chocky_ (less well-known) could even be good for someone younger still - _The Day of the Triffids_ is about the best though


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## Philip (Apr 7, 2010)

> The problem with SciFi and Fantasy is that if one restricts oneself to Biblical themes, one can't write in either genre.



Actually, I beg to differ. I suppose this would be a good place to put in a plug for Rich Coffeen's _Discipling of Mytra_, which is a sci-fi novel about taking the great commission to space. There's a lot of discussion of sex (and homosexuality) in the novel--but from a reformed Christian perspective.


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## TimV (Apr 7, 2010)

> Canticle for Leibowitz



Did you really like that, Ruben? The main idea (it's been 35 years since I read it, so this from memory) was how Scripture was based on badly interpreted, corrupted writings. Wasn't their Bible based on some guys shopping list?


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## Galatians220 (Apr 7, 2010)

Not so much of a science fiction novel as a genuine *thrill-ride* of a fantasy is George MacDonald's "Phantastes." MacDonald was a Christian mythopoetic author who wrote this book in 1857. When I read it a few years ago, I expected it to be tame, prosaic, boring, etc. "Phantastes" is anything but that. The thing stays with you, too, for quite awhile after you finish it...

Margaret


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## JM (Apr 7, 2010)

Star Trek...anyone?


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## JennyG (Apr 7, 2010)

JM said:


> Star Trek...anyone?


not the books! anything but the books!!
(not any one that I've seen, anyway)

---------- Post added at 07:35 PM ---------- Previous post was at 07:33 PM ----------

repeating my previous question, just out of interest -
does anyone know John Wyndham's books in the States?


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## Jerusalem Blade (Apr 7, 2010)

Hi Moselle,

One approach would be to check out the Arts and Faith -> Literature & Creative Writing forum. I've seen some discussion of Christian (authors writing) sci fi, and at least one of the posters has a sci fi / fantasy series he's published. You could even ask for suggestions if you join the Arts & Faith board.

Also there is Stephen Lawhead's two-volume sci fi work, _Empyrion_ (ISBN 0745918727). I have it but haven't yet read it, though a friend recommended it highly. Lawhead is, I am given to believe, a Christian. If _Empyrion_ is half as good as his Arthurian legend series (_Taliesin_ the award-winning first novel in that) it should be great. Though I did not like his early _In the Hall of the Dragon King_ at all.

I agree with TimV, I didn't like _Canticle for Leibowitz_ either. Nor did I think much of C.S. Lewis' space trilogy (read it when I was a young Christian maybe 35 or more years ago). I read some Dune and Foundation stuff ages ago but I can't even remember them.

I am of the mind what's really happening in the spirit world and on the earth today far exceeds any sci fi or fantasy fictions, but who tells it? At some point I'll introduce some of my own writings in the visionary adventure non-fiction genre.

Hope this helps.


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## moselle (Apr 7, 2010)

JennyG said:


> JM said:
> 
> 
> > Star Trek...anyone?
> ...


 
I am not familiar with Wyndham, and he is not carried at our local library; but a quick search on Amazon shows that he is very highly regarded - especially The Day of the Triffids. 

I found Empyrion at the library - I didn't care for Lawhead's "Hood", but ds might really enjoy it. I've also heard good things about Taliesin. I will check out that lit. forum, Steve

Ds has read The Anubis Gates by Tim Powers, which isn't exactly sci-fi, but maybe close enough? I've heard Declare is his best.


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## Eoghan (Apr 7, 2010)

I would recommend Stanislaw Lem. He is from Czechoslovakia which led him to write very funny stories which stand as humour. Once you realise he was writing in a heavily censored communist state the irony becomes clear.

I would also recommend John Wyndham "the trouble with lichen" - I read it in High School some thirty years ago and loved it - I think the way human nature was revealed was the main interest. He is in my opinion a gifted writer.

OH ONE THING TO WATCH OUT FOR THE TRILOGY!!! Almost every book published in this genre presupposes a sequel so beware - even books I have picked up that look like a novel often turn out to be part of a series.


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## py3ak (Apr 7, 2010)

TimV said:


> > Canticle for Leibowitz
> 
> 
> 
> Did you really like that, Ruben? The main idea (it's been 35 years since I read it, so this from memory) was how Scripture was based on badly interpreted, corrupted writings. Wasn't their Bible based on some guys shopping list?



Tim, yes I did enjoy it; it wasn't the best writing I've ever read, of course, but I liked the atmosphere, the characters, etc. I don't remember anything quite like what you say: of course a lot of knowledge is lost, but a lot is retained. I think the following quote might give you something to enjoy, and show something of the book's value:



> He fingered the mound of faggots where the wooden martyr stood. That's where all of us are standing now, he thought. On the fat kindling of past sins. And some of them are mine. Mine, Adam's Herod's, Judas', Hannegan's, mine. Everybody's. Always culminates in the colossus of the State, somehow, drawing about itself the mantle of godhood, being struck down by the wrath of Heaven. Why? We shouted it loudly enough—God's to be obeyed by nations as by men. Caesar's to be God's policeman, not His plenipotentiary successor, nor His heir. To all ages, all peoples—"Whoever exalts a race or a State or a particular form of State or the depositories of power ... whoever raises these notions above their standard value and divinizes them to an idolatrous level, distorts and perverts an order of the world planned and created by God...." Where had that come from? Eleventh Pius, he though, without certainty—eighteen centuries ago. But when Caesar got the means to destroy the world, wasn't he already divinized? Only by the consent of the people—same rabble that shouted: "_Non habemus regem nisi caesarem_," when confronted by Him—God Incarnate, mocked and spat upon. Same rabble that martyred Leibowitz....
> "Caesar's divinity is showing again."


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## Augusta (Apr 7, 2010)

I recently read (screened) two sci-fi books for my kids. I have allowed my 14 & 15yr olds to read them, but I don't think I would go lower than that because of some scary aspects. They are both dystopian settings. The first is The Maze Runner  which is going to be a trilogy with only one extant so far. The second is also a trilogy the first being The Hunger Games followed by Catching Fire. The second trilogy has a little bit of romance that is very light. I think a boy would like it anyway because it is a small part of the overall story which is kids forced to fight in the Hunger Games. THG is much deeper but a boy might like TMR better. One warning for TMR is that the "gladers" have their own made up vulgarities which have more and less obvious real world counterparts. It is an all boys cast for the most part with a Lord of the Flies twist. Both books are really hard to put down. My girls burned through them really fast. I did too. 

Has anyone else here read Fred Saberhagen's sci-fi stuff? I have such a bad memory so I would like a little help remembering, but I really enjoyed his sci-fi stuff. Stay away from his fantasy since I do remember some sexual content in those.


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## Montanablue (Apr 7, 2010)

I thought The Hunger Games was excellent - its been a big hit with the kids in our library. 

I have a number of other things I could recommend, but I think they might all be deemed inappropriate based on what I'm reading in above posts. At least do Lewis' Space Trilogy though. I LOVED it and my brothers loved it more.


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## Augusta (Apr 8, 2010)

Kathleen, did you know they are making The Hunger Games into a movie out in 2011?


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## JBaldwin (Apr 8, 2010)

I loved reading C.S. Lewis’ space triology. I recently re-read “That Hideous Strength” and again am amazed a Lewis’ insight into our times. A thinking 15-year old would enjoy them. 

I don’t recommend Dune. 

Lawhead is a great author, but it seems I remember that some of his books were a bit graphic when it came to violence


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## Dwimble (Apr 8, 2010)

JennyG said:


> JM said:
> 
> 
> > Star Trek...anyone?
> ...


 
Actually, almost all of the Star Trek novels by Peter David are well done. They are an original series of books (Star Trek: New Frontier) written about a completely new ship and crew, set in the Star Trek universe but with only a tangental relationship to the other, known Star Trek characters and ships.

Also, if you can find it, I HIGHLY recommend the Pelbar Cycle by Paul O. Williams. It is a series of seven fairly short books. It is a post-apocalyptic series that combines elements of both sci-fi and fantasy. My wife and I LOVE them. They were out of print for about 20 years but were recently re-released around 2005.

Mike


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## JennyG (Apr 8, 2010)

I wasn't being too serious, Mike  My family have been absolutely marinated in Star Trek ever since my eldest son first discovered it aged eight or nine (he's now26), but the only books we ever had were random ones picked up in charity shops, which seemed to be uniformly awful. I'm sure you're right there are some good ones!
Not sure if fresh and unrelated characters would have gone down as well in this house though, after so many years acquaintance with the old cast...
I think Voyager is the best series (but we loved the new movie too)


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## Dwimble (Apr 8, 2010)

I had the same experience as you...random ST novels that were almost uniformly awful. But the Peter David novels are really well done. I dislike most of the others I've read. I didn't think I'd like the New Frontier, but I was surprised. The characters are great, the situations are original and it is all fresh because it isn't rehashing old storylines or TV characters that never quite seem like they're written right. There are a couple of key characters in the books that had minor roles on a few episodes, so they do have a tie in. And the main character, the captain of the ship, is recruited by Picard in the first book. I think there's something like 15 or 20 of those books. Periodically I check to see if he has written another. I don't even bother with the rest, because more often than not they stink.

But of course I don't typically care much for sci-fi novels anyway. I prefer fantasy. There's a LOT of that I could recommend, but my experience with the other is limited.

Mike


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## Willem van Oranje (Apr 12, 2010)

I've heard some good reviews of this Mormon Science-fiction author as an example of a talented writer who "keeps it clean":

The Science Fiction and Fantasy of
B. Franklin Thatcher



Bruce Franklin Thatcher is an award-winning science fiction and fantasy author who lives in Orem, Utah, not far from BYU, a university that has produced numerous major sf/f authors, such as Orson Scott Card, Dave Wolverton, and Diann Thornley. 

Thatcher may be best known for his "Star Trek" stories in the Strange New Worlds anthologies. Thatcher had stories chosen for publication in both of the first two "Strange New Worlds" contests, including his 2nd place story "Of Cabbages and Kings" (out of over 3,000 entries). 

Thatcher's dark fantasy story "By Other Windings" won a first place prize in the "Writers of the Future" contest, the world's most prestigous (and highest paying) contest for new science fiction/fantasy writers. Previous WoTF contest winners have included such major s.f. novelists as Dave Wolverton (author of The Courtship of Princess Leia, Serpent Catch, etc.), David Zindell (Neverness), Bell, Barnes, Hoffman, Rusch, etc. Like these WoTF predecessors, Thatcher may also become a major writer in the field. 

After "I Am Become Death" (a story about Data) was published in the 2nd Strange New Worlds anthology, Thatcher was no longer eligible for publication in venues such as these, which cater to new writers. But he has continued to write and publish short stories and is currently working on a novel. 

Thatcher has dealt with a variety of themes in his fiction, but ethics and morality are always central considerations, although approached from unusual perspectives. In "Of Cabbages and Kings", "I Am Become Death" and "By Other Windings" the nature of the human or sentient soul has been explored in stories focusing on a starship computer, an android, and a demon. In each of these stories, an intelligent but ostensibly soulless being is spirited instantly from its own familiar reality to an unfamiliar realm where it confronts choices to grow or perish, to be a willful agent or the pawn of others. Yet these stories are so completely different in tone and content that most readers would never notice these commonalities, unless they were specifically reading Thatcher stories and looking for them. Thatcher is first and foremost telling interesting, compelling stories, and any common "themes" are so deeply imbedded in the fabric of his fiction that even he seems unaware of them.


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## Montanablue (Apr 12, 2010)

Augusta said:


> Kathleen, did you know they are making The Hunger Games into a movie out in 2011?


 
No, I didn't! Oh, that's quite exciting. I hope its good.


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## py3ak (Apr 12, 2010)

Charles Williams may be a little hard to follow, and it's not strictly SF or fantasy, but the books do make an indelible impression. I think I liked _Many Dimensions_ best, but _War in Heaven_ is also very good.


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## jandrusk (Apr 17, 2010)

I would be careful with Heinlein. Starship Troopers is probably fine, but stay away from Stranger in a Strange Land. I really liked the story plot, but it's anti-Christian tones irritated me so much that I threw the book in the trash. I like the Star Trek New Earth series and the Lewis books mentioned already are pretty good. Another reason I have for reading science fiction is to dissect the world views that are usually irreligious and I find it helps for defending the faith with the different views that are out there. Wisdom though is needed for this given all of the **** in lots of the material. For a 15 year old, though I would stick with Star Trek. 

At least for the T.V. series there are a number of biblical drivers for some of the shows that can be found here ==> Bible - Memory Alpha, the Star Trek Wiki


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## Grymir (Apr 17, 2010)

Roger Zelazny - The Chronicles of Amber

Michael Moorcock - Elric of Melniboné series (This was/is perhaps my favorite)

Anne McCaffrey - Dragonriders of Perns series 

Terry Brooks - Sword of Shanara series

Tolkien - The Silmarillion

Piers Anthony - Xanth series

Stephen R. Donaldson - The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant, the Unbeliever

I read all these books when I was in High School. Does it show that I like series as opposed to a single book.


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