Much help needed. (please? lol)

[FadedOne]

hmm...ok, so I really would love some book recommendations. Partly for myself, but mostly for my younger bro(17). He's wanting to read a decent amount this summer, but i'm coming up blank w/ things to suggest. =/

He's read all the current Harry Potter books (several times :-P), the Redwall series, LOTR, um...various other stuff which I forget.

There's lots of things I probably COULD suggest that I've heard of that i've yet to read but want to. I really want to avoid recommending stuff w/ sexual content though. Language and violence are ok(moreso the latter...but not like..excessive) but yeah....Im just not sure how to know what kind of content is in books w/o having read them first.

Would help me greatly if those reading this would suggest some non-disturbing fiction for him to read. I was debating suggesting Dune and Star Wars series stuff b/c i'm going to read those myself eventually, but im really not sure how clean said books would be. Personally I read most anything(which is uh..not necessarily good lol) but i'm sibling-protective.

anyways yeah...help would be MUCH appreciated. Thanks!

[Namelessknight]

The first 3 dune books are clean, and the prequels are too, as I recall. and there are 6 prequels, so that should keep him busy.

As for the starwars stuff, go with the NJO series. Clean, cool[IMO] and even tho the writing styles all vary, that helps add to the uniqueness of it. And, it is long.

From what you've mentioned, here are a couple of others:
Michael Stackpole-his Xwing series[someone else took over halfway thru, but still really good, plus, is starwars...]
and most of his other fantasies Talion:Revenant and Once A Hero were my faves.

The DeathGate Cycle series by Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman. Might be a bit much, being 7books long, but it is worth it. Rather "dualistic" in it's world view, just be aware.

And most of Terry Brooks stuff. I would stay away from the Word & the Void series til you've checked them out[extremely dualistic and good never prevails over evil, but simply contains it, rather depressing]. But the Shannara series were all good, content wise anyway...

[Kkun]

I definitely second Namelessknight's recommendation about the Star Wars New Jedi Order series. Those books are great, but as a slight warning, they are darker than some of the other stuff, but he's 17 so that shouldn't be any problem. I highly recommend NJO. Vector Prime by R.A. Salvatore is the first book. It's really quite good.

[FadedOne]

yay...thanks!! I shall take note of these and look into them directly.
*showers namelessknight and kkun with appreciation*

More suggestions still welcome. ^_^

[Arnobius]

Quo Vadis by Henryk Sienkiewicz. An excellent novel about the early days of Christianity

[Yumie]

Well, I cannot possibly help myself but to suggest my favorite author, Ted Dekker. Pretty much anything by him rocks, although if your brother was to decide to read something by him, I would suggest Thr3e first, that one was my favorite. It doesn't quite fit the sci-fi genre he seems to enjoy, but they're still great fiction novels that are really captivating and creative. Second favorite by him was Blink.

[oro!]

Um......The #1 Ladies Detective Agency by Alexander Mcall Smith is a good read. I don't know if your brother would read it, though...

[lionheart]

I would recommend, Old Mortality - by Sir Walter Scott. Awesome story! The beginning 35% is a little weak in my opinion, but after that the rest of the story is very well done.
The only thing that I can think of that might be troublesome, is the fanaticism of some members from opposing Christian denominations. But as far as I'm aware, the book is based on a Christian worldview.

[Ssjjvash]

He might enjoy Shadowmancer by G. P. Taylor. And I think there is a sequel called Wormwood.
I haven't read the sequel yet though, so I'm not sure, but Shadowmancer is great!

[Godly Paladin]

Dune I do recommend, although you're entering a whole other world of sci-fi when you read that first word.

Now, for Star Wars. We all know there are TONS of books out there. The X-Wing series, the New Jedi Order, etcetera.

I always try to state most vehemently that those are *not* the ones you want to read. That stuff is kid's play compared to the following, all by Timothy Zahn:

1) Heir to the Empire
2) Dark Force Rising
3) The Last Command
4) Specter of the Past
5) Vision of the Future
7) Survivor's Quest
8) Outbound Flight

They are to be read in that order, and are the official continuations to the Star Wars saga. Meaning that if Lucas made more films, these would be it. Zahn's writing is par excellence, and I can't praise the books enough. It gets me so aggravated to hear about people who love all this other stuff and have never read these! So go read 'em!

Ahem.

Sorry if I got a little uppity there...this particular subject kinda pumps me up. >_<;;

[Namelessknight]

Now, for Star Wars. We all know there are TONS of books out there. The X-Wing series, the New Jedi Order, etcetera.

I always try to state most vehemently that those are *not* the ones you want to read. That stuff is kid's play compared to the following, all by Timothy Zahn:

1) Heir to the Empire
2) Dark Force Rising
3) The Last Command
4) Specter of the Past
5) Vision of the Future
7) Survivor's Quest
8) Outbound Flight

They are to be read in that order, and are the official continuations to the Star Wars saga. Meaning that if Lucas made more films, these would be it. Zahn's writing is par excellence, and I can't praise the books enough. It gets me so aggravated to hear about people who love all this other stuff and have never read these! So go read 'em!

yeah, Zahn's stuff is the best, but the others are better known, hence, get more recognition and are more "chattable" because more have read them. And the non-Zahn stuff isn't bad by any means. I still recommend Xwing and NJO highly.

On a side note, I didn't realize Outbound Flight had come out. Blast! Now I'm gonna have to get my grubby hands on it somehow..
EDIT
[just checked BN.com and realized the reason I hadn't realized it had come out is because it doesn't come out til OCTOBER!!!!!]
Don't SAY things like that and get our hopes all up. That was just cruel...

[FadedOne]

all these replies much appreciate. *eyes glow particularly much at the STar Wars books info* thanks! ^_^

[Michael]

'Great Expectations' by Dickens is great for a young man. 'Odd Thomas' by Dean Koontz does have some disturbing stuff in it, but the overall message is very positive.

'Ender's Game' is great (forgot the author.) I adore 'The Dark Tower' series by Stephen King, but it's definietly for more mature readers.

[Technomancer]

Terry Pratchett! In particular I'd recommend "Good Omens" and "The Amazing Maurice and His Educated Rodents". Pretty much all of his books are good reading though.

[gundam743]

Try Gideon's Dawn by Michael Warden. It's one of the best books I've ever read (in fact, i'm rereading it right now!)

[kirakira]

I liked *as far as the Star Wars books I've read* the Jedi Academy trilogy, and the Corellian triolgy wasn't bad either. I hear good things about the X-wing ones too.

heh, the Count of Monte Cristo is good, but that's not everyone's cup of tea (not to mention it's ginormous).

Um, I didn't like the Binding of the Blade books (well, actually, I've only read the first), by L.B. Grahm, but I'm very much in the minority. They're written by a nice Christian man, and the one I read was squeaky clean.

Wings of Dawn, by Sigmund Brouwer.

*will inspect bookshelf and return if she comes across anything else*

[Alice]

Allow me to suggest "Curious Notions" by Harry Turtledove. It's very clean, and it reads like it's for young adults, though I'm not sure if it's meant to or not. It's also fast-paced and somewhat of a thought-piece at the same time. It doesn't sound possible, does it? A lot of time is spent with people thinking through the reprecussions of things. The hero and heroine are around your brother's age. I really enjoyed the story.

Allow me to also recommend the books by Karen Hancock. The Shadow Within, and the one before that, the title of which I forget. They're rather long, Christian fantasy books. (There is a third as well coming out soon or just out.) But it sounds like long books wouldn't bother your brother.

"The Gifted" by Terri Blackstock was an interesting, short Christian book. It was like God gave four people spiritual superpowers, and how they used them.

Dragonspell by Donita K. Paul is a wonderful Christian children's fantasy. If you bro likes stuff like that at all, he'll like this. There are seven good races and seven bad races, and the heroine gets to hatch dragon eggs and raise the dragons. (One faints a lot!) And of course there is a quest and more books yet to come in the series. Anyway, it's cool.

And I simply must recommend the mystery "A Most Contagious Game," by Catherine Aird, not because I have any idea whether your brother would like it, simply because it is my favorite mystery of all time.

Hope this helps, and kudos to you and your brother, for reading and caring about what you read. (I'm protective of my younger brother like that, too.) ^.^

[Namelessknight]

Just be careful of Harry Turtledove's other stuff. I've only read two others of his, both alternate history, and profanity was quite profuse, and the sexuality, while not explicit, was something a christian shouldn't have to deal with.

[kirakira]

Oh, the Firebird trilogy by Kathy Tyers is REALLY good! Even if they do sorta look like chick books, they're some of my favorites. *eyes shine as she huggles them* (btw, if you've read her Star Wars books, don't worry, these are like, a bazillion times better)

[oro!]

Dragonspell by Donita K. Paul is a wonderful Christian children's fantasy. If you bro likes stuff like that at all, he'll like this. There are seven good races and seven bad races, and the heroine gets to hatch dragon eggs and raise the dragons. (One faints a lot!) And of course there is a quest and more books yet to come in the series. Anyway, it's cool.

Cool! I thought I was the only one on the world reading that book. There is also a sequel out, but havent read it so, yo no se.

I think Ender's Game is way too violent, but perhaps he'll like it.

[Puguni]

Terry Pratchett! In particular I'd recommend "Good Omens" and "The Amazing Maurice and His Educated Rodents". Pretty much all of his books are good reading though.

I second that. Terry Pratchett has this dry humor that makes it amuses throughout his works.

What about some Asimov?

[Knives]

The Halo Books are pretty good, They have a fair amount of profanity and violence but there are no f bombs that I remember.

[TurkishMonky]

he could go through the list of books by frank peretti, they're pretty good -and longer too.

[Icarus]

Regarding what Michael said about Ender's Game, the author is Orson Scott Card. The two series by him that I'd recommend are the Ender books and the Shadow Series. The only "sex scene" that I recall in any of his works is in the first book of his Homecoming series, and it was decidedly non-erotic. Language is a bit heavy IIRC, though I don't remember the F-word.


... After thinking about it, I'd say these might be more for you than him. Hope you enjoy them.

Oh. Read Modesitt. He's written more books than I can recall offhand, and between my older sister and I, we probably own most of them.

[SnowLeopard]

What about some Asimov?

I highly recomend any of his "Robot" stories.