Old Man's War. It's about an old man who joins the armed wing of Earth's colonizing force, which only recruits from the oldest portions of society. It's the first book in a series of books that deal with mankind's expansion into space, and the possible problems.

If you like science fiction, go buy it right now. Don't look at any plot descriptions, because most of them spoil the questions surrounding why only the old are recruited, which doesn't get answered until a third of the way into the book.

Anything by Timothy Zahn is solid gold, but I'd start with Heir to the Empire. It was one of the earliest Expanded Universe works, so you don't have to know a bunch of obscure backstory to read it. It's also notable for creating a lot of the canon that appeared in later EU stuff and even some stuff from the prequels.

In no order:

The Gunslinger

Stranger In A Strange Land

Siddhartha

Ender’s Game

East of Eden

The Stranger

Ender's Game - By Orson Scott Card

Hell, the whole series of books he wrote after Ender's Game is great.

DRASTIC SPOILERS

Inside the cave Yoda had a fight with a powerful Sith master during the time of the old republic. Yoda won, but where the sith master died, a powerful dark side echo formed. It's possible that Yoda used this as a sort of camoflage to hide from the Emperor's force sensitive agents. The only surviving equipment he left behind at the scene was the sith's old summoning beacon. 1

When he considered Luke ready, he had Luke venture into the cave to face the dark side. He didn't want Luke to bring his weapon because Yoda knew that it was no true threat, just an echo.

Luke, while he was in the cave, saw that the true threat to the galaxy was himself. If he could not master himself, he would become a worse threat than his father ever was.

International Links

AU: https://www.amazon.com.au/dp/B0711C45FC

MX: https://www.amazon.com.mx/dp/B0711C45FC

CA: https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B0711C45FC

BR: https://www.amazon.com.br/dp/B0711C45FC

JP: https://www.amazon.co.jp/dp/B0711C45FC

NL: https://www.amazon.nl/dp/B0711C45FC

IT: https://www.amazon.it/dp/B0711C45FC

ES: https://www.amazon.es/dp/B0711C45FC

FR: https://www.amazon.fr/dp/B0711C45FC

DE: https://www.amazon.de/dp/B0711C45FC

UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0711C45FC

I don't know if it is exactly what you are looking for, but you may like Ender's Game.

There is only the one book. The movie only used the book as a premise and went off on its own. Anyone who has read the book pretty much doesn't like the movie. I don't think the 2nd and 3rd made it to theaters...
If you like bug killing adventures, look at Armor. If you like a more engrossing story look at Ender's Game.

Some contemporary options that I can't get out of my head since I read (listened) to them:

• The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August by Claire North. She's a new author and the book was simply amazing.
  
• Children of Time by Adrian Tchaikovsky. Amazing "first contact" story.
  
• Fear the Sky by Stephen Moss. Well-done invasion story.

Thrawn trilogy by Timothy Zahn. It's where I started, and in my opinion some of the best published. What it did better than anything else was capture the adventure and excitement of the star wars movies. It also introduces a good number of characters that you will end up reading about later if you continue to read the books. After that you can read Kevin J. Anderson's trilogy, and then start picking up the singles, like Truce at Bakura, Courtship of Princess Leia, the one with the jedi hutt and luke has a girlfriend ghost. If you decide to skip all those and only read the Thrawn books also read the Thrawn duology which ties up a lot of the stuff from the trilogy that is left open. It isn't left open in a bad way, there is just more stuff that could happen. You will eventually get to the New Jedi Order stuff and then everything else that happened after that, but that is beyond the scope of my recommendations. Also, the links are for the first books, I figure you can figure out the sequels if you end up buying the first books. Also, you can get them for like a dollar at your used book store so don't get them from amazon.

edit: Also, if you have any questions feel free to ask, I read all of the books published by bantam as a child and half the new jedi order series before I gave up and started reading "real" science fiction. Don't take that the wrong way, I enjoyed the star wars books, sometimes one just needs to diversify! I should re-read the thrawn trilogy. :-D

> "You've been to the Frontier?"

> "To it, through it, past it", the woman smiled. "Don't tell no one, but I got as far as the Formidine Rift, not many folks can say that! No one has gone past it and lived to tell the tale."

> "The Formid ...?"

> "Edge of the galactic arm. Take a line from Reorte to Riedquat to the edge of the arm, and ... keep going." The woman grimaced. "Stars thin out, you can see the whole galaxy just hanging there. I took a fancy to going exploring after I lost ...", she paused, a sadness creeping across her face. "... had some time to spare. Quiet for the most part, until ..."

> "Until what?"

> "Let's just say there was some serious shit out there. Stuff you wouldn't believe. No, really - no one believed me, said it was all fabrication. I had no proof, you see, and they edited my memory afterwards. Ah, it'll all come back to bite them one day. It's all in the Imperial databanks somewhere ... and they thought the thargoids were trouble."

-- excerpt from a conversation between Senator Kahina Tijani Loren and a retired explorer, Reclamation by Drew Wagar

Well done man! That is absolutely fantastic, I very much love when fan made works of art like this take a look at the soldiers and portrays them as people. Great work! I'd be very interested to see similar art based on humanizing scenes featuring NC and Vanu. Though I guess with Vanu it'd make more sense to show the look of pain as the new convert is altered with alien technology.

As Aldo mentioned, its great to see a nod to the horrors of being killed in gruesome ways over and over again in an endless war. There's a book by Kevin Kauffmann named "Murder of Crows" it's about convicts and other dregs of society who are put on a artificially made prison planet and made to compete in war games against other teams. Right before someone is killed during the games, their brain is copied via an implant in the neck and uploaded to a satelite, then installed into a clone of that person. It's pretty interesting read and very similar to how Planetside presents the re-birthing matrix.

Link to the Book: (Unless I'm mistaken, looks like the first book in the series is free)
http://www.amazon.com/Murder-Crows-Icarus-Trilogy-ebook/dp/B007ZKGQX8

Star Wars Darth Bane Trilogy (Written by Drew Karpshyn):

1. Darth Bane: Path of Destruction
   
   
2. Darth Bane: Rule of Two
   
3. Darth Bane: Dynasty of Evil
   
   This is the trilogy I recommend starting out on. It gives a lot of history and background on Sith culture and how modern Sith philosophy was (this would be Old Republic Era, just so you understand what I mean by modern) and towards the end of the trilogy brings about the creation of the rule of two and the revolutionized Sith philosophy created by Darth Bane (which would be the Sith you see in the movies and anything in the books after that).
   
   Then I would recommend reading this. This book takes place about a millennium after the events of the Darth Bane trilogy were set in motion and will help you see how the Sith in the movie plot are connected to the Sith in history. I think reading these four books will help anyone interested in the Sith make the transition from "Evil villian bad guys that hurl lightning at Jedi just because" to "Human beings with feelings, goals, plans, and standards who are trying to achieve universal conquest at all costs" and bring Sith from other books you might read in full circle from being labeled as "psychotic evil sadist" to "unconventional anti-hero that probably has an actual story besides being conveniently evil for dat plot".
   
   If you're asking about Star Wars books in general I still recommend reading the books I listed before first just because they give so much depth to a mostly uncovered concept in the Star Wars universe that many authors don't bother going into. You can read any series as long as you start at "Book One" of the series (to avoid confusion) and know where in the timeline the book you're reading is taking place (there is a timeline in the front of just about every Star Wars book that will tell you when the book takes place in relation to the movies and other series. I'll list a few series that I think everyone should read right now in preparation for the Disney Star Wars Movie (Sith help us, please let it be good).
   
   First off and by far my favorite series is the Darth Bane into Darth Plagueis series (the ones I listed before). There will be a lot of Sith stuff going on in the new movie so it'd be important to have an understanding of them or at least get references, and this series is where you will learn that from.
   
   The next series is the Han Solo Saga. These are two separate trilogies about Han Solo's adventures before the movies that were written by two different authors but one is written to follow and compliment the other trilogy, making it a full saga. This is a book of three short stories. Start out reading the first book in this trilogy: (Book 1, Book 2, Book 3) then alternate between book and trilogy story respectively.
   
   The last one is what the new movie will actually be based off of and it isn't a series I enjoyed too much but wasn't bad either. Here it is, The Jedi Academy Series: (Book 1, Book 2, Book 3).
   
   There it is, this is my list of "must reads" but you can really throw a dart at a list of all of the Star Wars books and find a good series. A lot of people really like the Republic Commando series (I have not yet read it) and a lot like the Red Squadron series, so it's really preference. The stuff they made to history-fill for SWTOR release is pretty good too and most are singles and not in a series if you don't like to read much. Enjoy! :)

Most of the time I am "in the mood" for a certain genre or type of book. I will recommend some of my favorites that are easy to read and enjoyable. With a super short summary to see if it sparks your interest.

Fantasy:

• Name of the Wind : Great fantasy novel which follows a single character, Kvothe, who is an old innkeeper with a mysterious and illustrious past telling the story of how he became a legend. It is very well written and highly entertaining, the book is all about Kvothe as a teenager just trying to survive and becoming an arcanist. Highly recommended.
  
  
• Mistborn Trilogy : I've only read the first one. A dystopian world where ash falls from the sky every day with a centuries old tyrannical ruler. The story follows a young girl who is just trying to survive on the streets any way she can but gets caught up with revolutionists. Very enjoyable, and a unique magic system.
  
  Scifi:
  
  
• Ender's Game: This an Dune are always recommended for anyone looking to get into scifi...as well as Foundation series (which I haven't read :/). Earth has been attacked by an alien species of bugs...twice. We barely survived last time, so in order for us to prepare if it happens again Earth has started training military geniuses. Ender is one of the children chosen for training, and he is the best of the best. The story focuses on him and his story about rising through the ranks to try and save earth.
  
  
• Dune: If you want to experience a sand world with giant worms, extreme political tension, plot twists, feints within feints. I could say more, but simply saying that it is in my Top 3 favorite books says enough.
  
  
• Hitch-hiker's guide to the galaxy: Probably one of the funniest books I've ever read. It is highly regarded among this community and geeks as a whole. Do not judge it by the movie, this is a must-read book if you want a laugh.
  
  

I'd suggest one of the following:

• Old Man's War by John Scalzi. Well written, fun and an easy read.
  
• Seeker by Jack McDevitt. A good old fashioned archaeology mystery set 9,000 years in the future.
  
• Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card. Classic story about the child selected to lead Earth's defense against alien invaders.

I think next to Accelerando, by Charles Stross, the best singularity novel I've read was River of Gods, by Ian McDonald.
Don't miss also Cyberabad Days, the short-story collection set in the same universe. Most stories in there are excellent, but the novella "Vishnu at the Cat Circus" is just amazing.

https://www.amazon.com/Door-into-Summer-Robert-Heinlein/dp/0345330129/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1519432691&sr=8-1&keywords=heinlein+door+summer

Go get your copy of Game of Thrones and start over :)

If you like science fiction at all, I've been reading Dread Empire's Fall. It's pretty good.

Also, the Foundation Trilogy by Asimov.

Edit: Also, The Hyperion Cantos is excellent and incredibly epic. Just the summary of it gives me chills: "On the eve of Armageddon, with the entire galaxy at war, seven pilgrims set forth on a final voyage to Hyperion seeking the answers to the unsolved riddles of their lives. Each carries a desperate hope--and a terrible secret. And one may hold the fate of humanity in his hands."

Scalzi's Old Man's War was excellent. I devoured it in the initial reading, and I've re-read it about 3 times since (all this year).

It might be helpful if you give us a list of any books you've read that you did enjoy or genres you think you might like.

I have never met a person who didn't love Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy but it may not be your thing if you don't like wacked-out sci-fi so some general idea of your interests could help a ton with suggestions.

A Short History of Nearly Everything is a solid non-fiction

Robot Dreams is a great set of sci-fi short stories

Ender's Game gets a ton of hate but is a pretty great sci-fi

On A Pale Horse is an older series that I'd consider fantasy but with sci-fi elements

Where the Red Fern Grows is well loved fiction

A Zoo in My Luggage is non-fic but about animal collecting trips for a zoo and is hilarious.

Darth Bane trilogy!

https://www.amazon.com/Path-Destruction-Star-Wars-Darth/dp/0345477375/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1494865959&sr=8-1&keywords=darth+bane

Best place to start is the Timothy Zahn series. It picks up shortly after Return of the Jedi and is some of the best writing you'll find. It has possibly the best villain in the Star Wars universe hands down, I found myself hoping the bad guys would win about halfway through.

https://www.amazon.com/Heir-Empire-Star-Wars-Trilogy/dp/0553296124

The Timothy Zahn books are really good. You can get all 3 on Amazon for about 23 bucks: http://www.amazon.com/Heir-Empire-Star-Wars-Trilogy/dp/0553296124/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1259835520&sr=8-1

Tales from Jabba's Palace was entertaining. My Mom got me the Millennium Falcon novel last Christmas, it was pretty interesting.

The New Jedi Order was good, but I stopped about 5-6 books into it. I read the summary on Wiki/Wookiepedia, and it sounds like they kind of jumped the shark. I might try to finish it up eventually though.

In all honesty, the Hobbit and Lord of the Rings are pretty tough to get into, since they are practically the ur-examples of fantasy, written back when a lot of commercial fiction methodology was still being developed.

When i read a book, I worry first and foremost if I'm entertained, if I am, I'll give it my recommendation, regardless of the flaws. These are the ones I think you'd find best for jumping in with.

YA/Middle Grade Books

• The Maze Runner Trilogy by James Dashner (post-apocalypse)
  
  
• Percy Jackson by Rick Riordan (modern kid finds he's the son of Poseidon)
  
  
• Leviathan/Behemoth/Goliath by Scott Westerfeld] (World war 1 with mechs and genetically engineered animals)
  
  
• Eragon by Christopher Paolini (a kid finds a dragon egg and fights the big bad guy. As a warning, it uses the exact same monomyth structure as Star Wars so the similarities are... apt.)
  
  
  Fantasy
  
  
• Mistborn Trilogy by Brandon Sanderson (a gang of thieves try to rob the evil overlord)
  
  
• Game of Thrones by George R.R. Martin (a brutal war between about a half different factions over who gets the crown. Gets really complex fast so it might not be a great one to start with.)
  
  
• Lies of Locke Lamora by Scott Lynch (I always say it's Oceans 11 written in the Game of Thrones world)
  Discworld by Terry Pratchet (I'd recommend not starting at the beginning.)
  
  
  Sci-Fi
  
  
• Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card (it's Ender's Game. You must read this)
  
  
• Old Man's War by John Scalzi (Not sure how to pitch this. It's space marines fighting everyone)
  
  
• The Sector General Series by James White (It's like House, but in space with aliens. Not without flaws but very underrated in my view)
  
  
  Urban Fantasy
  
  
• The Dresden Files by Jim Butcher (a hard boiled private eye who is also a wizard)
  
  
• Monster Hunter International by Larry Correia (Band of mercenaries hunt monsters. The author is very libertarian/right wing so if you can't stand that, you might not like the books. The kindle edition has to be bought from the baen.com bookstore)
  
  
• Grimnoire Chronicles by Larry Correia (1930's with magic, zeppelins, etc Same warning as above, but it's more subdued here.)
  
  
  Thrillers/Suspense
  
  
• Da Vinci Code/Angels and Demons by Dan Brown (even though I think Brown really needs to improve his writing style, he still can get the books going pretty intensely)
  
  
• Jurassic Park, Timeline, Congo, etc by Michael Crichton (a bit tougher reads since they're pretty scientific, but still good stuff)
  
  
• John Grisham's early work such as A Time to Kill, The Firm, Runaway Jury, etc. (legal thrillers but not hard to get into. I'm not a huge fan of his later stuff)

I have three books that I love to loan out (or just strongly recommend to those weirdos out there who refuse a loaner):

• Ender's Game, which has been mentioned.
  
  
• Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman.
  
  
• Lamb by Christopher Moore.
  
  The first two books have in some ways shaped my life over the years. The last book is just the funniest I've ever read.

If you like this aspect of Star Wars, I highly recommend the Republic Commando Series. It doesn't portray the Jedi in a white knight sort of thing.

Old Man's War by John Scalzi

Use whatever makes the most dramatic and compelling story, and whatever reinforces the narrative itself. I'd probably start with throwing the reader into the middle and fill in the background as the main story progresses. For example, how Paolo Bacigalupi builds the setting in The Windup Girl or John Scalzi allows the setting to unfold in the background of Old Man's War.

You can always go back and write prequels, first contact stories, and the like afterward. Remember, Tolkien didn't start with the Simarillion either- he just threw the reader into the setting.

The question however is this: who's your target audience? Adults or young adults? If you can get an illustrator like Drachen to work with you (cause damn he's good), That would be something to consider in and of itself.

Old Man's War by John Scalzi who's actually pretty cool blogger, and is an apparent good person

Sounds like you might enjoy Neal Stephenson's The Diamond Age. I think Snow Crash is meant to be in the same universe - it's hilarious but not as dense. You might also like his Cryptonomicon, though it's not technically Sci Fi.

Tad Willams' Otherland Series is Epic Sci Fi with a huge amount of detail. Might be right up your alley.

Dune, Neuromancer and The Enderverse if you haven't already read those.

I'd suggest Evan Currie's Odyssey One series.

http://smile.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B005ML0EZS/ref=mp_s_a_1_6?qid=1452103955&sr=8-6&pi=AC_SX236_SY340_FMwebp_QL65&keywords=evan+currie+odyssey+series&dpPl=1&dpID=41kcyUuABhL&ref=plSrch

Glad you liked it! I do the same thing with finding books in a bunch different places. I usually put them on my goodreads to-read shelf, but I never tag them as KU so I have no idea whats what without going through book by book.

If you want some more sci-fi Duel in the Dark by Jay Allen has been in my TBR list for a while, but it looks like a good series. Starship's Mage by Glynn Stewart is also decent. I like a lot of the ideas for his books they're just a little flat IMO.

Sample.
The Course of Empire (Course of Empire Series Book 1) by Eric Flint
1632 (Ring of Fire Series) by Eric Flint
Northworld Trilogy by David Drake
Starliner by David Drake
Star Soldiers by Adre Norton
Oath of Swords (War God Book 1) by David Weber
On Basilisk Station (Honor Harrington Book 1) by David Weber
The Honor of the Queen (Honor Harrington Book 2) by David Weber
The Star Agency (The Star Agency Chronicles Book 1) by R.E. Weber
The Last Praetorian (The Redemption Trilogy Book 1) by Mike Smith
Hard Duty: Merkiaari Wars Book 1 by Mark E. Cooper
The Synchronicity War Part 1 by Dietmar Wehr
Dark Space by Jasper T. Scott
The Tank Lords by David Drake
Redliners by David Drake
A Desert Called Peace (Carrera Series Book 1) by Tom Kratman
Gunship by John Davis
With the Lightnings (Lt. Leary Book 1) by David Drake
Tales of Honor #1 by Matt Hawkins and Jung-Geun Yoon
The Fringe Worlds: (The Human Chronicles Saga Book #1) by T.R. Harris
Freehold (Freehold Series Book 1) by Michael Z. Williamson
The Last Roman (The Praetorian Series Book 1) by Edward Crichton
The Sea Hag by David Drake
Forbidden The Stars (The Interstellar Age Book 1) by Valmore Daniels
FCBD 2015: Tales of Honor by Matt Hawkins and Linda Sejic
The Philosophical Strangler (Joe's World Book 1) by Eric Flint
The Creatures of Man by Howard L. Myers
In the Heart of Darkness (Belisarius Saga Book 2) by Eric Flint
Northworld Trilogy by David Drake
Starliner by David Drake

Did you know Amazon will donate a portion of every purchase if you shop by going to smile.amazon.com instead? Over $50,000,000 has been raised for charity - all you need to do is change the URL!

Here are your smile-ified links:

https://smile.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/1611720052/ref=mp_s_a_1_1

---

^^i'm ^^a ^^friendly bot

Definitely watch the movies first.

As to books, The Thrawn Trilogy is my personal favorite Star Wars book series. It's set about 5 years after Return of the Jedi. Luke is a Jedi trying to figure out what that means and one of my favorite villains in pop fiction is the antagonist.

The Jedi Academy is another great Star Wars trilogy. Pretty much anything by Kevin J. Anderson in the old Star Wars cannon is great.

When you're tired of reading about Luke, check out the Darth Bane trilogy. It's a look at how the Sith came to be the baddies they are today.

Do you mean this book series https://www.amazon.com/Prey-Aliens-Vs-Predator-Book/dp/0553565559? I remember it being pretty awesome.

You've got some great suggestions so far- I'd also suggest Old Man's War ...it's fun.

Legacy of Heorot is also a good, fun read.

Connie Willis writes great short stories, and The Doomsday Book is one of the better time travel books that I've read (especially if you have any interest in history).

One of my favourite things to do is to pick up short story anthologies at the library, which usually gives me a good idea of which authors I'd be interested in reading.

This book is fantastic: http://www.amazon.com/Old-Mans-War-John-Scalzi/dp/0765348276

Maybe not rich histories, but very, very interesting for a stand alone book.

Ender's Game, by Orson Scott Card.

The HItchhikers Guide to the Galaxy.
The one I linked to is actually a collection of all 5 in the Trilogy, but it is so worth reading. Also, I thoroughly enjoyed anything I've read by Vonnegut.
If you like Sci-Fi, check out Orson Scott Card's work. I'd start with Ender's Game. What Would Satan Do?. Don't let the title discourage you. It offers a very interesting take on the apocalypse. I am currently reading Immaculate Deception, very interesting.

If anyone wants to read a (really good) SciFi novel with Portias (and their uplifted descendants) as some of the main characters I can recommend "Children of Time" by Adrian Tchaikovsky.

Children of Time and Children of Ruin by Adrian Tchaikovksy both have strong sociological themes. If you enjoy these books you might also want to check out Semiosis: A Novel by Susan Burke.

Foundation by Isaac Asimov is about the fall and rise of a galactic empire. It is a bit dated in terms of science fiction but a classic in the genre.

Exhalation and Stories of Your Life and Others by Ted Chiang are collections of short stories and some of them contain strong sociological themes around communication and intersubjective understanding.

A Fire Upon the Deep and A Deepness in the Sky by Vernor Vinge also have some interesting speculative sociology.

Hominids: Volume One of The Neanderthal Parallax by Robert J. Sawyer also contains interesting speculative anthropology and sociology (but not a very interesting plot IMO) and is also worth a read.

I would have picked another Heinlein title, although Stranger was the best-seller. In my opinion, Door Into Summer was far better.

If you're interested in the the story behind the prequel movies, Darth Plagueis is an excellent book that fills in some of the plot holes from those movies. If you're interested in post-RotJ, I'd recommend starting with the Thrawn trilogy.

xD ok this will be a long message bear with me.

1. Is there a synopsis of each story available?
   
   Yes! Every serial I write has a home page, and every home page has:
   
   

• Links to every part that is released
  
  
• A brief 'blurb' for the series, normally what I'd put on the back of the hardcopy :)
  
  
• Links to any artwork I've been sent or purchased of the series
  
  
• Links to any other media, like audio files or videos
  
  For my serials, the home pages are as follows:
  
  Flameweaver Saga
  
  Halfway to Home
  
  
  

2. I want to read other stuff
   
   From a quick browse-through of your comments I didn't see you crossing paths with any other serial authors - If you haven't read any of his stuff, I highly, highly recommend /u/Hydrael's work, over at /r/Hydrael_Writes! His Dragon's Scion and Small Worlds projects are exceptional! Small worlds is also published on Amazon!
   
   
3. I want to read traditional novels
   
   I can help with that! Some quick recommendations that I personally love - these are loosely ranked in order of how I'd recommend them, but the fact that they're here at all means they've got my support :)
   
   Fantasy novels:
   
   The October Daye series:
   
   

• Urban fantasy
  
  
• Awesome worldbuilding
  
  
• Is where I learned how to write twists, and where I picked up my penchant for chekov's guns
  
  Trickster's Choice/Trickster's Queen
  
  
• Traditional fantasy
  
  
• Wonderful politics and intrigue
  
  
• Influenced how gods are handled in Flameweaver
  
  
• Both written easily enough for young readers to understand, and complex enough for adults to enjoy
  
  Graceling
  
  
• Traditional fantasy
  
  
• A bit more well-known, but a surprisingly solid upper-YA read. Kind of a guilty pleasure book of mine haha
  
  Scifi Novels:
  
  Agent to the Stars and Old Man's War
  
  
• John Scalzi is the author I modeled my own writing style after. So if you like my style, you might like his too.
  
  
• Darkly humerous. Realistic and gritty, without being overpoweringly grim.
  
  
• Wickedly sarcastic
  
  The Ender Quartet
  
  
• A bit wordier/harder to read, after Ender's Game. The last book (Children of the Mind) is probably one of the most challenging books I've ever read. But rewarding.
  
  
• Long-running, intricate plotline
  
  The Ship Series
  
  
• Indie series I happened across a few years ago
  
  
• Upper YA. Younger characters, but dark content
  
  
• Well-written, relatable characters

Old Man's War

Fire Upon the Deep

Julian Comstock: A Story of 22nd-Century America

I think the best way is to suggest a few that got me into reading. One or two are YA, but well-written enough that I find it as worthwhile a read at 28 as it did at 14.

Ender's Game - Earth Has made contact with an alien species, and... It didn't go well. A program is started to teach a new generation of soldiers how to fight this alien threat. Children are not allowed to be children for long when the future of mankind is on the line. Also, it's being adapted into what is shaping up to be a pretty badass movie.

Snow Crash - Written in the 90's, but it essentially pioneered the concept of the online avatar, and predicted the rise of the MMO. Also, pizza-delivering ninjas. Trust me on this. It's good stuff.

Neuromancer Classic cyber-punk. Most sci-fi is like you see in star trek. Clean and sterile. Cyberpunk is the dirtier side of sci-fi. Organized crime, computer hacking, and a heist on a space station. And Molly. This book is the reason I have a thing for dangerous redheads.

The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy - Considered by most to be the very best in sci-fi humor. Lighthearted, hilarious, and I find I can read it in the course of about two days. It is absolutely, completely, and utterly amazing.

American Gods - What happens to the old gods when we start worshiping the new ones? Can the likes of Odin or Anubis compete with our new objects of worship. like television or internet? Remember, Gods only exist as long as folks believe in them. The old Gods aren't going down without a fight, though...

Hope some of these strike your fancy. It's admittedly more sci-fi than anything, but it's all soft sci-fi (Where the science isn't as important as the fiction, so story comes first), and nothing too out there. Please let me know if you decide to try any of these, and especially let me know if you enjoy them. I always like to hear if I help someone find a book they love.

I recommend this book - Children of Time

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1447273303/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_w1vrzbVRMW007

Imagine how far humanity could fuck up...

http://www.amazon.com/The-Course-Empire-Series-ebook/dp/B00ARPEJC8/ref=zg_bs_6157858011_f_50

>creating a world to critique and poke holes in an existing work,

At this point, my hand shoots up. But it wasn't just one book, it was several, or even a whole genre. Another point I'd like to stress is that for me to put a whole load of mental energy into picking holes in a book, the book has to be worth it. I have to have spent quite a lot of time living in that author's world in order to notice where its metaphorical foundations are shaky.

To pick just one example of a book series that (a) really caught my imagination and (b) spurred me to say, "no, that isn't how it would work, what would really happen is this" - and then put "this" into my own worldbuilding - is the Course of Empire Series. The first two books were by Eric Flint and KD Wentworth, then after Kathy Wentworth's sad death in 2008, David Carrico took over as Flint's co-author.

The books feature a successful invasion of Earth by an alien species called the Jao. Some of them are right evil bastards, but many of them are pretty decent and it turns out that when they said they were protecting us from an infinitely worse evil, a genocidal species called the Ekhat, that was no lie.

Well, I've always liked alien invasion stories, particularly where the invaders weren't pure evil and might even sympathise with the Earthlings. "The Cuckoo's Peace" isn't my first venture into that type of story. So I read the three Jao books avidly, and would heartily recommend them. Lots of space battles, which I haven't tried to imitate, and a sympathetic portrayal of human "collaborators", which I have. But I couldn't help noticing that the strategy followed by the human Resistance in those books is just... pointless. For anyone who's read the books, what on Earth was that business in Salem meant to achieve? What were they saving those tanks for? Likewise the training and strategy followed by the Jao's human janissaries, the old national armies having been absorbed into the Jao forces, didn't look as if it would have much effect against either the Ekhat or the Resistance. From what we saw of the ex-US forces, they seemed to still be training for WWIII out of sheer inertia.

One thing that emerged out of that was that all of the human Resistance groups in my story have almost given up on acting like a guerrilla army traditionally does. (Not that they've given up the fight; one group in particular is willing to kill millions of humans to achieve liberation.) Due to the specific way the "invasion" (not everyone would call it that) in my story works, the counter-insurgency strategy used against the rebels is also quite unusual. But I think it makes more sense than the one in the Jao books.

As I said, the Jao series is just one of several works that have inspired me to "respond" in this way. I'm addicted to nitpicking. The Connected Worlds in my story also owes a lot to the Federation in Star Trek (another series of which I am a huge fan) as seen from the point of view of those on the receiving end of its insufferable smugness. Occasionally the writers of Deep Space Nine did touch on this topic themselves.

They are already translated and compiled into one book. https://www.amazon.com/Mobile-Suit-Gundam-Escalation-Confrontation/dp/1611720052/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1480095418&sr=8-1&keywords=gundam+novel

They are out of stock as of now but you can order for when they get more in.

Thats pretty mucht hte plot of this series. ONly kinda dark. But well worth the read.

http://www.amazon.com/Murder-Crows-Icarus-Trilogy-ebook/dp/B007ZKGQX8

Well, it's certainly more rare than this printing.

In any case, I remember my middle school's library had these particular books. I was pretty stoked to read them, then got a pretty big surprise when I read Amuro boned Sayla and ends up dying. So much for Zeta and CCA.

There is a book called "The Bridge: A Science Fiction Survival Story" that actually explores this idea. But it's a huge ship, not a ring world. Well worth 3$...

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0711C45FC/ref=nav_timeline_asin?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1

Just the three for 0079
http://www.amazon.com/Mobile-Suit-Gundam-Escalation-Confrontation/dp/1611720052

For light reads, there are All You Need Is Kill with its take on alien monster invasions and groundhog day-like time loop, and Kino no Tabi which has chapters that explore some interesting sci-fi themes.

There are also Legend of the Galactic Heroes and the original Gundam's novel adaptation, but I wouldn't say that they're fit for light reads.

The Thrawn Trilogy:

1. Heir to the Empire
   
2. Dark Force Rising
   
3. The Last Command
   
   The Hand of Thrawn duology:
   
   
4. Specter of the Past
   
5. Vision of the Future

Old Man's War

The Forever War

Fellow fan of series here! Let me see...

Young Adult
Percy Jackson series is fun (and finished, too, I think).
Artemis Fowl series isn't quite as good as Percy Jackson IMHO, but it's got a following.

Fantasy
Harry Dresden series This is one of my favorites. Harry is Chicago's only professional wizard. There are a ton of these books and they are still going strong.
Game of Thrones These are great...but unfinished. If you watch the show, reading the books does help you get even more out of the story, I think.
Wheel of Time Another good series. There is a LOT of this series and it's finished. (Thank you, Brandon Sanderson!)
Mistborn Speaking of Brandon Sanderson... This one is very good. I highly recommend reading the Mistborn books before trying the Stormlight Archive, but only because as good as Mistborn is, Stormlight Archive is even better.
Stormlight Archive Amazing. Man, these are good. The series isn't finished, but the two books that are available are some of my favorites ever.
Kingkiller Chronicles I loved the first book. I could not freakin' believe I enjoyed the second one even more. The third one is still pending.
Temeraire Dragons in Napoleonic times. Super cool premise! This one is not finished (I don't think, anyway).
Gentlemen Bastards Con men in a fantasy realm. It's pretty light on the fantasy elements. Very light, I'd say. I'd also say that it has some of the very best swearing that I've ever come across. :D

Scifi
Old Man's War I'm almost finished this one--it's amazing!

Horror/Thriller
Passage Trilogy I've heard these described as vampire books...maybe zombie books... It's apocalyptic for sure. Great books!

Mysteries
Amelia Peabody Egyptology + murder mysteries. Super fun, but trust me...go with the audiobooks for these. They are best when they are performed.
Stephanie Plum Total popcorn reads. If that's your thing, shut off your brain and just enjoy.
Walt Longmire These get particularly good as it goes along. The main character is a sheriff in modern day Wyoming. (Side note: The TV show is also great--just don't expect them to stick to the books.)

Graphic Novels (Everything recommended can be gotten in a "book" format instead of only in comic form, in case that matters. I've gotten most of these from my local library.)
Locke & Key Eerie as crap. Love the art! This one is on-going.
Y: The Last Man All the men on the planet drop dead in a day...except for Yorrick. REALLY good. This is the series that got me reading graphic novels. Plus, it's finished!
Walking Dead I am not a zombie fan...but I like these. They're not done, but I've read up through volume 22 and am still enjoying them.

Other
OutlanderI have no idea how to categorize these or even give a description that does them justice. I refused to pick it up for AGES because it sounded like a bodice-ripper romance and that's not my bag. But these are good!

I hope there's something in there that'll do for you. Have fun and read on!

Edit: Apparently, I need to practice formatting. :/
Edit 2: I forgot to add the Lies of Locke Lamora (Gentlemen Bastards #1).

How about giving him a book of Stephen King novellas? Four Past Midnight, Hearts in Atlantis, or, if he wants some really scary, dark stuff, Full Dark, No Stars.

Or Terms of Enlistment by Marko Kloos for military sci-fi. Or Old Man's War by John Scalzi. OMW is a terrific series. Love those books!

Aw! <3

Like, what books I'd recommend, or just....stuff to do underway that would be in the self-improvement area? The big two that jump out as underway activities are always "save money, and work out."

What platform are you floating on?

So the first thing I do with all my proteges is I hand them the grading sheet for Sailor of the Year/Quarter and a blank evaluation, and I ask them to grade themselves. Not everyone wants to be, or needs to be, Sailor of the Year or a 5.0 sailor, but if that's the standard the Navy has set as "the best," then at least we have a guideline of what we should be working toward, right?

One thing that was pretty big at my last command was the Military Outstanding Volunteer Service Medal. Instruction here. One thing that is a really easy way to gain community service hours while underway is to make blankets for the Navy Marine Corps Relief Society's "Budgeting For Baby" class. You can crochet (that's incredibly easy, I promise) or you can google one of the thousand DIY no-sew blanket tutorials. If you belong to a Bluejacket Association or Enlisted Association or whatever, you may be able to get them to fund the cost of buying the material...or even ask the FCPOA if they'll give $50 to the cause. You can head over to Jo-Ann's or Fabric.com and check out their discount sections too. NMCRS offers 30 hours per blanket. Taking an hour out of your Holiday Routine for the entire float.....most of the DIY no-sew blankets only take an hour or two to make, sooooo. Collect those hours. Add in a COMREL or two, and there's no reason you can't end a float with over a hundred hours of community service. This is particularly great if you have a friend or two to make blankets with you....snag one of the TVs on the messdecks and watch a movie while you crochet. You can also contact a local homeless shelter and see if they need hats and crochet hats for them. Obviously not a good suggestion if you're stuck underway on a submarine with no space, but if you're surface side--good to go.

Books I'd suggest, well, hm, this could get out of control pretty fast, but off the top of my head:

• Personality Plus by Florence Littauer or her work specific version
  
  
• Lean In by Sheryl Sandberg
  
  
• It's Your Ship by Capt Abrashoff
  
  
• Starship Troopers
  
  
• Ender's Game (Ender and Starship are obviously straight scifi but there are some really awesome leadership principles/concepts/ideas that are worth mulling over. They've both been on past CNO's recommended reading lists too....and they're just fun to read.)
  
  
• For money, while, like, 99% of his stuff is "Duh!" I can't discount the practical steps he outlines, so Dave Ramsey's books, particularly Financial Peace is worth reading. His whole book is basically the wiki in r/personalfinance, but if you're wondering how to get your finances straight I recommend picking up this book. Just, in general. Good basic information and a starting point. Not saying you need it, but "saving money" just happens underway by virtue being trapped out on the ocean =)
  
  
• Leaders Eat Last

I loved to read. I started reading the BoxCar Children on the bus every day. Then I found the Hardy Boys, Nancy Drew, and some other obscure mystery books in the basement of the same caliber (e.g. bad). I kept reading everything I could find, until Highschool.

I too went to a "demanding" school. I stopped reading for fun, and would occasionally skip books for english class, too. Luckily, only one of my teachers in 4 years was a very pro-feminist (she was actually bi) , and then off to college... I pretty much stopped reading entirely, but unlike you I wasn't dissuaded by feminist nazi's.

Then I got a concussion. Let me tell you about concussions: They manage to turn the most basic thing like telling time into a chore, while other more complex things like driving remain unaffected. Anyway, I got a concussion, and the mental effort to read an hour for class would send me to bed exhausted.

The best books would take me a week or more to read through, and this is without school or work to slow me down.

What I found worked for me was to find something simple that I remember liking, and I would try to get through that. My goal was to re-teach my brain how to read.

• Pick up something on an elementary school reading level
  
• Find something you remember liking (so you'll be re-reading it)
  
• Try to find something short
  
  Your goal is to sit down and enjoy it in 1, maybe 2 settings. Find a free weekend, ask your girlfriend not to disturb you, and start reading. When I tried to start reading again, my routine included an energy drink to keep me awake and focused.
  
  Your goals are 3-fold:
  
  
• Re-experience the joy of discovering a story. TV feeds the story to you, re-learn how exciting it is when you become that character
  
• Make it easy: Think psychologically, you don't want to re-enforce your behavior (reading) by making it difficult, that'll never work.
  
• Instant gratification. By finishing the book in 1-2 sittings, you receive instant gratification for starting to read, as opposed to starting it and waiting a month or more to receive the gratification of finishing it.
  
  If you can read a news article about your favorite video game, you can read, and this is probably more mental than anything else. If that's the case, remember it can take up to 3 months to break a habit because it takes 3 months for your brain to "re-arrange itself" (lets not get into neuroscience right now!). Likewise, even if you start reading now, it may take 3 months before you notice any change, because it'll take your brain that long to "re-arrange itself" to enjoy reading. So try to read a book a week, for 3 months, until you can get somewhere.
  
  Also, it doesn't matter if you miss a sentence, or even an entire paragraph. You're not trying to read everything, you just want to have fun!
  
  It's back to school season. Go into your local Barnes & Noble, and ask for someone that works in the kids department. They can recommend good books, or just see what the local schools have for required reading. Generally, there's some good books on their lists (Gary Paulsen, Louis Sachar, etc)
  
  Lastly, some good books I would look at reading, in order of difficulty:
  
  
• Invitation to The Game
  
• The Transall Saga
  
• Hatchet
  
• Holes
  
• The Boxcar Children or Hardy Boys
  
• Sabriel (female protagonist, but one of my favorite books of all time)
  
• Enders game
  

I second The Hunger Games and Percy Jackson series as recommendations.

Looking for Alaska is really popular among my high school students, both girls and boys.

Maybe Ender's Game?

The Seven Realms series is another one several of my kids have been raving about to me. I haven't gotten around to reading them myself, but it might be worth checking out. Starts with The Demon King.

Ender's Game

Ender's Game. This is an easy book to read and you will probably enjoy it.

You should read the republic commando series by Karen Traviss
starting with "Hard Contact"
this is a huge part of the story
and the books are great
I've read each one like 5 times!

http://www.amazon.com/Hard-Contact-Star-Wars-Republic/dp/0345478274

**edit
It also goes WAY heavily into the black and white nature of light side dark side of the force. It changes the way you think about jedi

This game is seriously developed in a series of books called "Republic Commando" and offers not only some cool explanations for the movie, scenes, it goes a long way to discuss the humanity of clone troopers and the way they are treated as expandable bodies (Jedi scum included).

It will tell the story of Omega and Delta squads... Also, developed the mandalore culture, so it´s like win-win, nervod.

But this series of books also got cancelled because of a cartoon made by the name Clone Wars. The books were just too Pacino for the public they wanted...

Oh, that situation in the end? The author was not authorized to develop afterwards (the character was reserved), but it sure gave way more weight to that..

If interested: http://www.amazon.com/Hard-Contact-Star-Wars-Republic/dp/0345478274/ref=pd_sim_b_2?ie=UTF8&refRID=1V0K4VYDFQTQCANZB7B1

edit: damn, now I´ll have to read it again.

They're both books.

Star Wars: Republic Commando Hard Contact


My Little Pony: Twilight Sparkle and the Crystal Heart Spell

[](/dashsmirk "I guess most people can figure out how I know that.")

Yeah, when I read the submission title, I thought of WJW's Praxis series, too.

It's not quite the small-craft dogfights that OP describes in his self-text, but it's some of the best space-battles sci-fi I've read.

http://www.amazon.com/Dread-Empires-Fall-The-Praxis/dp/038082020X

Has anyone ever read either of these that would provide a quick review?

• Sun of Suns (Virga series, Book 1) by Karl Schroeder
  
• Engineering Infinity (Infinity Project series, Book 1) by Jonathan Strahan
  
• Dread Empire's Fall : The Praxis Mass (Dread Empire's Fall series, Book 1) by Walter Jon Williams
  
• Paradox - On the Brink of Eternity by Phillip P. Peterson
  
  Wondering if they might fit the bill.

• Dread Empire's Fall
  
  
• Posleen War - the author is ex-Airborne, so the military part is pretty good. I'd stick to just the stuff written by Ringo himself though.
  
  I'll add more as I think of them.

1. A Game of Thrones - George RR Martin
   
   
2. Heir to the Empire - Timothy Zahn
   
   
3. Red Mars - Kim Stanley Robinson
   
   
4. All the Sweet Promises - Elizabeth Elgin

Heir to the Empire is under $5 new right now on Amazon.

I've been buying used from there and from Powells (and a local shop) for a while, though, and the quality is almost always totally fine. Most of the time you spend about $4, shipping included.

The Thrawn trilogy books. If you haven't read them I would strongly urge you to.

1

2

3

Heir to the Empire picks up five years after Return of the Jedi. It has probably been 10 years since I've read those though.

That looks like the comic book adaptation , the novels are still in print for normal paperback prices:

First book: https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/0553296124/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1527435281&sr=8-1&pi=AC_SX236_SY340_QL65&keywords=heir+to+the+empire&dpPl=1&dpID=51Q-Rpnu3-L&ref=plSrch

Most of them are pretty drab, but I read them anyway. Almost all of them feel like fan fiction for Aliens 1986.

I'm not a fan of the AVP movie franchise, but the very first AVP book (which was written long before the movies) was pretty excellent. It's called Aliens Vs Predator: Prey

If you like reading graphic novels, check out Aliens: Labyrinth. The novel adaptation wasn't as good.

I won't spoil it for you but you should read the second AvP book Hunter's Planet. The first book Prey is very good and seems to have influenced the grand story arc (not the details) of the Prometheus move. When you get to book 2 shit gets real.

Try:

• The Forever War by John Haldeman
  
  
• Armor by John Steakley
  
  
• Old Man's War by John Scalzi
  
  Hmm, apparently anything written by a John something or the other will work...

Swan Song - Robert McCammon Of the books I read last year this was my favorite.

Old Man's War - John Scazi - It's a pretty fun Military Sci-fi series

Leviathan Wakes - S. A. Corey - Near space, space opera.

Mistborn - Brandon Sanderson - Epic Fantasy with an interesting magic system, good place to start with a popular author

The Blade Itself - Joe Abercrombie - "Grimm Dark" fantasy, he does an interesting thing by playing with a LotR style quest.

The Black Prism - Brent Weeks - Interesting Magic system, one of my favorite ongoing fantasy series. Much better than his first trilogy IMHO

Midnight Riot - Ben Aaronovitch - Funny urban fantasy series that takes place in London

His Majesty's Dragon - Namoi Novik - Napoleonic* war + dragon's, fun quick reads.

Sevenes - Neal Stephenson - Stand Alone sci-fi novel about human's trying to survive in space as the world ends.

I can suggest more if you want, and I assume you've probably read at least some of these. Hope you enjoy some of them at least though.

Ask, and you shall receive.

I just started Old Man's War (John Scalzi) a couple nights ago. Interesting read so far. I am tempted to set it aside for a bit and re-read Hyperbole and a Half, because it's just a good read. Also, the "Simple Dog" reminds me of a friend's dog. :)

Ender's Game...little boy trains to save the world from aliens on a video game. The first book connects you to Ender and books 2-4 make you think about things a little difficult. They deal with some pretty taboo topics from a point of view that allows you to sympathize. They are so well written, Orson Scott Card is an amazing author, and you will be hooked by 50 pages, I promise :)

> To arms, rise the banners, he who believes in a God will quake when he sees the Hordes of nerd atheist bigots. Descend upon the Theist and show no mercy!

That's what I half expected....

> But, define beliefs?

What I believe in personally even without solid, absolute, undeniable, beyond a doubt, unquestionable, incontrovertible proof.

> Are you spiritual compared to believing organized religion

I guess part of it is spiritual, but it's mostly religion. Just not a single religion.

> And reddit only likes it if you go from Theist ot Atheist, due to then you will agree with them.

All I see on Reddit is these Theist/Atheist conversions so I thought it was time to hear from somebody who did the opposite.

> Favorite book?

Ender's Game

Some of my favorites:

• Noir - K.W. Jeter
  
• Macroscope - Piers Anthony
  
• Armor - John Steakley
  
• Protector - Larry Niven
  
• I Robot - Isaac Asimov
  
• Neuromancer - William Gibson
  
• Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? - Philip K. Dick
  
• The Fall of Reach (Halo) - Eric Nylund
  
• Stranger in a Strange Land - Robert Heinlein
  
• Cachalot - Alan Dean Foster
  
• Islands in the Net - Bruce Sterling
  
• Ender's Game - Orson Scott Card
  
• Reality Dysfunction - Peter F. Hamilton
  
  I tried to get as many different authors as possible in there. Many of those authors have plenty of really good books you shouldn't miss.

Take a look at the list of past Hugo winners and look for easily accessible ones. A few jump out at me:

Starship Troopers - Robert Heinlein

Dune - Frank Herbert

The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress - Robert Heinlein

Ender's Game - Orson Scott Card

Barrayar - Lois McMaster Bujold, or maybe the omnibus Cordelia's Honor

The Diamond Age - Neal Stephenson

Ender's Game is always a good one for young adults.

My first scifi-ish books were: Keeper of the Isis Light, Alien Secrets, Animorphs, Beyond the Farthest Star. The first three may be a bit too young for him though.

Don't be afraid to give him non-YA (adult) scifi books. It's better to go too old for him than too young and risk insulting him. If you have a particular favorite (that isn't too theoretical/preachy), give him that. He's more likely to read it if you are interested in it, and it'll give you something to discuss.

Ender's Game

I just read Ender's Game for the first time a few weeks ago. Don't let the blurb on the back deceive you, this is no kids book.

I know I'm Horrible, but I have never played Cards Against Humanity!

If you haven't read it, I suggest reading Ender's Game before the movie comes out. The book is fabulous, and the movie could really ruin it for you. :)

The three series that come to mind are below:
I enjoyed all 3 for each its own reason. The Solar Clipper one stands out as more unique in my mind. I wish there was more like it.

 
 
 

---

• Starforce by B. V. Larson (Swarm,Extinction,Rebellion,Conquest,Battle Station,Annihilation,Storm Assault,The Dead Sun)
  
  
• Frontiers by Ryk Brown (Aurora: CV-01,The Rings of Haven,The Legend of Corinair,Freedom's Dawn,Head of the Dragon,The Expanse,Celestia: CV-02,Resistance,Liberation,Rise of the Corinari)
  
  
• Solar Clipper Trader Tales by Nathan Lowell (Quarter Share,Half Share,Full Share,Double Share,Captain's Share,Owner's Share)

Quarter Share and its sequels by Nathan Lowell are pretty good. No battles or wars, but good stories and characters. Courtesan by D. A. Boulter is also a good read.

Children of time-Adrian Tchaikovsky
A sci-fi book by a fantasy author that is a fantastic blend of both.
Blurb from Amazon

Winner of the 30th anniversary Arthur C. Clarke Award for Best Novel

WHO WILL INHERIT THIS NEW EARTH?

The last remnants of the human race left a dying Earth, desperate to find a new home among the stars. Following in the footsteps of their ancestors, they discover the greatest treasure of the past age - a world terraformed and prepared for human life.

But all is not right in this new Eden. In the long years since the planet was abandoned, the work of its architects has borne disastrous fruit. The planet is not waiting for them, pristine and unoccupied. New masters have turned it from a refuge into mankind's worst nightmare.

Now two civilizations are on a collision course, both testing the boundaries of what they will do to survive. As the fate of humanity hangs in the balance, who are the true heirs of this new Earth?

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Children-Time-Adrian-Tchaikovsky/dp/1447273303/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1475011069&sr=8-1&keywords=children+of+time

give this a read then

If you guys like this, I suggest giving River of Gods and Cyberabad Days a read. Cyberpunk in future-day India. Incredible reads, both of them.

In the same vein, there's George Alec Effinger's trilogy centering around Marid Audran.

Trying here to suggest ones that others haven't already!

The "Odyssey One" Series by Evan Currie.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B005ML0EZS

The "Frontiers Saga" by Ryk Brown

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Frontiers-Saga-Episodes-1-3-ebook/dp/B00AVBNBHM

The "Blood on the Stars" Series by Jay Allen

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B01MCZZTPS

The "Exodus: Empires at War" series by Doug Dandridge has both space battles and planetary invasions.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Exodus-Empires-Book-Doug-Dandridge-ebook/dp/B009TZSBJO

The "Black fleet saga" by Joshua Dalzelle

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Warship-Black-Fleet-Trilogy-Book-ebook/dp/B00RS8FT2G

That should keep you busy for a few nights anyway.

Lindsay Bujold's Star Kingdom series is currently handling a very Miles Vorkosigan vibe for me:
https://www.amazon.com/Shockwave-Star-Kingdom-Book-1-ebook/dp/B07R8GX4Y2

The first book in her previous space opera series (quite different feel IMO, but also very good) is free:
https://books2read.com/u/3nOYw9


For straight up fun Military SF, Terry Mixon's Empire of Bones is quite good:
https://www.amazon.com/Empire-Bones-Book-Saga-ebook/dp/B00M5KESGA

​

Jay Allan's Blood on the Stars is also good, though it kept going too long for my tastes:
https://www.amazon.com/Duel-Dark-Blood-Stars-Book-ebook/dp/B01MCZZTPS

David Drake's RCN series is another trad published one to look at, as is Jack Campbell's Lost Fleet. Those are less funny IMO, though.

David Weber's Honor Harrington has already been recommended. It and Bujold are my usual go-to recommendations for SF, so you're starting in a good place XD

Gundam: Awakening, Escalation, and Confrontation is a Yoshiyuki Tomino-penned reinterpretation of the original events of the OYW.

https://www.amazon.com/Mobile-Suit-Gundam-Escalation-Confrontation/dp/1611720052/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=gundam+awakening+escalation+confrontation&qid=1566621123&s=gateway&sr=8-1

Kevin Kauffmann u/kauffmann616 gets my vote. Found him on reddit back in 2012 with his Icarus Trilogy. Made his Forsaken Comedy books easy instant buys for me and didn't disappoint.

The Bridge

They're on a crippled multi-generational ship, not a colony world, but similar concept.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/1611720052/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1502327204&sr=8-1&pi=AC_SX236_SY340_FMwebp_QL65&keywords=mobile+suit+gundam+novel&dpPl=1&dpID=51dwlkDL2zL&ref=plSrch

I think the English translation of Tomino's 0079 books (Awakening, Escalation, Confrontation) are out of print again. You can buy the compilation used for around $15. You could also try your local library (they may be more likely to have The Origin series).

Update: It seems that they are still in print. Amazon only has a couple but says more are on the way.

Here's the Google Books link where you can preview the book.

Edit: Goodreads page. "A Great Read" -Asian Reporter

I know, I've read these. But the edition I have is a later version with corrected spelling.

This one

I love it when people listen and are open to things that they have not read. http://www.amazon.com/Mobile-Suit-Gundam-Escalation-Confrontation/dp/1611720052

Adrian Tarn Series is definitely one of my favorites and isn't very well known. Definitely check this series out.

Odyssey One Series is pretty good.

Confluence Series is interesting.

Aurora Rhapsody Series is a good series too.

Dark Space Series is pretty decent as well.

The Frozen Sky Series is certainly entertaining too.

These are a few series I've read recently and enjoyed. Figured they would be good suggestions. They also aren't the most commonly suggested or well known books like the others that were suggested.

Although the other recommendations are definitely ones you want to read. Especially the Ender's Game sequels and the Old Man's War series.

Mobile Suit Gundam (the original series)

One of the most underrated sci-fi series of all time. Below is the link to the novels that inspired the anime series. If you’re into novels.

Mobile Suit Gundam: Awakening, Escalation, Confrontation https://www.amazon.com/dp/1611720052/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_52hxCbFHTQW33

If you’re into manga or anime, HIGHLY recommend reading the origin series. It’s a more fleshed out version of the 1979 anime series. There’s 12 volumes I believe. Read the reviews for some perspective.

Mobile Suit Gundam: The Origin, Vol. 1- Activation https://www.amazon.com/dp/193565487X/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_35hxCbD65GJPM

Gundam has so many series that it can seem overwhelming to approach. The manga above is a great way to get into the main series. Space-opera, compelling characters, the lines of good vs bad are blurred. It’s commentary that frighteningly mirrors our society written by people who grew up in the post-WWII/post-Atomic bomb drop in Japan era. The over arching theme is that despite the tragedy that is war, there is an inherent goodness that humans are capable of.

Here are all the local Amazon links I could find:


amazon.co.uk

amazon.ca

amazon.com.au

amazon.in

amazon.com.mx

amazon.de

amazon.it

amazon.es

amazon.com.br

amazon.nl

amazon.co.jp

amazon.fr

Beep bloop. I'm a bot to convert Amazon ebook links to local Amazon sites.
I currently look here: amazon.com, amazon.co.uk, amazon.ca, amazon.com.au, amazon.in, amazon.com.mx, amazon.de, amazon.it, amazon.es, amazon.com.br, amazon.nl, amazon.co.jp, amazon.fr, if you would like your local version of Amazon adding please contact my creator.

Tomino's novel version is very mature.

It's never been published digitally and no one has ever bothered to scan/upload its 500+ pages; the only option is to buy the paperback.

Here are links to Amazon and Right Stuf:

• http://www.amazon.com/Mobile-Suit-Gundam-Escalation-Confrontation/dp/1611720052
  
  
• http://www.rightstufanime.com/Gundam-Mobile-Suit-Awakening-Escalation-Confrontation-2nd-Ed

I just finished the 5th book in Evan Currie's Odyssey One series. I've enjoyed every one!

Uk is fine, at least from where I'm looking: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Murder-Crows-Icarus-Trilogy-Book-ebook/dp/B007ZKGQX8

As for the other countries, it should be ok, but I think you'd need to search from your country's version of Amazon.

The Odyssey One series (book 1 by Evan Currie comes to mind.

It's pulp, but fun.

*****

The Culture Series (book 1) by Iain Banks also comes to mind.

This one is a bit more serious than Odyssey One, and I've only read the first book so far... It might turn out to be very different.

Evan Currie, Marko Kloos, Craig Alanson, Josh Dalzelle; these are all writers I know for certain started as self-published authors. Also, probably H Paul Honsinger and Nick Webb.

If you want to sell self published MilSF, read and study the first books in all those series, and then emulate them.

I really enjoyed Ready Player one!

Some of my favorite sci-fi:

The Moon is a Harsh Mistress, by Heinlein


Course of Empire, by Eric Flint and KD Wentworth


Quintaglio Ascension Trilogy, by Robert J Sawyer (Trilogy starting with Farseer)


Uplift Series, by David Brin, (trilogy, starting with Sundiver)


A Deepness in the Sky, by Vernor Vinge

Random Sci-Fi book from great author that uses them in book 2? or 3? I forget : https://www.amazon.com/Silver-Wings-Evan-Currie-ebook/dp/B005QOX3ZY


Lots of weapons in his universe that use kinetics instead of explosives to do the damage.


Actually his other universe uses tons of kinetic kill weapons : https://www.amazon.com/Into-Black-Remastered-Odyssey-Book-ebook/dp/B005ML0EZS/

Oh, also check out the Odyssey series by Evan Curie. The first book is Into The Black and follows the first FTL ship mankind produces as they take their maiden voyage into the greater galaxy. Aliens are met, things go awry, much adventure and interesting political & philosophical issues are generated by the interaction with alien species.

Course of Empire - You'll go through the first third of the book thinking that I'm recommending exactly what you are sick of reading. If you can get through that first third of the book you'll be rewarded with a much more complex story.

Quick, spoiler-free synopsis - Big bad brutish aliens invade earth and do all sorts of destructive stuff to prove how big and bad they are (they blow up Mt. Everest just to prove they are badass). 20 years later, the rest of the story takes place. I can't say much else. The Jao are well developed aliens who are not just masked humans.

TL:DR - It's FREE on the kindle right now, so if you don't like it it doesn't cost you anything.

If you have never read The Door Into Summer by Heinlein, you should check it out.

Kitty's just looking for the door into summer

3 million years from now:

https://www.amazon.com/World-Out-Time-Larry-Niven/dp/0345336968

Ah, in that case:

Clone Wars Era:

Shatterpoint

The Cestus Deception

Darth Vader (and other Darth) Flavored:

Dark Lord: The Rise of Darth Vader

Darth Bane Trilogy

Shadow Hunter: Darth Maul

Original Trilogy Era

Han Solo Trilogy

Lando Trilogy

Sorry about your rough day. I am picking my item because so many people have told me to read the Darth Bane books so I picked the first one. Maybe after I finish my CPA studying I can use this to relax. https://www.amazon.com/dp/0345477375/?coliid=I2LML4K9L96A8A&colid=3GPMK7AOMEAJ2&psc=0&ref_=lv_vv_lig_dp_it

He’s entirely different in the books from the show. The image posted is accurate (within reason) to his description and illustration from the books.

Edit: First book

I don't know of fanfics, but there is a line of published fiction by Karen Traviss (see here for the first one), which are absolutely amazing. She personalizes the clones so well, and adds a level of backstory to episode 3 that is wonderful.

Comic or novel? This is the first volume right?

http://www.amazon.com/Heir-Empire-Star-Wars-Trilogy/dp/0553296124/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1394743625&sr=8-1&keywords=Thrawn

I'm sorry to say the full trilogy is a little too pricy for me but i think this would be a good way to get him started

Reading this from my inbox I thought you wanted to get into Europe. Awkward.

In chronological order (and I'd very much recommend reading them in this order, it can be rather confusing trying to understand events and relationships you've never heard of). Please note these are all Post Endor; there are also many good books prior to the events covered in these, and there are certainly excellent books that have slipped my notice. I'd suggest going to your local library and searching there if you want even more.

• Anyway, I'd highly recommend Heir to the Empire to start off, since it very much popularized the EU. There's three others to the series, all of which I'd recommend.
  
  
• My other favorite is The X-Wing series, beginning at "Rogue Squadron" The series is great, but its pretty long at around 9 books. I think the most interesting aspect is how multiple authors contribute to the series, so there is a variety of style.
  
  
• And I'd say the longest, largest, most comprehensive, and best series is the Yuuzhan Vong Series (actual name is New Jedi Order I think). Starting at Vector Prime (written by R.A. Salvatore, whose other works I'd also recommend), it details a galaxy-wide war against a strange extra-galactic race intent on total domination.
  
  
• If all of that still wasn't enough for you, "The Legacy of the Force" series, beginning at "Betrayal" carries the story on. Personally I'd recommend against reading these. I found them kinda depressing in how the story progresses. That and I don't particularly like the authors' writing style. Still, if you must have more, then this is next in chronological order.
  
  I apologize if that was too comprehensive.

After loads of reading on the bus to work every day, here follows my reading list for military aviation:

Modern

• Viper Pilot - memoir of an F-16 Wild Weasel pilot who flew in both Iraq Wars
  
• A Nightmare's Prayer - memoir of a Marine Harrier Pilot flying out of Bagram.
  
• Warthog - Story of the A-10C pilots and their many varied missions in Desert Storm
  
• Hornets over Kuwait - Memoir of a Marine F/A-18 pilot during Desert Storm
  
• Strike Eagle - Story of the brand new F-15C Strike Eagle pilots and their time in Desert Storm
  
  

  Vietnam
  

• The Hunter Killers - look at the very first Wild Weasels, their inception, early development, successes, and failures
  
• Low Level Hell - memoir of an OH-6 Air Cav pilot
  
  

  WWII
  

• Unsung Eagles - various snapshots of the less well-known but arguably more impactful pilots and their missions during WWII (pilot who flew channel rescue in a P-47, morale demonstration pilot, etc.)
  
• Stuka Pilot - memoir of the most prolific aviator of Nazi Germany (and an unapologetic Nazi) who killed hundreds of tanks with his cannon-armed Stuka
  
• The First Team - more academic historical look at the first US Naval Aviators in WWII
  
  
  

  Overall/Other
  

• Skunk Works - memoir of Ben Rich, head of Lockeed's top secret internal firm and his time working on the U-2, SR-71, and F-117 including anecdotes from pilots of all 3 and accounts of these remarkable planes' exploits.
  
• Lords of the Sky - ambitious attempt to chronicle the rise and evolution of the "fighter pilot" from WWI to the modern day
  
• Red Eagles: America's Secret MiGs - the story of the long-top secret group of pilots who evaluated and flew captured Soviet aircraft against US pilots to train them against these unknown foes.
  
• Blind Man's Bluff: The Untold Story of American Submarine Espionage - story of the US submarine fleet starting at the outbreak of the Cold War and their exploits
  
  
  
  

  Bonus non-military aviation
  

  I highly second the recommendations of Snow Crash, Cryptonomicon, and Diamond Age. I would also recommend:
  
  

• Neuromancer - defined the cyberpunk genre
  
• Ghost in the Wires - memoir of prolific hacker Kevin Mitnick
  
• Starship Troopers - nothing like the movie
  
• The Martian - fantastic read
  
• Heir to the Empire - first of the Star Wars Thrawn Trilogy and the book that arguably sparked the growth of the Extended Universe of Star Wars
  
• Devil in the White City - semi-fictional (mostly non-fiction) account of a serial killer who created an entire palace to capture and kill his prey during the Chicago World's Fair
  
• Good Omens - dark comedy story of a demon and an angel trying to stop the end of the world because they like us too much
  
• American Gods - fantastic story about how the old gods still walk among us
  
• Dune - just read it
  

I was introduced to her by the Trawn trilogy.

https://www.amazon.com/Heir-Empire-Star-Wars-Trilogy/dp/0553296124

I would really suggest the series ,Old Man's War. I'm not very good with summaries but it is a fantastic series if you are into sci-fi. Essentially elderly people's minds are transferred to new bio-enhanced bodies to fight humanities enemies. Sounds really generic but really well done in my opinion.

If you are into more of a military recommendation and less of a sci-fi one I would suggest The Weapon

It was also mentioned but Starship Trooper is a classic book and one of the inspirations I had for military service.

It's not very sci-fi though, it's mostly just a sci-fi setting, but you're right it's not very recent.

Maybe Old Man's War would have been a better suggestion?

Train them in modern planes, give them regeneration and we would have Old Man's War.

Old Man's War.

You'd get along well with the main character from Old Man's War.

I'm in the middle of Fragile Things, Neil Gaiman's collection of short stories, and I'm loving it!

Link

You ALL still have Zoidberg!

I've read all these books, and they were decent reads. However, I should mention some positives and negatives about the series.

PROS:

• The books are fairly well written.
  
  
• The plot line at least makes some decent sense.
  
  
• Some of the technology and tactics make sense as well, and the neat thing is the concept of light delay in astronomical terms in relation to combat positioning and fleet tactics. This is really the meat and bones of the books and is usually the most interesting to read (in my opinion anyways)
  
  CONS:
  
  
• There is a lot of deus ex machina with the fleet fights.
  
  
• There is a convenient hand waving of why the main character is so good at what he does. It's literally because everyone else is so terrible.
  
  
• The romantic subplots seemed a bit forced, and constantly talking about 'honor' and crap seems really silly in context of a fight to return home.
  
  OVERALL:
  
  I'd definitely check these out if you're jonesing for some science fiction, but there are definitely better books out there if you're looking for something amazing to read.
  
  OTHER SERIES / BOOKS RECOMMENDATIONS:
  
  Into the Black - EDIT: Had book 4 listed here instead of book one, fixed
  
  Lines of Departure
  
  Old Man's War

Get those kids some books!

oh lawd, this is going to be LONG
for advanced readers,

Enders Game

The Giver

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time

The Harry Potter Series

The Heir Apparent

Farenheit 451


A lot of these books can be read young and then reread when older to get more meaning

For younger beginning readers

Dr Seuss, I really remember Green Eggs and Ham, Go Dog go, and One Fish two Fish Red Fish Blue Fish


Oh and surprise me, i really like SciFi/Fantasy and have read the Dune Series and ASoIaF, but the Modern High Power Rocketry Book would be very very appreciated.

Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card

10/10
Science Fiction

it's my favorite science fiction book. People should read it before the movie comes out next year!

Ender's Game

• Orson Scott Card's "Ender's Game"
  
• Neal Stephenson's "Snow Crash"
  
• Joe Haldeman's "Forever War"
  
• Arthur C. Clarke's "Rendezvous with Rama"
  
• Vernor Vinge's "A Fire Upon The Deep"
  
• Kurt Vonnegut's "The Sirens of Titan"
  
• Philip K. Dick's "Do Android Dream of Electric Sheep" (inspiration for the Blade Runner movie)
  
• Dan Simmons' "Hyperion"
  
  Every single one of these books has something different to offer you from the genre of scifi. Those three at the top are great entries into the genre. As what I perceive to be "deeper cuts", allow me to suggest my four favorite scifi novels:
  
  
• Isaac Asimov's "Foundation"
  
• William Gibson's "Neuromancer"
  
• Paolo Bacigalupi's "The Windup Girl"
  
• Alfred Bester's "The Stars My Destination"
  
  Cheers!

> How does one who has never tried at anything, try at life?

How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time.

Some challenges seem huge but if you break them down into little pieces you can conquer them. How do you do that? Just start doing anything and something will happen.

Succeeding in my line of work is all about the effort I put into my projects. Even if I work my tail off there is a chance I could fail but the success is so sweet that I have to keep trying. Just do anything. Good luck.

Books: The Four Agreements

Ender's Game

Body for Life

If You Haven't Got the Time to Do It Right, When Will You Find the Time to Do It Over?

The War if Art

I got something out of these, maybe you will too. Good luck.

House of Leaves by Mark Z. Danielewski. Doesn't appear to be a kindle version at the moment, but the formatting of the novel doesn't really lend itself to digital. Still worth a read even if you must lug around a dead tree.

The Ender's Game series by Orson Scott Card.

A Song of Ice and Fire series by George R. R. Martin.

Animal Farm by George Orwell

The Cold Equations by Tom Godwin. My favorite sci-fi short story. Couldn't find a link to a kindle version, but it's in a lot of sci-fi short story collections. You can probably find it in your local library (if it still exists).

Ender's Game?


It's about a boy who was fooled into thinking he was playing a simulation but was actually attacking and destroying a world for real.

What I had to do was find a reading spot/time. I only read comfortably laying in bed before I go to sleep. It's become a habit now and thats the way I like to read. No distractions, read until I'm tired and then go to sleep. My wife can read anytime/anywhere, and I'm jealous of that, but it doesn't work for me.

Also find some books that you really like, that are easy. When you don't want to stop reading it helps a lot. Eventually you get to the point that you really can read anything because it doesnt have to hold your interest for every single sentence.

Try some Young Adult or easy reads right off the bat. a few suggestions, things I enjoy that are easy reads:

Suzanne Collins - The Hunger Games

Dean Koonz

Orson Scott Card - Enders Game

Find a Genre you're interested in and something with good reviews, then find your time/place and make it a habit.

Let's start with the premise of your question: there's only one conflict in your story, and this single conflict is the only source of suspense to keep the reader interested. Fortunately, suspense is not the same as conflict, and using that difference effectively will help your reader power through the "info dumps."


Conflict = things like man vs man, man vs society, man vs nature, etc. In a novel, there may be one or multiple conflicts, but it's usually a finite number of important conflicts. Interesting conflicts generally span the whole novel. Conflicts can take a lot of time to fully establish, can evolve over time, and the resolution of a conflict is a big deal.


Suspense = things that keep the reader interested. When done well, suspense is what causes readers to keep turning pages long after they promised themselves they would stop reading and go to bed. Suspense is not a genre, but something that every well-written work of fiction has in abundance. Suspense can be created in a single sentence and resolved in the next one. Suspense can also relate to the main story arc and function as a long term "hook." If you want a really good example of how to create many sources of suspense in just a few paragraphs, look up Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card. When reading carefully, you'll notice that Card juggles multiple sources of suspense at any one time. For instance, the main character might react to something but the reader doesn't get to see what they're reacting to until the next paragraph (short term suspense that makes you keep reading to find out what they saw). The thing that they are looking at might relate to the next roadblock in their overall story arc (medium and long term suspense). This is a "can't put it down" kind of book, and there's no reason you can't borrow some of those tricks to keep the pace moving even in the very beginning of yours.


I highly recommend this Dictionary of Narratology. It will inform your writing by showing you choices you didn't know exist.


(Disclaimer 1: I'm not saying that Orson Scott Card is an amazing author that everyone should emulate. He has some limitations that I get frustrated with, such as sexism and nondescript settings. However, suspense is something he excels at creating in abundance, so he's a good model for learning new ways of creating suspense and increasing pace.


Disclaimer 2: Suspense for the sake of suspense is not a good idea. Connect the suspense to things that matter, like character development and the story, for maximum effect.)


I hope this helps.

I take it from Harry Potter and Divergent he likes strong, morally-white protagonists on journeys to save the world. I don't know his exact reading level or interests, so I will make the following suggestions by category. I ranked books in each category by difficulty.

 

Teen Fantasy:

 

Dealing with Dragons: Funny, easy to read, dragons, magic, and sarcasm.

The Lioness Series, Immortal Series, or The Magic Circle Series: Strong female leads and interesting to read with great stories (Think Mulan). My brother loved them.

Artemis Fowl: Strong, morally ambiguous but ultimately altruistic, sarcastic, and smart protagonist against the world.

User Unfriendly: Dudes get sucked into a video/rpg and try to get out without dying. Like Tron, but less sci-fi and more fantasy.

Halo: One of my brothers who HATES reading -- or at least is incredibly picky actually stayed up all night to finish four of Halo books. He also really likes the games. I don't know which one is the first or the best but this one had the best reviews. I dunno if it is dark either -- I haven't read it :'(.

The Dark Elf Trilogy: Darker than anything else I have on here (or can be) hero vs world type fantasy. Drizzit = my brothers' hero growing up. Kinda WOW-esque? Having played both, I understand how much of WOW is inspired by DnD. I personally didn't like this.

Redwall: Harder to read, talking animals save the world from other talking animals. I personally hated this series, but my brothers read every single book in the series at the time.

 


Adult Fantasy:

 

Magician: Magic, totally badass protagonist, BORING first couple chapters, but ultimately the most OP hero I have ever read. Amazing, truly amazing. I think it is two-three books in the first series.

Harper Hall: Dragons, music, strong, but lost protagonist. Deals with sexism and gender biased. The other books in the cycle range from sci-fi to political fantasy.

Dragonbone Chair: Strong, badass hero vs a dragon. What happens? He becomes more badass. It is a lighter verison of LOTR/Sword of Shanara (which is probably too much politics/genetics/enviromental commentary -- generally boring-- for him right now) --

An even lighter alternative, more teen book is Eragon. That being said, I absolutely DETESTED these books. I don't care if he was 16, he didn't coming up with any of his own material. But -- a lot of people really like it, so your brother might!

 

Sci-fi:

 

Ender's game: Amazing ending, especially if he likes videogames. I haven't seen the movie, but my Dad said it was "loosely inspired" from the book. All I know is the book was world-changing. It has some legitimately dark points (like gouging out a giants eye or drowning puppies).

Johnny Maxwell Trilogy: This dude is cool. I didn't know until I linked it that it is hard to get a copy >.<.

Dune: This, like LOTR, is VERY political and can be very easily boring. It might also be too adult or hard for him. There is mental illness and just crazy people in the later books.

 

Mature Humor:

 

He should be ready for some British humor, which is a little more mature than American humor (sorry) and much more sarcastic. You also have to be in the mood for it, especially if you aren't expecting it.

Sourcery: Really, really funny.

Hitchhiker's Guide: Also funny.

Magic Kingdom for Sale -- Sold: American. Funny take on fantasy books.

 

I kept away from darker books where the protagonist is morally grey (Artemis fowl and Drizzit being exceptions -- though they are both still definitely heros), sex, questionable themes, or general mental derangement.

I also stayed away from more modern books, which I have read a lot of if you would like recommendations for those instead. I read a lot in general, so if you have a questions about a book in particular, I can try to help.

Edit: Links

The Stainless Steel Rat (probably the closest thing to Space Opera on my short list of suggestions)

Dune

Anything by Isaac Assimov

Anything by William Gibson (Count Zero, Mona Lisa Overdrive, and Neuromancer would be good first choices)

Ender's Game

H. G. Wells and Jules Verne are also good choices if you want some classic old-school sci-fi

If you are willing to give it a shot and you have 16 hours to kill, I'd recommend starting the series A Song of Ice and Fire. Guaranteed to keep you engaged.
If you are looking for a short read about small time crime in Boston and trying to sleep for 14.5 hours I'd recommend The Friends of Eddie Coyle.
Also if you have not read Ender's Game or the companion series Ender's Shadow this would be your other option. A fantastic sci-fi series, just realize that the author is kind of a dick.
*edit added links

You should read Ender's Game. I don't want to ruin it for you, but it too has big, scary bugs.

Ender's Game- Orson Scott Card.
The characters play a game in a zero-g environment.
http://www.amazon.com/Enders-Game-Ender-Book-1/dp/0812550706/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1280179219&sr=8-1

Just started A Game of Thrones. You ALL still have Zoidberg!

Book

Talk about a hard decision! I seriously cannot choose so here are a few of My Favorite Book (s):

Pride and Prejudice

Shadow Divers non-fiction

Ender's Game

If RedditRaffle chooses me I would like this book.

What a great first contest!

Do yourself a favour and pick up a copy, damn good book.

Wow...I have just the thing for you =). Quarter Share by Nathan Lowell. This started out as a podcast or something. At first I thought the story was a little amateurish, but I ended up really liking it and it is exactly what you describe wanting.

EDIT: If want something more hard hardcorish, check out Alastair Reynolds, Revelation Space series.

Most of these are just (free) audiobooks at this point in time, but are excellent Sci Fi stories IMO.

Nathan Lowell

The Golden Age of the Solar Clipper: A Trader's Tale details the story of a young man who is orphaned and kicked off his home planet, into the arms of the trader ship Lois McKendrick. I'd say it's a wonderful start for someone who normally doesn't read Sci Fi, because it focuses so much on his life. You'll be hard-pressed to believe that there aren't people who spend months at a time hauling goods between the stars.

• Quarter Share (print)
  
• Half Share
  
• Full Share
  
• Double Share
  
• Captain's Share
  
  Christiana Ellis
  
  Space Casey is the comedy of this whole bunch. More along the lines of a radio program, it's set in space, with the wily young Casey, her stolen ship Al, and their pet, uh.. thing. A very enjoyable story, and a good laugh!
  
  
• Space Casey
  
  Jon Armstrong
  
  Grey is set in about the strangest world you can imagine, where fashion, celebrity culture, and gore are commonplace. The pull of society on Michael Rivers sends him on an impossible quest to win the hand of his beloved Nora and find out the secret of his birth.
  
  
• Grey (print)
  
  Bill DeSmedt
  
  Here we're getting into the heavier stuff, and trust me when I say you're going to learn a lot. Singularity surrounds the mystery of the Tunguska event of 1908, and the implications aren't pretty. One of the few time travel stories I find plausible.
  
  
• Singularity (print)
  
• Doctor Jack's Soapbox Seminars (not a sci fi story, but a series of lectures on the science behind Singularity)
  
  J.C. Hutchins
  
  7th Son is getting more into the horror/thriller genre, but I'd say it's no less Sci Fi. Cloning, mind copying, secret DARPA projects, conspiracies, the list goes on and on.
  
  
• 7th Son: Descent (print)
  
• 7th Son: Deceit
  
• 7th Son: Destruction
  
  
  
  Edit: found some print copies

The Master and Commander Series by Patrick O'Brian
(good seafaring adventure)

if you're into scifi,
Quarter Share by Nathan Lowell is like the above, except in space.

Eu curto sci-fi, especialmente na tematica de primero contato. Recentemente eu li Children of Time. Um livro relativamente longo, umas 600 páginas, e muito legal.

O autor bota os humanos como os aliens ameaçando invadir um outro mundo. Os humanos no futuro são o que restaram de toda a humanidade pós-guerra. Com o planeta terra acabado, eles não tem escolha senão migrar no espaço catando os restos que sobraram da antiga civilização antes da guerra, visitando suas ex-colônias abandonadas, até encontrarem um planeta habitável. Esse planeta é o resultado de um antigo projeto de terraformação, porém ele já está habitado por vidas inteligêntes aracnídeas que evoluiram lá. O livro tem romance, ação, aventura e sci-fi. Ele mostra o drama tanto dos humanos que vivem na nave quanto as aranhas no planeta. O autor faz um bom trabalho construíndo todo o background histórico das aranhas, é muito legal ler a "história da civilização aracnídea", que espelha a história da própria humanidade. Domínio da agricultura, surgimento das cidades, impérios, peste negra, the enlightenment e evolução das ciências.

One of my favorite books like this is children of Time. Here it is

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/1447273303/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1523244545&sr=8-1&pi=AC_SX236_SY340_QL65&keywords=children+of+time&dpPl=1&dpID=51Cfz36tYJL&ref=plSrch

try this

Maybe it is one of these
http://www.amazon.com/Door-into-Summer-Robert-Heinlein/dp/0345330129

Just a suggestion for reading: Shine, an anthology of optimistic sf.

EDIT: some other optimistic sf

• The Door Into Summer by Robert Heinlein
  
• Way Station by Clifford D. Simak
  
  Any other suggestions anyone?

It was the hook of Niven's A World out of Time (non-affiliate amazon link). Guy gets frozen, they wake him up in the far future - but because they couldn't restart the popsicle bodies, they transferred his brain into the body of a convicted felon. Then proceded to force him to pilot a brussard ramjet bio-seeding ship across the galaxy. The real fun is when he finally gets back to earth, though...

Maybe he read A World Out of Time and didn't want to be a slave in some future dystopian society.

This reminds me of a Larry Niven book called World Out of Time. In it, cats evolved and lost their legs, essentially turning into cat-snakes. That part always bugged the hell out of me. Cats sort of lose their cat-ness when they don't have legs.

Other books that I found really useful, informative, motivating and accessible in high school include Feynman's QED -- a really cool introduction to Quantum Electrodynamics that I read my senior year -- and Brian Greene's The Elegant Universe. I think somebody mentioned it already.

Mathematics, the Loss of Certainty is a really good discussion on the history of math. Also quite accessible. I read it my freshman year of college.

More tangential books that I've enjoyed include The Drunkard's Walk and Chances Are. They cover similar ground, though, and I like the latter better.

There's also some pretty good fiction that gives you the flavor of some of the mindbending concepts that can arise from physics. Robert Heinlein's Time for the Stars is a good "juvenile" book that takes a step into the Twin's Paradox. Time dilation pops up in Larry Niven's A World Out of Time as well. For solar system level astrophysics, Niven's The Integral Trees postulates a really cool alternative to planets.

I read most the fiction around the time I was in high school, with the exception of Time for the Stars. Ironically, it's the only one that I can guarantee doesn't have "adult themes." I don't know what sort of restraints your parents put on your reading, though. They're all good books.

The other thing, other than books I mean, you can do is find a mentor or club in your area that could help put you on your way. An astronomy club would be a good idea, but there may also be physics or chemistry styled mentors in your area. They're likely to act out of a local university or research center (I live in Huntsville, Alabama, where Marshall Spaceflight Center is located. I know they have outreach/mentoring programs).

Oh, and I know I'm going on, one last thing that I found really useful and fun was my involvement in summer programs. In my case, the big one was Mississippi Governor's School, a three week summer program. It was an awakening from a social standpoint. (Ten years later, a large proportion of my friends either attended it or I know via some connection to it, still.) And it had an astrophysics class, which was awesome. I know other states have programs like it (assuming you're in the US), and MGS at least is easier to get into than commonly believed. People think a counselor's recommendation is required, but it's not and you get two opportunities to attend, between sophmore and junior and junior and senior years. It's unlikely you're in MS, of course, but other places have similar programs.

Good luck with things and keep us posted. :)

Or a bigger one.

First: Read the Darth Bane series (http://www.amazon.com/Path-Destruction-Star-Wars-Darth/dp/0345477375/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1418886909&sr=8-1&keywords=darth+bane&pebp=1418886915023).

It has a lot of the philosophy behind the dark side, the origins of the ancient conflict, and generally provides a slightly more nuanced view.

Second: I disagree with your assertion that suppressing emotions is unnatural. The extent to which jedi are supposed to, yes, they're basically ascetic monks. But in your daily life you regularly might suppress frustration with a friend, anger at traffic, lots of emotions at work, because it's part of the social glue that keeps relationships working. You're thinking too black and white, ironically.

Amazon reviews look pretty good. I think I need to read this book to inform the development of my Trooper on launch!

it was called Hard Contact here is a link

http://www.amazon.com/Hard-Contact-Star-Wars-Republic/dp/0345478274/ref=cm_lmf_tit_2

If you're up for some sci-fi space opera, Walter John Williams Praxis series.

Darker fantasy, Stephen R. Donaldson's Unbeliever series

I really enjoyed Walter Jon Williams - Dread Empire's Fall

a good place to start

The Thrawn Triology by Timothy Zahn. They're set after the Return of the Jedi-period. Great stories and well written too. Start off with the Heir to the Empire, the first in the series.

You need to read the Thrawn trilogy. It's fairly epic, and since it was one of the first pieces of EU literature to come out a lot of the later stuff draws on it. Heck, it was the first place where Coruscant was named and described as a city-planet.

Start here: http://smile.amazon.com/Heir-Empire-Star-Wars-Trilogy/dp/0553296124/

That's the first book of 3.

The Thrawn Trilogy by Timothy Zahn 1993

Heir to the Empire (Star Wars: The Thrawn Trilogy, Vol. 1) https://www.amazon.com/dp/0553296124/ref=cm_sw_r_awd_T70lub1CFBDKQ


Han Solo Adventures Brian Daley 1992
Includes adventure in which Chewbacca vests wookie servitude unto Han and Kessel Run

The Han Solo Adventures: Han Solo at Stars' End / Han Solo's Revenge / Han Solo and the Lost Legacy (A Del Rey book) https://www.amazon.com/dp/0345379802/ref=cm_sw_r_awd_F90lub1EAG30Q

Both your links go to the same page, but this is the one I was recommending

I'd definitely recommend starting with the Thrawn trilogy, here's a link to the first book: http://www.amazon.com/Heir-Empire-Star-Wars-Trilogy/dp/0553296124/

My personal favorites (although note, neither are canon anymore):

1.) Shatterpoint: follows Mace Windu, and is essentially Star Wars' take on Heart of Darkness.

2.) The Thrawn Trilogy: Widely hailed as the best of the Star Wars EU. In my opinion, it has some of the best and worst elements. The good: a brilliant, nuanced antagonist; the bad: evil clones (a terrible subplot).

I haven't read it yet, but Lost Stars has been very well received (despite being billed as a young adult novel). I'd recommend it if you'd like a new canonical novel.

https://www.amazon.com/Heir-Empire-Star-Wars-Trilogy/dp/0553296124/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1482353642&sr=8-1&keywords=heir+to+the+empire

http://www.ebay.com/sch/Books/267/i.html?_from=R40&_nkw=heir+to+the+empire

Amazon

Why wouldn't you want to read Star Wars novels? Is it because the new films have disregarded the expanded universe? Some of the novels are absolutely brilliant. This one is my favorite. It begins about five years after Return of the Jedi:

Heir to the Empire

This Star Wars book can be shipped using fancy-pants Prime, and I hear that Sandhouse just got prime! Thanks!

The comics were all dark horse. The novels were written by Steve and/or Stephanie Perry. The novels aren't particularly well written, but they are far better than the movie. Here is a link to the first in the series of novels: http://www.amazon.com/Prey-Aliens-Vs-Predator-Book/dp/0553565559

Just going to mention that the Aliens VS Predator novel was amazing, and so were the graphic novel follow ups, pretty cool. Forget that horrible movie you saw. The original was the shit.

http://www.amazon.com/Prey-Aliens-Vs-Predator-Book/dp/0553565559/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1373827814&sr=8-3&keywords=predator+vs+alien%3A+prey

this book has a large section told from a predators POV, and sometimes their youngest hunters get too enthusiastic to remember the honor code.

I knew this sounded familiar as I read it -- I think I've still got it on my old bookshelf somewhere...

This is the best movie AvP candidate IMO. AvP: Prey

Sort of sets the stage for the war series

https://www.amazon.com/Old-Mans-War-John-Scalzi/dp/0765348276

Old Man's War by John Scalzi

Similar concept:

Old Man's War by John Scalzi

[Generic Amazon link] (https://www.amazon.com/Old-Mans-War-John-Scalzi/dp/0765348276)

May I suggest buying a copy of Old Mans War by John Scalzi

I recommend Old Man's War

​

The beginning line is awesome: John Perry did two things on his 75th birthday. First he visited his wife's grave. Then he joined the army.

​

It's part of an amazing series and they are all excellent books.

You'd enjoy Old Man's War

• Armor - More ground base fighting in powersuits than in space - Second half of the book isn't very exciting - Audiobook is awesome
  
• The Forever War - War fought against aliens over a long period of time. Space and ground battles
  
• Old Man's War - Lots of advanced tech in these books with space battles and ground combat - This would probably be my first recommendation
  
• Currently reading Leviathan Wakes which is turning out to be pretty good

Old Man's War (recommended by Penny Arcade!)

And if you can consider this science fiction, then Infected it's pretty awesome, and very raw and gritty

I hope the downvotes were more for my inartful and pretentious comment than against the book. Don't take my word for it though check out the reviews on Amazon. I like the book though because it blends classic space exploration scifi, like Heinlein, with more modern genetics, networking and computer technology speculation.

• Ursula K Le Guin's Hainish Universe books: Worlds of Exile and Illusion, The Word for World is Forest, and The Left Hand of Darkness
  
• Iain M Banks' Culture Series
  
• Isaac Asimov's Foundation Series
  
• Vernor Vinge's Fire Upon the Deep and A Deepness in the Sky
  
• Charles Stross' Singularity books
  
• Robert A Heinlein's The Moon is a Harsh Mistress, Stranger in a Strange Land, Starship Troopers, and Have Space Suit, Will Travel
  
• Michael Marshall Smith's Only Forward and Spares
  
• Neal Stephenson's Diamond Age and Cryptonomicon
  
• William Gibson's Neuromancer
  
• Larry Niven's Ringworld and The Mote in God's Eye
  
• Frank Herbert's Dune series
  
• John Scalzi's Old Man's War series

Good to hear from you. I am not a book critic at all so I thank you for letting me try.

>Indeed, the story is designed to start in media res, and the lack of familiarity with the setting is intentional. The next six chapters are dedicated to exploring the characters and the world around them. I've always found it more interesting when the reader is thrust into an unknown universe, only to have information about that universe slowly disclosed over the course of the story.

Ever read John Scalzi's work? In Ghost Brigades he does this very well in the first chapter where you are just boggled to the point that you can't put the book down to find out where the story will go next. I know that most writers do this, but that was the one that stands out right now. He is a great writer and I recommend him if you haven't read any of his work. Start with Old Man's War.

>You shouldn't ;)

Dang! If you can, link the next installment. I'll be having a slow day at work tomorrow!

The Old's Man War Series (link http://amzn.to/1T0yQSB) and Warship of the Black Fleet Saga (link http://amzn.to/1XgUCqm).

http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/0765348276?pc_redir=1412323595&robot_redir=1

Maybe Ender's Game?

Ender's Game is seriously so much better than the movie. It's amazing what people will do to ensure the safety of the human race, without fully seeing the whole picture.

The Story of Edgar Sawtelle, by David Wroblewski. I was hesitant at first, always seeing it, but never checking it out at the library. It wound up being one of my favorite books to read, it was that good. Story of a mute boy raised on a farm breeding dogs. He can sign, and has pretty good life, as far as things go, until his father dies. He tries to prove his uncle had a hand in the death, but the plan backfires. Hated the ending - not because it was bad, but it was so damn sad.

If you're willing to poke at a series, try Scott Lynch's Gentlemen Bastards series, the first book is The Lies of Locke Lamora. The series centers around Locke and his shenanigans as a Gentleman Bastard - a notorious gang of thieves. They pull off some pretty intense schemes, some with great success, some with spectacular failures. It's a great series, and another set of favorites that I recommend to everyone that'd ask.

Congratulations on the new job, hope it works out well for you! Also, I love that you had such a great turn out for your book drive. My kids know how important it is to read - I actually push my daughter to read a little bit above her grade level. She keeps a reading log for homework, so her teachers are pretty impressed. She did amazingly well on her latest state reading/math test, and her teacher believes it's because of all the reading she does. If you do another drive, I hope it goes just as well.

Hmm....I'm going to interpret that question as '10 Books in No Particular Order that Weren't Massive Bestsellers that I Loved*'

• The Good Women of China An amazing book about the struggles of women in China from 1950s-1980s.
  
  
• Ode to Kirihito The book that got me hooked on Osamu Tezuka (Astro Boy)'s classic manga.
  
  
• Shades of Milk and Honey A Regency Romance with a touch of fantasy, and the writing is a pleasure.
  
  
• Ender's Game Hardly indie anymore, but I found this near the bottom of a pile of books in middle school, thus launching my love of SF/F
  
  
• A Man with No Talents An anonymous account of a man who dropped out of the Salaryman life and became free to live his life as he wanted.
  
  
• The Dancing girls of Lahore A brutal, honest account of the underworld of courtesans in Pakistan.
  
  
• The Legend of Eli Monpress Escapist fantasy with amazing characters and a plot that keeps the reader up well past bedtime.
  
  
• Off to Be the Wizard Probably the closest to 'indie' on here, hardly a deep book but a hilarious geeky romp.
  
  
• Live Free or Die This one surprised me a bit, but my Libertarian SF-loving self just fell head-over-heels for this series.
  
  
• Boneshaker Because dammit, this is the one that sent me down the Steampunk rabbit hole.
  
  /* Ebooksgirl reserves the right at any time to change, amend, add or delete this list.

Don't feel lame. I went on a really long kick where I was reading a lot of franchise books - Dungeons and Dragons, World of Warcraft, Stargate, etc etc. Sometimes they're terribly written, but sometimes there are really good stories with some great character development.

I'm not really familiar with the other two books but from what I looked up of them (especially considering the Halo + Ben Bova) I think you'd like Ender's Game.

It's technically YA fiction, but it's good enough that you'll often find it in with the regular science fiction. It's also a series so if you like the first one that'll give you a few more to read.

In the classic Science fiction category The Foundation Series is worth looking into as well.

Let's see. Maybe The Sky People too. It's not exactly classic literature, but it's a fun romp in space - a what if there was life on Venus & Mars and it was dinosaurs and prehistoric humans sort of thing. Although not classic science fiction it has that same feel because it takes a stab at what type of life might exist on our neighboring planets.

I haven't read Edgar Rice Burroughs, but he might be up your alley too.

Zeitoun by Dave Eggers

Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card

Flow My Tears, The Policeman Said by Phillip K. Dick.

Really, anything by Phillip K. Dick.

I have to recommend my favorite book, it was even made into a decent movie!

I would love Speedrunners. And if you're feeling extra generous, Nimble Quest is also on sale for $0.50 right now!

www.steamcommunity.com/id/13DprimePlays

I've read The Book Thief! I really liked it. Here are some books that are similar to the Book Thief, and have changing/growing characters:

• [The Giver] (http://www.amazon.com/The-Giver-Quartet-Lois-Lowry/dp/0544336267/ref=pd_sim_b_2?ie=UTF8&refRID=1WWVNGF0226N13781SPQ). Takes place in the future, in a town where everything is controlled. Very interesting book. It might be too easy for you, but I'm not sure.
  
  
• [Life of Pi] (http://www.amazon.com/Life-Pi-Yann-Martel/dp/0156027321/ref=pd_sim_b_31?ie=UTF8&refRID=1WWVNGF0226N13781SPQ). A man is cast-away after his ship sinks and goes through incredible experiences. This might be a little too complex, but it doesn't hurt to try!
  
  
• [Flowers for Algernon] (http://www.amazon.com/Flowers-Algernon-Daniel-Keyes/dp/0156030306/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1413110247&sr=1-1&keywords=flowers+for+algernon). This book follows a retarded man as he gets an experimental treatment to get stronger. If you only read one book out of these 4, read this one! It's one of the saddest books I've ever read and it's also one of my favorites. It also is a great example of a character growing and changing. you really should read this book, I cannot stress it enough!
  
  
• [Ender's Game] (http://www.amazon.com/Enders-Ender-Quintet-Orson-Scott/dp/0812550706/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1413110356&sr=1-1&keywords=ender%27s+game). A young boy goes to school to learn to defend humanity in a great interstellar war. This is one of my favorite science fiction books. I'm not sure if you'll like it, it's a little out there. However, it really focuses on how characters grow and develop.
  
  If you have any questions at all or want any more book recommendations, feel free to message me!
  
  puedo hablar un poco español, despues de seis años de clas
  es. tu ingles es mucho mejor que mi español. quiza leo unos libros, jaja
  
  

I have Your Inner Fish . It was a very good read. Any random chance you have Ender's Game ?

Read Ender's Game before the movie comes out.

Okay I know the giveaway is over but you asked for obscure and so you have to read this fanfiction called Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality. It's so amazing it has its own fanbase, inspired a new genre of fiction, has its own website, wikipedia article, and a few news sites have even reviewed it.

It's even got a podcast reading if you prefer.

It's like... if Harry Potter was smart and rational and also a huge sci-fi/science geek. It's basically a bit like Ender's Game if you've ever read it (which is another one you should definitely read).

Links:
HPMOR website
Podcast's site (also has readings of other works of rationalist fiction inspired by HPMOR)
Podcast on iTunes
HPMOR on Fanfiction.net
HPMOR Full PDF
HPMOR PDF but separated into separate books: 1 2 3 4 5 6
HPMOR MOBI
HPMOR EPUB

I can honestly say that this fanfiction is without a doubt the best thing I have ever read in my life. I can't speak well enough of it. I recommend paying attention when you read because the things you learn are useful later in the book for solving the plot. The plot is so well crafted that you can trust anything that happens has an explanation behind it. If you find yourself asking "why is it like this?" there is a reason! This is a game you can only play once, so please enjoy it while it lasts. Ahhhh! I'm talking too much, enjooooooooooy~!

I mostly read speculative fiction, which is typically divided between the subgenres of fantasy, sci-fi, and alternate history. Alternate history is technically considered a subgenre of Sci-Fi, but I read enough of it to make it worth counting as a separate group. Within each of those subgenres, there is a wide variety of styles and some people might find themselves not a fan of one style but a fan of another. If you are not well read in these genres, then you will want to try a few different styles of story before dismissing it. I also sometimes read novelizations of historical events which have their own sort of enjoyment to them that fictional stories lack. Then there are books that are set from an animals point of view, which range from attempts to be as accurate as possible to being practically fantasy stories.

As far as individual books, I will try to give you a few of the best to pick from without being overwhelming. Some are stand alone stories while others are parts of series.

Fantasy single books:

After the Downfall

Fantasy series:

The Dresden Files

A Song of Ice and Fire aka Game of Thrones

Sci-Fi single books:

Slow Train to Arcturus

Mother of Demons

Sci-Fi series:

The Thrawn Trilogy There are a great many Star Wars books worth the read, but this is definitely the place to start.

Ender's Game and Ender's Shadow

Alternate History single books:

The Guns of the South

1824: The Arkansas War Technically this is a sequel to an earlier book, but this one is leagues better and you don't need to read the first book to understand what is going on.

Alternate History series:

How Few Remain

1632

Worldwar

Non-Fiction:

Band of Brothers

War Made New This one isn't even really a novelization, just an analysis of the changes to military technology, tactics, and training over the last 500 years. Regardless, it is very well written and a great read.

Animal POV books:

Watership Down

Wilderness Champion

The Call of the Wild and White Fang These two books are by the same author and go in pretty much opposite directions. Among literature fanatics, there is no consensus over which one is better and I don't think I can decide for myself so I am recommending both.

Edit: I forgot to mention, the first book in the 1632 series is available online for free. This is not a pirated version, but something the author put up himself as a part of an effort to move publishing into the modern day with technology and make books more accessible to readers.

I'm also about to do a road trip with two other scientists! Here are some awesome books that either I've read, or I plan on reading on my trip:

Contact - Carl Sagan. This book is absolutely my favorite science-y fiction, ever.

Cat's Cradle or Slaughterhouse Five by Kurt Vonnegut, if you haven't read them already.

Anything by Ray Bradbury - specifically Fahrenheit 451, also if you haven't read it already.

If you're into full-on science fiction, I can totally recommend the Ender's Game series by Orson Scott Card and the Hyperion series by Dan Simmons.

Robin Mckinley - anything by her though specifically Sunshine. If you haven't read Mercades Lackey than you would probably like her since you like Tamora Pierce. Start with Arrows for the Queen or Magic's Pawn. Raymond E Feist writes another good fantasy series that has tons of books in it. You might even like the Robert Jordan Wheel of Time books since you like the Game of Thrones. If you haven't read the Ender's Game books by Orson Scott Card they are very good. Some classical sci-fi - Foundation series by Issac Asimov.

edit: also because it looks like you like some historical romance The Secret History of the Pink Carnation and Peony in Love.

a book!

I'VE BEEN GOOD I SWEAR

$4.19 book :)

Thank you for the contest, Santa Chica!

Again on the sci-fi note: Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card

I'd love to get Ender's Game. I've had it on my to-read list for a while. :)

I pick 7!

Girl in the Tangerine Scarf. Novel about a muslim growing up in america.

John Dies at the End. Horror fantasy novel with a lot of philisophical aspects. Also, lots of dick jokes. It's written by a guy that went on to write for Cracked.com. It also recently came out as a movie.

Ender's Game. Futuristic scifi about a kid that goes up to space-school to learn how to save the world from an alien invasion. Soon to be a major motion picture.

13 Reasons Why. Novel about the aftermath of a high school suicide. Good if you want lots of feels.

Interesting, The Kindle version is free on Amazon .. good enough reason to add it to my collection :)

I'm mostly into SciFi books myself. Recently I've been reading a bit by Paul McAuley, If I were to recommend something recent it'd be The Quiet War and Gardens of the Sun by him. For old classics you can't go wrong with Ender's Game or Ringworld.

Yeah I read a lot of Fantasy and Sci-fi. Umm, if he likes more Military Scifi I would recommend:

• Dauntless It's the first in a really cool space/naval series about a fleet of spaceships far from home and fighting through enemy territory to get home. All the while the Fleet Commander is acclimating to being 100 years in his own future (without "timetravel")
  
  
• Starship Troopers Is a classic scifi by Heinlein and has very little to do with the movies. Similar war ideas, giant bugs, but totally different feel. No cheesyness.
  
  
• Ender's Game of course is a classic Scifi book. Young boy growing up in a Battle School where they train kids to be soldiers. Very deep, very perspective changing.
  
  
• Stranger in a Strange Land Is another Heinlein book. A human boy grows up being raised by an alien Martian race on Mars. Brought back to Earth as an adult human, but again raised and taught everything by Martians. Has no concept of earth, our beliefs, our morals, our actions, anything. An amazing story that gives a great perspective for a WASP like me to see what it's like to integrate into a society where nobody is like you, and you understand nothing.
  
  If he likes "high fantasy" (elves, wizards, knights, etc) then let me know and I throw out a few of those too.
  
  EDIT: Also I'll plug Audbile.com here because these all also have great Audiobooks with GREAT narrators and I love listening to my books on my Android phone all the time. And of course Amazon owns Audible! discounts for buying the audiobook and the kindle book (often cheaper than outright buying the audiobook!)

Ender's Game and Artemis Fowl might be up your alley.

Nathan Lowell's Solar Clipper series (start with Quarter Share) fits the bill perfectly. The protagonist is practically a Mary Sue, but it's actually quite refreshing to have a character who has no flaws and for whom everything goes right.

Someone already recommended the Three Body Problem, so I'll go ahead and throw in Children of Time. Half of it takes place in space and the other half takes place on a terraformed planet. The space chapters are weaker than the planet chapters (especially at the beginning, it does get off to kind of a rocky start writing-wise), but over the course of the book it just gets better and better. I don't want to spoil it by explaining what makes it so good, other than it's the only book that has ever made me cry over a dead spider.

Do Children of Time by Adrian Tchaikovsky.

https://www.amazon.com/Children-Time-Adrian-Tchaikovsky/dp/1447273303

Children of Time

Most of the search thus far has been in the EAFOTS sector. Been out in the rift myself a while now, just a heads up: space madness WILL set in... just embrace it! Us Rifters are all a bit... Different

-

Read the first page of the link provided by another_ape (don't worry so much about the previous threads, the first page has everything you need) Once you are done, feel free to read the last few just to get up to speed. (Although Zach is doing a great job keeping the FP up to date). If you want to get into the lore a bit more, there is a book called Elite: Reclamation that is official canonn and was written as a companion to the game at launch, and indeed the author, Drew Wagar, is also the writer for the Rift mystery on behalf of FDev. The characters from the book exist in-game, and often read Galnet articles with them involved. Kahina Loren AKA Salome is the main character and is subsequently a key figure in the Rift mystery (More on her here) along with her curernt followers, the Children of Raxxla (who have a minor faction in-game located in the HR 6421 system). In fact Salome herself is in game, and can be added as a "Friend" in game. She is a FDev controlled character however, as far as we know...

-

Anyways that should be enough to get you going. Come join us in the discussion on the forum, ask questions etc... I'm "exgoaltender" on the forums, and CMDR REAVER ONE in-game.

Here are the paperbacks at ~$15 and £9. Not that Drew isn’t worth every cent of the million dollar price of course! :)
https://www.amazon.com/Elite-Reclamation-1-Dangerous/dp/1522819010/
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Elite-Reclamation-1-Dangerous/dp/1522819010/

Elite: Reclamation: Volume 1 Elite: Dangerous

Elite Dangerous: Docking is Difficult

Elite Dangerous: Wanted

Paperbacks are available via Amazon. http://www.amazon.co.uk/Elite-Reclamation-1-Dangerous/dp/1522819010/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1452516370&sr=1-2&keywords=elite+reclamation

If you like them you should read Children of Time https://www.amazon.com/Children-Time-Adrian-Tchaikovsky/dp/1543625584

Try and read Children of Time: https://www.amazon.com/Children-Time-Adrian-Tchaikovsky/dp/1543625584

​

Has main characters that are spiders. He is able to convey emotions beautifully. I can't quite quote anything, I just know it was an amazing book and I connected with the spider's emotions.

oh man, just finished reading Children of Time...

Cyberabad Days by Ian McDonald
>Cyberabad Days is a triumphant return to the India of 2047, a new, muscular superpower of one and a half billion people in an age of artificial intelligences, climate-change induced drought, water wars, strange new genders, genetically improved children that age at half the rate of baseline humanity, and a population where males outnumber females four to one. India herself has fractured into a dozen states from Kerala to the headwaters of the Ganges in the Himalayas. Cyberabad Days is a collection of seven stories, one Hugo nominee and one Hugo winner among them, as well as a thirthy-one thousand word original novella.

I'm not a fan of Alastair Reynolds. My favourite science fiction would be a toss up between any of the Culture novels by Iain M Banks, Cyberabad Days by Ian McDonald or The Windup Girl by Paulo Bacigalupi.

Some great, truly great books that are not often recommended here include Wolf Hall, The Making of the Atomic Bomb by Richard Rhodes, the Civil War narrative history (in three parts) by Shelby Foote, the WWII espionage novels of Alan Furst or the historical biographies of Christopher Hibbert.

So many more too.

He did, it's called Cyberabad Days and is also excellent.

It is not, it's a full on book series.

If you want some scope, the whole trilogy is about the length of a single George R.R. Martin book. The reviews are outdated, as I've just updated all of them to the anniversary edition, but you can check out the Amazon reviews for Murder of Crows here

Edit: Actually, fun trivia fact, when I first thought up the idea, it was supposed to be a graphic novel. I just suck at drawing.

Hmm...the cheapest thing I have on my WL (I think) is a book written by a redditor.

It looks good, and seems to have great reviews, so if you ever read it, let me know!

I haven't read Mistborn, but I have the sample now! The Lost fleet looks interesting too! I have some reading to do tonight! lol.

The first book is Into the Black and his other series Warriors Wings is also really good. Not as hard on the science as Odyssey, but still a fun military sci-fi.

Into the Black (Odyssey One ) by Evan Currie? https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B005ML0EZS/ref=series_rw_dp_sw

https://www.amazon.com/Into-Black-Remastered-Odyssey-Book-ebook/dp/B005ML0EZS/ref=sr_1_3?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1482678404&sr=1-3&keywords=into+the+black

about half of this series is pretty good. nothing fancy just hard scifi mixed with space opera. i honestly have no idea why i like these books but i'll buy them when they come out and read most of them

Wait... there's an official release?!?!?! I didn't know.

Is it this one?

Are these the original novels Tomino wrote?

Sorry, I meant the novelization. When I read the Origin, I didn't remember the manga for some reason.

There's a book based off this same principle called "A Murder of Crows" it's free on amazon. Seriously. Read it. It's really emotional stuff.http://www.amazon.com/Murder-Crows-Book-Icarus-Trilogy-ebook/dp/B007ZKGQX8/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1404697289&sr=8-4&keywords=a+murder+of+crows+sci-fi

http://www.amazon.com/Mobile-Suit-Gundam-Escalation-Confrontation/dp/1611720052/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1426918873&sr=8-1&keywords=mobile+suit+gundam+novel

Although it is VERY different than the series, it will give you a good understanding of mobile suits, minovsky particles, newtypes, and the general ideas of why there is a war and how things got so bad. But its worth a read if your interested in gundam and want to do something besides watch a 50 episode anime. Also i definitely recommend reading mobile suit gundam the origin manga, its very good and retells the anime entirely (plus some bonus stuff)

The Jao Empire series (Course of Empire, Crucible of Empire, Span of Empire)

>"No Josh, concentrate! Thinner, more accurate!"
>
>Instructor Peregrine flashed beside Josh the flamethrower, putting a hand under the bottom of the boy's elbow, redirecting a stream of fire slightly upwards. The target at the other end of the gym was a piece of white paper, six inches by six inches, with a red frame around it.
>
>"Remember, you must only hit the inner target!" He commanded, as fire splashed across both red and white paper, "Fire is dangerous, destructive. You must learn to contain that danger, to control it, or it will claim many lives, including your own."
>
>Then Peregrine stepped away from Josh and into nothingness, only to appear in front of Arial, who floated twenty yards in front of a pitching machine stocked with tennis balls.
>
>"First precision, then power!" He said as she dodged the first projectile by launching herself several feet to her right, "Too much, too much. I want the tennis ball to just whiff the hairs on your arm, for you to just barely avoid it. You must be agile, nimble, not clumsily leaping from place to place!"
>
>It had been three days since instructor Peregrine had given us our first lesson- three days filled with soreness courtesy of instructor Cane, mental exertion from instructor Linns, and power usage from instructor Peregrin. Day one had been easy- simple stretches he advised us to perform in the morning, bed, and before workouts.
>
>"It's for alignment," he said, as we reached upwards, our backs arched, "You cannot be separate from your power. You must feel it within and around you, a crucial piece of you, not merely an ability. Stretch, and feel where it begins and ends. Where you begin and end."
>
>"Sounds pretty hokie," muttered Lucio as he held his hands upwards, then jumping when Peregine appeared just behind his ear, and whispered, "Far less hokie than your memory games, Lucio. But here, I teach you how to make them far more than games."
>
>Lucio swallowed, and kept his arms stretched towards the sky as instructor Peregrin disappeared once more, flitting away to correct another student's form.
>
>Day 2 had been an analysis of each of our powers, then matching us to our assigned tasks. And day 3 had been practicing those tasks over and over again, repeating the same motion for hours until exhausted. Soon the actions felt like chores, or boring, the repitition growing tedious.
>
>"We are ingraining the motions past your thoughts, past your memories, into your instincts and reflexes." He said, as my breath came heavily and I prepared to repeat my assigned task once more, and he appeared on my right.
>
>Naseau washed over me when he appeared, a feeling that occured whenever he used his power close to me and I felt the space around me shift, a hole opening and closing in a split second where he passed through. It was similar to when i created the black spheres, the feeling alien when not generated by myself, and different than I used it. Where I pushed the space, he tore it open, a sensation similar to scratching nails on a chalkboard.
>
>"SC, concentrate," he shouted as I focused on four tennis balls that rested on the floor, "Aim! You must have the control to strike multiple targets, you must have the precision! Practice. Ready, go!"
>
>Flicking both my wrists upward, I raised the four balls then hurled them at the far wall. Four painted targets showed where I should have directed them, but with my ability to create only two force points the balls clustered together, striking two of the targets off center.
>
>"SC, you are dragging the projectiles forwards. Instead, you must grip each individually, guiding their path. Do not hold back!"
>
>"I'm trying," I hissed as the balls rolled back.
>
>"Try harder, and practice!" He commanded, and disappeared again, this time nearly making me retch. And after a few hours, I found I could accurately direct the ball clusters, but never striking more than two targets.
>
>After his class was dinner and chores, then another shower and bed. And bed was something I welcomed after the tiring days, humming a song as I prepared. Always the same song, though I could never quite remember where I learned it, nor the words.
>
>Until the night I was awakened by my window blowing open, and I heard the voice singing it. And I realized there was nothing more I wanted to be than the perfect student, the strongest in all three classes. The example for all.
>
>*
>
>The Bridge is on Sale! Only $.99 for the next two days then up to $5
>
>You can also keep up with Star Child by following my profile /u/leoduhvinci
>
>NOTICE: I'm currently backpacking Europe, so updates will come Every other day. They might come more often but that is the most I can guarantee. I have a chapter bank written to help. This is why I might not be very responsive. To those of you concerned about timeliness, let me emphasize again: I do not have good access to wifi, and I am writing these in my spare time as I travel. On the 15th, I return home, and they will be more regular.
>
>The Bridge is #3 on wattpad right now, let's bump it to #1! The higher it is, the less time I spend on promotions, and the more time I spend on Starchild. Commenting and voting really drives it up the charts. Getting to #1 guarantees you a Star Child novel from me. Plus if you like star child, you'll probably like The Bridge too!
>
>Are you a teacher with students who might enjoy The Bridge? Or a librarian? Message me.**
>
>Winners of The Bridge contests will be announced in about one week.
>
>Follow my Facebook for a chance at signed copies: https://www.facebook.com/leoduhvinci

https://www.amazon.com/Into-Black-Remastered-Odyssey-Book-ebook/dp/B005ML0EZS/ (later in the series, mostly)

INDIE SCI-FI FANTASY WATCH:

• The Dragon's Blade: The Reborn King By Michael R. Miller, Narrated By Dave Cruse -- this Scottish Indie SF writer's first foray into audiobook publishing brings his self-published 2015 debut to audio: "Dragons once soared in the skies, but that was before the Transformation, before they took human form."
  
  
• Two books/audiobooks by Jake Bible -- Roak: Galactic Bounty Hunter (read by Andrew B. Wehrlen) and Z-Burbia 7: Sisters of the Apocalypse (read by Angel Clark)
  
  
• Duel in the Dark: Blood on the Stars, Book 1 By Jay Allan, Narrated By Luke Daniels -- "A New Adventure by the Author of the Bestselling Crimson Worlds and Far Stars series. The Confederation has fought three wars against the forces of the totalitarian Union. Three generations of its warriors have gone off to war, held the line against the larger, more powerful enemy. Now the fourth conflict is imminent, and the Confederation’s navy is on alert, positioned behind the frontier, waiting for the attack it knows is coming." A Whispersync deal at $0.99 Kindle plus $1.99 Audible add-on, though that Kindle price is a "Countdown Deal" which goes back up to $4.99 on Friday.
  
  
• Invaders by Vaughn Heppner, Narrated by Christian Rummel -- The prolific space opera / military sf author Heppner sets sail for battle amongst the stars again: "The battle for Earth begins with a secret invasion. They came from the brightest star in the southern constellation of Carina. First they studied us. Now they're among us, threatening human existence as they search for the Starcore, the greatest device of the lost Polarions." A Whispersync deal at $3.99 Kindle plus $1.99 Audible add-on.
  
  
• Darkness Rising: Disciples of the Horned One, Volume 1: Soul Force Saga, Book 1 By James E. Wisher, Narrated By Vikas Adam for Podium -- "Damien St. Cloud is a failure. Born with the most powerful soul force anyone has ever seen, he can't get it to work. The next in a long line of warlords, Damien is a disappointment to his legendary father and a weakling compared to his perfect sister. Everything changes when a visiting sorcerer proclaims Damien isn't a warlord at all, but a sorcerer." A Whispersync deal at $2.99 Kindle plus $2.99 Audible add-on.
  
  
• Anthology: Explorations: Through the Wormhole, narrated by Keith Michaelson -- "It's 2052 and the first known wormhole appears in lunar orbit. Earth sends a ship to investigate and the future of space travel changes forever. Join many of today's most exciting indie science fiction authors as they chart a shared universe and future-history: Richard Fox, Ralph Kern, Stephen Moss, Josh Hayes, Shellie Horst, PP Corcoran, Chris Guillory, Rosie Oliver, Charlie Pulsipher, Jacob Cooper, Jo Zebedee, PJ Strebor, Thaddeus White, and Stephen Palmer."

In "The Course of Empire" https://www.amazon.com/Course-Empire-Book-ebook/dp/B00ARPEJC8 the human resistance used improvised chaff and steam devices to block the lasers of the invading aliens. The resistance lost (not a spoiler) but they tried to convince their new alien masters not to strip captured tanks of their superior human-built kinetic weapons and replace them with inferior lasers.

Cute!

Don't call me Mad Dog.

A Fist Full of Dollars. Because I love spaghetti!

Cheap item.

Thank you.

A not-very-well-known but amazing scifi book that I think you might like is The Course Of Empire.

I've read Leviathan Wakes and (imho) Course Of Empire is every bit as good!

http://www.amazon.com/Hard-Contact-Star-Wars-Republic/dp/0345478274/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1323660726&sr=1-1 Thats book 1
http://www.amazon.com/Triple-Zero-Star-Wars-Republic/dp/0345490096/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1323660726&sr=1-2 Thats book 2
http://www.amazon.com/True-Colors-Star-Wars-Republic/dp/0345498003/ref=sr_1_3?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1323660726&sr=1-3 thats book 3

If you like sci-fi, read this.

I need to pick up Game of Thrones. Looks really good. Anyway, I'll recommend Orson Scott Card's Ender's Game. Amazing read, and the start of an even more awesome series of novels. Of course, if you don't mind reading a book from a little known author, try checking out John Evans. I picked up The Fallen a couple months back and couldn't put it down. Really good read, but kinda tricky to find.

According to the Star Wars Legend's Timeline Bane belongs to the "Old Republic" era.
https://www.amazon.com/Path-Destruction-Star-Wars-Darth/dp/0345477375