Hey everyone, new here and I’m 30 year old guy and not an avid reader. I haven’t really gotten into a good book in a couple years and now I’m in my 30’s. I’m headed to the beach next week and wanna get a good beach read.
I like sci-fi and fantasy books. I’ve read all the Lord of the rings, Harry Potter, Game of Thrones, and Dune series and I’m not really sure where to look after those. I used to love the Eragon books and the Lost years of Merlin growing up and anything about dragons, or magic or other worlds. Would like to get a recommendation for something easy to read and fun fantasy/sci-fi book and something I can sink my teeth into for a couple days. Thanks in advance!
by gmanmurray
12 Comments
My most recent beach read has been “Babel.” I’m a linguistics major which has given me a very deep appreciation for the world-building that might not be as deep for someone without my background, but my sense is that it’s a great book even without that connection.
I would also recommend anything and everything by Naomi Novik. Her Scholomance series pulled me out of a reading slump a couple years ago.
I read this a few weeks ago when I was at Ocean City, NJ… could not recommend this one more: http://trendflicker.it.com/scifi. Apparently they’re making Project Hail Mary into a live action film and I’m so excited for it
The Throne of Glass series would be a great read for you if you are into/ok with female leads. It’s right up there with the series you mentioned. Not a beach read, though! For that, I’d recommend Ted Chiang’s Stories of Your Life and Others. He’s amazing. Wrote the short story that became the film Arrival.
I equate beach reads with something lighter and fun? Someone else suggested Babel which is dark and heavy.
All Systems Red – the first Murderbot novella is well-loved and now a series
Project Hail Mary – favorite for many, top-tier
Any John Scalzi, like old Man’s War
Ready player One – fast-paced, fun read
Ready player one by Ernest Cline – very easy to read and entertaining. Kind of like book junk food.
Becky Chambers’ A Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet is outstanding! Has fun moments, and if you like it, there’s more in the series.
Jacqueline Carey’s Santa Olivia and Saints Astray duology are also excellent. (If you’re familiar with her more famous works, this one is VERY different and has a lot less sex.)
Mistborn
Dungeon Crawler Carl. Aliens come to Earth and put people thru a Running Man type game show. There’s a lot of comedic beats, but the story is dark. 7 books and counting.
OK, so I’m the third one here to recommend Project Hail Mary. Looks like you’re going to have to look into this!
I love Murderbot dearly, but the books are short so that’s probably better saved for a time when you don’t need something to last a couple of days. I’d suggest a different series by Martha Wells, The Cloud Roads, or maybe A Plague Of Giants by Kevin Hearne.
Terry Pratchett with the discworld series.
R A Salvatore with my fave Drizzt and his friends.
Red Rising by Pierce Brown, Dungeon Crawler Carl by Matt Dinnaman, Shards of Earth by Adrian Tchaikovsky, The Skinner by Neal Asher