My husband’s birthday is coming up and I’d love to get him some sci-fi and fantasy to read. Any newer books that might fit his interests?
His favorites include:
All of Ursula k. LeGuin
Dune
Hyperion by Dan Simmons
Southern Reach Series by Jeff vandermeer
Broken Earth Trilogy NK Jemison
Children of Time by Adrian Tchaikovsky
Mistborn by Brandon Sanderson
The Wheel of Time by Robert Jordon
Stormlight Archive by Brandon Sanderson
He really liked Parable of the Sower, but struggled with the graphic violence. We have a kid and he’s expressed that he can’t handle harm coming to kids these days.
He could not get into the Three Body Problem
He’s read most of the classics and is looking for newer authors.
Thank you!
by Sea_Appearance8662
11 Comments
Iain M Banks is great – Player of Games is a good place to start.
A Fire Upon the Deep by Vernor Vinge
I was going to say Iain M Banks Culture novels I see I was beaten to it.
Greg Egan as well, Ted Chiang.
Keep on eye on this site: [https://locusmag.com/forthcomingbooks/](https://locusmag.com/forthcomingbooks/)
He can’t have read all those! Because they are new or not yet released.
You’ve added Fantasy as well, has he read Joe Abercrombies First Law stuff? There are standalones as well as the 2 trilogies, HIGHLY recommended.
Some of my favs:
SF:
Culture, series Banks, Iain M.
The Collected Short Fiction of C.J. Cherryh
The Year’s Best Science Fiction: 1-35 Dozois, Gardner – these are GREAT and a good way to get a taste of authors he may not have tried too.
Doomsday Book (Oxford Time Travel, #1) Willis, Connie
Captive War series, James Corey
Last Year , Robert Charles Wilson
The Return of the Incredible Exploding Man Hutchinson, Dave
The Ministry of Time Bradley, Kaliane
Timescape Benford, Gregory
Fantasy:
McKillip, Patricia : Song for the Basilisk, Book of Atrix Wolfe
The Blade Itself (and all of the The First Law, )Abercrombie, Joe
The Lions of Al-Rassan Kay, Guy Gavriel and The Sarantine Mosaic, series
Ocean At the End of the Lane, Neverwhere and Stardust all by Gaiman, Neil
The Dagger and the Coin series, also Kithamar series Abraham, Daniel
The Riyria Chronicles, The Riyria Revelations, Sullivan, Michael J.
Sharps Parker, K.J.
A Blink of the Screen: Collected Shorter Fiction Pratchett, Terry
The Raven Scholar Hodgson, Antonia
You might try some other Octavia E. Butler books. I also read *Parable of the Sower* first and I found it so disturbing that I couldn’t move on to *Parable of the Talents* right away. I recommend trying the Lillith’s Brood/Xenogenesis trilogy, starting with *Dawn*. It’s true sci-fi and still disturbing but not in the same way as *Parable of the Sower*.
For very little violence, give anything by Becky Chambers a try. They are more character-driven than plot-driven.
The Vorrh by Brian Catling. Weirdest book I’ve ever read. I assure you he has never experienced anything like it.
Assassin’s Apprentice by Robin Hobb is the first in her beautifully-written epic fantasy series The Realm of the Elderlings. Complex characters, rich world building, and an epic story told across multiple trilogies.
For something darker and grittier, filled with sarcastic humor/cynical wit, and highly-flawed but somehow still lovable characters, check out The First Law series by Joe Abercrombie, starting with The Blade Itself. The audiobooks are particularly good, narrated by Steven Pacey. 10 books in total, all excellent.
Red Rising by Pierce Brown is a fast-paced, twisty, dystopian sci-fi/fantasy revenge story. Great characters, interesting world building, and an epic, action-packed story.
For a really trippy new sci-fi novel, check out There Is No Anti-Memetics Division by qntm, about a secret government organization dealing with entities who are by nature ‘self-keeping secrets’.
For a fast-paced, intense, trippy sci-fi thriller, check out The Gone World by Tom Sweterlitsch. There *is* the gruesome murder of a family at the heart of the inciting mystery, fyi, though it happens off screen and there’s no more violence to kids after that.
Riyria Revelations by Michael J Sullivan is a fun, underrated, fantasy series, starting with Theft of Swords (The Crown Conspiracy/Avempartha). It follows a ‘rogues-for-hire’ duo in a classic-feeling fantasy world, who are set up on a small job and pulled into something bigger than they were expecting. A great cast of characters, fun banter, rich world building, and a twisty story that starts fairly light/low stakes and grows to become quite epic by the end.
He might also enjoy The Dark Tower series by Stephen King, starting with The Gunslinger. Original, creative, weird, it’s King’s dark fantasy magnum opus.
For a short, unique, mysterious fantasy novel, check out Piranesi by Susanna Clarke. Beautifully-written and compelling, it starts a little abstract but quickly comes together into a really interesting story.
Bets by Carrot Quinn is a newer post apocalyptic book that was really fun by a lesser known author
Red Rising by Pierce Brown
Get him a copy of both Integral Trees and The Smoke Ring. I promise he has not read them and there is little to no violence in them. You will be challenged to find a book setting rooted in a gas torus orbiting a neutron star. One of my most favorite book settings of all time.
Places in the Darkness by Chris Brookmyre
Fathomfolk by Eliza Chan
Rosewater series by Tade Thompson
The two series that consistently come up that I love are Joe Abercrombie’s first law and Dungeon Crawler Carl. Both incredible. Loads written on here about them so have a look!