Need recommedations for my 14 year old son

[dbpowell]

He has his first Kindle..... He received a Touch for Christmas. So now is the time to help him find books to put on it since he also received gift cards to go along with it. He is an avid reader. He is a few thing that he has read in the past.
 
-- All the Harry Potter Books
-- All the Lord of the Rings Books
--Rick Riordan- Percy Jacson Series and Heros of Olympus Series
-- Jonathan Stroud - the Bartimeous Trilogy
-- Eoch Colfer- Artimis Fowl

Etc Etc Can you see a pattern....
   Any help and directions would be greatly appreciated

[nogdog~6op6ou]

Terry Pratchett's "Discworld" books, of course. That will give him about three dozen books to keep him busy for awhile. The first in the series is The Color of Magic and its sequel The Light Fantastic. After that, each book is essentially stand-alone, though there are several story arcs that ties several books fairly close together, and some main characters in certain story arcs may show up in minor roles in other arcs.

There is only a very little bit of mild profanity here and there, no graphic sex or violence, and amidst the humor, satire, and action he'll find some material to make him think a bit.

[Todd Trumpet]

At 14, and given your "already read" list, he might appreciate Christopher Paolini's "INHERITANCE CYCLE":

     

The books are pretty straight-forward fantasy, but also pretty well-written...

...especially by someone not too much older than your son.

Todd

P.S.  If he - and you - are willing to go somewhat darker, Stephen R. Donaldson's trilogy "THE CHRONICLES OF THOMAS COVENANT THE UNBELIEVER" are worth a look, IMO.

   

Though LOTR remains my favorite fantasy trilogy of all time, this one comes in second, beating out other well-known trilogies like "DUNE" (also worth a look) and "FOUNDATION" (which is harder Sci-Fi than Fantasy).

Enjoy!

[dbpowell]

oops forgot about The Inheritance Cycle.. He has read those also

[Krista D. Ball]

I'm going recommend against Thomas Covenant for a 14 year old, what with the whole rape scene at the beginning and all.

Dragonlance and Forgotten Realms are perfect for this age, however. All angst.

[hsuthard]

Also the Piers Anthony "Xanth" series would be very appropriate. My son is 13 and I bought the first one for him (he's not a very Avis reader though.

Orson Scott Card's Ender's Game series would be well received, I bet, and my son is a fan of the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy series.

I also have on our shelves the Hunger Games trilogy and lots of James Patterson's Maximum Ride and Daniel X series' and some Anthony Horowitz as well. All those are pretty sure fire winners for his age.

[jumbojohnny]

I would definitely suggest Philip Pullman's Dark materials trilogy and two companion books; and then although not the same genre exactly, more steam punk really, Philip Reeve's World of Mortal Engines series. Marvellous books all, with Mr Reeve I think just shading it, although as I say, not quite the same genre but as Philip Pullman's but not too far off in some respects.

John

[Cardinal]

The Shannara books by Terry Brooks.  The original trilogy is The Sword of Shannara, The Elfstones of Shannara, and The Wishsong of Shannara.

Quite a few of the new Doctor Who books are on Kindle although for the price you might want to get the hardcover versions which look very nice lined up on a book shelf.

[Geoffrey]

So much to choose from.  At his age I was devouring anything fantasy or Science Fiction related.  Many of the series suggested are perfect for 14yo.   To the List I would add some others:

The Tales of Alvin Maker by Orson Scott Card
The Chronicles of the Deryni by Katheryn Kurtz
The Dragonriders of Pern by Anne McCaffery
In His Majesty's Service by Naomi Novik

Also, you should point him to the Baen Free Library.  Baen Books offers tons of free science fiction and fantasy novels for on their site, webscription.net and many of them are wonderful books.  (of course, this will mean he will soon want to buy books from them as well - and there are fantastic series to choose from at prices slightly lower than many books on Amazon.



... Regarding Thomas Covenant, I read it at his age or a little younger and it does have some sexual violence in it but it's still a fantastic series ....

[Gertie Kindle 'a/k/a Margaret Lake']

When I got my (then) 12 yr old grandson his Kindle, I loaded it up with samples for him. When he reads a sample that he likes, I buy the book for him.

I also went through our author's list by genre stickied at the top of the Book Bazaar and mined that for gold. Or you can click on the KB Books link at the top of the page and search by genre through there.

[KindleGirl]

My 14 year old son is currently reading "Unwind" by Neal Shusterman and is loving it! He has already asked to get another book by that author.

[MadCityWriter]

He might enjoy the Redwall series by Brian Jacques.  And also Watership Down, which of course is a stand alone.

[hsuthard]

Thanks for the edit, Geoffrey! I was distracted while posting (that sounds like a crime, doesn't it?) and I just realized what I'd written!

[flipside]

Teeth edited by Ellen Datlow and Terri Windling
Troll's-Eye View: A Book of Villainous Tales edited by Ellen Datlow and Terri Windling

The Golden Compass: His Dark Materials by Philip Pullman
The Subtle Knife: His Dark Materials by Philip Pullman
The Amber Spyglass: His Dark Materials by Philip Pullman

Good Omens by Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett

Small Gods: Discworld Novel, A by Terry Pratchett

Haven't personally read these (yet), but recommended by friends:

Leviathan by Scott Westerfeld

White Cat (Curse Workers) by Holly Black

[A.D.Seay]

It sounds like he likes to read book series. Perhaps he could get into the Hunger Games. Like Harry Potter, the protagonist -- Katniss -- is around the same age as your son and it is directed towards the young adult audience. There is some death involved, however, but it wasn't anything too graphic (at least I didn't think). I wouldn't deem it as fantasy, but there's nothing wrong with encouraging him to read different genres... Oh, and also, it is written in first person, so that's something to consider as well.

[TWErvin2]

Consider Dragon and some other novels by Steven Brust, or maybe a little out of the mainstream but a good novel for teen males, A Zombie Driven Life by David Wood.

[Harry Shannon]

All good suggestions. Don't forget Jonathan Maberry's YA zombie novels, they are human and moving as well as entertaining and boys love them. The Hunger Games will be a huge movie, and boys love the books, too. Time for some Ray Bradbury perhaps. The Maze Runner series.

[Nancy Fulda]

The Mote in God's Eye by Niven and Pournelle
Fool's Bargain by Timothy Zahn
Brandon Sanderson's Mistborn trilogy

[soofy]

I would definitely recommend

His Dark Materials by Phillip Pullman (though looking on amazon just now I can't seem to find it as an ebook)
Malazan Book of the Fallen by Steven Erikson starting with Gardens of the Moon. http://www.amazon.com/Gardens-Moon-Malazan-Fallen-ebook/dp/B0031RS64G

[EStoops]

Garth Nix's Abhorsen series is FABULOUS. I first read Sabriel at 13. Shade's Children, also by Garth Nix is wonderful. The Keys to the Kingdom Series is probably a little Juvenile for a 14 year old boy, but it is quite good and I love it -- but I wouldn't have liked it at 13 or 14. I hope that makes sense.

Depending on his personality, he may like some of the books aimed more at girls, like Hunger Games and Cassandra Clare's Mortal Instruments (I only suggest her first three books -- she seems to have lost her edge in the recent stuff.)

Also, he may be good for the epic fantasies like "The Wheel of Time" by Robert Jordan/Brandon Sanderson and L.E. Modesitt's "Saga of Recluce".

[MLPMom]

The Maximum Ride Series by James Patterson is pretty good. He might like those.

Also Elf Hunter by C.S. Marks is a great series.

[CoraBuhlert]

If he enjoyed Eoin Colfer's Artemis Fowl books, then I'd recommend Colfer's novel Airman, which is a YA Steampunk take on the Count of Monte Cristo.

I'd second the recommendations for Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials trilogy (Pullman's Sally Lockhart novels are just as good, though lesser known) and Scott Westerfeld's Leviathan series. Westerfeld's Uglies series and his novel Peeps would be good choices as well.

Another good recommendation is Sally Gardner's historical fantasy series set during the French Revolution. I just gave those books as a Christmas present to a boy of the same age and they were a big success. The first book is The Red Necklace, the second is called The Silver Blade.

The Indra series by Sherwood Smith would be another good choice for this age group.

Not explicitly YA, but suitable for the age group:

Neverwhere, American Gods and Anansi Boys by Neil Gaiman

Lois McMaster Bujold's Miles Vorkosigan series. There's some dark stuff in those books, but the overall outlook is still positive. I normally suggest starting with Shards of Honor and Barrayar, which tell the story of Miles' parents. But for a teen boy The Warrior's Apprentice, the first book starring Miles, would probably be the better start.

Rob Thurman's Leandros Brothers series, a great urban fantasy series about two brothers, one of whom is half-monster, on the run from and fighting monsters. Again, these books are rather dark and there's quite a bit of violence and swearing, but these books tend to appeal to older teenagers.

Finally, I'd be careful with the Thomas Covenant books, because there's quite a bit of sexual violence, some of which is committed by the protagonist, and the protagonist is a difficult character to warm up to. But then I admit that I'm biased, because I loathe those books.

Still, if your son likes epic fantasy, I'd start off with Robert Jordan, David Eddings, Terry Brooks, Brandon Sanderson, etc... before going on to Thomas Covenant and other darker works. 
 

[Krista D. Ball]

Still, if your son likes epic fantasy, I'd start off with Robert Jordan, David Eddings, Terry Brooks, Brandon Sanderson, etc... before going on to Thomas Covenant and other darker works. 

I agree.

I also recommend Chris Evan's series. I forget what it's called, but it's something like Iron Elves ?

[tahliaN]

I write reviews of YA fantasy and come across a few gems that you may not have heard of.

The first two recommendations are Indie authors so they're cheap to buy, but they are excellent

Wizard of Time by G.L. Breedon  is fantastic - every bit as good as Harry Potter and a lot better than the first in the Harry Potter series.
He also wrote another one called The Dark Shadow of Spring that is also great. I highly recommend all his books.

The Magi by Kevin Turner is also good for a boy of that age.

Then if he wants something different there's Picking Up the Ghost by Tone Milazzo.

The Shattering  by Karen Healey is excellent too. It has both boy and girl points of view.

My reviews for these books are on my website http://tahlianewland.com/reviews/

[dbpowell]

Wow Thanks to all for the replies.... This should keep him busy for a while and just maybe I can get him to take a peek at some of the things that I read.