Science Fiction Stories for Teenage Girls? 161
Sooner Boomer asks: "Not having met 'Mrs. Boomer' yet, I'm buying Christmas gifts for my nieces and nephews. Whether genetics or just good luck, almost all of the young 'uns are girls. I've been slowly introducing them to the classics of science fiction: Heinlein ('Podkayne of Mars', _'Starship Troopers', etc.), Asimov short stories, Ann McAffrey (the Dragonrider books), Alan Dean Foster (the Flynx books and others), Douglas Adams and Terry Prachett, some Neil Gaiman (Stardust, Good Omens), as well as the mandatory Tolkien and C.S. Lewis. This is just a partial list, but what would Slashdot consider to be good (or even essential) science fiction for teen and pre-teen girls?"
Nicholas Fisk (Score:4, Informative)
Getting Out Alive by Regina Paul (Score:3, Informative)
Regina is a relatively new science fiction writer- this is her first novel, released just this year, self-published through Lulu press. It was originally written as a romance- and thus has a good deal of appeal for the female sex. But I found it equally interesting as science fiction. It's likely to end up the first book of a series; and thus would give you additional purchases in the future. But best of all, it's available cheap ($5.00) as a PDF e-book; which would allow you to give it as a present to people on your list that you won't neccessarily be seeing for Christmas.
Foundation (Score:5, Informative)
Seriously though, don't miss Le Guin's "Earthsea" books, and the old Andre Norton stuff - the "Witch World" stories are good.
Check out Piers Anthony (Score:5, Informative)
Re:Nicholas Fisk (Score:5, Informative)
- A Wrinkle in Time
Madeleine L'EngleAny of a few score books by Andre Norton.
Anything by Patricia A McKillip, but particularly the "Riddlemaster of Hed" series.
Earthsea series by Ursula K LeGuin
- Ender's Game
by Orson Scott Card. The rest of the series is good as well (as is pretty much anything by Card) but may not appeal as much to your target audience.some suggestions (Score:4, Informative)
The Telzey books by Schmitz (Schmidt?) would likely be good. The classic Witches of Karres has been reprinted, I think, and I believe there's also a sequel (written by another author, of course), though I could be wrong about that.
I see someone else has already suggested Mercedes Lackey's Arrows of the Queen books. Those are great, and much easier for a younger person to get through than the other Valdemar novels.
You might also look at some stuff by Patricia Wrede, the Enchanted Forest books are great fun, and not just for younger folks, either. Talking to Dragons is my favourite of the series.
Books by Tamora Pierce would be really good stuff. Multiple series by her - lots of good stuff.
If you want more of the science fiction, then space opera is always easier for younger kids to get into.
Scott Westerfeld is a newish author who has written some stuff that may work well. I especially liked Peeps.
If you're into Heinlein, then I can always suggest the Moon is a Harsh Mistress. That'll always get them thinking, though ya gotta be careful - many people mistake this story as an endorsement of Libertarianism. Still - ya gotta love Professor de la Paz's philosophy, Rational Anarchy. And Manny is a funny guy. Certainly reading the novel Starship Troopers will give a whole new perspective on things that the movie 'based on' the bok didn't.
The Honor Harrington novels by David Weber could certainly be appreciated by younger folks, as long as they're prepared to wade through all the 'technical' details. It's the same way you have to read Tom Clancy. Just let your eyes glaze over until you get to the story, which is always good stuff. I wish these two had editors with balls of steel and an eagerness to snip, but oh well - it's generally not wise to mess with success, and they are both very successful, indeed.
There's always the Xanth novels by Piers Anthony (Xanthony), though that series has gone on _waaaay_ too long.
There's the Myth Adventures books by Robert Aspirin, at least the first several; another series that's long since outlived its entertainment value.
The Belgariad/Mallorean books by David Eddings is good high fantasy, and has fantastic characters.
Okay, this is harder to do off the top of my head than I would've thought.
The various "Ship Who Sang" series - written by Anne McCaffrey and others.
Elizabeth Moon has some good military-oriented space opera. Much like Weber, but without the extraneous technical details.
Space Angel by John Maddox Roberts
Healer by F. Paul Wilson
Eridahn by Robert F. Young
Hmm.
I'm sure I'll think of several dozen other things on the way home from work. Maybe I'll post more later. Always a favourite topic.
More Heinlein (Score:5, Informative)
If you want you can try leaving a few copies of John Norman's Gor around when they're teenaged, they helped me discover and understand my BDSM side (Bugger if they don't have any or aren't bright enough to differentiate fantasy from reality!). This advice is not for the faint of heart, though (Still, I'm thankful for my father having these on his library board, where I was free to read since aged about 12).
Later again I can recommend the RGB-Mars series by Kim Stanley Robinson, which offers a few great examples of scientific thinking along with idealism vs. realism, but the reading is quite dry, so wait till they're 16 or so.
From the top of my head I can also think of these (Don't consider them "recommended", though. They were simply the ones I read...), that I liked quite well then (but then, I am male, though I doubt reading preferences are much more than behavior adopted from the surrounding society): The "Riverworld" series by Philip Jose Farmer, "The ragged astronauts" series ("Wooden spaceships" & "The Fugitive Worlds" are the other two, I believe) by Bob Shaw, the "Omega 2" books by Bo Anders (were particularly intersting when I was younger still (8,9?), so you might want to check them out. The author is german, so they might be difficult to find), "Hellstroms Hive" by Frank Herbert (A lot easier to comprehend than "Dune", but grizzly nonetheless) and finally "House of stairs" by William Sleator (Rather easy to read as well, certainly a "juvenile")
Re:Nicholas Fisk (Score:3, Informative)
There's also another series I thought was wonderful, but I can't remember the exact titles. I think they were:
- The White Mountains
- The City of Gold and Lead
- The Pool of Fire.
It's about Earth after aliens have taken over and people are "capped" at 13 or so, and immediately start behaving differently. (Capping includes getting a wire-mesh gadget put over their skull.)
If they're young enough, or don't mind something for a younger audience, all 14 of the Oz books by L. Frank Baum are a world of fun. The series was continued by other authors when Baum died.
There's also the works of Edgar Rice Burroughs, like John Carter of Mars, Tarzan, Carson of Venus, and the Pellucidar books.
Philip Pullman (Score:3, Informative)
That said, I think you're going in the right direction with Pratchett and Gaiman.
Tolkien's always worthwhile as well, but i'm sure you already know that. If you have any relations you particularly dislike or want to intimidate, you can always give them the Silmirillion.
Re:some suggestions (Score:3, Informative)
First, I'd like to say that I highly, highly recommend a series by Philip Pullman "His Dark Materials" the first book of which is "The Golden Compass". It's definitely more fantasy than SF, but since you mentioned Tolkien and such I thought it would be a good recommendation. Though this series is not at all Tolkienesque aside from the fact that I found the process of reading this series in my 20's just as magical as I did reading The Lord of the Rings many years earlier. Also, the protaganist is a girl who is (though I hate to use the word) plucky to say the least and grew up in an alternate universe Oxford University. It has everything from wonder, magic and friendship to armored bears. Can't be beat. Waiting impatiently for my own nieces to get a bit older so I can get them the series. Here's the wikipedia entry on the series: The Golden Compass [wikipedia.org].
Aside from that I strongly agree with previous recommendations such as Mercedes Lackey. Many of her books are great for teenagers in general I believe...and I say that as an old member of her fan club back in the days before the web (should I be embarrassed by that?). Also, Elizabeth Moon is a great writer of both SF and Fantasy. Hey, what other writer do you know who manages to mix horses with SF military?
David Eddings is another writer of fantasy I'd agree with as a strong recommendation. He has both strong male and female characters. I originally read the Belgariad when I was in the early years of that prison they called high school and loved it.
Further on fantasy I'd say The Song of Ice and Fire series by George R. R. Martin (first book is "A Game of Thrones") is something that shouldn't be missed. Though your nieces may hate you when they get to the newest book (#4) and have to wait for the next one to come out. The series is well written, well envisioned, probably more than a dozen strong plot lines and very well developed character. Female and male.
Well that and all the other good recommendations already posted should give you a great help when you do your holiday shopping (and if you haven't read some of these yourself you might want to grab an extra copy here and there...or tell your nieces you want to borrow them).
Enjoy.
-BDZ
Stellvia of the Universe. An anime (Score:3, Informative)
Review of the first DVD [animenewsnetwork.com]
A general review. [blogspot.com]
Marion Zimmer Bradley? (Score:2, Informative)
Christopher (Score:2, Informative)
Other essential John Christopher:
* Empty World
* Guardians
Anyone who enjoys those should also like:
* The Chrysalids (John Wyndham)
* Futuretrack 5 (Robert Westall)
Re:Marion Zimmer Bradley? (Score:3, Informative)
Marion Zimmer Bradley is a great choice for young women- or anyone. Along with The Firebrand, I would recommend The Mists of Avalon- which is based on the story of King Arthur and Avalon, though Mograine is the main character, instead of King Arthur (TNT did a very good movie adaption of this which is available on DVD too).
You might also look into the Harry Potter books, which are quite good and quite popular.