Mither Mages? Books for the Spocklette (and me)

[Spock]

Recurring topic.

I am looking for ideas on books for the Spocklette-and maybe me-to read. She is 10th Grade (15 YO)

Her favorite book is Ender's Game.

We read in tandem-the Narnia series and the Alvin Maker series.

She recently read the First Formic War trilogy. I had read a couple of years ago. She loved both series by Card.

Hunting for other books-She is reading Twilight series (Not happy about that-but what do you do?).

She has "Tunnel in the Sky" (Heinlein) next in her stack-she should like that one.

Card's Women of Genesis series seems a little adult. I want to read it first.

Is Mither Mages series age-appropriate and/or does it get as esoteric as the later Ender books?

Might try the "Shadow" series again-I read them-she tried a couple of years ago-but gave up. This might work as she is now a couple of years older.

Maybe Dune-I think that one might work.

How about Card's "Homecoming"-or is that esoteric?

[Bob78164]

Recurring topic.

I am looking for ideas on books for the Spocklette-and maybe me-to read. She is 10th Grade (15 YO)

Her favorite book is Ender's Game.

We read in tandem-the Narnia series and the Alvin Maker series.

She recently read the First Formic War trilogy. I had read a couple of years ago. She loved both series by Card.

Hunting for other books-She is reading Twilight series (Not happy about that-but what do you do?).

She has "Tunnel in the Sky" (Heinlein) next in her stack-she should like that one.

Card's Women of Genesis series seems a little adult. I want to read it first.

Is Mither Mages series age-appropriate and/or does it get as esoteric as the later Ender books?

Might try the "Shadow" series again-I read them-she tried a couple of years ago-but gave up. This might work as she is now a couple of years older.

Maybe Dune-I think that one might work.

How about Card's "Homecoming"-or is that esoteric?

The Mither Mages series is age-appropriate. I've read the first two books and the third is (a long way down on) my to-be-read pile. Not an editorial comment. I typically read books in the order I buy them and I have a considerable backlog. I don't consider the first two books particularly esoteric.

I have trouble suspending disbelief when Card writes near future, particular as it involves politics. I think his writing on these subjects lacks any semblance of verisimilitude. That was my problem with the Shadow series.

Rather than Dune, which I consider a difficult read, I suggest The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress by Heinlein. And of course there's my all-time favorite book Lord of Light by Zelazny (not part of the Amber series). The last time I checked, Lord of Light had hundreds of ratings on Amazon, and the number that gave it fewer than five stars was in the single digits. --Bob

[ghostjmf]

Well, count me as one of the few (but I don't do reviews on Amazon) who give LoL bad reviews.

For Zelazny dealing with deities in a way that is much more readable, & one of my favs of all time, go to "Call Me Conrad", aka "This Immortal".

And while I will admit to having read much of the Amber series, I didn't like most of it. Zelazny once referred to it as his "putting his kids through college" series.

Something I would have loved had I run into it at 15 (I loved in when I ran into it later) is Evangeline Walton's retelling of the Welsh Mabinogion. 4 books, some easier reads than others.

Out-of-box wonderful is Patricia Wrightson's series based on Australian aboriginal mythology. I think the Wirrun Trilogy is the series I'm remembering, but its surprisingly hard to pull details out of the internet on this & it turns out she's written lots of books. More for me to read!

[ghostjmf]

More: Patricia McKillip's Riddlemaster Trilogy

Octavia Butler's exceedingly weird Xenogenesis Trilogy

[mellytu74]

Spock -

I recommend A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith and the prairie counterpart you recommended to me years ago -- Bones of Plenty by Lois Phillips Hudson.

Yes, I KNOW they aren't quite like the books on the list but I think they would be a good change of pace. A little harsh about life on the third rock from the sun in the 20thC but good writing in both cases.

[mrkelley23]

Also by Card, but totally different from any of the others:

"Lost Boys." Kind of supernatural horror. And while I'm not a huge fan of the horror genre, I loved this one.

Fritz Leiber's Fafhrd and the Grey Mouser series?