Need Suggestions re: books for 14 yr old boy
 

ok, probably most of you reading this ARE 14 yrs old. My kid needs a new series of books to read and i am at a loss where to go. He loves the Pendragon series, everything by Rick Riordan, the Fablehaven series; not a huge fan of the harry potter series.

He likes science fiction; adventure; thrillers. He also likes books in a series as opposed to a single title. He definitely does not like 'girl books', as he puts it.

I've scanned the suggestions at Amazon but i am not familiar with any of the authors much less their books.

Any suggestions? thx :)

Has he read Eragon, and the rest of the Inheritance Cycle?

My SO teaches about that age. Let me see what else the boys are reading these days. What kind of time do you have?

You might want to check out the age requirement on this board :)


I could suggest several fantasy-books to read, but science fiction not so much I'm afraid.

Even so, I was always very much into the classic science fiction writers. Douglas Adams, Isaac Asimov, ...

Hatchet by Gary Paulson.

I loved this book as a child.

IMHO 14 or so is a good age to be reading To Kill a Mokingbird.

Have him read the Dragonlance series. Dragons of Autumn Twilight is a good starting point. It is a midieval fantasy series. You can find it at pretty much any bookstore. I've read about 35 or more of the books in that series and it is totally worth it. I read them as a teenager and absolutely loved them.

i got my nephew a collection of kafka short stories when he was 14.
he's had the chance to like different stories, and to like them differently, in the intervening years.
it doesn't always make sense to me to pitch things at age level if you can use the opportunity to introduce something truly cool that is geared toward more sophisticated readers. the pathway to becoming that kind of reader lay through reading.

Eoin Colfer's "Artemis Fowl" books are great fun.

They're about a 13 year old super genius and master criminal who schemes against and sometimes with fairies. The fairies are actually a technologically advanced race and this is more science fiction than fantasy.

There's lots of humour and the books rip along at a fast pace.

My son is 14, I will ask him when he wakes up...

He's read all of the Harry Potter books, Eragon, His Dark Materials, Lord of the Rings, The Hobbit, Crytonomicon... and more that I can't remember.

Like I said... I'll ask him when he's up.

Don't know how he feels about Urban Fantasizes, but I love this series. Elves, magic, swords, Renfests, and the fact that elves only two weaknesses are iron (death metal) and soda pop (caffeine puts them into a heroin-style coma). Some slight references to sex and drugs (along with some swearing) but nothing worse than CSI or south park.


I can not agree more with Lasereth, the dragonlance series started me loving fantasy books. Show him D&D after that.

Every single young adult book Robert Heinlein wrote. A great starting point would be the short story collection The Menace from Earth, and then start in on the novels with Starship Troopers, Space Cadet, Citizen of the Galaxy, The Moon is a Harsh Mistress, Double Star, Door into Summer, and Have Spacesuit, Will Travel. They're all in the same universe, so that should fulfill the 'series' need, and they're pure unadulterated awesome. When I was 14 I inhaled them, and I still re-read them more frequently than I read new material.

Quick caveat: While his young adult stuff is AWESOMESAUCE, his adult stuff is pretty adult, though equally awesome once he's an appropriate age (he spends a lot of time dealing with the specifics of polyamorous relationships), so, for now, stick to the young adult stuff!

I was a big fan of the Raymond E. Feist - Riftwar Saga. This is a big series that I have re-read many times.

i was into Piers Anthony at that age

How about Ursula K. LeGuin's Earthsea Cycle? It's quite an adventure.

Ahh yes, Piers Anthony. I blame him for most of my sexual perversion that I live with today.

Tolkein's books, if he hasn't read them already.

The "Earthsea" trilogy by Ursula K. LeGuin (I think the original trilogy is brilliant-- her later additions to it...not so much)

Anne McCaffrey's "Pern" books (her two original trilogies, the "Dragonriders" and "Harper Hall" trilogies, are excellent. The quality of the stories drops sharply as she goes on afterward to milk the concept dry)

The "Time" quintet by Madeleine L'Engle

The "Prydain" books by Lloyd Alexander

The "Riddle-Master" trilogy by Patricia McKillip

The "Ender" series by Orson Scott Card

14 is also a good time to start on some classics. So I'd recommend good translations of works by Alexandre Dumas (The Three Musketeers, The Count of Monte Cristo, etc.) and Victor Hugo, some Dickens, some H.G. Welles, the works of Poe and Twain, the Sherlock Holmes canon, the mysteries of Raymond Chandler and Dashiell Hammett, The Prisoner of Zenda, Frankenstein, Dracula, Brave New World, 1984 and The Catcher in the Rye.

BTW, when it comes to the classics, I am a big believer in never, ever getting abridged books-- even long books should be read in the original, unabridged form. For unabridgement and also for translation quality (when applicable), I recommend the Penguin Classics editions, when possible.

I think he accounts for a lot of mine too.

A ton of great suggestions. thanks!! i'm going to have to go through each reply one by one and check out all those books. :)

Not so much a series, but how about Vonnegut books? Cats Cradle, Slaughterhouse 5, etc.

Piers Anthony. Xanth series should keep him occupied.

David Eddings. Belgariad and Mallorean series.

Terry Pratchett. Tremendously funny and the discworld series should fill his time.

Dennis L Mckiernan.

Death in the dark Continent by Peter Hathaway Capstick. His descriptions of hunting in Africa are intense.

Robert Asprin. Myth Series.

Jack Chalker Lords of Middle Earth Series.

Max Brooks World War Z.

I started reading Stephen King around age 11 or so. That should give him fits.

Edward Thorp's Beat the Dealer. Being able to count cards at summer camp should be a big help.

thx this is his 14 year old and ya thx for your book suggestions im sure ill have fun readin those :P

Enders Game


By far the best possible book for a 14 year old to read.

Trust me, it's worth ignoring every other post in this thread. That's the book that he will treasure beyond all others.

I say so only because that book kept me up at nights thinking for a long time after I read it as a child.

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he need to read:
DUNE and if that isnt´enough,
CONAN books by robert e howard, not the newer ones by other writers.

good god. has nobody in here ever heard of saberhagen?

have him read saberhagens book of swords series. there are like 9 or 12 books altogether. the first book of swords to start with.

Harry Potter?

Lots of excellent suggestions - Heinlein, Tolkien, Vonnegut, Card, Herbert, Pratchett, Dumas - I loved all of these except Pratchett and Card and only because I was an adult before finding them.
Jules Verne. H.G. Wells. Gene Wolfe's Sevarian series.
Keith Laumer's Retief books.
Poul Anderson. Vernor Vinge. Guy Gavriel Kay writes beautifully.
Known Space series by Larry Niven. Read "Protector", the Ringworld books, or the collection "Known Space".
Robert Jordans Wheel of Time series.
Run, don't walk to Miles Vorkosigan books by Lois McMaster Bujold.
David Drake writes great fantasy adventure and space opera books.
Jack Vance's "Cugel's Saga" is great fun.
Walter M. Millers Liebowitz books.
Joe Haldemen.
C.J. Cherryh can't be recommeded too highly.
Mervyn Peake's Gormengast books.
The War Against the Chtorr is a series of novels being written by David Gerrold.


Don't be afraid of historical authors. Mary Stewart, Cecelia Holland, Mary Renault, Dorothy Dunnet.
T.H. White's "Once and Future King", or the Claudius books.
Bernard Cornwell wrote the Sharpe series.
George MacDonald Fraser's Flashman books should be in everyone's library. Awesome stuff, and totally engaging.
Mark Twain. Seriously. He wrote a lot more than Huck Finn.

I'd better stop now :o

Absolutely and absolutely. I'm sure I've said this before, but I always recommend Dune to those who are looking for a good book to read and haven't picked it up yet.

Too true. I read every Dragonlance book I could get my hands on. I stopped reading once they started writing books about that guy, who was related to that guy, who was the neighbor of that guy, who was once mentioned in the prologue of that really good book with the hero that everybody loved.

geez, i just found myself walking through Borders books. First I have to get him a dictionary. Then, i also have to get my kid off my computer. :orly: time for locking it up everytime i get up.

This. Win. +1. I concur, agree, and support the above.
Especially David Eddings and Jack L. Chalker.

thanks, everybody, for your input. Now, i have to do some really quick amazon shopping. :)

Sun Tsu: The Art of War

Adam Smith: The Wealth of Nations

Kazumi Tabata: Secret Tactics

Yagyu Munenori: The Life Giving Sword

Carl Von Clauswitz: On War

Cornelius Tacitus: The Annals of Imperial Rome

David Kelley: The Art of Reasoning

No better time to expand his horizons! :D

Well, based upon your nickname, I probably don't need to mention the Amber series by Zelazny. Also, I second the recommendations of classic SF made by others - Asimov, Heinlein, also David Brin. Anything by Ursula LeGuin.

My kids (8th grade) like:

Among the Hidden Series by Margaret Haddix (6 books)

Bluford Series - urban high school setting, deals with everyday things
(townsendpress.com) they're cheap... about $1 each

Re:
 

The best series of books ive read i think he will like too because i absolutely love Sci Fi and i am 14
Eragon Christopher paolini (and the rest of the inheritance series)
Maximum Ride James Patterson ( and rest of series)
Percy Jackson and the Olympians series rick riordan
and a promising new series from rick riordan based upon egyptian mythology
The red pyramid Rick Riordan (excellent first book) and the rest of the carter and Sadie chronicals yet to come :P hope this helps

Anything by Terry Pratchett. My little brother really liked his books.