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Original poster

If he likes Hitchhikers Guide, Lord of the Rings etc...

60 replies

BigBoysDontCry · 17/11/2023 15:26

Hi, looking for recommendations for a book for my 23 year old son to shove in his stocking for Christmas. He likes the above and is into gaming/Japanese anime/manga too.

He's autistic and difficult to get ideas from so it can be a hit or a miss sometimes. He has been a prolific reader in the past and would read pretty much anything but nowadays it's really got to appeal to him and then he really enjoys it.

My list of ideas is very short as it is so don't want to not include a book if I can help it.

Thanks in advance

OP posts:
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CumbersomeRobes · 17/11/2023 21:27

Jasper Fforde’s Thursday Next series.

Fourthed! Quartered?!

UnaOfStormhold · 17/11/2023 21:01

Lois McMaster Bujold's Vorkosigan series is great, probably best to start with The Warrior's Apprentice. Clever, character driven sci fi with a hero with a unique charisma and ability to get into trouble.

ExplodingSmittens · 17/11/2023 20:53

Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency.

Crazyforcavies · 17/11/2023 20:50

Ds13 loves all those you've mentioned and is autistic. He recently read and loved the priory of the orange tree.

IsItMimi · 17/11/2023 20:43

The Otherland series by Tad Williams is the most amazing fantasy/sci-fi (4 books)

Or Robin Hobb

FaeWings · 17/11/2023 20:40

Can I recommend the comic book series Fables? Volume 1 is a great read. Fairy Tale characters have had to leave their magical world because of an evil empire and are hiding in a secret community in New York.

In the virst volume, The Big Bad Wolf is a grizzled noir type detective and he has to solve the murder of Rose Red. Snow White is deputy mayor and helps his investigation.

It's more grown up than it sounds and really fun.

IrresponsiblyCertainAboutSexualDimorphism · 17/11/2023 20:39

Oh and Neil Gaiman?

IrresponsiblyCertainAboutSexualDimorphism · 17/11/2023 20:39

Another vote for the Becky Chambers Wayfarer series. Also, anything by China Mieville, including his children’s book Un Lun Dun.

Original poster
BigBoysDontCry · 17/11/2023 20:32

Thanks to all the posters for the new suggestions.

I've so far spent the evening with him trying on new walking boots and being unable to even give me a clue as to whether he prefers and of the final 4 that apparently are equally comfortable.

I've given up and come back to Google for a break.

OP posts:
Original poster
BigBoysDontCry · 17/11/2023 20:29

nocoolnamesleft · 17/11/2023 18:50

I don't have a mind's eye, but love reading. My memory is narrative, as is my comprehension. So the books enter my (imperfect) memory as words, just like my actual memories. I would find imagining pictures whilst reading rather distracting, and doesn't it slow you down?

Show quote history

Thank you, that makes sense 😊

It doesn't slow me down as when I read it automatically just shows like a movie in my head.

I now know why he looked so puzzled when he was younger when we saw a movie of a book he'd read and I asked whether the characters portrayed/actors looked like he imagined. Only found out that he didn't see images a few years ago.

OP posts:
CaptainBatEars · 17/11/2023 19:30

Lots of the ones I'd suggest have already been mentioned, like Rivers of London, Thursday Next & Gormenghast, but I would add Julian May's Saga of the Exiles series. It's sci fi time travel adventure, but mixed in with old Celtic myths. Def worth a look.

Treezees · 17/11/2023 19:10

More science fiction but I'm a massive LOTR and HHGTTG fan and Rendezvous with Rama and Ender's Game (movie was not as good!) are both excellent :)

YoullCatchYourDeathInTheFog · 17/11/2023 18:55

Does he like spaceships, or dragons or both?
Autistic 20 year old DS has enjoyed:
The Martian
Children of Time by Adrian Tchaikovsky
Ready Player One
Dune
The Expanse series James S Corey
(all spaceships)
Naomi Novik's Temeraire series
(dragons)

nocoolnamesleft · 17/11/2023 18:50

BigBoysDontCry · 17/11/2023 18:39

Oh my, I can't believe so many suggestions!

Thank you all, I'm going to have a busy evening looking through everything.

Interestingly, he doesn't have a "mind's eye" so I find it strange that he enjoys reading as for me it's all about interpreting the words into scenes and characters. He can't do that but can't describe what he does in his head.

I don't have a mind's eye, but love reading. My memory is narrative, as is my comprehension. So the books enter my (imperfect) memory as words, just like my actual memories. I would find imagining pictures whilst reading rather distracting, and doesn't it slow you down?

Nellodee · 17/11/2023 18:49

Eyesopenwideawake · 17/11/2023 18:25

Jasper Fforde’s Thursday Next series.

Seconded.

Thirded.

Id also recommends some early Neal Stephenson - Snowcrash and The Diamond Age are great.

MrsWinkly · 17/11/2023 18:48

heldinadream · 17/11/2023 15:34

Mervyn Peake's Gormenghast Trilogy. Like LOTR but darker, funnier, and more Gothic. Truly wonderful books.

Gormenghast (series) - Wikipedia

That's exactly what I was going to say. Loved the Gormenghast Trilogy. Brilliant, brilliant books. Titus, Steerpike, Sepulchrave...feel really nostalgic for that 'lost in a book' feeling now!

DisforDarkChocolate · 17/11/2023 18:46

Rivers of London.

aswarmofmidges · 17/11/2023 18:45

I'd look at iain m banks ( his sci Fi ones )

OakleyStreetisnotinChelsea · 17/11/2023 18:44

Agree with lots of the suggestions already, Rivers of London, Thursday Next, Temeraire, Gormengast, Robin Hobb....

If he likes the huge amount of descriptive detail in Lotr then Stephen Donaldson might be one to look at, The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant.

kokotheguerilla · 17/11/2023 18:42

Also Iain M Banks culture series. Excellent, clever and occasionally funny sci-fi.

Original poster
BigBoysDontCry · 17/11/2023 18:39

Oh my, I can't believe so many suggestions!

Thank you all, I'm going to have a busy evening looking through everything.

Interestingly, he doesn't have a "mind's eye" so I find it strange that he enjoys reading as for me it's all about interpreting the words into scenes and characters. He can't do that but can't describe what he does in his head.

OP posts:
AvengedQuince · 17/11/2023 18:37

DS liked Children of Time after reading HHGTTG and LOTR.

KatBurglar · 17/11/2023 18:36

Adrian Tchaikovsky and Becky Chambers are both excellent contemporary science fiction writers he might enjoy.

Naomi Novik’s Temeraire series is set during the Napoleonic Wars, but with an air force of dragons, which is good fun.

Topbird29 · 17/11/2023 18:34

How about some Arthur c Clarke or Philip dick? Think they both have some short story collections.

Stokey · 17/11/2023 18:31

My DH is a big SF fan.

He likes Peter Hamilton, Neal Asher - I think these are quite funny, Dan Simmons, Adrian Tchaikovsky.

Recent ones I can think of
Red Rising - Pierce Brown
Venomous Lumpsucker - Ned Beauman

I really liked The Broken Earth trilogy by NK Jenisin and she's also done some more fantasy books.