Sci Fi books for year 6 boy

[Vulgar]

Can anybody suggest any good Sci fi books that my ds may enjoy? He has just started year 6 and is a competent reader but lacks the stamina to read whole books.

I don't know why as I read all the time!

He's just started a re written ( in simpler form) version of HG Wells "War of the Worlds" and I think he would enjoy more stuff like this. He's not interested in Harry Potter or anything too wordy. He tells me he likes to get straight into the story and does not like all the scene setting, etc.

Any ideas?

He might enjoy some of the Sci-Fi short story collections from the 40s and 50s. When I was your DS's age I was inhaling vast quantities of Sci Fi short-story collections from Isaac Asimov, Robert Heinlein and Arthur C Clarke as fast as I could check them out from the library.

Asimov's "The Complete Robot" is an anthology of all his robot-based short stories and might be worth a try. Asimov wrote (literally) hundreds of books and short stories so there are lots to explore and

Heinlein is a bit more problematic as although books of his such as "Space Cadet" are written for children, some of his other books ("Stranger in a Strange Land", "The Cat Who Walked Through Walls" etc) have much more adult themes and somewhat dubious sexual politics. Arthur C Clarke did a whole load of short-story collections - "Expedition to Earth" and "The Nine Billion Names of God" are two that spring immediately to mind.

Other names to look out for are Harry Harrison (he did a series of books based on a character called the Stainless Steel Rat, a sort of high-tech criminal - these are novels but they're straight into the action) and Larry Niven.

Harry Harrison is a really good idea.

Ursula Le Guin? Could be a bit "old" for him in some stories but the Earthsea Books (more fantasy that SciFi) are aimed at around that agegroup.

What about Terry Pratchett's young adult books?

when ds1 was in y6 he enjoyed 'I, Robot' and 'Hitchhiker's guide to the galaxy'

Philip Reeve's Larklight trilogy also went down well - it's lighter in tone (and fewer pages!) than the Mortal Engines series, which is fantastic, but might be a bit heavy for him just now

And has he read the Artemis Fowl books? Not really sci-fi but lots of gadgets/humour

I know my DS loves the Artemis Fowl books but they are quite long. If Vulgar's DS is put off by long books then they may not appeal. On the other hand, these might just be the thing that spurs him into reading longer books as they are great stories.

Thank you everyone. sorry I was away from the thread for so long.

some great suggestions here, I will seek them out.

he tried Artemis Fowl but he found all the speech quite hard and didn't know who was talking most of the time. i think his problem is confidence really.

snorbs - I remember loving all those authors when I was about 13. I was a real sci fi geek at that age.

I think ds is less mature than I was at 11, he stil likes things like Doctor Who- not so sophisticated but I really don't care what he reads as long as he does it!

Does he like graphic novels/comics, can't name any specific ones as they're not my thing, but I know a lot of teenagers (especially the geeky ones ) love them, and they might be a bit less text dense.

A lot of comics shops also stock a lot of sci-fi (hence why I visit them) so they might be a good place to start anyway.

I would have thought Ursula Le Guin's books were aimed more at teenagers/young adults (even the 'younger' ones like the Earthsea novels)?

disc world series terry pratchet

Yes Takver -he likes the Star Wars graphic novels so I'll take him to a comic shop. great idea!

Try the public library for Star Wars & Star Trek and other graphic novels, too.

even better Ragged - it's free!

Could you also get him some story cds ie of longer books. My DS really didn't start reading longer books until he was 13, but he would listen he loved story tapes and has since gone on to read the rest of series he first heard recorded.

Our local libraries (Herts) has recently started doing free audiobook downloads from the library's website. Might be worth a look for your library.

There are lots of Doctor Who novels, incidentally.

I am in Herts as well and DS has downloaded books for his ipod, he sometimes listens to them on coach journeys

Thinking about SF aimed more specifically around his age group, if he's not already read them... Trillions or Grinny (both by Nicholas Fisk); the Tripods trilogy (The White Mountains, The City of Gold and Lead and The Pool of Fire) by John Christopher; and oh darn I've forgotten the name of the other one I was going to suggest, will have to get back to you.

Oh, maybe The Chrysalids by John Wyndham?

Have remembered: The Guardians, also by John Christopher.

I've heard of Grinny - I think lots of people on here said it was good (but scary)

The Chrysalids is way too hard for him ATM. shame as it was one of my first faves and is one of those books that really stay with you IYKWIM.

Good tip about the downloads. will check that out.We listened to a few children's book in the car on holiday the Narnia stories and Alan Garner- that sort of thing.

The Chrysalids (just re read it) and the John Christopher books were some of my favorites when I was younger. I still have them and have been trying to persuede dcs to read them but they are not interested