Suggestions for DS, 14 - wide ranging subjects please!

[CMOTDibbler]

DS loves to read, and has asked for some surprise books for Christmas...

He will pretty much read anything - sci fi, factual, history, classics - and normally we just throw books at his Kindle from our accounts and things we think he might like, and he picks and chooses, plus will ask for the odd book or meanders round bookshops. So recently he's been asking for books like Journey to the West, The Art of War, but then went through Dickens in a couple of weeks.

Any suggestions - great classic Sci Fi suggestions would be good (he's read all the Douglas Adams books, Terry Pratchett, Jasper Fforde, Robin Hobb, Neil Gaiman, is reading Brandon Sanderson currently), but anything well written he'd give a try (enjoyed Mythos, Norse Legends, Beowulf, Edgar Allan Poe, Cthulu)

He doesn't like things with too much character backstory wittering, not full on horror, and isn't a big fan of the sudden plot twist

I'll go and look round our local bookshop, but ideas on things I might not have thought about would be very welcome - dh and I are both keen readers, but keeping up with ds is a challenge!

Alan Garner is great...The Owl Service is particularly good.

Oh and since he seems to like a bit of horror, I suggest a collection of M. R. James work. Brilliantly spooky. Classic stuff written mostly in the 20s or earlier I think.

Dominion by CJ sansom (alternative history when WW2 is won by Germany & UK is satellite state)

John Grisham?
Jeffrey archer? It's absolute chewing gum for the mind, but not much waffling.

Does he like murder mystery? PD James?

Thank you both - he's read the Owl Service and enjoyed it.

I hadn't thought of C J Sansom, so will dig out my copy of Dominion and leave it on his pile

MR James is a great call. I don't think he's really read any crime over that in urban fantasy such as Ben Aaronovitch, even though I love crime.

And I don't like John Grisham/ Jeffrey Archer, so great to think outside my box

What about the Wool trilogy by Hugh Howey?

Isaac Asimov? You'd have to research where to start...

The Long Earth series - Terry Pratchett and Stephen Baxter (disclaimer: I haven't read these, so no idea if they are age suitable, but DH enjoyed them)

He's read the Long Earth books, but I haven't heard of the Wool Trilogy, so will check that out, thank you.

John Wyndham. If he's into sci fi, and wants classics, I think this is easier to access than Asimov personally. They are easy to read but still challenging enough. Chrysalids is a good way in.

Tolkein?

If he's enjoying fantasy - Robert Jordan, wheel of time, could be good. Sanderson had to complete the series as Jordan died!

The Anne McCaffery Dragon series might be a bit young for him but I loved them when I discovered them as an older teen.

On Asimov, he enjoyed I Robot, but I haven't tried him with others. John Wyndham is a good call, I used to love him.

He's read all of Tolkein and the Anne McCaffery

He might have been reading Wheel of Time as dh was them all in physical form, but will check

Further thought: the Falco or Flavia Alba series by Lindsey Davis? Set in Ancient Rome. Well written, well researched detective-ish.

Reginald Hill's Dalziel and Pascoe novels are also a joy to read especially if you enjoy well written unusual language. They are detective though.

Oooh I had forgotten about John Wyndham.

The Bone Clocks by David Mitchell?

Thank you! I have a Falco paperback somewhere, so will unearth that.

I'm not sure about Dalziel and Pascoe for him, but will get one for me and read it myself, but will also push some detective books to his Kindle from my collection.

I haven't read the Bone Clocks - the reviews look like its a people saga, which he is less interested in. Am I seeing it right?

It's quite hard to describe! It's set in the real world but also a fantasy version of the real world and is about a battle between 2 sets of fantasy super-mortals. One set murders people to reincarnate while the others do it naturally and they battle for supremacy. My MN user name is one of the reincarnations of the main character

All David Mitchell's books contain allusions to his other books, with characters and settings cropping up. For example one of the characters in Bone Clocks has his own novel - Black Swan Green. The writing is excellent and the structure of some of his books is complex. I found them very engrossing but you need to persevere with some of them. Bone Clocks is probably the easiest to get into. Otherwise you could start with Slade House which introduces some of these ideas but is much shorter. Slade House was originally a Twitter novel.

Given my book club's reaction to Slade House it's somewhat of a marmite book - I loved it, most hated it

Space opera? Elizabeth Moon is lots of fun.

If he enjoyed Beowulf, he might enjoy Sir Gawain and the Green Knight - it’s an Arthurian tale with knights and monsters.

If he likes Tolkien, some of Tolkien’s non-fiction books might appeal. Tree and Leaf is Tolkien’s explanation of how fantasy works, it’s an essay, usually published with some other short works.

For history, Richard Fidler’s Saga Land about the myths and stories of Iceland might work.

Has he read Neal Stephenson?

I'll get The Bone Clock for me :-)

Saga Land will be a winner - he loves Norse stuff (last christmas I had to find a 'Teach yourself Viking' book which was entertaining, and I hadn't thought of Sir Gawain.

I will enquire on Neal Stephenson, theres a few of them in the house, but I'm not sure if he's read them.

This thread is great for me to get some ideas outside of what I would normally offer, and has already given me some surprise candidates to get in his requested hardbacks for christmas

@CMOTDibbler thank you for starting the thread- I also have a voracious reader as son and lots of these are helpful recommendations for him!

If you're looking for something unusual & a bit special for Christmas, try
The Assassination of Brangwain Spurge. The best description of it that I've heard is a Tolkein concept crossed with Cold War style paranoia. It's also got amazing illustrations that are an essential part of the storytelling. It's marketed as a teen book, but is sophisticated enough for more adult readers.