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

[BigBoysDontCry]

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

I should add that he didn't get into Terry Pratchet even though it looks like a good fit.

The obvious one would be A Song of Ice and Fire?

Or Death Note

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

Gormenghast (series) - Wikipedia

We have those as his brother was a fan (and we watched the series) but I don't know if he's ever picked them up. I'll need to see where they are and if he has read/enjoyed them.

Good idea thanks (although not strictly a present to buy him) 😊

Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin

The Wool Trilogy? Dystopian trilogy by Hugh Howey

We have some death note I think. But struggling to remember if that was him reading those or his brother. They are only a year apart so shared a lot of reading for a long time.

The Northern Lights trilogy by Philip Pullman

The Dark Tower series?

Sorry lots of replies arrived at once. Thanks I'll look these up. He has a good sense of humour, his autistic issues are around his communication.

Do you know which he tried? Because the first two in the Discworld series aren't as good as the others, they're more just parody fantasy novels.

This is a bit left field, but how about Rivers of London by Ben Aaronovitch?

It's a sort of crime / magic / fantasy crossover and is quite witty and funny. As a bonus if he likes it there's about 7 books in the series, a few novellas and some graphic novels that might appeal

At that age (albeit 30 years ago!) I absolutely loved The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant

Brandon Sanderson Mistborn Trilogy ?

I think it was Discworld but it's many years ago. Maybe worth another look, is there something else you'd recommend?

Me too, I was trying to remember what they were called to recommend them.

I was going to say Rivers of London too, if he’s a Hitchhiker fan.

I'm sure I got him the first couple of the rivers of London a few years ago, he hasn't asked for the rest but then he never asks for anything.

If I had any chance of getting in his room to see what he has on his shelves it might help. We have book cases all over the house so I'm assuming his favourites are in his room.

Thanks everyone, I wasn't expecting so many responses. I'll get onto Google after dinner and suss them all out. I bet there will be something I think he'll like.

His brother is more into factual/history books nowadays so their tastes don't cross. He's also better at letting me know what he has on his wish list.

Second The Dark Tower, and His Dark Materials.

C. S. Lewis wrote a great science fiction trilogy. They are full of fantasy (Merlin appears one of them). Lewis was friends with Tolkien, and shared his tastes and interests.

Has he read all of Douglas Adams’ stuff? He wrote more than Hitchhiker.

Terry Pratchett and Philip Pullman would also be worth checking out.

Oh yes!! Forgot about these. 😀

Something by Neil Gaiman? If he likes comics he might like Sandman.

Joe Abercrombie's First law series is quite good if he hasn't read them. Dune is a classic, not much humour though. The Wheel of Time too.

I suppose with a prolific reader the tricky thing is finding something he hasn't read yet. How about a special/collectors edition of something you know he likes, like LoTR?

Discworld I would start with Mort, not the colour of magic.

Raymond Feist is good. The magician series and the riftwar series especially