Yet another question

[sleigh]

Here's a new question... If you had a friend who didn't read either sf or fantasy, and she said "OK, I'll give this stuff a try since you like it so much. Name one book I should read" -- what's your answer?

Comments

[maiac.livejournal.com]

I don't have one specific book I'd recommend. I'd try to think of a book that would match the friend's interests.

[greatsword.livejournal.com]

Pretty much what maiac said.

For readers of mystery, Blind Waves by Steven Gould.

Someone who likes Jane Austin; Sorcery and Cecelia (which holds up pretty well for something labled YA currently).

For deeper lit fans, either Ursula LeGuin or Jo Walton's Farthing, which I think is underrecognized.

Humor, Terry Prachett's Discworld series.

It might be easier to do this as a sort of directed graph:

Dumas -> The Phoenix Guards, for example.

[controuble.livejournal.com]

The previous advice sounds good, but I think I would recommend The Left Hand of Darkness as a good starting point.

Hmm

[lsanderson.livejournal.com]

I'd go lighter, A Wizard of Earthsea or heavier, The Hunger Games.

Re: Hmm

[controuble.livejournal.com]

Maybeso, but I think it speaks to a lot of what's being bandied about in politics these days - you can hardly turn around without gender issues rearing ugly heads.

[shsilver.livejournal.com]

I had that sort of situation occur often when I worked in bookstores. And it all depended on who I was talking to. I'd need to know what they did read before I recommended something based on that. One guy who didn't read SF, but loved Jack the Ripper...I recommended Kim Newman's Anno Dracula. Someone else of a more philosophical bent had a recommendation of James Morrow's Towing Jehovah. A friend who liked romance was introduced to sf through Lois McMaster Bujold, and so on.

[lollardfish.livejournal.com]

Good Omens. If they don't like it, they aren't going to laugh at my jokes anyway.

[barondave.livejournal.com]

Orphan of Creation by Roger McBride Allen. Basically, The Color Purple done in a science fiction setting... but no spaceships or rayguns. Just speculation and a well told story. An excellent entry point for someone who isn't into the trappings of the genre.

Failing that, Sturgeon or Vonnegut. I suspect Ted Chiang's collection might be a good second entry point, but I'll leave that up to you.

[papersky.livejournal.com]

"What other books do you like?" And then filter by their interests.

[deltachild.livejournal.com]

It would really depend on the person, but it would be out of:

A Game of Thrones - G.R.R Martin
The Loch - Steve Alten
Good Omens - Pratchett & Gaiman
Neverwhere - Neil Gaiman
The Hobbit - Tolkien
Northern Lights - Philip Pullman
Jurassic Park - Michael Crichton
Dead Until Dark - Charlaine Harris

Different strokes for different folks really.

[maiac.livejournal.com]

For people who are interested in the Renaissance (esp. Renaissance Italy), A Magic of Twilight by S.L. Farrell. :-)

When Harry Potter became all the rage, I encouraged people whose only fantasy reading was HP to try Diana Wynne Jones' Chrestomanci books.

[maiac.livejournal.com]

You remind me that about three days after I read Bujold's Shards of Honor, I realized with a shock, "OMG, I just read a romance novel!"

[minnehaha.livejournal.com]

There's no single single answer to this. It has to depend on the person.

B

[slweippert.livejournal.com]

If they were my age, I'd recommend McCaffrey or Stasheff; both wrote good sci-fi AND Fantasy and my friend would get the cultural references. Specifically if my friend wanted fantasy Pern and Wizard in spite of himself, or Crystal singer and A Company of Stars.

Younger would be harder, since more modern stuff has divided into a banquet of great stuff. I'd have to ask what they already read or the movies they like to point them in the right direction.

Heck I may do that even if they are my age, since it would help pick the best book for them regardless.

[aerohudson.livejournal.com]

Hmmmm...tough question. It would depend on the friend. Some of the books that come to mind by genre would include the Dresden Files by Butcher if I thought urban fantasy could be their bag. Feed by Mira Grant rocks if I they were a fan of the Walking Dead or other zombie tropes. Feed is more of a thinker's zombie novel. Old Man's War by Scalzi comes to mind for the SciFi crowd. I would recommend Game of Thrones for those folks that enjoyed historical fiction and had never tried fantasy.

[markiv1111.livejournal.com]

People so far have been suggesting novels. I want to throw out a collection of short stories: *Science Fiction for People Who Hate Science Fiction.* I believe the editor was Terry Carr. Different stories will work in different ways for different reasons, and it's okay for it to do so.

Nate

[chasophonic.livejournal.com]

I'm kind of in the, "That depends," camp. Years ago I would always recommend, "Where Late the Sweet Bird Sang," by Kate Wilhelm to such a person. Now I'm not so sure. I did recently suggested Karl Schroeder's Virga series to someone. But that stemmed from a conversation showing me what they already liked. I also suggest Julie Czerneda and Terry Pratchett often. But not for everybody.