Sci Fi/Fantasy books for 13 year old boy

[Kirby]

Hey all, I'm looking for reading suggestions for my 13 year old nephew. He devours sci fi and probably fantasy books. He's read all the Harry Potter and Ridley Pearson books, probably whatever has been out on the shelves for the past couple of years. He's an advanced reader but I don't know what all he has read that is not at his age level.

Do you think Endor's Game, Sword of Shanara, Wheel of Time might be too old for him? Those are just off the top of my head.

 

[easyas123]

Admittedly I'm a bit out of the loop with "newer" authors, however when I was younger I LOVED Piers Anthony. Lovedlovedloved and ate up all of his books.
Also consider Hitchhikers Guide to the Universe as a classic.
Maybe someone else could chime in with knowledge of more current authors - I'll be following along!

 

[RamblingMad]

Nope. I was reading Stephen King in eighth grade. I'd throw in the Expanse novels too.

 

[SteveH]

My oldest was about that age when he picked up my copy of Dune, he went crazy reading Frank Herbert's Dune series.

 

[NYCgrrl]

At 13, I was already reading or had read, various books by Asimov, Frank Herbert, Clarke, J. Vernes, Orwell, and HP Lovecraft and EA Poe, (who you may or may not consider sci-fi).
Great classics.

 

[Lumpy1106]

I really liked the Atlantis Grail series;
Vera Nazarian, Atlantis Grail series
It's kinda Hunger Games-ish, though not as gory.

The Wool trilogy is good too, but more dystopian than Sci-Fi;
Hugh Howey, Wool Trilogy
Note that he wrote it in the order Wool, Shift, Dust, but I suggest you read it in the order Shift, Wool, Dust. Shift is the prequel to Wool, Dust is the sequel.

 

[OneOftheB's]

My 13 yo old son read Enders Game this summer as a school reading choice. He really liked it and has read a couple of others in the series, but he said the one that tells Beans story is the best in the series other than EG.

 

[Douglas Dubh]

I’m not sure when I read what, but I definitely read Edgar Rice Burrough’s Mars series as a preteen, then Lord of the Rings and books by Michael Moorcock. Lord of Light by Roger Zelanzy is awesome, as are the Amber books.
I think every bright High School kid should read Dune. Anyone who likes Dune should read the Foundation Trilogy by Asimov.

 

[Kirby]

All good suggestions! Thank you for them. You have really brought back some memories for me. My brain needed a kick start. This will keep me in gifts for several years to come.

 

[Magical2017]

All of the above! Also, Brian Sanderson has a new series. Skyward and Starsight are part of a series, and it looks like Starsight just came out last month. These are sci-fi books.

 

[SallySkelington]

A lot of the fantasy books I really enjoyed are a little older but I really enjoyed them.

The Bartimaeus Series This series cracks me up. I just re-read it recently and it still makes me laugh.
Jurassic Park Great science fiction, however it is a lot more violent than the movie.
Eragon Another series I love. Dragons and elves and lots of great fantasy.
Feast of Souls My all time favorite book. It's a trilogy and the world building is amazing! I read it every year. It is a bit more adult oriented though.

There are several more but these are the few I can think of off the top of my head.

 

[starvenger]

Shannara might be ok, but it's a pretty long read.

I started reading the Pern novels when I was around 15, but that was the mid-late 80s. There's a few things that are a bit... shall we say, problematic about the book (such as the depiction of queen dragon mating rituals) that weren't addressed until recent years (I think it might have been Todd McCaffrey that did so) but it still is a good read. So maybe the Pegasus/Rowan universe might be better.

I don't know if he's read Jeff Smith's Bone but that is a fantastic comic for all ages.

 

[Disney1fan2002]

Nope. I was reading Stephen King in eighth grade. I'd throw in the Expanse novels too.

I was actually going to suggest the Dark Tower series by Stephen King. I don't think 13 is too young for that. I read the early books 25 years ago, and I was in my early 20's so I don't remember if his language is as foul as it is in his horror books. The 1st book of the series is called the Gunslinger. He used to put them out years and years apart. I got tired of waiting, I I stopped reading the series. Then, when he retired the 1st time, he started putting them about at a record pace. I have been considering starting over now that he has completed the series.

 

[Cogswel_Cogs]

I was reading Piers Anthony, Tolkein, Narnia, And Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy around then.

 

[RamblingMad]

I was actually going to suggest the Dark Tower series by Stephen King. I don't think 13 is too young for that. I read the early books 25 years ago, and I was in my early 20's so I don't remember if his language is as foul as it is in his horror books. The 1st book of the series is called the Gunslinger. He used to put them out years and years apart. I got tired of waiting, I I stopped reading the series. Then, when he retired the 1st time, he started putting them about at a record pace. I have been considering starting over now that he has completed the series.

My preference is to read completed series. The Expanse series has one more book, so I feel good recommending it. And someone already recommended the Foundation series, which is good. I'd also look at Philip K Dick's stuff too and Richard Matheson.

 

[candy0730]

My son is 14 and devours books. He is more into fantasy such as Wings of Fire, Seven Wonders and loves all books by Rick Riordan especially Percy Jackson, Magnus Chase and Kane Chronicals.

 

[CrankyDad]

Jim Butcher. His Harry Dresden novels (about 13 of them) are a great read. Urban fantasy and fine for 13 year old.

 

[cobright]

Hey all, I'm looking for reading suggestions for my 13 year old nephew.
...
He's an advanced reader but I don't know what all he has read that is not at his age level.

Do you think Endor's Game, Sword of Shanara, Wheel of Time might be too old for him? Those are just off the top of my head.

You might be underestimating the abilities of your 13 year old. Endor's Game is a great novel and easily digestible by an average 13 year old. The other series' are in the same (ish) reading level. I didn't care for them but they are quite popular.

To start with, some timeless sci-fi like Asimov's Foundation series is a great start. My daughter's favorite series at 11 or 12 was Pullman's His Dark Materials. At 13 he's probably ready for something a little grittier like that. Look into Martha Wells' Murderbot Diaries series of novellas, they're actually not really dark at all. Also some great sci-fi fun in Dennis Taylor's Bobiverse series.

 

[blana]

I read Ender's Game in 8th grade, and feel that's a pretty reasonable time frame to read it. I considered getting my 7th grade niece a copy for Christmas this year, but decided against it because she can be a bit immature & I thought maybe another year of growth would put her in a better place for it.

 

[NotUrsula]

I really like Naomi Novik's Temeraire series for boys that age. The genre of it is "fantastic" alternative history: the premise is that there was an air force during the Napoleonic Wars, and that it consisted of trained dragons and their riders. What I find fun about this series is that she has taken real events and overlaid this layer of magic over them.

(For those who have a little tickle in their brains over this title and the Napoleonic Wars: Yes, there was a real Temeraire associated with them. There were, rather oddly, ships named Temeraire in both the French AND British navies at the time.)