what is a good sci fi book for a 10th grader?

Answer 1

Sci-Fi is my favorite genre. These are my suggestions in no particular order,

1) Anything by the grand masters:
Isaac Asimov http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isaac_asimov
Robert Heinlein http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_heinlein
Arthur C. Clarke http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arthur_C_Clarke
Ray Bradbury http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ray_Bradbury

2) James P. Hogan http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_P._Hogan_%28writer%29
One of my personal favorites. He does hard science fiction. The kind where the fictional science is almost believable. I own all of his books and it would be difficult to pick a favorite. Some that come immediately to mind are "Inherit the Stars", "Thrice Upone a Time", "The Genesis Machine", "The Two Faces of Tomorrow"

3) Frederik Pohl http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frederik_Pohl
The Heechee Series is a great read starting with "Gateway" which won both the Hugo and Nebula awards sometime in the mid-70's

4) Frank Herbert http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frank_Herbert
Dune. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dune_%28novel%29
If you haven't already, then at some point you must read this. It is a bona fide classic. Period.

5) Orson Scott Card http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orson_scott_card
The Ender Saga starting with "Ender's Game"

6) William Gibson http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Ford_Gibson
The Sprawl Trilogy starting with the classic "Neuromancer". I believe "cyberspace" was first coined in this book, and there is also reference to "the matrix - Mankind's unthinkably complex consensual hallucination representing cyberspace"

7) Anne McCAffrey http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anne_McCaffrey
She writes good stories and her lead character is female, which is a switch from most scifi. I'd recommend anything in her Dragonriders of Pern series starting with "Dragonflight". I'd also recommend her Crystal Singer Series starting with "Crystal Singer".

.. that's just for starters. I have about 700 sci-fi novels in my personal library. I won't list them all for you! :)


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On the Fantasy side

1) Everything by Tolkien http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tolkien

2) The Chronicles of Narnia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Chronicles_of_Narnia
by C.S. Lewis http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/C._S._Lewis

3) The Thomas Covenant Chronicles, The Unbeliever http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Covenant
by Stephen R. Donaldson http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stephen_R._Donaldson
starting with "Lord Foul's Bane"


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Here's a lot of references for you to find the kinds of scifi/fantasy books that interest you.

About the Hugo awards:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hugo_Award
List of Hugo award winning authors:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Hugo_Award_winning_authors
List of Hugo award winning novels:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hugo_Award_for_Best_Novel

About the Nebula awards:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nebula_Award
List of Nebula award winning authors:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Nebula_Award_winning_authors
List of Nebula award winning novels:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nebula_Award_for_Best_Novel

List of works that have won both the Hugo and Nebula awards:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_joint_winners_of_the_Hugo_and_Nebula_awards

Answer 2

I would recommend 'The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy', by Douglas Adams. It's easy to read, it's exiting and very very funny. if you're interested in a little more serious sci fi I recommend Roger Zelasny's 'For A Breath I Tarry' or any other of his short stories. I would start with a short story, so you can decide for yourself if you like this genre. The Hitchhiker's Guide isn't too long. If you don't like the book you've picked up for reading, don't give up. There's a lot of crap out there. You need to figuer out for yourself what's good and what's not. You could also look up some graphic novels. It's not really my area. but I do know there are some really cool sci fi graphic novels.

Answer 3

A good sci fi book would be Wanderers Of Time by John Wyndham.

Answer 4

The Amber novels - Roger Zelazny
The Road to Damascus - John Ringo
Any of the Bolos books - Keith Laumer
The Black Company - Glen Cook
Enders' Game - Orson Scott Card

Answer 5

I prefer "hard sci fi" which emphasizes science more than fantasy. Some of these are recent, some quite old:

The stories of A.E. Van Vogt
"Einstein's Bridge" by John Cramer
Most of the work of Philip K. Dick
"Cosmicomics" by Italo Calvino
Contact by Carl Sagan

Answer 6

I second those recomendations for "A Canticle for Leibowitz" by Walter Miller and for "Ender's Game" by Orson Scott Card. I also like "The Lathe of Heaven" by Ursula K. LeGuin. If you're feeling up to it, look up the Hugo and Nebula awards; the home pages for these awards list the novels that have been winners.

Answer 7

The Bar Code Tattoo by Suzanne Weyn

Answer 8

Since 10th graders often have short attention spans, how about the great collections of short stories called "Dangerous Visions" and "Again Dangerous Visions" edited by Harlan Ellison:

http://www.challengingdestiny.com/reviews/dangerousvisions.htm

Answer 9

I dont know.
But I know what a great sci fi book is anyways, if you have a high reading level, try reading one of the best sci fi of ALL FREAKING TIME
dhalgren (its kind of a new-ish book)

Answer 10

Timeline by Michael Crichton.3students go to medieval France to rescue their professor from there.

Dresden file book series by Jim Butcher.There are 8 books in the series beginning with stormfront. It narrates the story of Harry Dresden,chicago's only professional wizard.He stands between the general population who is ignorant about the supernatural world and the monsters-vampires,werewolves,fey.He is aided by Bob,a talking skull.Karrin Murphy-a police officer and Thomas-a white court vampire.

Answer 11

Original Star Wars. That means episodes 4, 5, and 6. I love Asimov at any age, especially the short stories. Clarke is good, too.