The Prof writes:
Megan McArdle is requesting recommendations for good introductions to Sci-Fi, for female readers.He then gives a recommendation of his own.
I'd add I am Legend and The Forever War. I was given these two a couple of Christmases ago, by someone with good taste, hadn't read them since they were first published, and was struck by how well they have stood the test of time.
5 comments:
Good choices, I'd add 'All My Sins Remembered' (Haldeman again), 'The Disposessed', Ursula K. LeGuin, and possibly 'The Dream Master' by Roger Zelazny. Any thoughts?
Not sure whether it's science fiction or not but it's set in the future.
Anthem by Ayn Rand
One of my favourites anyway.
"Ballad of Halo Jones", Alan Moore
Flower For Algernon, by Daniel Keyes...
There is nothing better in the history of the genre.
But if they're American, they've already read it at school.
"A Fire Upon the Deep" by Vernor Vinge. Well, it's got cute aliens as well as a cracking storyline. (Ditto the prequel "A Deepness in the Sky").
A short story from the Golden Age of SF that everyone should have read is Eric Frank Russel's "And Then There Were None", (which is available for free via the web).
Seeing as it is for female readers, then what about Connie Willis' "The Doomsday Book" which has a female protagonist accidentally sent back via time machine to the time of the Black Death...?
"Dune" of course, but the whole series isn't exactly short, and modern day readers seem to have limited attention spans.
Roger Zelazny's "Lord of Light" is excellent, ditto "This Immortal".
Another Golden Age favourite from my childhood was A.E. Van Vogt's "Empire of the Atom" and "The Wizard of Linn", but they'd probably appeal more to boys.
Ursula Le Guin's Earthsea series.
You haven't mentioned an age, but I'd have to suggest some fantasy as well. Susan Cooper's "The Dark is Rising" sequence is superb. Ditto anything by Alan Garner, (although Red Shift should not be read by any pre-adolescent child as they simply won't understand the intensity of the emotion).
And finally, and only for older readers, "Starfish" and its sequels by Peter Watts have a female protagonist. The book "Blind Sight" (not part of the previous series) is one of the best I've read in years. He has a website at www.rifters.com where you can find out more.
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