This is intended as a present for my 14 year old nephew, though I will totally read it too. His absolute favourite author is Andy Weir – The Martian, Project Hail Mary etc. The last few Christmases I’ve given him Skyward by Brandon Sanderson and Illuminae by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff. I know he liked Skyward and read all the sequels. As well as fiction he also watches a lot of a space documentaries. He’s not keen on books that are very romance-forward. He’s not a particularly adventurous reader most of the time – he spends most of his time rereading things like Wimpy Kid – so I like to find books that are engaging and fast paced, but will be a bit more of a challenge. All suggestions are appreciated!
by Successful-Escape496
13 Comments
An astronauts guide to life of earth by Chris Hadfield is about his journey to becoming a astronaut. It’s written in a very fun accessible way and was really interesting.
Not sure if he’s into Star Trek, but the autobiographies of James T Kirk and Mr Spock were good.
The Space team series are good fun. I think they may be aimed at YA as no swearing but done in a funny way, like the characters REALLY want to swear. Similar idea to the Good place tv show and swearing.
Somewhere between Guardians of the Galaxy and Firefly but funny.
The Black Ocean series by JS Morin are entertaining and have an interesting twist of adding magic (but it works). He is also a prolific author with roughly 60 books in that universe.
The Bobiverse series by Dennis E Taylor. Roadkill by the same author is really good too.
Becky Chambers’ [To Be Taught, If Fortunate](https://app.thestorygraph.com/books/5e60f1ce-0c3e-4c49-bf2e-a0ac0dcacdd2) has similar vibes to Project Hail Mary. Her Wayfarer series is even better.
Quick shout out too to Martha Wells’ [Murderbot Diaries](https://app.thestorygraph.com/books/0931484c-b015-43b8-b4e5-6259ec2416e3). I would die for Murderbot
He might be a tad young for Adrian Tchaikovsky, but keep his Children of Time series in your back pocket for future reference. Same goes for James SA Corey’s The Expanse. You’re the best judge of his reading/maturity level, though.
The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy is quintessentially British in its absurd dry wit.
And if space is his thing, both [Strata](https://app.thestorygraph.com/books/6ac73738-d7ff-4c3d-b826-39304ba4782e) and [Dark Side of the Sun](https://app.thestorygraph.com/books/f46b5643-54c1-4afe-b775-93c6e5d69837) are great gateways into the works of Terry Pratchett. Nobody’s too young for Pratchett.
Enders game by Orson scott card. Protagonist of a similar age to your nephew and space based
The Rolling Stones by Robert A. Heinlein
*Ethan of Athos* by Lois McMaster Bujold.
Hitchhiker’s guide to the galaxy and try to find one with all the subsequent books of this universe in one. This book is by Douglas Adams and one of the best most amazing work regarding space there is.
Elizabeth Moon’s Vatta War series. Her Serrano Legacy series is also good but there are a lot of SA references and story lines.
Vera Nazarian’s Atlantis Grail series of four books. Books 1 & 3 are much like the Hunger Games, with quite a bit of violence, but book 2 takes place in space and deals with teens learning to fly spacecraft.
Consider:
– Nyxia by scott reintgen
Its about kids who win a contest to go to another planet. It has lots of intrigue and aliens and is low on romance! There are 3 of these books and i thought they were addictive the way hunger games was.
– Feed by MT Anderson
About a boy who visits the moon and his social media implant is broken- he must live 3 whole days off the internet and its very intriguing what he learns off it. It was a fantastic book and easy to listen to. Standalone
– Have Spacesuit – will travel by Heinlein
This is a young YA novel from many decades ago. It has fantastic ideas and a fun space adventure but the story has a few things that arent possible, still a fun one. Standalone
– Wrinkle in Time by L’engle
A weird, surprisingly deep and cooky YA book about a girl going in search of her father. This book combines magic and physics on an interstellar adventure. Series but can b read as standalone.
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Some others to consider: (not space but maybe what ur looking for)
– Among the Hidden by Margaret Haddix
A younger book about a third child when population control only allows 2 kids. The third boy is part of an u der ground network and there are quite a few sequels. Maybe he will love them despite no space.
– the fall (7 towers series) by garth nix
A shorter book about a society classified by colors and towers, and the boy decides he will break the class system in a revenge story that opens his eye to the way the world works. Fantastic series!!!
– Steelheart by Sanderson
This is an author you know he loves! But its his reverse superhero trilogy. The main character lives in a world of superheros who are not good people and everyone else mist live to please them. The boy gets involved in the underground resistance. It was a fun series.
– Maze Runner by dashner
Book better than the movie. A younger read. A boy wakes up in giant maze with other children. They tell him the maze will kill him if he doesnt do it the way they teach him, —-only why are they there? Why only children? So many questions.
– Ready Player One by cline
A little more mature read. Follows a boy in future who doesnt have a good home life and spends all his time on the virtual reality intranet- when he accidentally solves a secret for a contest that leads the winner to inherit the worlds largest company— suddenly everyone is trying to get their hands on him. The contest involves a LOT of 80s references to music or video games.
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Orion Lost by Alastair Chisholm
ILLUMINAE BY AMIE KAUFMAN AND JAY KRISTOFF!!! Absolutely amazing book. I’ve gotten through the second, and haven’t read the third. The first book by itself is one of the most amazing books I’ve ever read.