Age appropriateness question

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As a not so big surprise little snook (age 11) is into fantasy. He has been reading a lot of fantasy books that are geared towards the pre-teen crowd, but he is starting to get interested in my books. Now I admit, I'm 40 and don't remember when I first bought or read some of these stories so I'm hoping to tap into some of the younger crowd here to see what age he should be to give some of these a shot.

Here is the list

Raymond Feist's Riftwar saga. I'm thinking he will definitly like Pug.

Gary Gygax's- Gord the rogue series

Rosenberg's Guardian of the flame series

Hickman/Weis- Dragonlance.

 

I was either 11 or 12 when I first read the original Dragonlance trilogy and I really liked.

I am not so sure about Feist though. I didn't read Feist for the first time until I was much older than that and I suspect that his pacing is a bit slow for a younger reader.

On the other hand I had read Lord of the Rings at least three times by the time I was 12 and they were by far my favorite books so maybe I am underestimating the patience of youngsters.

I never read the other two so I can't comment on them.

 

I'm one of the younger users here, so perhaps I could lend a hand. I first read Dragonlance and such when I was about as old as your child. Of course, they felt different compared to most of the stuff before that, but I still read them.
Try and see what happens when you give him one of those you mentioned.

 

I just posted a list in the favorite young adult thread. Excellent fantasy for beginners (many are Newbery award/honor books):

A Wizard of Earthsea Trilogy by Ursula LeGuin (you may want to leave the fourth book for a few years)
The Dark is Rising Series by Susan Cooper
The Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis
A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle
Mrs Frisby and the Rats of NIMN by Robert O'Brian
Watership Down by Richard Adams (may be too long)

Not fantasy but good action yarns:
Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain
Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain
Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson

Excellent survival books:
Island of the Blue Dolphins by Scott O'Dell
Hatchet by Gary Paulsen

Lord of the Flies may be too intense.

 

I found Lord of the Flies kind of disturbing as well.

The animated movie of this was awesome. They called it "The Secret of Nimn" though, but I think it was the same?

 

What about "The Dragonbone Chair" By Tad Williams. Its a series, and the books are large, but I found the story quite captivating and the main character starts out as a young boy.

 

I recall that series being pretty difficult. I'm thinking it would be over his head. Then again I may be underestimating him.

 

Ugh. Large portions of the Dragonbone Chair were so boring. But you are right, it was a pretty good story with a few good characters; the plot just moved soooo slow.

In fairness, it was Williams' first novel and as the books progressed, his writing became sharper and more to the point. I just picked up _Shadowplay_ his latest installment of the "Shadowmarch" series. But it will have to wait, because I'm getting ready to start Steven Erikson's _Midnight Tides_.

Edit: Have you considered any of the books by Edgar Rice Burroughs? There are several series of his books, but most notable are the Tarzan books. Also, there are Carson of Venus books, John Carter of Mars and the Pellucidar series (Stone Age fun at the Earth's Core). They vary in quality, ranging from very good to awful.

[ April 18, 2007, 21:24: Message edited by: Chandos the Red ]

 

The Taran Wanderer series, and at that age my family was reading The Hobbit around the dinner table, part of a chapter a night. I think the Cooper and LeGuin marks are right on the money. The Gord the Rogue materials are all Old School D & D, and I can't remember anything more suggestive than Saturday Morning cartoons, but then again they are light on the plot, though fun.

Wait for 3 more years before hitting Peirs Anthony or the Vlad Taltos (the most approachable of the Steven Brust) series, though, is my bet. I teach the age group (but not literature) and I think that while the language is in reach, the humor is not. Try watching Shrek with the age group, and you will get that odd reaction where your youngster is laughing, and then you are laughing, and then you notice it is at verrry different things in very different spots...

 

o.0 Not a children's book... the issues of society vs. nature, racism vs. morality, etc are far too complex to make the book a good read for an 11-12 year old. Plus, it isn't a great action novel anyways. I found the moral questions more interesting and Tom and his 'adventures' that he forces Huck into more annoying than the other way around.

But for fantasy, Dragonlance are great to start at that age, although I would suggest he reread them when he is older to pick up on nuances between the characters and because he probably won't remember them well if he reads a lot

 

Sorry, I was going by Tad's statement in the "Introduction to the New Edition." Tad claims that it was his first book he knew would be published in the opening. Perhaps he was wrong and he had another book published before the Dragonbone Chair. It happens sometimes.

 

I would recommend David Eddings....and as for the ones that you listed...I read all of those when i was 12 or so(6 years ago). I have reread all of them since and have picked up on alot of stuff that I didn't notice at that point, but they were still good books then. Also, the Icewindale Trilogy would be good...the rest of his books dwell too much on morality imo, but thats not a bad series to start with. They were my first fantasy books.

You could always do what my dad did, and open up your Fantasy library to him, and just remove the books that you don't want him to see. I'm talking like the George R.R. Martin, and such. I would let it be up to him to see if he understands it/is interested in it.

 

I too read Dragonlance fairly early on and wasn't bothered by it, so I'd be happy recommending it.

Not a bad idea. I read Eddings even before Dragonlance and quite enjoyed them at that age.

 

BTA - That's probably what he meant, and I took it for meaning that the Dragonbone Chair was the first book that he actually published. It's my error, but he really wasn't clear on it.

 

It is quite possible that Tad's statement was correct. Established authors will quite frequently pre-sell a book to a publisher at the concept stage. They will typically get an advance at that point and then get more money when they submit the completed book and then if the book actually sells well enough for the royalties to cover these advances they will start recieving royalty payments. Thus, it could very well be that Dragonbone Chair was the first book where he had an agreement in place (and cash in his pockets) and thus knew that it would actually be published while he was still writing it.

With Tailchaser's Song he most likely wrote it and then submitted it to various publishers in the hopes that someone would actually publish it.

 

That sounds right, JSBB. And thanks for clarifying this point. My real point was that Tad's writing has improved since he wrote the Dragonbone Chair. And his writing is now much more direct and there is a better economy of words in his more recent writing. _The War of the Flowers_ is a good example of how far he has come in his writing style, IMO.

Speaking of which, War of the Flowers might be a good choice for a younger reader, IIRC.

[ April 20, 2007, 00:43: Message edited by: Chandos the Red ]