Best "entry level" sci-fi (via io9)

[Dara]

io9 asked a bunch of authors what they recommend for the best entry sci-fi books for people who don't read sci-fi. Figured it'd be a good discussion for the group. So what do you guys think?

My suggestions:
Old Man's War by John Scalzi
Leviathan Wakes by James S.A. Corey
Feed by Mira Grant

[Geoff]

Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adam

[Gregor]

Randolph wrote: "The Man in the High Castle"

Interesting choice.

[Jake]

Coming from someone who doesn't read that much si-fi, more sword than laser, I would suggest Ready Player One.

[Dawn]

Grimspace

[Jerry]

Gregor wrote: "Randolph wrote: "The Man in the High Castle"

Interesting choice."

Hmmm? While I loved The Man in the High Castle, I really wouldn't advise it for "entry level".

[Darren]

Red Mars

[Phil]

I've had success with The Terminal Experiment and Flashforward by Robert Sawyer, Pastwatch: The Redemption of Christopher Columbus by Orson Scott Card, and Callahan's Crosstime Saloon by Spider Robinson.

[Gregor]

Jerry wrote: "Gregor wrote: "Randolph wrote: "The Man in the High Castle"

Interesting choice."

Hmmm? While I loved The Man in the High Castle, I really wouldn't advise it for "entry..."

Yeah, it would have to be recommended to someone coming at SF for the first time from a very particular angle.

[Kevin]

I'd recommend what I started on Clarke's "Tales From The White Hart" and Bradbury's "S is for Space", newer stuff I'd agree with Jake I loved "Ready Player One" and also Geoff's pick of Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

[Rick]

the link to io9 is messed up for me, so in case others want to see that article it's here http://io9.com/the-best-entry-level-s...

[Gregor]

I think recommending 'entry level' SF depends a great deal on the reading history of the person you're recommending the SF book to. It seems like most of the books mentioned in the io9 article would be things you'd recommend to someone who reads primarily literary/mainstream works. I think you'd recommend a different set of SF books to folks who read primarily mysteries and another set to folks who mainly read suspense, and so on.

[Joe Informatico]

Scalzi's Agent to the Stars and Robert J. Sawyer's Rollback or Calculating God are good for starting with fairly relatable "normal" protagonists who are steadily exposed to a big SF idea.

Jo Walton's Farthing is a great introduction to alternate history via the Trojan Horse of tea-cozy murder mystery.

[Gregor]

Joe Informatico wrote: "Scalzi's Agent to the Stars and Robert J. Sawyer's Rollback or Calculating God are good for starting with fairly relatable "normal" protagonists who are ste..."

Good choices, sound reasoning.

[Rick]

Gregor - I agree with you. I think the primary factor separating entry level vs more advanced stuff is how many SF or fantasy tropes you through at the reader. For example, for someone fairly well read in SF The Quantum Thief is a cool read. For someone unfamiliar with concepts like the singularity, computronium, nano-tech and the like it would be rough going.

So entry level works avoid tossing stuff at the new reader which really rely on knowing genre conventions or concepts. However, what will hook them is, I agree, going to depend a lot on what they like.

[Dawn]

Gregor wrote: "I think recommending 'entry level' SF depends a great deal on the reading history of the person you're recommending the SF book to. It seems like most of the books mentioned in the io9 article woul..."

Good point!

[L.]

As a rule of thumb, I recommend books that have been made into films to get people started. Dune, Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?, Make Room! Make Room!, Jurassic Park, Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, etc. Films are usually a common thread among people, and it provides assistance in visualizing sf's sometimes strange settings.

[Alan]

I've faced this with my kids and the ones that have worked best have been books with strong, well realized and relatable main characters. I know children are a different case but the principle still holds for introducing adults because if you're not a fan of the genre, you have to enjoy the company of the main character.

Bujold is a great entry-point author because if your friend is a young man, she has a book with that as the main character; if your friend is a middle-aged woman, she has a book with that as the main character; and so on. Contrarily, I think Ancillary Justice is a great book but I'd never suggest it to someone who's never read SF.

[Trike]

Gregor wrote: "I think recommending 'entry level' SF depends a great deal on the reading history of the person you're recommending the SF book to. It seems like most of the books mentioned in the io9 article woul..."

I agree with this sentiment... as you can see by my comment on the io9 article.

There's no such thing as "one size fits all" sci-fi recommendation. Women who primarily read Patrick Dennis and Jane Austen are NOT the target audience for Starship Troopers. Kids who like Legos are not ready to tackle The Sparrow.

[Christopher]

The real trick is understanding what you're recommending to whom. Something that sounds fairly simple but I've found very few are truly good at.

[Gregor]

L. wrote: "As a rule of thumb, I recommend books that have been made into films to get people started. Dune, Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?, Make Room! Make Room!, Jurassic Park, Hitchhiker's Guide to ..."

That's not a bad approach, if they've managed to 'stomach' a SF movie. It seems fairly common that folks don't want to try SF because they don't like SF films.

[Gregor]

Seems like there is a general agreement that we'd need to know the reading habits of the person we're recommending SF to. So, what are some entry level SF reads we could recommend to folks who seem to stick to their one genre and don't venture too far afield? What SF would you recommend to a crime/noir reader, a romance reader, a cozy mystery reader, a fantasy reader, etc.?

I'd say for crime/noir, I'd recommend Altered Carbon.

[Scott]

Being 99% sword and 1% laser I will tell you that I really enjoyed
Old Man's War
Ready Player One
and would recommend them to others

[Alan]

Gregor wrote: "Seems like there is a general agreement that we'd need to know the reading habits of the person we're recommending SF to. So, what are some entry level SF reads we could recommend to folks who seem..."

That's a good challenge. To fill out your categories, I'd go with:
Romance reader - Shards of Honour
cozy mystery -- Marooned in Realtime
fantasy -- Lord of Light
historical fiction -- To Your Scattered Bodies Go

[Gregor]

Alan wrote: "Gregor wrote: "Seems like there is a general agreement that we'd need to know the reading habits of the person we're recommending SF to. So, what are some entry level SF reads we could recommend to..."

Those look like solid choices to me.

I especially like this match-up:

historical fiction -- To Your Scattered Bodies Go

I'd like to hear your conversation after your historical fiction buddy finished that one.

[L.]

Gun, With Occasional Music might be good for the mystery crowd, but there's a chance that a reader might think mysteries are being mocked. I liked it, though.

[Gregor]

L. wrote: "Gun, With Occasional Music might be good for the mystery crowd, but there's a chance that a reader might think mysteries are being mocked. I liked it, though."

Yeah, that's a good one.

Some Asimov stuff might be good for folks who like the cozy mysteries.

[Trike]

L. wrote: "Gun, With Occasional Music might be good for the mystery crowd, but there's a chance that a reader might think mysteries are being mocked. I liked it, though."

I would also recommend some of Asimov's stuff, as well as Niven's ARM stories.

[Bawa]

Loving the recommendations here!
I'm almost 99% Sword so it's really great to see some book recommendations for the more fantasy-oriented type like me!

Thank you and keep them coming!

[Trike]

Bauer wrote: "Loving the recommendations here!
I'm almost 99% Sword so it's really great to see some book recommendations for the more fantasy-oriented type like me!

Thank you and keep them coming!"

Anne McCaffrey's Dragonriders of Pern is an excellent bridge between Fantasy and Science Fiction. Ringworld and Ringworld Engineers by Larry Niven have a Fantasy feel to them, as well. I would also recommend Dune, although the sequels don't do anything for me. Darwinia by Robert Charles Wilson is a nice gateway to the sort of "inexplicable things happen" stories he writes. Also try Spin and The Chronoliths.