"The Best Science Fiction Books for Beginners" by Dan Livingston
https://best-sci-fi-books.com/best-science-fiction-for-beginners/

Out of the thirty books, I have read 15 of them:
29: The Martian
28: Leviathan Wakes
27: Ender's Game
26: Dark Matter
24: Rendezvous With Rama
23: Slaughterhouse Five
21: Lord Of Light
20: Ancillary Justice
18: Left Hand Of Darkness
17: The Girl With All The Gifts
10: Ready Player One
8: A Wrinkle In Time
6: The Kaiju Preservation Society
2: Flowers For Algernon
1: Dune

Oh no, I have thrown “The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy” at the wall.
Twice.

How about “Mutineer’s Moon” by David Weber ?

How about “The Hobbit” by Tolkien ?

How about “The Once And Future King” by T. H. White ?

Lynn

In article <ttr0mi$cn7b$3@dont-email.me>,
Lynn McGuire <lynnmcguire5@gmail.com> wrote:

> "The Best Science Fiction Books for Beginners" by Dan Livingston
> https://best-sci-fi-books.com/best-science-fiction-for-beginners/
>

Hmm. No Heinlein, no Andre Norton. Doesn't appear to be aimed at young
beginners.

--
"We have advanced to new and surprising levels of bafflement."
Imperial Auditor Miles Vorkosigan describes progress in _Komarr_.
—-----------------------------------------------------
Robert Woodward robertaw@drizzle.com

In article <robertaw-2B3EB9.21423302032023@news.individual.net>,
Robert Woodward <robertaw@drizzle.com> wrote:
>In article <ttr0mi$cn7b$3@dont-email.me>,
> Lynn McGuire <lynnmcguire5@gmail.com> wrote:
>
>> "The Best Science Fiction Books for Beginners" by Dan Livingston
>> https://best-sci-fi-books.com/best-science-fiction-for-beginners/
>>
>
>Hmm. No Heinlein, no Andre Norton. Doesn't appear to be aimed at young
>beginners.

The current editions of Heinlein do not support the hypothesis
that the target market is kids.

--
My reviews can be found at http://jamesdavisnicoll.com/
My tor pieces at https://www.tor.com/author/james-davis-nicoll/
My Dreamwidth at https://james-davis-nicoll.dreamwidth.org/
My patreon is at https://www.patreon.com/jamesdnicoll

On Friday, March 3, 2023 at 9:03:38 AM UTC-5, James Nicoll wrote:
> In article <robertaw-2B3EB9...@news.individual.net>,
> Robert Woodward <robe...@drizzle.com> wrote:
> >In article <ttr0mi$cn7b$3...@dont-email.me>,
> > Lynn McGuire <lynnmc...@gmail.com> wrote:
> >
> >> "The Best Science Fiction Books for Beginners" by Dan Livingston
> >> https://best-sci-fi-books.com/best-science-fiction-for-beginners/
> >>
> >
> >Hmm. No Heinlein, no Andre Norton. Doesn't appear to be aimed at young
> >beginners.

> The current editions of Heinlein do not support the hypothesis
> that the target market is kids.

Give it time, there are only so many editors available.

(Heinlein juveniles are a blind spot for me, but I remember reading _Grumbles from the Grave_ and seeing _Red Planet_ adapted to a Saturday morning miniseries that contained none of the things he'd been arguing with his editor not to get cut from the book.)

I'm so not the audience for this list, but I can't imagine the tykes taking to _Slaughterhouse Five_ either.
Just "Science Fiction for people who hate Science Fiction"?

--
-Jack

In article <e885e821-d408-43eb-b7a7-0e27d7b6eda1n@googlegroups.com>,
Jack Bohn <jack.bohn64@gmail.com> wrote:
>On Friday, March 3, 2023 at 9:03:38 AM UTC-5, James Nicoll wrote:
>> In article <robertaw-2B3EB9...@news.individual.net>,
>> Robert Woodward <robe...@drizzle.com> wrote:
>> >In article <ttr0mi$cn7b$3...@dont-email.me>,
>> > Lynn McGuire <lynnmc...@gmail.com> wrote:
>> >
>> >> "The Best Science Fiction Books for Beginners" by Dan Livingston
>> >> https://best-sci-fi-books.com/best-science-fiction-for-beginners/
>> >>
>> >
>> >Hmm. No Heinlein, no Andre Norton. Doesn't appear to be aimed
>at young
>> >beginners.
>
>> The current editions of Heinlein do not support the hypothesis
>> that the target market is kids.
>
>Give it time, there are only so many editors available.

I suspect they're just too dated now to be of more than historical
interest.
--
My reviews can be found at http://jamesdavisnicoll.com/
My tor pieces at https://www.tor.com/author/james-davis-nicoll/
My Dreamwidth at https://james-davis-nicoll.dreamwidth.org/
My patreon is at https://www.patreon.com/jamesdnicoll

On 3/3/23 12:24, James Nicoll wrote:
> In article <e885e821-d408-43eb-b7a7-0e27d7b6eda1n@googlegroups.com>,
> Jack Bohn <jack.bohn64@gmail.com> wrote:
>> On Friday, March 3, 2023 at 9:03:38 AM UTC-5, James Nicoll wrote:
>>> In article <robertaw-2B3EB9...@news.individual.net>,
>>> Robert Woodward <robe...@drizzle.com> wrote:
>>>> In article <ttr0mi$cn7b$3...@dont-email.me>,
>>>> Lynn McGuire <lynnmc...@gmail.com> wrote:
>>>>
>>>>> "The Best Science Fiction Books for Beginners" by Dan Livingston
>>>>> https://best-sci-fi-books.com/best-science-fiction-for-beginners/
>>>>>
>>>>
>>>> Hmm. No Heinlein, no Andre Norton. Doesn't appear to be aimed
>> at young
>>>> beginners.
>>
>>> The current editions of Heinlein do not support the hypothesis
>>> that the target market is kids.
>>
>> Give it time, there are only so many editors available.
>
> I suspect they're just too dated now to be of more than historical
> interest.
I have never understood that. When I was young I rather enjoyed reading
books hundreds of years older then I was and the fact that they were not
set in this exact moment was one of the selling points.

In article <ttthhc$n5q6$2@dont-email.me>, Magewolf <Magewolf@nc.rr.com> wrote:
>On 3/3/23 12:24, James Nicoll wrote:
>> In article <e885e821-d408-43eb-b7a7-0e27d7b6eda1n@googlegroups.com>,
>> Jack Bohn <jack.bohn64@gmail.com> wrote:
>>> On Friday, March 3, 2023 at 9:03:38 AM UTC-5, James Nicoll wrote:
>>>> In article <robertaw-2B3EB9...@news.individual.net>,
>>>> Robert Woodward <robe...@drizzle.com> wrote:
>>>>> In article <ttr0mi$cn7b$3...@dont-email.me>,
>>>>> Lynn McGuire <lynnmc...@gmail.com> wrote:
>>>>>
>>>>>> "The Best Science Fiction Books for Beginners" by Dan Livingston
>>>>>> https://best-sci-fi-books.com/best-science-fiction-for-beginners/
>>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> Hmm. No Heinlein, no Andre Norton. Doesn't appear to be aimed
>>> at young
>>>>> beginners.
>>>
>>>> The current editions of Heinlein do not support the hypothesis
>>>> that the target market is kids.
>>>
>>> Give it time, there are only so many editors available.
>>
>> I suspect they're just too dated now to be of more than historical
>> interest.
>I have never understood that. When I was young I rather enjoyed reading
>books hundreds of years older then I was and the fact that they were not
>set in this exact moment was one of the selling points.

I think near-future SF gets bit by this harder than any other genre.
Stuff that was written and set in the past that is dated is just
unusually effective verisimilitude. Secondary world fantasies
are disconnected from our world, so may not get dated at all
because there is no reason any detail of a secondary universe
should map onto ours. Near future SF gets kneecapped by the
march of science and the unexpected paths history takes.

--
My reviews can be found at http://jamesdavisnicoll.com/
My tor pieces at https://www.tor.com/author/james-davis-nicoll/
My Dreamwidth at https://james-davis-nicoll.dreamwidth.org/
My patreon is at https://www.patreon.com/jamesdnicoll

On Friday, March 3, 2023 at 9:03:38 AM UTC-5, James Nicoll wrote:
> In article <robertaw-2B3EB9...@news.individual.net>,
> Robert Woodward <robe...@drizzle.com> wrote:
> >In article <ttr0mi$cn7b$3...@dont-email.me>,
> > Lynn McGuire <lynnmc...@gmail.com> wrote:
> >
> >> "The Best Science Fiction Books for Beginners" by Dan Livingston
> >> https://best-sci-fi-books.com/best-science-fiction-for-beginners/
> >>
> >
> >Hmm. No Heinlein, no Andre Norton. Doesn't appear to be aimed at young
> >beginners.
> The current editions of Heinlein do not support the hypothesis
> that the target market is kids.

I started with Norton, but added the Heinlein juveniles very soon. "Red
Planet", "Between Planets" and the like. Then I read "Space Cadet" and
discovered that even an author I liked could write books I did not. An
important lesson.

Neither the Paul French books nor "Citizen of the Galaxy" were carried
by our local libraries, so that was the extent of my reading of (alleged)
juveniles.

But they certainly hooked me.

This list is clearly aimed at adults. Many are good choices but one or two
would turn me off SF entirely.

William Hyde

In article <07682cfc-3ac9-40a4-babf-5540b696c3ban@googlegroups.com>,
William Hyde <wthyde1953@gmail.com> wrote:
>On Friday, March 3, 2023 at 9:03:38 AM UTC-5, James Nicoll wrote:
>> In article <robertaw-2B3EB9...@news.individual.net>,
>> Robert Woodward <robe...@drizzle.com> wrote:
>> >In article <ttr0mi$cn7b$3...@dont-email.me>,
>> > Lynn McGuire <lynnmc...@gmail.com> wrote:
>> >
>> >> "The Best Science Fiction Books for Beginners" by Dan Livingston
>> >> https://best-sci-fi-books.com/best-science-fiction-for-beginners/
>> >>
>> >
>> >Hmm. No Heinlein, no Andre Norton. Doesn't appear to be aimed
>at young
>> >beginners.
>> The current editions of Heinlein do not support the hypothesis
>> that the target market is kids.
>
>I started with Norton, but added the Heinlein juveniles very soon. "Red
>Planet", "Between Planets" and the like. Then I read "Space Cadet" and
>discovered that even an author I liked could write books I did not. An
>important lesson.
>
>Neither the Paul French books nor "Citizen of the Galaxy" were carried
>by our local libraries, so that was the extent of my reading of (alleged)
>juveniles.
>
>But they certainly hooked me.
>
WPL and KPL had reasonable selections of YA: WPL even had UNEXA
books, which recently came back into print after decades of being
collector's items.

--
My reviews can be found at http://jamesdavisnicoll.com/
My tor pieces at https://www.tor.com/author/james-davis-nicoll/
My Dreamwidth at https://james-davis-nicoll.dreamwidth.org/
My patreon is at https://www.patreon.com/jamesdnicoll

On 2023-03-02 1:24 p.m., Lynn McGuire wrote:
> "The Best Science Fiction Books for Beginners" by Dan Livingston
>    https://best-sci-fi-books.com/best-science-fiction-for-beginners/
>
> Out of the thirty books, I have read 15 of them:
> 29: The Martian
> 28: Leviathan Wakes
> 27: Ender's Game
> 26: Dark Matter
> 24: Rendezvous With Rama
> 23: Slaughterhouse Five
> 21: Lord Of Light
> 20: Ancillary Justice
> 18: Left Hand Of Darkness
> 17: The Girl With All The Gifts
> 10: Ready Player One
> 8: A Wrinkle In Time
> 6: The Kaiju Preservation Society
> 2: Flowers For Algernon
> 1: Dune
>
> Oh no, I have thrown “The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy” at the wall.
> Twice.
>
> How about “Mutineer’s Moon” by David Weber ?

Mutineer's Moon is absurd schlock. It isn't even Weber's best book.
Mind you I wouldn't put Ready Player One on any best of list either.

>
> How about “The Hobbit” by Tolkien ?
>
> How about “The Once And Future King” by T. H. White ?

Out of genre. While there are plenty of science fiction and fantasy
novels that are borderline, Lord of Light for example being a prototype
superhero novel, those are very solidly fantasy.

>
> Lynn

On Fri, 3 Mar 2023 19:34:20 -0000 (UTC), jdnicoll@panix.com (James
Nicoll) wrote:

>In article <ttthhc$n5q6$2@dont-email.me>, Magewolf <Magewolf@nc.rr.com> wrote:
>>On 3/3/23 12:24, James Nicoll wrote:
>>> In article <e885e821-d408-43eb-b7a7-0e27d7b6eda1n@googlegroups.com>,
>>> Jack Bohn <jack.bohn64@gmail.com> wrote:
>>>> On Friday, March 3, 2023 at 9:03:38 AM UTC-5, James Nicoll wrote:
>>>>> In article <robertaw-2B3EB9...@news.individual.net>,
>>>>> Robert Woodward <robe...@drizzle.com> wrote:
>>>>>> In article <ttr0mi$cn7b$3...@dont-email.me>,
>>>>>> Lynn McGuire <lynnmc...@gmail.com> wrote:
>>>>>>
>>>>>>> "The Best Science Fiction Books for Beginners" by Dan Livingston
>>>>>>> https://best-sci-fi-books.com/best-science-fiction-for-beginners/
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Hmm. No Heinlein, no Andre Norton. Doesn't appear to be aimed
>>>> at young
>>>>>> beginners.
>>>>
>>>>> The current editions of Heinlein do not support the hypothesis
>>>>> that the target market is kids.
>>>>
>>>> Give it time, there are only so many editors available.
>>>
>>> I suspect they're just too dated now to be of more than historical
>>> interest.
>>I have never understood that. When I was young I rather enjoyed reading
>>books hundreds of years older then I was and the fact that they were not
>>set in this exact moment was one of the selling points.
>
>I think near-future SF gets bit by this harder than any other genre.
>Stuff that was written and set in the past that is dated is just
>unusually effective verisimilitude. Secondary world fantasies
>are disconnected from our world, so may not get dated at all
>because there is no reason any detail of a secondary universe
>should map onto ours. Near future SF gets kneecapped by the
>march of science and the unexpected paths history takes.

Nonsense.

It simply becames /alternate world/ SF.
--
"In this connexion, unquestionably the most significant
development was the disintegration, under Christian
influence, of classical conceptions of the family and
of family right."

On Friday, March 3, 2023 at 2:51:20 PM UTC-5, James Nicoll wrote:
> In article <07682cfc-3ac9-40a4...@googlegroups.com>,
> William Hyde <wthyd...@gmail.com> wrote:
> >On Friday, March 3, 2023 at 9:03:38 AM UTC-5, James Nicoll wrote:
> >> In article <robertaw-2B3EB9...@news.individual.net>,
> >> Robert Woodward <robe...@drizzle.com> wrote:
> >> >In article <ttr0mi$cn7b$3...@dont-email.me>,
> >> > Lynn McGuire <lynnmc...@gmail.com> wrote:
> >> >
> >> >> "The Best Science Fiction Books for Beginners" by Dan Livingston
> >> >> https://best-sci-fi-books.com/best-science-fiction-for-beginners/
> >> >>
> >> >
> >> >Hmm. No Heinlein, no Andre Norton. Doesn't appear to be aimed
> >at young
> >> >beginners.
> >> The current editions of Heinlein do not support the hypothesis
> >> that the target market is kids.
> >
> >I started with Norton, but added the Heinlein juveniles very soon. "Red
> >Planet", "Between Planets" and the like. Then I read "Space Cadet" and
> >discovered that even an author I liked could write books I did not. An
> >important lesson.
> >
> >Neither the Paul French books nor "Citizen of the Galaxy" were carried
> >by our local libraries, so that was the extent of my reading of (alleged)
> >juveniles.
> >
> >But they certainly hooked me.
> >
> WPL and KPL had reasonable selections of YA: WPL even had UNEXA
> books,

I had to duckduck for those.

which recently came back into print after decades of being
> collector's items.

After I was too old for them many better YA titles showed up in local
libraries.

But never fear, we had "Kemlo and the space men". One can only wonder
at the misbegotten soul that thought to buy that rather than "Citizen of
the Galaxy". Or any Lucky Starr book if slavery was considered just
too adult for us (it wasn't in historical fiction).

Home room in grade eight was in the library (remember the days when there
were too many kids for the system?) so I became very familiar with their
holdings. They did have some Anderson (trouble twisters) and lots of
Bradbury. And, I only now recall, one Silverberg YA and one by Wollheim.

Not so bad, after all. But Kemlo ....

William Hyde

On Friday, 3 March 2023 at 19:49:01 UTC, William Hyde wrote:
> On Friday, March 3, 2023 at 9:03:38 AM UTC-5, James Nicoll wrote:
> > In article <robertaw-2B3EB9...@news.individual.net>,
> > Robert Woodward <robe...@drizzle.com> wrote:
> > >In article <ttr0mi$cn7b$3...@dont-email.me>,
> > > Lynn McGuire <lynnmc...@gmail.com> wrote:
> > >
> > >> "The Best Science Fiction Books for Beginners" by Dan Livingston
> > >> https://best-sci-fi-books.com/best-science-fiction-for-beginners/
> > >>
> > >
> > >Hmm. No Heinlein, no Andre Norton. Doesn't appear to be aimed at young
> > >beginners.
> > The current editions of Heinlein do not support the hypothesis
> > that the target market is kids.
> I started with Norton, but added the Heinlein juveniles very soon. "Red
> Planet", "Between Planets" and the like. Then I read "Space Cadet" and
> discovered that even an author I liked could write books I did not. An
> important lesson.
>
> Neither the Paul French books nor "Citizen of the Galaxy" were carried
> by our local libraries, so that was the extent of my reading of (alleged)
> juveniles.
>
> But they certainly hooked me.
>
> This list is clearly aimed at adults. Many are good choices but one or two
> would turn me off SF entirely.

It's not unreasonable to propose books for literary
seduction of the innocent of science fiction reader
who is an adult. James Nicoll may have done it at Tor.

There are people who think of SF as written for children
or for the simple minded, and who avoid it for that reason.

But I never think that Dan Livingston's lists are worth
looking at - as lists - so I don't, and I don't trust him to
live up to the words "best", "books", or "for". Or "fiction".

In article <c480a4d7-0875-47fe-94b1-7bb6b79d5899n@googlegroups.com>,
William Hyde <wthyde1953@gmail.com> wrote:

> On Friday, March 3, 2023 at 2:51:20?PM UTC-5, James Nicoll wrote:
> > In article <07682cfc-3ac9-40a4...@googlegroups.com>,
> > William Hyde <wthyd...@gmail.com> wrote:
> > >On Friday, March 3, 2023 at 9:03:38?AM UTC-5, James Nicoll wrote:
> > >> In article <robertaw-2B3EB9...@news.individual.net>,
> > >> Robert Woodward <robe...@drizzle.com> wrote:
> > >> >In article <ttr0mi$cn7b$3...@dont-email.me>,
> > >> > Lynn McGuire <lynnmc...@gmail.com> wrote:
> > >> >
> > >> >> "The Best Science Fiction Books for Beginners" by Dan Livingston
> > >> >> https://best-sci-fi-books.com/best-science-fiction-for-beginners/
> > >> >>
> > >> >
> > >> >Hmm. No Heinlein, no Andre Norton. Doesn't appear to be aimed
> > >at young
> > >> >beginners.
> > >> The current editions of Heinlein do not support the hypothesis
> > >> that the target market is kids.
> > >
> > >I started with Norton, but added the Heinlein juveniles very soon. "Red
> > >Planet", "Between Planets" and the like. Then I read "Space Cadet" and
> > >discovered that even an author I liked could write books I did not. An
> > >important lesson.
> > >
> > >Neither the Paul French books nor "Citizen of the Galaxy" were carried
> > >by our local libraries, so that was the extent of my reading of (alleged)
> > >juveniles.
> > >
> > >But they certainly hooked me.
> > >
> > WPL and KPL had reasonable selections of YA: WPL even had UNEXA
> > books,
>
> I had to duckduck for those.
>
> which recently came back into print after decades of being
> > collector's items.
>
> After I was too old for them many better YA titles showed up in local
> libraries.
>
> But never fear, we had "Kemlo and the space men". One can only wonder
> at the misbegotten soul that thought to buy that rather than "Citizen of
> the Galaxy". Or any Lucky Starr book if slavery was considered just
> too adult for us (it wasn't in historical fiction).
>
> Home room in grade eight was in the library (remember the days when there
> were too many kids for the system?) so I became very familiar with their
> holdings. They did have some Anderson (trouble twisters) and lots of
> Bradbury. And, I only now recall, one Silverberg YA and one by Wollheim.
>
> Not so bad, after all. But Kemlo ....
>

This was a Canadian library? I suspect that somebody were buying British
books rather than American books.

I can't remember exactly which books that I read in the mid 1960s were
from the county library and which were from my high school library
(county had a population of about 40-50 thousand, my high school had
about 200 students). However, I pretty sure that the school library had
about half the Heinlein juveniles (plus a bunch of Norton and some
Nourse titles right beside the Norton).

--
"We have advanced to new and surprising levels of bafflement."
Imperial Auditor Miles Vorkosigan describes progress in _Komarr_.
—-----------------------------------------------------
Robert Woodward robertaw@drizzle.com

On Sunday, March 5, 2023 at 1:07:12 AM UTC-5, Robert Woodward wrote:
> In article <c480a4d7-0875-47fe...@googlegroups.com>,
> William Hyde <wthyd...@gmail.com> wrote:
> > On Friday, March 3, 2023 at 2:51:20?PM UTC-5, James Nicoll wrote:
> > > In article <07682cfc-3ac9-40a4...@googlegroups.com>,
> > > William Hyde <wthyd...@gmail.com> wrote:
> > > >On Friday, March 3, 2023 at 9:03:38?AM UTC-5, James Nicoll wrote:
> > > >> In article <robertaw-2B3EB9...@news.individual.net>,
> > > >> Robert Woodward <robe...@drizzle.com> wrote:
> > > >> >In article <ttr0mi$cn7b$3...@dont-email.me>,
> > > >> > Lynn McGuire <lynnmc...@gmail.com> wrote:
> > > >> >
> > > >> >> "The Best Science Fiction Books for Beginners" by Dan Livingston
> > > >> >> https://best-sci-fi-books.com/best-science-fiction-for-beginners/
> > > >> >>
> > > >> >
> > > >> >Hmm. No Heinlein, no Andre Norton. Doesn't appear to be aimed
> > > >at young
> > > >> >beginners.
> > > >> The current editions of Heinlein do not support the hypothesis
> > > >> that the target market is kids.
> > > >
> > > >I started with Norton, but added the Heinlein juveniles very soon. "Red
> > > >Planet", "Between Planets" and the like. Then I read "Space Cadet" and
> > > >discovered that even an author I liked could write books I did not. An
> > > >important lesson.
> > > >
> > > >Neither the Paul French books nor "Citizen of the Galaxy" were carried
> > > >by our local libraries, so that was the extent of my reading of (alleged)
> > > >juveniles.
> > > >
> > > >But they certainly hooked me.
> > > >
> > > WPL and KPL had reasonable selections of YA: WPL even had UNEXA
> > > books,
> >
> > I had to duckduck for those.
> >
> > which recently came back into print after decades of being
> > > collector's items.
> >
> > After I was too old for them many better YA titles showed up in local
> > libraries.
> >
> > But never fear, we had "Kemlo and the space men". One can only wonder
> > at the misbegotten soul that thought to buy that rather than "Citizen of
> > the Galaxy". Or any Lucky Starr book if slavery was considered just
> > too adult for us (it wasn't in historical fiction).
> >
> > Home room in grade eight was in the library (remember the days when there
> > were too many kids for the system?) so I became very familiar with their
> > holdings. They did have some Anderson (trouble twisters) and lots of
> > Bradbury. And, I only now recall, one Silverberg YA and one by Wollheim..
> >
> > Not so bad, after all. But Kemlo ....
> >
> This was a Canadian library? I suspect that somebody were buying British
> books rather than American books.

Possibly, but if so the Tripods trilogy was available. Or anything by Clarke.
Our shelves were entirely Dahl-free - maybe our buyer was ahead of
her/his time.

The Kemlo author was almost Fanthorpianly prolific. Though he wrote a couple of
dozen K novels, and one non-K sf novel, he wrote far more westerns, and even
ghosted a few books.

>
> I can't remember exactly which books that I read in the mid 1960s were
> from the county library and which were from my high school library
> (county had a population of about 40-50 thousand, my high school had
> about 200 students). However, I pretty sure that the school library had
> about half the Heinlein juveniles (plus a bunch of Norton and some
> Nourse titles right beside the Norton).

I started at the bookmobile, which had Norton, Heinlein, and Clarke.

The elementary school library, while Kemlo-less, had "Red Planet" and a
Lester Del Rey juvenile (cave people rather than space people).

When I finally got to an actual library I was dazed at the selection. All those
books on Psychology! (Notably, I never read a one). But in the SF section
this guy Asimov and something called "Foundation".

William Hyde

On 3/3/2023 11:51 PM, David Johnston wrote:
> On 2023-03-02 1:24 p.m., Lynn McGuire wrote:
>> "The Best Science Fiction Books for Beginners" by Dan Livingston
>>     https://best-sci-fi-books.com/best-science-fiction-for-beginners/
>>
>> Out of the thirty books, I have read 15 of them:
>> 29: The Martian
>> 28: Leviathan Wakes
>> 27: Ender's Game
>> 26: Dark Matter
>> 24: Rendezvous With Rama
>> 23: Slaughterhouse Five
>> 21: Lord Of Light
>> 20: Ancillary Justice
>> 18: Left Hand Of Darkness
>> 17: The Girl With All The Gifts
>> 10: Ready Player One
>> 8: A Wrinkle In Time
>> 6: The Kaiju Preservation Society
>> 2: Flowers For Algernon
>> 1: Dune
>>
>> Oh no, I have thrown “The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy” at the
>> wall. Twice.
>>
>> How about “Mutineer’s Moon” by David Weber ?
>
> Mutineer's Moon is absurd schlock.  It isn't even Weber's best book.
> Mind you I wouldn't put Ready Player One on any best of list either.
>
>>
>> How about “The Hobbit” by Tolkien ?
>>
>> How about “The Once And Future King” by T. H. White ?
>
> Out of genre.  While there are plenty of science fiction and fantasy
> novels that are borderline, Lord of Light for example being a prototype
> superhero novel, those are very solidly fantasy.
>
>>
>> Lynn

Every one has an opinion.

Lynn

On 3/3/2023 1:51 PM, James Nicoll wrote:
> In article <07682cfc-3ac9-40a4-babf-5540b696c3ban@googlegroups.com>,
> William Hyde <wthyde1953@gmail.com> wrote:
>> On Friday, March 3, 2023 at 9:03:38 AM UTC-5, James Nicoll wrote:
>>> In article <robertaw-2B3EB9...@news.individual.net>,
>>> Robert Woodward <robe...@drizzle.com> wrote:
>>>> In article <ttr0mi$cn7b$3...@dont-email.me>,
>>>> Lynn McGuire <lynnmc...@gmail.com> wrote:
>>>>
>>>>> "The Best Science Fiction Books for Beginners" by Dan Livingston
>>>>> https://best-sci-fi-books.com/best-science-fiction-for-beginners/
>>>>>
>>>>
>>>> Hmm. No Heinlein, no Andre Norton. Doesn't appear to be aimed
>> at young
>>>> beginners.
>>> The current editions of Heinlein do not support the hypothesis
>>> that the target market is kids.
>>
>> I started with Norton, but added the Heinlein juveniles very soon. "Red
>> Planet", "Between Planets" and the like. Then I read "Space Cadet" and
>> discovered that even an author I liked could write books I did not. An
>> important lesson.
>>
>> Neither the Paul French books nor "Citizen of the Galaxy" were carried
>> by our local libraries, so that was the extent of my reading of (alleged)
>> juveniles.
>>
>> But they certainly hooked me.
>>
> WPL and KPL had reasonable selections of YA: WPL even had UNEXA
> books, which recently came back into print after decades of being
> collector's items.

WPL and KPL are ?

UNEXA is ?

Lynn

In article <tu5krk$2ejs$3@dont-email.me>,
Lynn McGuire <lynnmcguire5@gmail.com> wrote:
>On 3/3/2023 1:51 PM, James Nicoll wrote:
>> In article <07682cfc-3ac9-40a4-babf-5540b696c3ban@googlegroups.com>,
>> William Hyde <wthyde1953@gmail.com> wrote:
>>> On Friday, March 3, 2023 at 9:03:38 AM UTC-5, James Nicoll wrote:
>>>> In article <robertaw-2B3EB9...@news.individual.net>,
>>>> Robert Woodward <robe...@drizzle.com> wrote:
>>>>> In article <ttr0mi$cn7b$3...@dont-email.me>,
>>>>> Lynn McGuire <lynnmc...@gmail.com> wrote:
>>>>>
>>>>>> "The Best Science Fiction Books for Beginners" by Dan Livingston
>>>>>> https://best-sci-fi-books.com/best-science-fiction-for-beginners/
>>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> Hmm. No Heinlein, no Andre Norton. Doesn't appear to be aimed
>>> at young
>>>>> beginners.
>>>> The current editions of Heinlein do not support the hypothesis
>>>> that the target market is kids.
>>>
>>> I started with Norton, but added the Heinlein juveniles very
>soon. "Red
>>> Planet", "Between Planets" and the like. Then I read "Space
>Cadet" and
>>> discovered that even an author I liked could write books I did
>not. An
>>> important lesson.
>>>
>>> Neither the Paul French books nor "Citizen of the Galaxy" were carried
>>> by our local libraries, so that was the extent of my reading
>of (alleged)
>>> juveniles.
>>>
>>> But they certainly hooked me.
>>>
>> WPL and KPL had reasonable selections of YA: WPL even had UNEXA
>> books, which recently came back into print after decades of being
>> collector's items.
>
>WPL and KPL are ?
>
>UNEXA is ?
>
>Lynn

WPL: Waterloo Public Library
KPL: Kitchener Public Library

Kitchener and Waterloo are twin cities, with a somewhat strained
relationship. Among them, a belief in Kitchener that Waterloo
routinely underfunds WPL in the belief people can just go to
KPL. At one point, KPL hit non-Kitchener residents with a fifty
dollar card fee, which wasn't a big deal for Wloo but was for
all the farmers whose local libraries could fit their books
into a large valise.

UNEXA is a long YA series written by Hugh Walters, a British
author who was sufficiently vexed at the low quality of
kids books available in the 1950s to write his own. I
have reviewed two early ones, early enough that UNEXA
has not actually been founded yet, and space travel
is complicated by rivalry between England and the dirty
sneaky Russians. Later on, the English, Russians, and
other nations must have decided mysterious and apparently
hostile aliens demanded an alliance.

https://jamesdavisnicoll.com/reviews/contributor/8783

--
My reviews can be found at http://jamesdavisnicoll.com/
My tor pieces at https://www.tor.com/author/james-davis-nicoll/
My Dreamwidth at https://james-davis-nicoll.dreamwidth.org/
My patreon is at https://www.patreon.com/jamesdnicoll

On 3/6/2023 3:27 PM, James Nicoll wrote:
> In article <tu5krk$2ejs$3@dont-email.me>,
> Lynn McGuire <lynnmcguire5@gmail.com> wrote:
>> On 3/3/2023 1:51 PM, James Nicoll wrote:
>>> In article <07682cfc-3ac9-40a4-babf-5540b696c3ban@googlegroups.com>,
>>> William Hyde <wthyde1953@gmail.com> wrote:
>>>> On Friday, March 3, 2023 at 9:03:38 AM UTC-5, James Nicoll wrote:
>>>>> In article <robertaw-2B3EB9...@news.individual.net>,
>>>>> Robert Woodward <robe...@drizzle.com> wrote:
>>>>>> In article <ttr0mi$cn7b$3...@dont-email.me>,
>>>>>> Lynn McGuire <lynnmc...@gmail.com> wrote:
>>>>>>
>>>>>>> "The Best Science Fiction Books for Beginners" by Dan Livingston
>>>>>>> https://best-sci-fi-books.com/best-science-fiction-for-beginners/
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Hmm. No Heinlein, no Andre Norton. Doesn't appear to be aimed
>>>> at young
>>>>>> beginners.
>>>>> The current editions of Heinlein do not support the hypothesis
>>>>> that the target market is kids.
>>>>
>>>> I started with Norton, but added the Heinlein juveniles very
>> soon. "Red
>>>> Planet", "Between Planets" and the like. Then I read "Space
>> Cadet" and
>>>> discovered that even an author I liked could write books I did
>> not. An
>>>> important lesson.
>>>>
>>>> Neither the Paul French books nor "Citizen of the Galaxy" were carried
>>>> by our local libraries, so that was the extent of my reading
>> of (alleged)
>>>> juveniles.
>>>>
>>>> But they certainly hooked me.
>>>>
>>> WPL and KPL had reasonable selections of YA: WPL even had UNEXA
>>> books, which recently came back into print after decades of being
>>> collector's items.
>>
>> WPL and KPL are ?
>>
>> UNEXA is ?
>>
>> Lynn
>
> WPL: Waterloo Public Library
> KPL: Kitchener Public Library
>
> Kitchener and Waterloo are twin cities, with a somewhat strained
> relationship. Among them, a belief in Kitchener that Waterloo
> routinely underfunds WPL in the belief people can just go to
> KPL. At one point, KPL hit non-Kitchener residents with a fifty
> dollar card fee, which wasn't a big deal for Wloo but was for
> all the farmers whose local libraries could fit their books
> into a large valise.
>
> UNEXA is a long YA series written by Hugh Walters, a British
> author who was sufficiently vexed at the low quality of
> kids books available in the 1950s to write his own. I
> have reviewed two early ones, early enough that UNEXA
> has not actually been founded yet, and space travel
> is complicated by rivalry between England and the dirty
> sneaky Russians. Later on, the English, Russians, and
> other nations must have decided mysterious and apparently
> hostile aliens demanded an alliance.
>
> https://jamesdavisnicoll.com/reviews/contributor/8783

Thanks !

Lynn

Lynn McGuire wrote:

I have read:

Ender’s Game

Rendezvous With Rama

Slaughterhouse-Five

Ancillary Justice

The Left Hand of Darkness

The Calculating Stars

The Player of Games

The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet

The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy

Flowers for Algernon

Dune

Brian

Lynn McGuire wrote:

>How about “Mutineer’s Moon” by David Weber ?
>
>How about “The Hobbit” by Tolkien ?
>
>How about “The Once And Future King” by T. H. White ?

As I dislike Weber, that ommission bothers me not. The other two are
fantasies.

I'd suggest the first Murderbot story, All Systems Red. It's short,
fast-paced with plenty of action, and has the endearingly snarky
internal dialog.

Brian