I’ve just started my 11yr old tech minded son reading the Worm web serial by John Macrae (free and online, longer than Harry potter series). It’s a bit grim/dark and violent, but an amazing and compelling sci-fi meditation on superheroes and personal struggles. A more brutal and sophisticated world build along lines of popular ‘my hero academia’ anime that my boys watched compulsively. 1000′s of fanfics too.
Stories from Larry Niven’s “known space” universe. Lots of fun overcoming-challenges short stories and novellas that revolve around interesting physics or problems or ideas. And the follow up Man-Kzin War series by various invited authors have some really great stories too with a strong martial bent that will likely appeal to most boys.
At that age I read and loved Dune, The stars my destination (aka Tiger Tiger, a sci fi riff on Comte de Monte Christo), Enders Game. I think Terry Pratchett humor needs a more sophisticated adult knowledge base, with culture references that are dating badly.
My 11yr old loved the Expanse TV series, though I haven’t given them the books to read yet and I can’t recommend the transhumanism anime Pantheon on Amazon highly enough—its one of best sci fi series of all time.
All good to introduce more adult problems and thinking to kids in an exciting context.
I think Terry Pratchett humor needs a more sophisticated adult knowledge base, with culture references that are dating badly.′
Good points I hadn’t considered. Do you think that applies as much to a kid who reads encyclopedias? I wasn’t an encyclopedia reader and started reading Pratchett at around 14, and didn’t really have issues following the references. And aren’t most of the cultural references more centuries-old than decades-old? I am sure there are some that are aging badly, and it’s been a long while since I’ve spent time around 11 year olds, but I really don’t remember anything contemporary when I read them in the 90s and early 2000s.
Also some of the later books, especially the Tiffany Aching arc, are specifically written with a younger audience in mind, to the point that when I read them in high school and college I felt I was too old for them.
It is the literary, TV and movie references, a lot of stuff also tied to technology and social developments of the 80′s-00′s (particularly Ank-Morpork situated stories) and a lot of classical and allusions. ‘Education’ used to lean on common knowledge of a relatively narrow corpus of literature and history Shakespeare, chivalry, European history, classics etc for the social advantage those common references gave and was thus fed to boomers and gen-x, y but I think it’s now rapidly slipping into obscurity as few younger people read and schools shift away from teaching it in face of all that’s new in the world. I guess there are a lot of jokes that pre-teens will get, but so many that they will miss. Seems a waste of such delightful prose.
Yeah, powering through it. I’ve tried adult Fiction and Sci-Fi but he’s not interested in it yet—not grokking adult motivations, attitudes and behaviors yet, so feeding him stuff that he enjoys to foster habit of reading.
Yes, I am seeing that as well. Technical/philosophical stuff is fine, but the psychology in adult fiction is too complex for an 11-years old to enjoy.
I’ve just started my 11yr old tech minded son reading the Worm web serial by John Macrae (free and online, longer than Harry potter series). It’s a bit grim/dark and violent, but an amazing and compelling sci-fi meditation on superheroes and personal struggles. A more brutal and sophisticated world build along lines of popular ‘my hero academia’ anime that my boys watched compulsively. 1000′s of fanfics too.
Stories from Larry Niven’s “known space” universe. Lots of fun overcoming-challenges short stories and novellas that revolve around interesting physics or problems or ideas. And the follow up Man-Kzin War series by various invited authors have some really great stories too with a strong martial bent that will likely appeal to most boys.
At that age I read and loved Dune, The stars my destination (aka Tiger Tiger, a sci fi riff on Comte de Monte Christo), Enders Game. I think Terry Pratchett humor needs a more sophisticated adult knowledge base, with culture references that are dating badly.
My 11yr old loved the Expanse TV series, though I haven’t given them the books to read yet and I can’t recommend the transhumanism anime Pantheon on Amazon highly enough—its one of best sci fi series of all time.
All good to introduce more adult problems and thinking to kids in an exciting context.
Good points I hadn’t considered. Do you think that applies as much to a kid who reads encyclopedias? I wasn’t an encyclopedia reader and started reading Pratchett at around 14, and didn’t really have issues following the references. And aren’t most of the cultural references more centuries-old than decades-old? I am sure there are some that are aging badly, and it’s been a long while since I’ve spent time around 11 year olds, but I really don’t remember anything contemporary when I read them in the 90s and early 2000s.
Also some of the later books, especially the Tiffany Aching arc, are specifically written with a younger audience in mind, to the point that when I read them in high school and college I felt I was too old for them.
It is the literary, TV and movie references, a lot of stuff also tied to technology and social developments of the 80′s-00′s (particularly Ank-Morpork situated stories) and a lot of classical and allusions. ‘Education’ used to lean on common knowledge of a relatively narrow corpus of literature and history Shakespeare, chivalry, European history, classics etc for the social advantage those common references gave and was thus fed to boomers and gen-x, y but I think it’s now rapidly slipping into obscurity as few younger people read and schools shift away from teaching it in face of all that’s new in the world. I guess there are a lot of jokes that pre-teens will get, but so many that they will miss. Seems a waste of such delightful prose.
And here I was hoping it would prompt someone to look things up or talk about them with the person who recommended the book.
Wow. Worm? That’s pretty dark. Also a million words or so. Does your kid enjoy it?
Yeah, powering through it. I’ve tried adult Fiction and Sci-Fi but he’s not interested in it yet—not grokking adult motivations, attitudes and behaviors yet, so feeding him stuff that he enjoys to foster habit of reading.
Yes, I am seeing that as well. Technical/philosophical stuff is fine, but the psychology in adult fiction is too complex for an 11-years old to enjoy.