Recommendations?

Mouse

Mouse

Well-Known Member
Joined
Jun 2, 2006
Messages
10,730
Location
Devon
I haven't read any young adult fantasy for a while (actually, not totally true. The last one I read was The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman) but as I write YA stuff, I should probably read more of it.

Trouble is, I've got so much on my TBR pile that I really don't want to read anything other than a standalone book.

So. I've looked on Amazon, but that's no help. Can anybody recommend a good, fairly recent, young adult fantasy novel?

I love Jonathan Stroud (have his new one on pre-order), Garth Nix, Phillip Pullman and Neil Gaiman.

I do not love JK Rowling, Stephanie Meyer.

Thank you!
 
The Book Thief is excellent and kind of different.
The Hunger Games is on my tbr pile, had it recommended numerous times.
I love Kelley Armstrong's books, but they are series, the Summoning is the first in her teen series
 
How young do you want to go? Thinking back to the things I used to read (not recent, but good books nonetheless - modern books are always inspired by the classics, after all):

A few from Eoin Colfer - if you fancy a series, give the first few Artemis Fowl books a read, if not, check out The Supernaturalists and The Wish List.

Anthony Horowitz wrote some cracking young adult books. Some of my favourites were Granny, Groosham Grange and The Devil And His Boy.

Another good series (sorry!) is Spooks by Joseph Delany.

I never really read standalone books as a child/young adult. I'd throw Roald Dahl into the mix, but that might be a bit younger than what you are aiming for. Some of the others, like Walter Moers, Jennifer Fallon, Robin Hobb, etc., I think I read ahead of my age, so they're not really any help, either.
 
The Book Thief is excellent and kind of different.
Click to expand...
Hmm, I don't actually think The Book Thief is young adult, but it is a beautiful read and I'd recommend it anyway.

I would second (though Lenny didn't really first) Walter Moers - I particularly loved Rumo and his Miraculous Adventures.
 
I work in a kiddy's bookshop and the most popular YA books that we sell are usually in series. There are a few good recent(ish) one-offs that I've seen around though.

Holes by Louis Sachar (not exactly recent, but the only one of his that I've read - he has a new one called The Cardturner that looks good too)
World Shaker by Richard Harland (YA steam punk fantasy - looks cool)
Will Grayson, Will Grayson by John Green and David Levithan

Galax-Arena by Gillian Rubinstein
Taronga by Victor Kelleher
Antonio S. and the Mystery of Theodore Guzman or Hazel Green or Darius Bell and the Glitter Pool by Odo Hirsch
^these are all great Australian authors, but I'm not sure what their availability is elsewhere...all worth it though! Rubinstein (also wrote Tales of the Otori as Lian Hearn) and Kelleher are very prolific and the majority of their books are awesome.

If you want some series (you can sometimes just read the first book as a standalone anyway), some that look good are Skulduggery Pleasant by Derek Landy, Monster Blood Tattoo by DM Cornish, Sisters Grimm by Michael Buckley, The Secrets of the Immortal by Michael Scott.

Finding it pretty hard to think of everything at the moment! You can also check out any of the Newbery, Carnegie or Children's Book Council of Australia award winners or shortlisted books for some good ideas. And I second (or third) basically all the other suggestions that others have made. Hunger Games is selling like crazy at the moment.

Edit: Missed that you only wanted fantasy. Oh well - most of these are, but some aren't...
 
Last edited:
I second the recommendation for The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins. It isn't a stand-alone, but a finished trilogy and well worth it. They are not very long books and easy reading in that you don't want to put them down.
 
Brilliant, cheers! I picked up The Supernaturalist by Eoin Colfer and a couple of others I've wanted for a while: I was a Rat by Phillip Pullman and one called The Toymaker by somebody I don't remember the name of - but it's horror not fantasy.

I'll check some of these other suggestions out too! Thankies!
 
Also Philip Reeve's Mortal Engines is pretty cool - set in a world where cities roam around and eat each other...
 
Sounds good! Will check it out. I'm also pondering Hunger Games too.
 
Mortal Engines is more than pretty cool - it is awesome! I still rate it as my favourite YA book. (and I'm not just saying that because Philip has provided a cover quote for my next book!)

Recent favourites have included: The Hunger Games trilogy(all three are very good).

Gone by Michael Grant - excellent stuff. Totally gripping.

And for a more light hearted read try something by Ali Sparkes. I found her latest book Wishful Thinking to be hilarious. It's about a boy who makes a list of wishes and suddenly finds himself with his own god to fulfil them! However, it seems that even minor gods move in mysterious ways. Brilliant stuff.

I liked Ali's award winner Frozen in Time as well - a clever culture clash of the 1950s with the modern day. The mix of politically incorrect Enid Blyton language with modern stuff was hilarious.
 
I'll back up The Hunger Games recommendations. Just finished it then :)

I must get around to reading Mortal Engines... Is the whole series good?
 
As it happens, today I started two threads on YA authors I discovered this summer — without even noticing that this thread existed.

The first one is a series I think you would like, Mouse. I'm not as sure about the second one.

http://www.sffchronicles.co.uk/forum/529032-the-mortal-instruments-ya-urban-fantasy.html

http://www.sffchronicles.co.uk/forum/529033-the-forest-of-hands-and-teeth.html


Of the books already mentioned in this thread, I read and enjoyed Mortal Engines and the first two books of "Monster Blood Tattoo" (the third is yet to be published and is eagerly anticipated at the Edgerton house — my husband being an even bigger fan of the series than I am, and he's not usually the member of the family who is reading YA fantasy).

In the next day or two, I'm going to start a thread on some other YA books I read this summer.
 
Adding my vote in for The Hunger Games as well as The Book Thief.

I have just picked up Monster Blood Tattoo and am very much looking forward to reading it.

There's really a lot of lovely YA books to be read and they are beginning to rather dominate the to-read pile.
 
Doctor Crankenstein said:
I'll back up The Hunger Games recommendations. Just finished it then :)

I must get around to reading Mortal Engines... Is the whole series good?
Click to expand...

To my shame, I've still only read the first two, both of which were excellent. I've also read the two prequels - Fever Crumb and A Web of Air, which were also extremely well written. Philip Reeve's language and the world he's created are very rich with imagery. He is one author that I will eventually get around to reading everything he's produced.
 
I really enjoyed the Keys to the Kingdom series by Garth Nix. (Clever stuff)

I can also recommend the Terry Pratchett young adult series which started with Wee Free men. Slightly more heavy going but has a great Heroine.

Triskelion is also very good.

You might want to check out my own Teen time travel novel Tomorrow's Guardian which is out in paperback soon.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Thread starter Similar threads Forum Replies Date
C Chairs - recommendations SFF Lounge 1
S recommendations of manly fantasy novels Book Discussion 2
2 Steampunk -- recommendations, please Book Discussion 7
Simbelmynë I have never read Zelazny or Delany - recommendations? Book Discussion 16
M Bodycam - any recommendations Technology 0

Similar threads


Back
Top