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FoxScara Did you mean to ping me or Faasnu?
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Faasnu Excellent! So just for clarity cuz my phrasing was super unclear, sci-fi and fantasy as genres have subgenres (hard sci-fi, high fantasy, etc.) So I'll just recommend general stuff for now!
Sci-Fi:
I'm starting with some hard sci-fi for safety.
20,000 Leagues Under the Sea is normally only heard in context of reading assignments, which is a damned shame! Jules Verne's love for nature and sympathy for his fellow man elevate this above most other hard sci-fi for me (most other books in general). Honestly, his vision of submarine travel is so spot-on that I constantly forgot that, in his time, this book was obvious as a work of incredible imagination (and research), though the march of progress has done nothing to dull his undersea world. It starts slow, and there will be lists of fish species. No you won't be quizzed on the fish thing, that's Verne being
really excited about fish and we should support him in that.
I'll repeat the rec for
Hitchhiker's Guide. It's a delightfully silly, often satirical romp through the galaxy. It's also infiltrated pop culture, go make friends with nerds by calling them hoopy froods. Fun, easy, engaging read. No more spoilers, best experienced blind...Depending on who you ask, there's either 5 books (penned by Adams) or 6 (one more written by Eoin Colfor). Speaking of Eoin!
Sci-Fi/Fantasy:
While I've never managed to get into it, people keep telling me the
Artemis Fowl series is great. It's targeted more towards middle grade/YA, one of the few SciFantasy series I know in the age range, and definitely the most popular.
I saw a rec for the Inheritance cycle and I don't want to sound like I'm dissing that, but there's no other way to explain this, so...
The Dragonriders of Pern is a cornerstone of sci-fantasy (though plenty of folks have argued with me it's pure sci-fi or pure fantasy) and introduces a lot of things that Inheritance gets credit for, including the bond between dragon and rider. Pern's dragons also slip to a space between spaces to teleport, and are used as living weapons to stave off an extraplanetary rain of mindless, all-consuming Thread. The only one in the list I'm flagging as having "adult content." It doesn't add anything to the plot, feel free to skip.
Fantasy:
It ain't a fantasy recommendation list without
Discworld! Seriously, can't believe I'm first to bring these up. The series is absolutely legendary, think of it in some sense as a kindred spirit to the Hitchhiker's Guide in having plenty of genuinely excellent humor, but it also has some of the most heartfelt scenes, most consistent worldbuilding, and most lovable characters I've experienced. Discworld's Death is probably my favorite character of all time.
Everyone should at least
try The Lord of the Rings. Don't be intimidated by people complaining about heavy use of descriptive language, make the call yourself. Speaking of, contains one of the only setting descriptions to ever make me bust out in tears (the Glittering Caves behind Helm's Deep). If nothing else it's a cornerstone of the genre (just like 20,000 Leagues) and should be picked up for historical importance. Also just a damned good read in general.
The more info on your preferences I've got, though, the better recommendations I can make! It's been a few years since I last worked in a library, but I like to think i'm
reasonably up to date on this.
(For an example of preferences: "Looking for fantasy, sci-fi, satirical or absurd elements. My favorite thing in a book is an expansive, imaginative world, but I'm also a sucker for stories of everyday people doing their best, and anything involving plant-based biotech is AMAZING. I'm pretty forgiving of weak characters/writing as long as the author went for an awesome world, and am open to any age range, with no themes off-limits--honestly, a bit of darkness is a plus. Major turnoffs are crappy love triangles, authors creepin' on their characters, and getting blue-balled on setbuilding.)
