06-22-2009, 11:17 AM | #1 |
Mommy of Many Interests
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Need help "grabbing the intrest" of 12-year-old boy
I have an extremely bright 12-year-old boy who is fascinated by ancient greek battles -- Thermopylae is his favorite. He blew through the Rick Riordan series with each book taking him about a day to read.
Right now, he is reading the Demonata series by Darren Shan. I had tried Gates of Fire by Steven Pressfield thinking that as a novel about Thermopylae but the writing style is just a bit too heavy for him (I had to admit that I couldn't get into it either). So now I see that David Gemmell has a trilogy written about Troy as well as Lion of Macedon -- at first glance, the stories seem like they would be right up my son's ally. However, I'm wondering if the writing style would be too complex for him to where he would get bogged down like the Steven Pressfield books. Does anyone have any experience having read David Gemmell and whether the writing style is accessible to a somewhat precocious 12-year-old. If not, based on what I have written here, any other recommendations to get him sucked into another series? (The clock is ticking -- I figure I have about 1.5 weeks before he has worked his way through the whole Demonata series!) Thanks in advance for your suggestions and your help. Best regards, Nancy |
06-22-2009, 12:32 PM | #2 |
Provocateur
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Can't help you on the e(book) front, but you could get him the 300 graphic novel?
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06-22-2009, 01:06 PM | #3 |
Mommy of Many Interests
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Hi Sir Bruce,
I'll have to look into that. Suggestions don't necessarily have to be ebooks -- just figured this audience would be widely read enough to help out with any reading suggestions (ebooks or pbooks) (though I have given him my Cybook and he's reading his current books on that. |
06-22-2009, 01:12 PM | #4 |
The Grand Mouse 高貴的老鼠
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It's not ancient Greek, but perhaps the Belisarius Saga by Eric Flint and David Drake might appeal.
http://www.webscription.net/c-21-bel...ric-flint.aspx The first book is available in the free library, and it's being republished in three omnibus volumes. Or perhaps Ranks of Bronze - Romans in space. http://www.webscription.net/p-605-ranks-of-bronze.aspx I can't remember any explicit sex scenes in the books, but they might have faded from my memory. They're certainly pretty violent in places. |
06-22-2009, 01:14 PM | #5 |
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Has he read Heinlein? Anything Heinlein wrote before Starship Troopers would be great for a twelve year old. I recommend Have Spacesuit Will Travel as a starter book.
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06-22-2009, 01:31 PM | #6 |
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Does he like SF? Andre Norton's Star Guard was loosely based on the Anabasis of Xenophon, and is available as part of one of Baen's Norton twofers (Star Soldiers, I think).
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06-22-2009, 01:38 PM | #7 |
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I would recommend Tamora Pierce's "The song of the Lioness" books:
from wiki: The Song of the Lioness Alanna of Trebond (later Alanna of Pirate's Swoop and Olau), is a ground-breaking female knight. Although noble-born girls traditionally go to the convent to learn how to be proper noblewomen and wives, Alanna desires to become a knight, a position only given to noble-born boys (although, as seen in the Provost's Dog books, there had historically been other lady knights). In order to achieve her dream, Alanna disguises herself as a boy under the name of Alan and goes to the palace in place of her twin brother Thom. As Thom has no interest in becoming a knight, and is far more interested in his magic, Thom goes to the convent in place of Alanna, to become a sorcerer. The twins' father is concerned only with his studies, and pays them little attention, which helps their masquerade. He is also very strongly against magic, as he believed that it should have saved his wife when she died in childbirth, so he is opposed to the idea of Thom becoming a sorcerer. Alanna has a few relationships thoughout the series, including Prince Jonathon, George Cooper and Liam Ironarm. The series follows Alanna's training and the early years of her knighthood, a timespan of ten years. Also very good are the works from Alexander Lloys: The Chronicles of Prydain is a five-volume series of children's fantasy novels by author Lloyd Alexander. The stories detail the adventures of a young man named Taran, who is awarded the honor of Assistant Pig-Keeper but dreams of being a grand hero, and his companions Princess Eilonwy, Fflewddur Fflam the wandering bard and king, a feral yet gentle creature called Gurgi, and a dwarf named Doli. I devoured these books at about 12 I think... cheers, kaas |
06-22-2009, 01:50 PM | #8 | |
curmudgeon
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You could try one of the novels based on Xenophon's Anabasis. The wikipedia entry on Xenophon says:
Quote:
Xenophon |
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06-23-2009, 05:32 AM | #9 |
Author of The Inferior
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12 year old boys (and girls) tend to love Jonathon Stroud's Bartimaeus series. Start with The Amulet of Samarkand. It's not Greek battles -- it's closer to Darren Shan.
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06-23-2009, 07:01 AM | #10 |
zeldinha zippy zeldissima
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hm, i'm not sure whether this would be accessible to a 12-year old, but have you tried giving him Homer's Oddyssey ? i read it when i was around 24 or 25, so older than your son, but i remember it being absolutely gripping, so much so that one day i was reading it on the metro on my way to work, and when i got to my station i got off and sat down on the quai to keep reading because i couldn't bear to stop until i got to the end of the scene.
i read it in french so i can't help you with a version but i seem to remember there was a discussion of it around here before, if you do a search you might turn it up. |
06-23-2009, 09:30 AM | #11 |
Grand Sorcerer
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Try Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card. Excellent book... all my family loved it.
BOb |
06-23-2009, 10:05 AM | #12 |
Reading is sexy
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06-23-2009, 10:44 AM | #13 |
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Mary Renault's 'Alexander Trilogy' is some of the best historical fiction I've ever read.
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06-23-2009, 10:51 AM | #14 |
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Edit.
Last edited by dadioflex; 12-16-2010 at 03:38 AM. |
06-23-2009, 11:12 AM | #15 |
curmudgeon
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What dadioflex said. That was, in fact, one of the novels I was thinking of... but I couldn't dredge up the reference from the virtual landfill that passes for my memory.
Xenophon |
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