5 Best Scifi Books for People New to Scifi

Are you looking for a book to introduce yourself or someone you know to Sci-Fi?  I have been asked to recommend books to first time Sci-Fi readers many times.  Maybe the person already reads fantasy or is kind of into the YA dystopian scene.  Maybe the person has never even considered scifi.  Here is a list of books and the types of people you should introduce them to. 

1.  Ender's Game-  This is great for kids and adults.  It is an amazing and brutal work.  The downside of this recommendation is that some people are Orson Scott Cardaphobic.  They refuse to recognize him as a person because of his beliefs.  Don't recommend this book to those people. 

2.  The Martian-  Engineers will absolutely love it and so will most other people.  This book is great for people that have never considered Sci-Fi before.  The reason is that it is set in a plausible future with hard science throughout.  You might have to tell them it was Sci-Fi after the fact. 

3.   The Handmaid's Tale-  We all know people that think they are too smart for Sci-Fi.  This book is smart and bleak.  Intellectuals will love it for those reasons.  The Road can also be substituted here.  Neither of these authors will even admit that the books are Sci-Fi so your too smart for Sci-Fi friends can feel safe in the knowledge that they have been reading speculative fiction. 

4.  I, Robot-  This book is great for people with short attention spans or who don't necessarily want to read an entire book.  Each story is independent but pulls you in more and more.  I think this was my first introduction to literary Sci-Fi.  My mom told me to read it. 

5.  The Rookie-  Know any sports fans?  Just start talking to them about football and the future of the sport.  Then you can tell them about a football book that takes place in the future with different alien races playing positions suited to their abilities.  I bet they will find it interesting to hear about alien wide receivers that can leap 20 feet into the air to make the catch. 

Got any other ideas about great introductions into Sci-Fi, let me know in the comments below!

Guardians of the Galaxy: Tomorrow's Avengers

Guardians of the Galaxy: Tomorrow's Avengers - Volume 1 by Steve Gerber
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Guardians of the Galaxy: Tomorrow's Avengers reprints the original mini series and cameo appearances from other titles from the 70s. This is a fun if somewhat corny book. Corny, mostly because it is so dated. It was a huge mistake of having a character from the 70's/80's era in the far future as a member of the team. This original version of the team has several members, most are post human inhabitants of other planets in our solar system. While it is fun imagining what these people would be like, it really makes the invasion look implausible. These few guys that are so tough are the exact genetic makeup of everyone else on their respective planets. Yet the Badoon march in and take over only to be forced out by a very small group. Doesn't make sense. Not to mention that they fly around in a mock up of the Enterprise that they have named the Captain America.

This book is wordy. It is about 20 issues of some of the wordiest comics you will read. not that this is either good or bad, it is and you should just be expecting it. Not great, but not horrible either. There is some good writing tucked away in several issues and some interesting ideas that seldom ever seem to get fully explored. The art is on par with other titles of the time and some of it is rather striking.

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A Canticle For Leibowittz

A Canticle for Leibowitz by Walter M. Miller Jr.
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This book takes place in between the events that most books would actually be about. It basically follows a cloister of monks whose mission it is to protect knowledge. This covers a huge swath of time. It is probably the only science fiction story that I have ever read that paints the Catholic religion in a positive light. It is a very strange yet very compelling book. I took away a star because I felt that the third act was a bit weaker than the other two and it was a lot more abstract and left many questions unanswered. Amazing book though, highly recommended.

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Game of the Year 2013

A lot of people are giving this to GTA V, I have played it. it is fun, but the dialogue is really bad. Like, makes you wince, kind of bad. I really like The Last of Us. It is a zombie game but, then again, it isn't. The writing was good and the story pulls you in. I think that this wins for best game. Best cinematography would go to Tomb Raider. That game is beautiful. It is also very fun to play. Best RPG would have to go to NiNoKuni. Studio Ghibli doesn't let you down with this one and it is also the recipient of the best all ages award. Now I have not played all the games this year, so my subjective list my not match your subjective list. What do you think the best games of the year were? Why do you think my opinions are wrong? let me know in the comments.

Thor 2 spoiler free review

Took the family to see Thor this weekend and had a blast. My 9 and 12 year old love Thor because he is so pretty and when I made it known that I was going, they made it known that I wasn't going without them.

Script- Just trust them, the bad guys are trying to destroy the world or worlds. The how is very complicated science-magic. So, just go with it and have fun. It is a popcorn movie to be sure. Don't try to understand it. I said, STOP!

Acting- The acting was great, I mean you have serious hard hitting actors in this movie and that wasn't going to be a problem. Natalie Portman has way more chemistry with Thor than she did Vader. I just wondered if she told Thor that she wasn't at the battle of New York because she was having another man's baby at the time. I am sure it will come out in the sequel. Also a remarkable performance was put in by Kat Denning's boobs.

Overall- A fun popcorn movie. It wasn't The Avengers and I think it was better than the first Thor. The character is changing and becoming more heroic. They are writing him with a bit of depth. I would list it as fun for the whole family. Marvel has another winner here. Will DC ever respond.

I Am Legend- audiobook review

I am Legend and Other Stories by Richard Matheson
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

It is just as good the second time around. It has been a few years since I read the book the first time. This time I listened to the audio. The director of the audio book made some different interpretations of the I Am Legend story, but the reading was well done. The other stories, though, I couldn't get through due to the reading. I remember enjoying several of the stories previously, especially the Mad House one and the monster funeral, but there were funny voices and whatnot and It kind of ruined the mood. I would suggest reading instead of listening to this one.

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Rocket Girl-comic review

Monday evening I recieved my copy of Rocket Girl numero uno in the mail. I had contributed to the kickstarter for this project and have been looking forward to it for the past few months. It is written by Brandon Montclare and art by Amy Reeder. This title is published on the Image imprint.

First off, the artwork is amazing. I really liked it. It was krisp, clean, and vibrant. For project updates they would release images from the book and they always looked like cover images. Every panel is done with that same quality.

The story was engaging but a little hard to follow sometimes as it divides itself between the future (2013) and the present (1986). The Future is a very futuristic and stylized 2013 with flying cars, jet packs, half Swedish/half Korean teenage girl police officers. DaYoung is sent back into 1986 to presumably stop her timeline from happening. Why? Well that isn't explained in the first issue.

Pretty good first issue, can't wait for #2.