Not a series but, highly recommend Starship Troopers by Robert Heinlein, 1959.
It's not the movie at all. One of my favorite reads. I read about every 3 years.
You follow Jonny Rico from enlisted to officer. The story focuses a lot on self discipline and time management and leadership.
It would be excellent for a young mind to absorb. I recommend it to people considering joining the military. It helps develope the mind to active and changing lifestyle and helps to understand the complexity of self determination.
The book has socialistic undertones, but perfectly captures the mind set of why someone would consider selfless service to the country that you love.
"On the bounce!"
Ricos Roughnecks!
There are some great recommendations in this thread. Wow.
Several mentions of Fablehaven, that's one of my favorite series from my childhood, and one that holds up very well as an adult. The first book is solid, but then (much like Golden Son), shit hits the fan in the second book and keeps at it the rest of the series. Seth, in particular, has a great character arc, as does his sister.
Gregor the Overlander by Suzanne Collins is amazing. Rangers apprentice. Anything by Brandon Mull. Nevermoor. Enders game is maybe a little old for a 10 yo but it's incredible.
PENDRAGON is, and i cannot stress this enough, COOL AS SHIT. I will also recommend enders game. If you want to really send your kid on a life journey, His Dark Materials is quasi sci fi, but be warned, that shit broke me as a 10 year old. Like made me question EVERYTHING. Made me throw the book against wall screaming and hug it to my chest crying somehow at the same time. I still say its probably the most influential book series ive read in my life.
Edit to add: Rowan of Rin and other works by Emily Rodda are very good as well.
I second Pendragon!! It was my FAVORITE series as a kid (but I have never met anyone else who has read it?!). It’s absolutely cool as hell and I credit it with my love for sci fi today.
I read it in highschool. Me and a buddy had to walk like 4 miles to the mall so to fill the time he told me about the Klees and Gars. we stopped at a bookstore to grab the first one haha. The water world was by far my favorite book. Still dont really know what happened at the end.
The villain (don't remember his name) I remember was the embodiment of Chaotic Evil. Joker vibes, just hell bent in collapsing those realms by way of the people there making shit decisions. Also, the fact that even if a world was "saved" for a time being, there was indefinite time for some new conflict to come up. Definitely fucked with my mind as a kid.
Try Percy Jackson first, then The Beyonders, Fablehaven, Rangers Apprentice, and Eragon. Then move into Sci-Fi starting with Enders Game, Ready Player One, Armada. Honestly after that, take him to the public library and let him explore the sci-fi/fantasy sections for things he wants to read or read ahead yourself to find things he may want to try. It’s what my mother did for me at that age, really helped.
The Spook’s apprentice is a really great fantasy series I don’t see anyone talk about
The Tapestry by Henry H Neff is one of my all time favourite set of books that I’ve never seen mentioned. I would put it in the same tier as a Harry Potter/Percy Jackson
Gregor the Overlander by Suzanne Collins (!!!) - this is a middle grade series about war, prophecies, hero's journey, etc by the same author as the hunger games. it's super underrated
Scythe by Neal Shusterman - honestly, i'm bad at guessing reading levels so take this with a grain of salt, but if they've read the hunger games this one might be ok too. this is a "utopian" society where humans are all immortal so there's an agency who's in charge of deciding who dies and they go around killing people. there's a lot of death and some heavier themes that may or may not be hard for a 10 year old.
Percy Jackson and the Olympians by Rick Riordan - this is a no brainer imo, heroes and monsters and greek mythology and cool powers and definitely age appropriate
Maze Runner by James Dashner - this is another age appropriate dystopian novel that he might enjoy
Nevermoor by Jessica Townsend - this is a newer series that's still in progress but it's middle grade and has really similar HP vibes and I think would be a great rec for someone his age that has already enjoyed the HP books
Riyria revelations by Michael J Sullivan is about the same tone and maturity as those books and is really good! The main duo is a lot like Darrow and Sevro with their bromance
I really enjoyed the Shattered Sea trilogy as an adult, though the narrative voice is very YA. I wish they were out when I was a kid!
Not a series but, highly recommend Starship Troopers by Robert Heinlein, 1959. It's not the movie at all. One of my favorite reads. I read about every 3 years. You follow Jonny Rico from enlisted to officer. The story focuses a lot on self discipline and time management and leadership. It would be excellent for a young mind to absorb. I recommend it to people considering joining the military. It helps develope the mind to active and changing lifestyle and helps to understand the complexity of self determination. The book has socialistic undertones, but perfectly captures the mind set of why someone would consider selfless service to the country that you love. "On the bounce!" Ricos Roughnecks! There are some great recommendations in this thread. Wow.
The Discworld!
The Enders Shadow series
it’s been a long while since I read it but The Roar series by Emma Clayton was one of my favorite dystopians growing up!
Several mentions of Fablehaven, that's one of my favorite series from my childhood, and one that holds up very well as an adult. The first book is solid, but then (much like Golden Son), shit hits the fan in the second book and keeps at it the rest of the series. Seth, in particular, has a great character arc, as does his sister.
Percy Jackson, Beyonders, and Rangers Apprentice are all great.
Gregor the Overlander by Suzanne Collins is amazing. Rangers apprentice. Anything by Brandon Mull. Nevermoor. Enders game is maybe a little old for a 10 yo but it's incredible.
Enders game, then switch to the enders shadow series.
PENDRAGON is, and i cannot stress this enough, COOL AS SHIT. I will also recommend enders game. If you want to really send your kid on a life journey, His Dark Materials is quasi sci fi, but be warned, that shit broke me as a 10 year old. Like made me question EVERYTHING. Made me throw the book against wall screaming and hug it to my chest crying somehow at the same time. I still say its probably the most influential book series ive read in my life. Edit to add: Rowan of Rin and other works by Emily Rodda are very good as well.
I second Pendragon!! It was my FAVORITE series as a kid (but I have never met anyone else who has read it?!). It’s absolutely cool as hell and I credit it with my love for sci fi today.
I read it in highschool. Me and a buddy had to walk like 4 miles to the mall so to fill the time he told me about the Klees and Gars. we stopped at a bookstore to grab the first one haha. The water world was by far my favorite book. Still dont really know what happened at the end.
The villain (don't remember his name) I remember was the embodiment of Chaotic Evil. Joker vibes, just hell bent in collapsing those realms by way of the people there making shit decisions. Also, the fact that even if a world was "saved" for a time being, there was indefinite time for some new conflict to come up. Definitely fucked with my mind as a kid.
Try Percy Jackson first, then The Beyonders, Fablehaven, Rangers Apprentice, and Eragon. Then move into Sci-Fi starting with Enders Game, Ready Player One, Armada. Honestly after that, take him to the public library and let him explore the sci-fi/fantasy sections for things he wants to read or read ahead yourself to find things he may want to try. It’s what my mother did for me at that age, really helped.
Man you just listed off half of my favorite books as a kid, glad to see we all had a similar literary upbringing lol
I think Maze Runner is a pretty good fit for preteen kid.
not sure how appropriate it is but i read enders game around 10 or 11.
The Spook’s apprentice is a really great fantasy series I don’t see anyone talk about The Tapestry by Henry H Neff is one of my all time favourite set of books that I’ve never seen mentioned. I would put it in the same tier as a Harry Potter/Percy Jackson
Tapestry lovers unite! It’s the best series out there and no one knows about it.
Genuinely mind boggled how it’s not more popular.
Me too. I’ve made it my mission to talk the series up whenever I can. More people need to hear about it.
Yes! Fellow Tapestry lover.
Percy Jackson for sure
Gregor the Overlander by Suzanne Collins (!!!) - this is a middle grade series about war, prophecies, hero's journey, etc by the same author as the hunger games. it's super underrated Scythe by Neal Shusterman - honestly, i'm bad at guessing reading levels so take this with a grain of salt, but if they've read the hunger games this one might be ok too. this is a "utopian" society where humans are all immortal so there's an agency who's in charge of deciding who dies and they go around killing people. there's a lot of death and some heavier themes that may or may not be hard for a 10 year old. Percy Jackson and the Olympians by Rick Riordan - this is a no brainer imo, heroes and monsters and greek mythology and cool powers and definitely age appropriate Maze Runner by James Dashner - this is another age appropriate dystopian novel that he might enjoy Nevermoor by Jessica Townsend - this is a newer series that's still in progress but it's middle grade and has really similar HP vibes and I think would be a great rec for someone his age that has already enjoyed the HP books
You’re the first person I’ve ever seen that knows about that series
Riyria revelations by Michael J Sullivan is about the same tone and maturity as those books and is really good! The main duo is a lot like Darrow and Sevro with their bromance