"First, let me introduce you to yourself" (Beware RotE Spoilers)

['thul]

ahh... yes... to avoid teenage romance, tolkien is the thing... These beings have heard him described by a good fantasy author as somewhat of a prude...

[Mervi]

Oh, I wouldn't say Tolkien was a prude. One needs only to look at the Silmarillion and some other tales from the elder days and keep one's eyes open for the references... It's a different writing style from what we're used to these days, but romance and sex are definitely included.

FoolishGirl - how about Lloyd Alexander's Chronicles of Prydain or Susan Cooper's Dark Is Rising books? And the first Earthsea book by Ursula LeGuin - or perhaps all of them, it depends a lot on the child I think. (I *did* read all 4 when I was a teenager but especially the third one is VERY dark stuff so didn't feel like re-visiting until I was an adult which is the opposite of say, Dark Is Rising which I still re-read every few years. )

[FoolishGirl]

Oh, I wouldn't say Tolkien was a prude. One needs only to look at the Silmarillion and some other tales from the elder days and keep one's eyes open for the references... It's a different writing style from what we're used to these days, but romance and sex are definitely included.

FoolishGirl - how about Lloyd Alexander's Chronicles of Prydain or Susan Cooper's Dark Is Rising books? And the first Earthsea book by Ursula LeGuin - or perhaps all of them, it depends a lot on the child I think.

I would agree that Tolkien is not so much prudish as reserved. Thanks for the recommedations. I have not read Alexander or Cooper so will have to check those out (one of the great things about having a kid is catching up on books I missed the first time around). I just so happen to be reading Le Guin's Earthsea books for the first time right now. I got to the chapter called "School for Wizards" and thought, aha, here's what inspired JK Rowling.

[joost]

Some good fantasy/fiction books for children/young adults:

Pat O'Shea - The hounds of the Morrigan
Eoin Colfer - Artemis Fowl books
Thea Beckman - Crusade in jeans (historical fiction based on the children's crusades. If you have seen the movie and didn't like it: the book is much much better)
Michael Ende - The neverending story (similar remark about the movies as CiJ)
Otfried Preussler - The satanic mill/The curse of the darkling mill

[FoolishGirl]

Some good fantasy/fiction books for children/young adults:

Pat O'Shea - The hounds of the Morrigan
Eoin Colfer - Artemis Fowl books
Thea Beckman - Crusade in jeans (historical fiction based on the children's crusades. If you have seen the movie and didn't like it: the book is much much better)
Michael Ende - The neverending story (similar remark about the movies as CiJ)
Otfried Preussler - The satanic mill/The curse of the darkling mill

Thanks, I will check these out!

['thul]

how many teenage Hobbits do you see? How many female Hobbits between ages toddler and ages well grown up and 100% mature?

How many girls of any race that are above 12ish years, yet below 30ish?

There are no females in LOTR above child yet below woman. In that manner, papa Tolkien was a prude. But in other aspects, he was no doubt much different. (Despite having adopted that opinion described earlier, the beings known as 'thul do enjoy reading books by him...)

[Farseer]

Haven't read any of RH's short works, must remedy that...

Yes, you must, but this is easily begun if you are able to purchase 'The Inheritance'. I wish, for the sake of many here on thePlenty, that 'Words Like Coins' had been included in it though...

I'm thinking Narnia is next for my little guy, then I'm not sure what. His Dark Materials is a fave of mine but it's a bit disturbing, and a little too adolescent (but so is HP; my son just ignores or skips all the teenage romance stuff). We have the Hobbit audio CD that we might bust out on a long car trip soon.

Yes, the Narnia Chronicles are on the to-read list as well. I re-read them a year or so back but my daughter is yet to get into them. Allowing her to watch the movie wasn't the best move as she hated it!

Besides the Deltora Quest books (which I just can't recommend enough, and we have each of the CDs for the entire series as all car trips we do are long ), Emily Rodda's Rowan of Rin series is terrific as well, though not as full of action as Deltora Quest. There are five books in the RoR series, with 'Rowan of Rin' the title of the first book. My eldest son began to read it but didn't like it, and so I then read it to him of a night...he went on to read the rest by himself and loved them. My second son loved them from the beginning...

One day, you will also have to try John Flanagan's Ranger's Apprentice series. They are wonderful books, mostly for the easy and amusing relationships between the main three characters. Halt is easily one of my favourite characters of all time!

Okay, I'm plugging the same Aussie books and authors I usually do but they are great stories, I think!

What else? The Troll series by Katherine Langrish which begins with 'Troll Fell' or the Book series (not its actual series name but the best way to describe them!) by James Moloney which begins with'The Book of Lies' .

As did joost, I'd also point you toward the Artemis Fowl series of books by Eoin Colfer.

Oh, I can't NOT recommend the Hatchet series by US author Gary Paulsen either. They're not fantasy by any means but a terrific story nonetheless.

[FoolishGirl]

Farseer:
Thanks for all the great suggestions! Can't wait to hit the bookstore!

[danieladamsmith]

Hi first of all Hello.

My name is Daniel and I'm a English teacher, songwriter, father, husband....and obsessed fantasy fan living in Vienna, Austria. I grew up in the States but I have lived over her for about 8 years. I started Robin's books just a few months ago and I'm almost completely caught up.
It's great to join a forum for fans of her as well as fantasy in general. I look forward to the tips, anecdotes and thoughts of everyone around here....

['thul]

These beings welcome the one called danieladamsmith to these forums.