If you were toying with The Sparrow (I love that book - but yes, it is pretty full on in places) then how about A Case of Conscience (James Blish) - in some ways quite similar themes, but not so violent (well, the violence is seen very much at a distance anyway).
I think Bradbury would be a great choice too, also Bob Shaw (if you’re keeping with the old stuff).
You might consider also that a female writer might be a good idea for your mum’s first jaunt into SF. To that end I recomment Lois McMaster Bujold, Ursula LeGuin (particularly The Lathe of Heaven - wonderful book, and short!) and Julian May
She mostly reads Irish history both fiction and factual. I was surprised to see her reading ‘And a Hard Rain Fell’ by John Ketwig recently because she doesn’t like reading or watching things that are ‘cruel’ although she seemed to like that book (not that Irish history doesn’t have its moments…well is one long ‘moment’ actually).
She doesn’t read many crime books but she does like (and is worryingly good at!) solving crime and mystery programs on TV.
I suppose the main requirement is that the book isn’t too ‘out-there’ with too many ‘weird’ aspects. I want to ease her into the genre gently, not make her give up on the first attempt.
My dad is in a similar position, reads a lot but not science-fiction, I had him read ‘Consider Phlebas’ by Iain Banks and while he professed to like it he never borrowed another of my science-fiction books.
I recently read Lord of Light myself and enjoyed it but I do wonder if its not a bit of a steep introduction to the genre, it took me some time to get-into the story-world and I’ve read a lot of this stuff.
I’ve bought, but not yet read, ‘The Time Travelers Wife’ so I might give it to her to read first to see what she thinks of it.
People you are missing the point. This is not give me a good book, its give me a book a non science fiction reader will like. I would suggest something by Creighton. Just enough interesting science fiction concepts but not enough to get in the way of the story. Set up and then on to the action. A good foot in the door for someone not used to the genre.
Neither book is really representative of what I’d call science fiction, and both books are real downers. If you think the one book was rough, how about the prolonged torture of the protagonist in 1984? Not recommended to get someone INTO science fiction. If you want her to never pick up another SF book, however, this selection Just Might Do It.
Perhaps Illegal Alien by Robert Sawyer ? It’s set on modern Earth; aliens show up, one is implicated in a crime and put on trial. Since it’s on Earth and modern that should minimize the weird stuff.
I think Spin might be a good one. It’s set on Earth. It’s definitely sad in parts and deals with the end of the world, but it’s not devastatingly sad and depressing. It’s science-y but most of the science is well-explained and contained (I’m not vouching for its accuracy, only its comprehensibility).
Stand On Zanzibar is good science-fiction that doesn’t depend on derring-do; it’s just a neat extrapolation of the real world, as I suppose it was seen in the 1960’s. Nothing too high-concept like Iain M. Banks or corny like golden-age stuff.
Ringworld is pretty straightforward, and Known Space is a universe that might grab someone’s attention. Any of the collections of short stories in Known Space are recommended as well.
Startide Rising. Characters with character rather than guys in lab coats telling each other things they should already know, in one of the richer worlds a science fiction author has built. Being dropped into the thought processes of the Galactics and the dolphins speaking in haikus might be odd, though
A Matter For Men is smart adventure. David Gerrold writes in a style as straightforward as Heinlein without the archaic sexism and goofy sex and lecturing. I’m sure it’s no coincidence Lizard’s a redhead. Anyway, it’s an ecological alien invasion story, with a near-future Earth being ecologically rebuilt, from microbes to Enterprise Fish, by some sort of alien intelligence. Or something. The hero’s a bit of a twit and it’s told in first-person, so there’s fun to be had in that.
The more I think about it, the more I recommend A.E. van Vogt’s classic Voyage of the Space Beagle. Even though it is somewhat dated in style and modern sensibilities, it is an exciting, straightforward adventure which introduces many of the concepts used by later writers.
I love “Stand on Zanzibar.” I recommended it to a friend of mine several years ago who claimed to enjoy all sorts of literature, and he hated it. The structure of the novel made it too difficult for him to get into (and he probably was put off by the dialect words the characters use, which are not glossed, and which you have to pick up from the context).
I have read other non-linear novels in the past, and I enjoy putting the puzzle together, but if your mother doesn’t enjoy that sort of book you may be better off with something a bit more linear.
I second Ronald C. Semone’s suggestion of a book of short stories. Perhaps a collection of the Hugo Winners. It should include Asimov’s Nightfall. If that story doesn’t grab her, nothing will.
“Nightfall” was published in 1941, twelve years before the first Hugos were awarded so it would not be included in a collection of Hugo winning stories.
This Perfect Day, by Ira Levin. It’s ideal for what you have in mind. It’s written in a style simple enough that it can be enjoyed by an intelligent teenager, and it hooks the reader fast.
Ian McDonald’s an Irish sf writer who has written some excellent books.
You could try King of Morning, Queen of Day (might be hard to find these days) which is divided into 3 parts: a Wells/Keats late Victorian section, a Beckett/mythic 1920s mid-section and a slightly cyberpunk near future in Dublin…
Or The City and the Stars by Clarke would be a good choice, imo.
I’ll third or fourth Spin, having finished it yesterday. It’s the best SF I’ve read in ages, better IMO even than The Sparrow (which was wonderful). The writing was absolutely beautiful, and the novel worked as a character study at least as well as an exploration of the scientific ideas (which were astonishing and plausible and freakin’ epic). It’s almost as if Joyce Carol Oates decided to try her hand at hard science fiction.
First: Have her read the short story “Satisfaction Guaranteed” by Asimov. She’ll love it. Satisfaction guaranteed.
Second: Give her Caves of Steel also by Asimov. Even though she’s not especially into mysteries, the structure of the book will be familiar to her, and make the science fiction elements easier to swallow. Many of the concepts and themes that are touched on in “Satisfaction Guaranteed” are explored much more thoroughly in Caves of Steel, so it’s a natural progression.
