My sentimental favourite is Inferno (ignoring the godawful sequel).
I think A Wrinkle in Time was probably the first “science fiction” book I ever read as a kid. (I put it quotes because while there are sci fi elements to the story, I’m not sure that’s how I’d categorize it.) I reread it a few years ago when we bought a copy for one of the grandkids and I think it holds up pretty well.
In junior high/high school I read a bunch of the Doc Savage pulp novels that Bantam was reprinting at the time. Somebody here on the boards a few years back (I think maybe it was @Darren_Garrison) pointed me to an electronic archive of all the stories, which I downloaded on my phone and am slowly making my way through. Other than being blatantly racist at times, they are still fun to read.
Earthsea was one of my favorites as a kid, and when I reread it as an adult, it did hold up. I keep trying to get my kid to read it, by doing things like putting it on their Kindle.
Like mentioned in the “what were you THINKING?” thread, I must have read it 4 or 5 times as a kid, and it wasn’t until I read it as an adult that I realized/remembered that Ged wasn’t white.
Never read the other two, though I’m aware of their existence.
I probably should have said “some Zelazny that isn’t Amber”. I’ve never read those.
I was going to include a bunch of well known, well regarded, or classic sci-fi and fantasy I’ve never read, and ask what was worth reading, but the OP was already long enough.
I’m not sure how well “The Phantom Tollbooth” would hold up for an adult but “Watership Down” fer sure. Put it on your short list of things to read (I occasionally give it as a gift to 40+ year old adults).
I still get a kick out of When We Were Very Young, and Now We Are Six, by A. A. Milne.
Unfortunately, that was one that did not hold up for me. Nothing like the story being racist, or something, I just found it incredibly boring as an adult. A similar thing happened with the Prydain series.
I’m hoping this is because the books just started getting bad, and not some kind of anti-gay thing on the part of the author or the poster.
I read them both in 1984, so I would have been 13 or 14. Like many of these books, they weren’t necessarily aimed at kids, but that’s when I read them. My main concern is they might seem too timid, “you call that a dystopia?” Have you read the news?
I don’t remember very much of what happened in that book, other than a few years later reading Gibson and Sterling, and thinking those guys were supposed to have invented cyberpunk? What about the Brunner stuff from 25 years ago?
To be fair, 1984 is scarily precognizant of what is happening today. Not 100% but too close for comfort.
I remember liking those as a younger kid. Much more than Encyclopedia Brown and a few other boy detective stories. I hadn’t thought about them until my kid was the right age, and discovered they’re not readily available. They’re not hard to find, but not electronically or at the library.
Reading about them, I was very pleased to discover they were much more progressive than they could have been. Real science, real female characters, etc.
(Cut mine.)
I love The Phantom Tollbooth. At age 41, it’s still my favorite book.
I loved the Henry Reed series of books when I was in grade school. I’d love to reread now as an old fogey, starting with Henry Reed, Inc.
Some of Heinlein. “Harsh Mistress” is still a classic.
I recently re-read some of the C S Forester Hornblower books & still enjoyed them.
“Earthman come home” by Blish (in the cities in flight series), though the ‘science’ in that is very much handwaving…
As for Hitchhiker… I felt that the series declined rather badly as it went on (I think Adams was becoming increasingly depressed…?)
And the second Dirk Gently was nowhere near as good.
Encyclopedia Brown and Alvin Fernald.
I should go back and read the inaccurately named trilogy. I probably haven’t read it since So long came out, and if I ever read Mostly Harmless, it was only once. I didn’t even realize there was a sixth book.
Of course it has been such a cornerstone of nerd culture that I’ve been immersed in it ever since. I know all of the punchlines and such, but I wonder if there is more I’ll get out of it now than when I was 16.
I’ve revisited quite a few books (/series /authors) I read as a kid. Sometimes as audiobooks, as a way of injecting something new into the experience. More often than not, they hold up pretty well; it would be harder to think of examples that did not hold up well at all (although Piers Anthony is one such example).
Anyone who’s rereading Narnia might want to check out the “Great C.S. Lewis Reread” series of articles at tor.com.
I’ll be a dissenting voice on this. I adored the original five Amber books when I read them in high school, in the early '80s. I decided to do a re-read, maybe five years ago; I only got through the first book, because it just didn’t spark for me anymore. I think part of it was the narrative style, but part of it was the way Zelazny handled the female characters (mostly as two-dimensional sex objects).
1984 for sure. It was assigned reading in high school, but made such a strong impression on me that I’ve reread it a couple times as an adult. As an author, when your last name becomes an adjective, you know you’ve tapped into something strong. The John Hurt movie ‘1984’ (made in ‘84) is an excellent adaptation.
I read ‘Brave New World’ as a teenager on my own after reading 1984, because I wanted to read the ‘other’ classic dystopic future novel. It didn’t make nearly the impression on me that 1984 did. I barely remember anything about it. I should probably reread it to see how it hits me now.
Right. I hate to be a wet blanket, but to be honest I never thought it was quite as good or funny as some people seemed to find it. Oh well, De gustibus non est disputandum, as the saying goes…
I’m in the middle of rereading Starman Jones. I still enjoy it, if I keep its era and therefore its cultural blunders in mind.
I love going back and rereading old favorites. Recently reading the Oz books by Baum, and also Charlotte’s web. Highly recommend both.
I’ve been meaning to reread a couple of series:
Dragonsong/Dragonsinger/Dragondrums
A side trilogy set during the original Pern trilogy, focusing on a young girl (of…a more humble class? Found during a battle? It’s been a long time). But it’s a sweet YA-sort of story. Just the thing when life is chaotic and you need a “homey” book.
.
The Deryni books.
As a college student, I felt like I’d “outgrown fantasy”, but I loved these.
Set in the 1200s, magic is being used by a priest who’d be executed by The Church if it was discovered. He and his cousin, a military aide to royalty, are trying to keep the young future king from being manipulated or killed, so there’s much Castle Intrigue.
And the magic is often, well, small. Much of it is little things like moving the tumblers of a lock… or, my favorite, a character will pass their hand across their face in “a Deryni spell meant to reduce fatigue”.
(I’ve done that many times…)
If you read them, do finish the trilogy (Katherine Kurtz got better as she wrote these). The second trilogy, focusing on “St. Camber”, is set back in the 900s, and is wonderful as well.