Ms. Salva's online Classroom
Fantasy and Science Fiction Reading List
These are some of my personal favorite fantasy and science fiction books. If you have any others you think I should check out, let me know! ~ Ms. S
(P.S. - You'll notice the Harry Potter series is not on this list. Harry Potter falls in the category "Must read because I said so" list and needs no introduction.)
Ready Player One by Ernest Cline
It's the year 2044, and the real world is an ugly place. Like most of humanity, Wade Watts escapes his grim surroundings by spending his waking hours jacked into the OASIS, a sprawling virtual utopia that lets you be anything you want to be, a place where you can live and play and fall in love on any of ten thousand planets.
Somewhere inside this giant networked playground, OASIS creator James Halliday has hidden a series of fiendish puzzles that will yield massive fortune -- and remarkable power -- to whoever can unlock them.
Millions have struggled to attain this prize, knowing only that Halliday's riddles are based in the pop culture he loved -- that of the late twentieth century. Like many of his contemporaries, Wade is as comfortable debating the finer points of John Hughes's oeuvre, playing Pac-Man, or reciting Devo lyrics as he is scrounging power to run his OASIS rig.
And then Wade stumbles upon the first puzzle.
Suddenly the whole world is watching, and thousands of competitors join the hunt -- among them certain powerful players who are willing to commit very real murder to beat Wade to this prize. Now the only way for Wade to survive and preserve everything he knows is to win. But to do so, he may have to leave behind his oh-so-perfect virtual existence and face up to life -- and love -- in the real world he's always been so desperate to escape.
Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman
Under the streets of London there's a place most people could never even dream of. A city of monsters and saints, murderers and angels, knights in armour and pale girls in black velvet. This is the city of the people who have fallen between the cracks.
Richard Mayhew, a young businessman, is going to find out more than enough about this other London. A single act of kindness catapults him out of his workday existence and into a world that is at once eerily familiar and utterly bizarre. And a strange destiny awaits him down here, beneath his native city: Neverwhere.
This book also has a radio drama with a fantastic cast and a mini-series.
Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll
This classic tale of nonsense is about a little girl named Alice and how her curiosity of a white rabbit in a waistcoat leads her to one of the strangest places imaginable.
Retold over the years in many formats - animated and live action movies, a syfy mini-series (check it out), and even a video game - this story is loved by millions.
Lewis Carroll (real name Charles Dodgson) gave the title character her name after the daughter of an acquaintance, Alice Liddell, whom he grew very attached to. Many elements of the story were inspired by people and events that happened during their friendship. He first told the story to Alice, her two sisters and the family friend Robinson Duckworth during a boat ride in Oxford. A painfully shy man who focused more on math and logic, Carroll only wrote and published the story at Alice's request.
Howl's Moving Castle (Series)
by Diana Wynne Jones
You thought it was just an amazing Miyazaki film? You were wrong! And so was I until very recently when I discovered the world of Howl, Sophie and Calcifer in this three part book series. Please note that the book is vastly different than the movie (of course), but kind of in a good way. The book and film are both amazing in they own ways. You learn more about Howl in the books (Chapter 11 OMG) and the adventures continue in the series. Howl is more...Howl in the books. Just read it.
Sophie has the great misfortune of being the eldest of three daughters, destined to fail miserably should she ever leave home to seek her fate. But when she unwittingly attracts the ire of the Witch of the Waste, Sophie finds herself under a horrid spell that transforms her into an old lady. Her only chance at breaking it lies in the ever-moving castle in the hills: the Wizard Howl's castle. To untangle the enchantment, Sophie must handle the heartless Howl, strike a bargain with a fire demon, and meet the Witch of the Waste head-on. Along the way, she discovers that there's far more to Howl—and herself—than first meets the eye.
