Narsil wrote:pieaholicx wrote:Well, I can recommend two. First up is The Giver by Lois Lowry. It's a very short read, but an excellent take on the idea of a future "utopian" society. Leaves you with a lot of unanswered questions, but still good.
I wouldn't read this if you're over 12. After that, the book starts to seem very immature. Yes, at it's core there is a good story, but it's covered up by layers and layers of crap that aims squarely for the "young adult fiction" category.
I don't know, raeding it today and being a writer myself, I'm really impressed with it. Obviously, the book is written for young adults so some of it is childish, but a lot of it is really well done and surprising for a kids book. First, the giver/notion of receiving memories isn't even introduced until chapter 8, which is impressive given this book is targeted at people with a short attention span.
But what's real cool, and is built from that, is how subtle Lois Lowry was able to reveal all the innerworkings of the society. Just reading a single chapter, you're able to get a great picture of the complexities of their society.
On a related note, did you know there are two sequels to it? I only learned that recently and was really shocked.