Aww. :)

[badseed1980]

You know, I have often said that while I look a hell of a lot like my mom, almost all my personality and interests come from my dad. I often point to the fact that my dad is a huge sci-fi geek when I say this. The other day, I asked my mom what she wanted for Christmas. She asked if I could pick out some good fiction for her to read (she reads a lot now that she's retired). I said I'd give it a shot, but that I wasn't sure how good I'd do since I was pretty sure most of our tastes were different. I had in mind to get her Chocolat and maybe Corelli's Mandolin, but was stuck on any others. I said to her, "I'm guessing you want stuff that's really character-driven [one thing I was pretty sure we DID have in common], and which is realistic rather than fantastic or speculative, right?" She replied, "Don't much care for dwarves and elves, and do like character-driven, and character interactions. However, I used to read a lot of sci-fi in college, and always love those!"

ORLY?

SWEET! My mom is a sci-fi fan too! She liked Heinlein a lot back in the day, apparently. Wonders never cease. I have a feeling that if she gets back into reading more sci-fi and finds stuff she likes that I haven't yet read, it'll be worth checking it out. I wonder how she'd feel about The Snow Queen and The Summer Queen. I really, really enjoyed those. They almost took a fantasist's approach to a sci-fi story, telling a story that had sci-fi elements in a way that reminded me of fantasy in many ways. And the characters are complex, and their relationships even more so. Especially in the second book. Yeah, those might be worth a shot.

So yeah, finding books to give my mom might be more fun than I thought, and might give us something to connect on in the future. I like this. :)

Comments

[mizdarkgirl.livejournal.com]

Neat! Maybe she would like Sheri Tepper?
One of my favorite books is Grass which is ringing true with me again to the way she touches on environmental issues without a heavy hand and riles against religious fundamentalism without Christian bashing.
Non-spolier review: http://www.sfsite.com/06a/gr129.htm

I also liked The Awakeners: Northshore & Southshore by her...

[badseed1980.livejournal.com]

I'm going to try getting her stuff I've read myself, but thanks for the idea,

That's very cool

[drwex]

It's neat when our parents can still surprise us in good ways.

[pierceheart.livejournal.com]

Some have suggested the Alliance/Union universe to be very character driven.

I agree, but ... as you found out in what should be considered the first book directly in the "Company Wars" era (Downbelow Station), because she is trying to show almost a Rashomon-style understanding, her storytelling is jumpy.

There's a bit of her work that is hard sci-fi, but so much of it deals with loyalty, motivations, and intrigue, that it's possible she might like it.

Downbelow might actually be a good start for her, because it's so low on tech crap.

amazon listmania

[pierceheart.livejournal.com]

Well-written character-driven sci fi with accurate science! (http://www.amazon.com/gp/richpub/syltguides/fullview/1QDBXMM40186S)

Re: amazon listmania

[badseed1980.livejournal.com]

Nifty! I might use that to start finding stuff for myself. I'm probably going to try to stick with stuff that I have read as far as giving my mom a present goes, as I said to mizdarkgirl.