I've decided to do the A to Z Blogger Challenge this year and I'm recommending five books all from the same alphabetical genre each day. So today, O is for Outer Space. I know that's not a real genre, but a lot of great books are set in space, so I'm going to claim they all belong to the same genre. Here are five of my favorites.
The Knife of Never Letting Go by Patrick Ness - This book reads a lot like dystopia, but it's set on another planet so I'm counting it in the outer space genre. On this planet men have a virus called "the noise" where they can hear the thoughts of every other man, and everyone can hear their thoughts. Women don't get the noise. They can still hear men's thoughts but their own thoughts are private. Naturally gender wars are a big deal and this story has some very loud battles.
The Hitchhiker's Guild to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams - This is one of those books that is a classic for a reason. It's a great story that is funny and quirky and all around entertaining without taking itself to seriously, even if it does deal with some larger themes.
The Sparrow by Mary Doria Russell - When humans discover live on another planet, its only natural that Catholic missionaries would be the first people to visit this planet. Their mission is simple, meet God's other children. The results are just as devastating as the early interactions between the Spanish and the Native Peoples of North and South America 500 years ago.
Across the Universe by Beth Revis - This is another space story that feels very dystopian to me. In this one, Amy wakes up from her criogenic freeze mid flight on a 300 year journey from Earth to a new planet. Life on the ship is more than a bit chaotic and Amy has to try to figure out both who tried to kill her and why the ship seems to be flying off course.
Have Space Suit Will Travel by Robert A Heinlein - This is another great classic sci-fi story. It has a strong cold war influence, but is still a very fun read. Very few kids dream about visiting the moon now, but in the 1950's the idea of a kid owning his own space suit so he'd be ready as soon as his ship called seemed like a great idea.What about you? What is your favorite outer space adventure?
