Hey, this is MJ O’Shea here, and I thought in honor of my newest book Rising Sun, which has a lot of Sci-Fi characteristics, I decided to talk about my top six sci-fi and fantasy books (I was going to do five, but I thought we needed an even number of each!).

My Top Five Six Sci-Fi/Fantasy books

1. The Belgariad by David Eddings – Okay, I know this is a series, but since it’s one long story that just picks up where it left off, I kind of thing of it as a book. I haven’t read this in years and years but I found a ratty old copy of it in fifth or sixth grade and fell in love. It’s what got me into fantasy in the first place:)

2. Ender’s Game by Orson Scott Card — Ironically, I read this the first time because its title put it next to “Enchanter’s End Game” (the last book of the Belgariad) at the library. I saw it the first six hundred times I checked out the other book, then finally decided to read it. I know there is quite a bit of controversy over Orson Scott Card’s personal opinions, but I’ve loved this book since I was a kid so it has to go on the list.

3. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix by JK Rowling — I love all things Harry Potter, but this book was by far my favorite. Fred and George’s triumphant exit from Hogwarts with Peeves’ little bow was probably my favorite moment in the whole series.

4. Stardust by Neil Gaiman — I love Neil Gaiman. Hard to pick just one. But if I had to, this is it:) The way he plays with hidden secret realms just on the other side of our plain every day world is amazing. His books of shorts stories are fantastic and his novels are as well. I’d give pretty much anything he wrote a try.

5. The Giver by Lois Lowry — When I was in school still and had lots of time ( 🙂 ) I used to try to make a habit of reading all the Newbery award winning books (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Newbery_Medal) at least the gold medal for the year, and some of the silver medals as well. The Giver was one of those. I’ve read it quite a few times and ended up using it in my classroom with my own students years later. I love the way it explores the cost of utopia. I also love that the ending can be interpreted in so many ways.

6. The House of the Scorpion by Nancy Farmer — a bit of a sci-fi version of pinocchio’s journey with cloning and class wars and drug cartels. It’s meant for teens but has some amazing themes and is really well written. I’ve really liked quite a few of her books but this one stuck with me for a long time.

Here’s the blurb for my latest book Rising Sun, where I got to explore some of my sci-fi love. The first book in the series, Dark Sun, came out back in 2011 and this story has been in the back of my mind ever since. I’m sure there is still way more to this world that I haven’t gotten to delve into yet. Hopefully next time it won’t take me nearly three years to get back to it…