By Darlene Bowers
"“When you mix Science Fiction with Fantasy you don't have a pure genre, the two are, to a professional separate genres. I noticed today there is a tendency to mingle them, and then excuse the result by calling it imaginative fiction. Actually they don't mix well. Science Fiction, to be credible, has to be based on some degree of plausibility, Fantasy gives you no limits at all. Writing Science Fiction demands care on the part of the author, writing Fantasy is as easy as strolling in the park.”

― L. Ron Hubbard, Battlefield Earth: A Saga of the Year 3000

Name: Eric Hardesty II, Engineer at Roki America, 6 year Lima resident

Eric Hardesty’s favorite book is Battlefield Earth: A Saga of the Year 3000 by L. Ron Hubbard. This post, post-apocalyptic science fiction novel reveals Earth as a barren wasteland conquered by aliens in A.D. 3000.

Few humans have survived, but a hero named Jonnie Goodboy Tyler emerges to lead the revolt for freedom. Interestingly, this book is touted as ideal for STEM (science, technology, engineering, mathematics) learning for its coverage of diversity of characters and race, military artifacts, technologies and mathematics. Eric Hardesty likes it “because its plot is sci-fi, but it has aspects of drama, mystery and fantasy.”

Currently reading Epic by Conor Kostick, Brisingr by Christopher Paolini, and Ice Station by Matthew Reilly, Eric Hardesty’s list is almost entirely science fiction. In addition to Batllefield Earth and Epic, Eric’s recommended reads are:

• Troy Rising series by John Ringo (science fiction)

• MHI (Monster Hunter International series) by Larry Correia, Oliver Wyman (supernatural fiction)

• On Basilisk Station by David Weber (science fiction)

So what are your favorite books? What books do you recommend to others? Join in, fill out the Ada Icon/Ada Public Library Favorite Book Survey (see attachment below or pick one up at the library) and submit your recommendations. Let’s start a reading revolution or at least have a spectacular time sampling all sorts of reads and exploring the Ada Public Library.