Interesting conversation going on under last week's books podcast, which I thought I'd share with the group. The subject of the podcast, which featured Michael Moorcock, Lauren Beukes, Jeff Noon and Alastair Reynolds (whose new book, Blue Remembered Earth, I just finished at the weekend - if you're a fan of hard SF, I strongly urge you to stop what you're doing and order your copy immediately), was the state of science fiction in 2012. But the discussion quickly focused on the specific question, posed by ToucanGesture, of SF for children.

"There seems to be all too little of it about," s/he says. "I've read some Diana Wynn-Jones with my boy, and things like that, and he enjoyed it but he's been on the look out for a Harry Potter-type sci-fi series. We did find one called How To Fill A Black Hole which he really liked, but that's only just begun and there's going to be a bit of a wait for the next one. It's a bit frustrating when you've got a boy eager to read but there's not much available in the subjects he's keen on. He's a bit young for PK Dick. If anyone's got any other suggestions, it'd be much appreciated."

Lots of good suggestions in the thread (Patrick Ness and Suzanne Collins, Asimov, John Wyndham, Arthur C Clarke's Rendezvous with Rama, Mark Brandis, Anne McCaffrey's SF tales) but I thought we might get more if we posted on the blog. For myself, I'd second Anne McCaffrey (I loved The Crystal Singer) and Rendevous with Rama (would add A Fall of Moondust) and Wyndham of course, and for more modern stuff, I'd highly recommend Julie Bertagna's wonderful Exodus trilogy, about a post-globally warmed world. But I'm well aware that I'm miles out of the loop these days - what would the rest of you suggest? I'll post this on the teens site, too, and round up their suggestions.