and now for something completely different....

I have started reading a sci-fi novel. The closest I've been to this genre in the past has been reading Douglas Adams and watching the odd episode of Red Dwarf, neither of which really count as serious sci-fi.

What has brought this on? My husband Andrew suggested I read it. I figured that:

• it will be good to experience something he enjoys - though I doubt I'm going to apply that to the other genre he reads even more frequently in his spare time, namely military history.
• reading it will broaden my literary horizons.
  

I'm now a few chapters into Enders' Game by Orson Scott Card. Here are my initial impressions:

• this is a book written, if I am allowed to indulge in stereotyping again, for blokes. The psychology of the characters is explored, but it is, with only the occasional exception, put in terms of strategy and power struggles rather than love and connection. It also seems to be following the "lone hero saves the world" storyline - though I'm hoping for a twist or two.
  
• for a book written in the 1970s some aspects of it are accurately futuristic. Much of what is described has now been achieved with computers, particularly online gaming.
  
• the storyline is engaging, but I'm unlikely to queue up to read more of this author's work after I finish - there just isn't enough relational interest and/or light relief

Andrew has now offered to read a book that I suggest, so I'm wondering which one to suggest? Jane Austen would probably be cruel, given that he cannot sit in front of an Austen TV adaptation for more than a few minutes. I'm considering Alexander McCall Smith - an author who cannot write books fast enough for me to read them - or possibly something a bit more intense like Anne Tyler. Any suggestions?