@Alice0906,
You might enjoy
The Life of Pi.
As for Science fiction, you might try Marion Zimmer Bradley's Darkover novels, which she in fact describes as science fantasy. Some of them are long, but the novels of the two "Against the Terrans" series are not that long.
Here is the Wikipedia article on the Darkover novels. (Clickity-click!) If you look down the page you will see the novels of the two "Against the Terrans" series listed. Bradley, in the preface to one of the later editions states that she had based one of her early novels on a short story she had written at age 15 (circa 1945). The "Against the Terrans" series were written from the early 1960s right up to the end of her career--and represent her personal interest in the series. The many, many other novels she wrote about Darkover were responses to the popularity of certain ideas or ages in the "history" of Darkover. In particular, Zimmer Bradely was interested in gender roles, and relations between men and women in a pre-industrial society.