Read Lovely Books
Clarke, Ray Bradbury, or George Orwell? Or do some more recent authors come to mind?
To compile this list, we compiled some of the biggest reader polls from Goodreads and National Public
Science fiction is an old genre, but plenty of new writers are innovating and pushing the genre
A must read if: you love epic space operas and explorations of alien cultures
Mahit Dzmare and Three Seagrass must figure out how to communicate with aliens entirely different from anyone
John Mandel deftly braids together three separate timelines: one in the Canadian wilderness in 1912, one in the 22
All three stories come together when a time traveler tries to discover the truth behind the strange
A must read if: you love epic warfare set in space with the fate of the universe
This book has everything you could want from an excellent space opera: interstellar travel, political wars, alien
In this series of vignettes, Nagamatsu paints a complex picture of a future society dealing with a
The darkest, strangest, and most tender aspects of human nature come to light in these brilliant stories
A must read if: you love cozy adventures with heart-warming characters
Bix Bouton has invented a new technology, “Own Your Unconscious,” which allows you to access your memories
A must read if: you’ve ever been troubled by society’s restrictive norms for womanhood and
On a particularly bad day, Frida Liu leaves her daughter at home unsupervised, which gets her sent
The School for Good Mothers is a chilling and timely read that examines societal norms in a
The Kaiju Preservation Society is an “animal rights organization” that protects animals from an alternate dimension
A must read if: you like horror stories and science fiction set in space
Claire Kovalik and her crew pick up a distress signal in space and find the Aurora, a
As the crew explores the ship, they realize that something went very wrong
A must read if: you like Black Mirror and Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
This dystopian novel explores the consequences of leaving memories buried versus confronting them head-on
A must read if: you like science fiction that holds up a mirror to the racism and
In this powerful story, Onyebuchi explores a future where the rich have migrated to space colonies, forcing
A must read if: you like thrilling mystery stories and time-travel conspiracies
January Cole, the hotel’s head of security, must solve a murder on the hotel’s premises
A must read if: you like entertaining, witty stories with serious themes
Mickey7 is an Expendable, a disposable employee sent on dangerous missions that nobody else is willing to
A must read if: you like thrilling, fast-paced stories about genetic engineering
In order to defeat the enemy at hand, he’s going to have to become something other
Octavia Zarola and her bounty hunting crew accept a job for a price they can’t refuse
But they soon realize that they might be on the verge of starting a new war
Now it’s time to look at some of the best sci fi books of all time
Half a century later, this landmark novel is still considered one of the greatest science fiction masterpieces
A must read if: the ubiquity of technology and government surveillance concerns you
A futuristic society where a totalitarian government watches over all citizens and orchestrates all activities
A must read if: you want to meet some of the funniest and original aliens in the
This might be one of the funniest and wittiest books in the science fiction genre
In this 1985 military sci fi novel, Ender Wiggin is a child prodigy who gets drafted to Battle
Card creates a multi-layered world full of fascinating alien technology and themes related to the consequences of
Set in the distant future, where life and culture revolve around the use and exchange of the
A must read if: you've ever been horrified by someone wanting to ban a book
In this 1953 dystopian novel, television dominates and books are outlawed
Sounds like a nightmare, but this controversial book is still a favorite
Profound and heart wrenching, Fahrenheit 451 is widely regarded as one of Ray Bradbury’s best works
A must read if: you want to experience the greatest allegory ever written
Animals on a farm overthrow their human owners and set up a deeply flawed government that seems
This book is an interesting and engaging critique of the Russian Revolution of 1917
A must read if: you love world-saving heroes and intergalactic coups
The plan is to build Foundations that will reduce the Dark Age from 30,000 years to 1,000 years
A must read if: you want to know where the terms “cyberspace” and “the Matrix” came from
A burned-out computer whiz steals a security code locked in the most heavily guarded databank in the
A must read if: you want to challenge your social and cultural norms
Mike has a claim to legal ownership of Mars, which makes him a valuable commodity to Earth’
Stranger in a Strange Land is a classic critique of political systems and organized religion
A must read if: you want a complex story that is part slave memoir, part fantasy, and
When she saves a white child from drowning, she realizes that he is her ancestor and, even
Billy Pilgrim returns home from World War II only to be kidnapped by aliens from the planet
Billy travels back and forth in time, visiting his birth, death, and all the moments in between
A must read if: you are terrified by the prospect of men controlling women’s reproductive systems
Gilead is now an oppressive world where women may not read and are valued only as long
A must-read if: you’re interested in intelligent people who care about intelligence
2001: A Space Odyssey follows two astronauts on their journey into space and how their lives are jeopardized
A tense showdown between man and machine results in a mind-bending trek through space and time
In The Three Body Problem, Liu depicts a future where Earth is awaiting an invasion from the
This book was the first Asian novel to win a Hugo Award, and it is widely acclaimed
A must-read if: you liked Bladerunner and want to read the original story
A must-read if: you like clone stories with deep, complex characters and themes
Her task is to create an army of genetically engineered soldiers for the Union
Inspector Tyador Borlú investigates a murder by traveling from Beszel to Ul Qoma
But the journey between these two cities is strange and terrifying
This genre-bending book lies somewhere on the edge between mystery, science fiction, and fantasy
Faced with deadly aliens, dwindling rations, and the differences between their societies, they will have to learn
In the real world, Hiro Protagonist is a pizza delivery driver, but in the Metaverse, he’s
He has to discover the source of the drug “Snow Crash,” which is so powerful that it
Published in 1992, Snow Crash was ahead of its time in predicting the effects of the internet and
The first book in Becky Chambers’ Wayfarers series, this book follows the ragtag crew of the Wayfarer
A must read if: you love ambitious first-contact stories and you’re not afraid of spiders
Humankind has escaped a dying Earth to find a new home among the stars, and they find
But a new race already lives here—intelligent spiders that have created complex technology
A must read if: you want to read one of the first books in the genres of
Shelley then explores the psychology of the monster as he realizes he’s all alone in the
Published in 1818, and widely acclaimed as the first science fiction book, Frankenstein not only created a new
A must read if: you're interested in the relationship between space and time travel
802,701, where subterranean Morlocks prey on the childlike Eloi
A must read if: you want a futuristic (and often terrifying) undersea adventure
Professor Arronax and his two companions are trapped aboard a fantastic submarine with the deranged Captain Nemo
They get to see exotic ocean creatures and strange sights hidden from those above
A must read if: you like your socks scared off by alien invasions
A must read if: you’re interested in films and games from the 1980s
Wade Watts feels best when he’s in the virtual world called OASIS
He tries to solve its creator’s complicated game to win the ultimate prize and to confront
Red Mars is the first novel in the Mars trilogy, which documents the settlement and terraforming of
A must read if: you don’t see complicated issues in black and white
Winner of the 1961 Hugo Award for Best Novel, A Canticle for Leibowitz takes a chilling and provocative
A must read if: the phrase “a creature which defied physical laws and which communicated only through
A must read if: you ponder the big questions, such as what it means to be “civilized
It’s cold and dark, and they have nothing but a pistol to defend themselves, the clothes
This post-apocalyptic science fiction novel is terrifying but profound
A must read if: you love science fiction and detective stories rolled into one
A must read if: you're at the stage of life wondering where you fit in this world
When a group of children show signs of mutation in the form of telepathy, they must keep
A must read if: you like deep, philosophical stories about strange new planets
Polish writer Stanislaw Lem explores deep philosophical questions in this 1961 novel
Our list wouldn’t be complete without adding our editor’s top 5 books:
Meg Murry, her small brother Charles Wallace, and their new friend Calvin travel through the space and
They're on a quest to rescue Meg and Charles“s father who is being kept captive by
A Wrinkle in Time was one of my favorite books as a child, and continues to captivate
The Fifth Season is set on the Stillness, a world where earthquakes are common and potentially apocalyptic
A must read if: you like alternate histories and complex female characters
The Calculating Stars won both the Hugo and the Nebula in 2019, for good reason
A must read if: you haven't had a good cry in a while and need an emotional
Henry and Clare meet each other throughout time, until they’re finally in a place where their
Then it works for dull-witted Charlie Gordon, who becomes intelligent and interesting, but soon the mouse begins
Flowers for Algernon, first published in 1959, will send you an emotional roller coaster
We know this was a lengthy post but we had to make sure that we included all