The best science fiction books are listed below: old and new, popular and obscure, straightforward and super-weird, optimistic and We’re All Doomed!

Review: Zoey Is Too Drunk for This Dystopia by Jason Pargin

Review: The Tusks of Extinction by Ray Nayler

Review: Lock In by John Scalzi

The Best Silkpunk Books

Review: Venomous Lumpsucker by Ned Beauman

The Best Dark Science Fiction Books

The Best Science Fiction Books with Gas Giants

Review: Heaven’s River by Dennis E. Taylor

The Arthur C. Clarke Award Winners of the 21st Century

The Best Parallel Worlds Science Fiction Books

The Best Philosophical Science Fiction Books

The Best Fantasy Books of 2023

The Best Science Fiction Books of 2023

Review: The Road to Roswell by Connie Willis

Review: Titanium Noir by Nick Harkaway

The Best Modern Military Science Fiction Books

Review: Truth of the Divine by Lindsay Ellis

Review: More Than Human by Theodore Sturgeon

Review: Gravity by Tess Gerritsen

The Best Hard Science Fiction Books by Women

Review: Daemon by Daniel Suarez

Summer 2023 Science Fiction Reading List

The Best Lesser-known Golden Age Science Fiction Books

The Best Modern Artificial Intelligence Science Fiction Books

The Best Optimistic Science Fiction Books

Review: The Gone World by Tom Sweterlitsch

The Readers Speak! This Blog’s Readers’ Favorite Science Fiction Series

Review: Sleeping Giants by Sylvain Neuvel

The Readers Speak! This Blog’s Readers’ Favorite Science Fiction Books

Review: Legends & Lattes by Travis Baldree

The Best Science Fiction Books for Beginners

Review: Dr. No by Percival Everett

The Best Science Fiction Books Written by Scientists

The Best Science Fiction Books with Alien Languages

The Best John Scalzi Books

Review: Super Sad True Love Story by Gary Shteyngart

The Best Science Fiction Thrillers

Best Post-apocalyptic Book Series

Review: Shards of Earth by Adrian Tchaikovsky

The Best Mad Scientist Science Fiction Books

Review: The Brief History of the Dead by Kevin Brockmeier

The 2022 Hugo Award Winners

Review: The Kaiju Preservation Society by John Scalzi

The Best Science Fiction Books with Cats in Them

The Best Fantasy Books of 2022

Review: 11/22/63 by Stephen King

The Best Science Fiction Books of 2022

Review: Doomsday Book by Connie Willis

Review: A Canticle for Leibowitz by Walter M. Miller Jr.

Review: Upgrade by Blake Crouch

Review: Drunk on All Your Strange New Words by Eddie Robson

Review: Axiom’s End by Lindsay Ellis

Review: Wanderers by Chuck Wendig

Review: The Sky is Yours by Chandler Klang Smith

Review: Battle of the Linguist Mages by Scotto Moore

Review: Rabbits by Terry Miles

12 Best Mathematical Science Fiction Books

The 21 Best Ecofiction Books

The 23 Best New Wave Science Fiction Books

Review: Oryx and Crake by Margaret Atwood

The 26 Best Middle Grade Science Fiction Books

The Best Postcyberpunk Books

The Bestselling Science Fiction Books of All Time

The Best Science Fiction Books of 2021

Review: Children of Time by Adrian Tchaikovsky

Best Science Fiction Heist Books

Best Science Fiction Books Published Since This Blog Started

Review: Borne by Jeff VanderMeer

Best Modern Science Fiction Authors

Review: Lagoon by Nnedi Okorafor

Review: The Last Policeman by Ben H. Winters

Best Dystopian Science Fiction Books

Review: All Systems Red: Murderbot Diaries #1 by Martha Wells

Best Modern Science Fiction Book Series

Review: Ready Player Two by Ernest Cline

Review: Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir

Summer 2021 Science Fiction Reading List

Review: Halting State by Charles Stross

The Best Science Fiction Book Sequels

26 Best Grimdark Books

Review: Hearts of Oak by Eddie Robson

Best Indie Science Fiction Books

Review: Redshirts by John Scalzi

Best Science Fiction Books with Numbers in the Title

15 Best Weird Fantasy Books

The Best Space Battle Books

22 Best Mundane Science Fiction Books

The Best Dying Earth Books

23 Best Fantasy Mystery Books

The Best Planetary Romance Books

The Best Xenofiction Books

23 Best Fantasy Graphic Novels

Review: Early Riser by Jasper Fforde

9 Best Ben Bova Books

The Worst Warlock by A. A. Livingston & Dan Livingston

Review: Zoey Punches the Future in the Dick by David Wong

11 Best Retrofuturism Books

The Best Modern Classic Science Fiction Books

The Best Fantasy Books of 2020

21 Best Computer Science Fiction Books

Review: Revenger by Alastair Reynolds

The Best Science Fiction Books of 2020

15 Best Science Fiction Anthologies

28 Best Science Fiction Detective Books

19 Best Zombie Books

15 Best Science Fiction Romance Books

23 Best Climate Change Science Fiction Books

21 Groundbreaking Science Fiction Novels

10 Great Science Fiction Authors That Used Pen Names

15 Best Sports and Games Science Fiction Books

Review: Honor Among Thieves by Rachel Caine and Ann Aguirre

19 Best Slipstream Books

7 Best Science Fiction Books with Exotic Ecosystems

Review: The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet by Becky Chambers

6 Best Science Fiction Books Based on Video Games

25 Best Science Fiction Book Debuts

25 Best Science Fiction Books with Female Protagonists

Review: Kindred by Octavia E. Butler

15 Best Seapunk Books

23 Best Science Fiction Pandemic Books

15 Best Science Fiction Noir Books

Review: Elysium Fire by Alastair Reynolds

Summer 2020 Science Fiction Reading List

13 Best Gothic Science Fiction Books

Review: Terminal World by Alastair Reynolds

29 Best Near Future Science Fiction Books

Review: We Are Legion (We Are Bob) by Dennis E. Taylor

17 Best Afrofuturism Books

Review: Midnight Robber by Nalo Hopkinson

25 Best Star Trek Books

Review: The Knife of Never Letting Go by Patrick Ness

24 Books Like The Expanse

Review: Devolution by Max Brooks

13 Best Science Fantasy Books

Review: Six Wakes by Mur Lafferty

7 Best Terraforming Books

14 Books Like Dune

Review: Recursion by Blake Couch

25 Best Science Fiction Book Movie Adaptations

24 Best Artificial Intelligence Science Fiction Books

23 Best Modern Dystopian Books

Review: Steel Beach by John Varley

Review: Childhood’s End by Arthur C. Clarke

19 Best Star Wars Books

16 Best Solarpunk Books

23 Best Modern Post-apocalyptic Books

11 Amazing Science Fiction Books by Black Authors

22 Great Science Fiction Books That Almost Won the Hugo Award

Review: The Risen Empire by Scott Westerfeld

Review: Dark Matter by Blake Crouch

Review: The Humans by Matt Haig

Review: The Genius Plague by David Walton

21 Best Science Fiction Books of 2019

Review: The Grand Dark by Richard Kadrey

19 Best Generation Ship Books

Review: The Lost Fleet: Dauntless by Jack Campbell

Bad Hair Day book cover

Review: Bad Hair Day by Jim Benton

Review: Semiosis by Sue Burke

21 Best Political Science Fiction Books

Review: Dragon’s Egg by Robert L. Forward

Review: House of Suns by Alastair Reynolds

Summer 2019 Science Fiction Reading List

Review: The Rise and Fall of D.O.D.O. by Neal Stephenson and Nicole Galland

Review: The Breach by Patrick Lee

Review: Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro

11 One-hit Wonder Science Fiction Books

Review: Girl in Landscape by Jonathan Lethem

Review: Strata by Terry Pratchett

19 Best Dieselpunk Books

17 Best Science Fiction Books About the Moon

19 Best Robot Uprising Books

16 Best Space Exploration Science Fiction Books

Galactic Empire

17 Best Galactic Empire Science Fiction Books

Review: The Half-Made World by Felix Gilman

Review: Red Moon by Kim Stanley Robinson

25 Best Science Fiction Books of 2018

19 Best LGBTQ Science Fiction Books

Review: Bimbos of the Death Sun by Sharyn McCrumb

19 Best Genetic Engineering Science Fiction Books

Review: Ubik by Philip K. Dick

13 Best Science Fiction Audiobooks

Review: Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel

17 Best Colonization Science Fiction Books

Review: Roadside Picnic by Arkady and Boris Strugatsky

23 Best Science Fiction Adventure Books

Review: Ready Player One by Ernest Cline

15 Best Mysterious Alien Megastructure Books

Review: The Mote in God’s Eye by Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle

young adult dystopia

19 Best Young Adult Science Fiction Books

Review: Artemis by Andy Weir

2018 Science Fiction Summer Reading List

Review: The Freeze-Frame Revolution by Peter Watts

sci fi horror

19 Best Science Fiction Horror Books

21 Best Science Fiction Graphic Novels

Review: All Our Wrong Todays by Elan Mastai

Review: Annihilation by Jeff VanderMeer

23 Best Science Fiction Books of 2017

27 Best Alien World Science Fiction Books

19 Best Utopian Science Fiction Books

19 Best Science Fiction Books About Clones

Review: Futuristic Violence and Fancy Suits by David Wong

25 Best Deep Space Science Fiction Books

Review: The Girl With All the Gifts by M. R. Carey

17 Best Underrated Science Fiction Books

Review: Riddley Walker by Russell Hoban

Review: To Say Nothing of the Dog by Connie Willis

Chinese Science Fiction

13 Best Chinese Science Fiction Books

Review: Abaddon’s Gate by James S. A. Corey

19 Best Science Fiction Books of 2016

Review: Ancillary Justice by Ann Leckie

23 Best Spunky Heroine Science Fiction Books

Pushing Ice

Review: Pushing Ice by Alastair Reynolds

29 Best Transhuman Science Fiction Books

Mooncop

Review: Mooncop by Tom Gauld

Literary

31 Best Literary Science Fiction Books

A Darkling Sea

Review: A Darkling Sea by James L. Cambias

echopraxia

Review: Echopraxia by Peter Watts

23 Best Alternate History Books

accelerando

Review: Accelerando by Charles Stross

Summer

Science Fiction Summer Reading List (2016)

Review: The Maiden Voyage of the Destiny Unknown by Nicholas Ponticello

27 Best First Contact Books

Review: Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes

Review: The Fall of the Towers by Samuel R. Delany

19 Funniest Science Fiction Books

21 Best Mars Science Fiction Books

Soft Science Fiction

31 Best Soft Science Fiction Books

pulp

17 Best Pulp Science Fiction Books

Memoirs Found in a Bathtub

Review: Memoirs Found in a Bathtub by Stanislaw Lem

aliens

21 Best Alien Science Fiction Books

panda ray

Review: Panda Ray by Michael Kandel

19 Best Nanotechnology Science Fiction Books

Review: The City & The City by China Miéville

17 Best Weird Science Fiction Books

Review: The Drowned World by J. G. Ballard

Review: Revelation Space by Alastair Reynolds

Review: The Algebraist by Iain M. Banks

Review: Do Not Resuscitate by Nicholas Ponticello

His Masters Voice

Review: His Master’s Voice by Stanislaw Lem

15 Best Science Fiction Western Books

21 Best Immortality Science Fiction Books

25 Best Science Fiction Books for Kids

Review: Cosmicomics by Italo Calvino

19 Best Biopunk Books

Review: The Ware Tetralogy by Rudy Rucker

Review: Gun, with Occasional Music by Jonathan Lethem

23 Best Science Fiction Mystery Books

23 Best Cyberpunk Books

Review: Spin State by Chris Moriarty

23 Best Military Science Fiction Books

23 Best Hard Science Fiction Books

23 Best Steampunk Books

23 Best Time Travel Science Fiction Books

The Martian by Andy Weir is Awesome

23 Best Robot Science Fiction Books

23 Best Science Fiction Book Series

25 Best Far Future Science Fiction Books

23 Best Non-English Science Fiction Books

The 23 Best Science Fiction Books by Female Authors

The 21 Best Space Opera Books

Alien Invasion

29 Best Alien Invasion Science Fiction Books

21 Best Post-apocalyptic Science Fiction Books

The Top 10 Underwater Science Fiction Books

Reddit’s Favorite Stand-alone Science Fiction Novels

The 23 Best Science Fiction Books of All Time