Jeff Winston, forty-three, didn’t know he was a replayer until he died and woke up twenty-five years younger in his college dorm room; he lived another life. And died again. And lived again and died again—in a continuous twenty-five-year cycle—each time starting from scratch at the age of eighteen to reclaim lost loves, remedy past mistakes, or make a fortune in the stock market. But what if he’s not the only replayer…?

Ken Grimwood has written a number of books, but none of them came close to the acclaim of Replay.

“Grimwood has transcended genre with this carefully observed, literate and original story.”
— Publishers Weekly

In this class post-apocalyptic novel, a nuclear holocaust ravages the United States, and tens of millions of people are killed instantly. A thousand years of civilization are stripped away overnight. But for one small town in Florida, miraculously spared, the struggle is just beginning, as men and women of all backgrounds join together to confront the darkness.

Author Pat Frank (real name Harry Hart Frank) was a journalist that penned a few other novels (Mr. Adam and Forbidden Area), but nothing as enduring as Alas, Babylon.

Emergence is one of the overlooked gems of science fiction with a small but passionate following. It follows a remarkable 11-year-old orphan girl, living in a post-apocalyptic United States. From the book:

Homo post hominem is new species, apparently immune to all ‘human’ disease, plus smarter, stronger, faster, etc., emerging to inherit Earth after H. sapiens eliminated selves in short, efficient bio-nuclear war. Am myself Homo post hominem. Rode out war in Daddy’s marvelous shelter, now engaged in walkabout, searching for fellow survivors.

David Palmer wrote another story, Threshold, before abandoning writing and choosing a career in law.

T. J. Newton is an extraterrestrial who goes to Earth on a desperate mission of mercy. But instead of aid, Newton discovers loneliness and despair.

You might be familiar with the movie version starring David Bowie.

Walter Tevis’ other science fiction novel, Mockingbird, was well-regarded, but didn’t achieve the popularity of The Man Who Fell to Earth.

His novels that take place outside of science fiction were successful, though: he wrote The Hustler and The Color of Money, which were both turned into movies.

“Beautiful science fiction… The story of an extraterrestrial visitor from another planet is deigned mainly to say something about life on this one.”
— The New York Times

Astronomers in England and America have made a terrifying discovery: an ominous black cloud the size of Jupiter is traveling straight towards our solar system. If their calculations are correct, the cloud’s path will bring it between the Earth and the Sun, blocking out the Sun’s rays and threatening unimaginable consequences for our planet. With the fate of every living thing on Earth in the balance, world leaders assemble a team of brilliant scientists to figure out a way to stop the cloud. But when they uncover the truth behind its origins, they will be forced to reconsider everything they think they know about the nature of life in the universe…

This is the first and best-known novel by astronomer Fred Hoyle. He wrote many more books, often co-authored with his son, Geoffrey. Interestingly, Hoyle coined the term “big bang” to describe that theory of how the universe began, mostly as an insult—he died never believing it.

“[A] rattling good story… a really thrilling book. There is a largeness, generosity, and jollity about the whole spirit of the book that reminds one of the early Wells at his best.”
— New Statesman

1998. Earth is falling apart, on the brink of ecological disaster. But in England a tachyon scientist is attempting to contact the past, to somehow warn them of the misery and death their actions and experiments have visited upon a ravaged planet.

1962. JFK is still president, rock ‘n’ roll is king, and the Vietnam War hardly merits front-page news. Gordon Bernstein, a young assistant researcher at a California university, notices strange patterns of interference in a lab experiment. Against all odds, facing ridicule and opposition, Bernstein begins to uncover the incredible truth… a truth that will change his life and alter history. The truth behind time itself.

Timescape won the Nebula Award in 1980 and the John W. Clark Award in 1981. Gregory Benford wrote many other science fiction books, including several with Larry Niven and even a Second Foundation book (based on Asmiov’s Foundation series), but none of them was anywhere near as popular as Timescape.

The Time Traveler’s Wife is the story of Clare, a beautiful art student, and Henry, an adventuresome librarian, who have known each other since Clare was six and Henry was thirty-six, and were married when Clare was twenty-three and Henry thirty-one. Impossible but true, because Henry is one of the first people diagnosed with Chrono-Displacement Disorder: periodically his genetic clock resets and he finds himself misplaced in time, pulled to moments of emotional gravity in his life, past and future. His disappearances are spontaneous, his experiences unpredictable, alternately harrowing and amusing.

The Time Traveler’s Wife depicts the effects of time travel on Henry and Clare’s marriage and their passionate love for each other as the story unfolds from both points of view. Clare and Henry attempt to live normal lives, pursuing familiar goals—steady jobs, good friends, children of their own. All of this is threatened by something they can neither prevent nor control.

Audrey Niffenegger has written a number of other books, but none of them has reached the wild popularity of this one.

“It is a fair tribute to her skill and sensibility to say that the book leaves a reader with an impression of life’s riches and strangeness rather than of easy thrills.”
— Publishers Weekly

You know this one: in the not-too-distant future, three astronauts land on what appears to be a planet just like Earth, with lush forests, a temperate climate, and breathable air. But while it appears to be a paradise, nothing is what it seems.

They soon discover the terrifying truth: On this world humans are savage beasts, and apes rule as their civilized masters. One man struggles to unlock the secret of a terrifying civilization, all the while wondering: Will he become the savior of the human race, or the final witness to its damnation?

This novel is intelligent, ironic, and literate, which is less surprising after learning that Pierre Boulle also wrote The Bridge Over the River Kwai. However, none of his other science fiction books came close to the popularity of Planet of the Apes.

This is Miller’s first and only novel, but he didn’t hold back: it spans thousands of years, chronicling the rebuilding of civilization after an apocalyptic event.

Despite early reviewers that called Miller a “dull, ashy writer guilty of heavy-weight irony,” it’s never been out of print in over 50 years.

So there.

Sandoz is a Jesuit priest and linguist, part of the crew sent to explore a new planet. What they find is a civilization so alien and incomprehensible that they feel compelled to wonder what it means to be human.

Sandoz is the only surviving member of the crew and upon his return he is confronted by public inquisition and accusations of the most heinous crimes imaginable. His faith utterly destroyed, crippled and defenseless, his only hope is to tell his tale. But the truth may be more than Earth is willing to accept.

Some readers find this book provocative and compelling, while others were a little let down by the ending.

Author Mary Doria Russell may be one-hit wonder science fiction author, but in Western and history genres, she’s got multiple hits, including Doc, Epitaph, A Thread of Grace.

Flowers for Algernon is a beautiful, human book, with a little science fiction thrown in.

It examines morals and ethics without getting preachy—it’s a surprisingly easy read for such a thoughtful and deep book.

There are a few juicy scenes in it, which is why it’s occasionally removed from school libraries in Texas.

Flowers for Algernon is told through progress reports written by a low-IQ person who has an operation (we never learn the details) that quickly increases his IQ to genius levels. Unfortunately, his social and emotional skills do not increase at the same rate, and this causes hurt feelings all around.

I recommend buying this book. Seeing this on my shelf gives me a moment of pause, a two-second meditation, like briefly floating in a deep but safe ocean, before getting on with my day.

Author Daniel Keyes was a successful writer before penning this book: he wrote and edited comic book scripts for Stan Lee. He also won several award for a later nonfiction book The Minds of Billy Milligan, but nothing came close to the zenith of Flowers for Algernon.