Some of the GreatBooksLists recommend specific ScienceFiction books:
Here's a list of some great
ScienceFiction books,
alphabetically by author:
- Brian Aldis: Non-stop | White Mars (w. Penrose) | Starswarm
- IsaacAsimov: The Foundation Trilogy (see AsimovsFoundation) | The Gods Themselves
- IainBanks: Culture novels (see TheCulture)
- StephenBaxter: Ring | Titan | Manifold: Time | Manifold: Space | Silverhair
- GregBear: Darwin's Radio | Eon | Moving Mars | Anvil of Stars | Blood Music
- DavidBrin: Brightness Reef | Infinity's Shore | Heaven's Reach
- JohnBrunner: TheShockwaveRider | Stand on Zanzibar
- Lois McMaster Bujold: Mirrordance | Shards of Honor (anything by her - Miles just keeps on getting more and more interesting!)
- Octavia Butler: Kindred | Wild Seed
- OrsonScottCard: EndersGame series | Homecoming series | Pastwatch
- Jeffery Carver: Eternity's End
- Jack L. Chalker: Midnight at the Well of Souls | Other Well World novels
- HalClement: Iceworld | Mission of Gravity | Needle | The Essential Hal Clement (3 volumes)
- SamuelDelany: Dhalgren | Triton | Stars in My Pocket Like Grains of Sand
- PhilDick: DoAndroidsDreamOfElectricSheep | A Scanner Darkly
- David Drake: Starliner | Cluster Command series | all the Hammer's Slammers stuff, particularly the novelette The Tank Lords
- GregEgan: Teranesia | Diaspora: A Novel | PermutationCity | Quarantine | Distress: A Novel
- HarlanEllison: Deathbird Stories | BraveNewWorld [?]
- WilliamGibson: Neuromancer | Count Zero | Mona Lisa Overdrive | Virtual Light | Idoru | All Tomorrow's Parties
- Joe Haldeman: The ForeverWar | Forever Peace
- M. John Harrison: Light
- FrankHerbert: Dune series | Destination: Void series | Whipping Star series
- Damon Knight: The Best of Damon Knight | most likely other works by him, but I have only read from that collection
- UrsulaLeGuin: The Telling | The Dispossessed | The Left Hand of Darkness | EarthSea series
- StanislawLem: TheCyberiad | Tales of Prix the Pilot
- Paul Levinson: Borrowed Tides | The Silk Code
- KenMacLeod: The Stone Canal | The Cassini Division | The Sky Road | Cosmonaut Keep
- George R.R. Martin: Tuf Voyaging
- Will McCarthy: Bloom
- Maureen F. McHugh: China Mountain Zhang (projects ChristopherAlexander's PatternLanguage into the future)
- Sean McMullen: Souls in the Great Machine
- MarvinMinsky and Harry Harrison: The Turing Option
- Richard Morgan: Altered Carbon
- Linda Nagata: Limit of Vision | Deception Well | Vast
- LarryNiven: pretty much everything other than Destiny's Road
- JeffNoon: Vurt
- KimStanleyRobinson: Red/Green/Blue Mars (trilogy, see RedGreenBlueMars) | The Years of Rice and Salt
- Spider Robinson: Antinomy | Mindkiller | early Callahans series
- RudyRucker: Software | Seek! Selected nonfiction
- Dan Simmons: Hyperion series | Ilium and Olympos
- Kristine Smith: Code of Conduct | Rules of Conflict | Law of Survival
- Allen Steele: Clarke County, Space | Orbital Decay | A King of Infinite Space (but watch out for losers like Labrynth of Night and Coyote)
- NealStephenson: CryptoNomicon | SnowCrash
- BruceSterling: Schismatrix Plus | Distraction: A Novel | HolyFire: A Novel | Zeitgeist | TheDifferenceEngine
- A.E. Van Vogt: The Weapon Shops of Isher | The Weapon Makers | The World of Null-A
- John Varley: any of his short story collections | The Ophiuchi Hotline | Steel Beach (but avoid The Golden Globe)
- VernorVinge: FireUponTheDeep | TrueNames and Other Dangers | DeepnessInTheSky
- John C. Wright: The Golden Age trilogy
- Sarah Zettel: Reclamation | Fool's War | The Quiet Invasion
- Timothy Zahn: Angelmass | Conquerors series | Cobra series | StarWars add-ons; avoid Manta's Gift, his one true loser
Discussion of these books
SamuelDelany, Dhalgren
"The best book I've ever read," according to one Wikizen.
The weirdest book I've never finished. I know lots of people who started this thing and never completed it, even after making two or three attempts. -- MartySchrader
MarvinMinsky and Harry Harrison: The Turing Option
On a vacation, I loaned this book to my brother at 10:00 PM. When I got up at 7:00 AM, he was still reading it -- he hadn't realized that the sun had already come up. He finished it at about 8:30, and went to bed...
I have this on my shelf of "Bad science fiction to loan to people to show how bad it can be." Actually that's not really fair. It's bad writing, but it might be good science fiction.
- No, you were right the first time. It's really bad science fiction, too. Highly disrecommended.
Also take a look at the BookShelved wiki.
CategoryBooks CategoryScienceFiction
Science Fiction Books To Consider