The Best Sci Fi Books with Ken Liu
Reading Ken’s Liu bio, you might think he’s a replicant from the future who never sleeps. He’s worked as a programmer for Microsoft, practices law with a degree from Harvard and has won just about every major sci-fi and fantasy writing award getting around including The Hugo, The Locus, The Nebula and more. On top of that, he’s translated critically acclaimed works from Chinese into English, including one of my favourite sci-fi books The Three Body Problem. His latest series The Dandelion Dynasty also cements Ken as the undisputed godfather of Silkpunk.
In episode 5 of the Genre Wars Book Podcast, we talked about how genre is useful, how it’s not, what kinds of stories Ken is drawn to, and that time he wrote for a little series called Star Wars…
To browse Ken Liu’s best sci-fi book recommendations, see below.
Best SciFi Classics(*Note: Ken chose writers here over specific works. I’ve selected one book I think represents them well.)
The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K Le Guin
"[A] science fiction masterpiece."--Newsweek
The Fifth Season by N.K. Jemisin
"Intricate and extraordinary."--The New York Times
Parable of the Sower by Octavia Butler
"In the ongoing contest over which dystopian classic is most applicable to our time, Octavia Butler's 'Parable' books may be unmatched."--New Yorker
This Is How You Lose The Time War by Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone
"A twisting, sapphic time travel fantasy love story that never stops surprising." --Booklist
"Trust us, trigonometry has never sounded so cool." --Paste Magazine
"A thrilling, intense, nail-biting read that transcends genre and has an ending of biblical proportions." --Grimdark Magazine
A Song For A New Day by Sarah Pinsker
“This tale of hope and passion is a remarkable achievement." --Publishers Weekly
United States of Japan by Peter Tieryas
"A searing vision of the persistence of hope in the face of brutality, United States of Japan is utterly brilliant." -- Ken Liu
To connect with Ken and get updates about his writing, find him on Twitter @KYLIU99 or head to his website . I’d recommend his Paper Menagerie as a wonderful place to start.
To see all of the best science fiction book titles above, along with recommendations lists from other authors head here.
