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Top 50 Science Fiction Books on Goodreads
-Ray Bradbury
Don't pack up your dinosaurs, fellow sci-fi readers. You're among friends here.
When we set out to uncover the top science fiction books on Goodreads, our journey—searching through hundreds of books and thousands of ratings and reviews—was a spacewalk down memory lane, from revisiting the sci-fi heroes we grew up with, like young brainiac Ender and hapless (and homeless) Arthur Dent, to returning to beloved worlds created by Ursula K. Le Guin, Isaac Asimov, Octavia Butler, and many more.
The bar needed to be high. Every book on our list has at least a four-star average rating from Goodreads members. Unfortunately, this means that dinosaur king himself Michael Crichton failed to make the cut, along with other big names in the genre like Kim Stanley Robinson, William Gibson, and H.G. Wells. But while some classics may be missing, recent favorites from Emily St. John Mandel, Nnedi Okorafor, and Pierce Brown round out the list.
Without further ado, let's boldly go where many readers have gone before. Tell us how many of the top 50 sci-fi books you've read in the comments!
How many have you read? Tell us in the comments!
Check out complete coverage of Sci-Fi & Fantasy Week:
The New Frontier of Science Fiction
The Most Anticipated Sci-Fi & Fantasy
Top 50 Science Fiction Books on Goodreads
Check out complete coverage of Sci-Fi & Fantasy Week:
The New Frontier of Science Fiction
The Most Anticipated Sci-Fi & Fantasy
Top 50 Science Fiction Books on Goodreads
Comments Showing 401-450 of 934 (934 new)
I've read 30 of these - good list! Really surprised to see nothing from Iain M Banks though...
12. Much more then I expected actually. Neil Stephenson is by far the best
I have read ten of them, three movie only. I have marked them read in their swedish edition sometimes. So annoying that the same book exists many times on Goodreads.
The problem with such lists (according to 4.0 rating, #of rates) is that it creates strong inclination towards new books. Hence great books, some of the corner stones of the genre, are left behind. Some the jump in mind:Canticle for Leibowitz
The Stars My Destination
Solaris
Lord of Light
Ringworld
The Left Hand of Darkness
Anyway, there are still great books in the list.
26. Nice to see old and new favs but the fact that Gibson isn't on the list and Brown is, is silly.
I have read 21 but of course many in different editions with different covers. A few are on my to-read shelf. I have read so many SF books that I have my own classics although can't catch them all from this list.
I thought I was well read in the genre but there are several here I haven't come across. Also there are many books that I think should be here but aren't (no Last and First Men or Fahrenheit 451 for example?) Nevertheless, I've read 17 of these.
Along with The Dispossessed, The Left Hand of Darkness is one of the great SF novels, breath-taking in its imaginative scope. As with many of Le Guin's works it explores the concepts of difference and humanity. All in all a good list although I was sad to see that Richard Paul Russo's ' Unto Leviathan' didn't make it. The building of atmosphere in this novel is brilliantly done.
Judy wrote: "I've read 31 of the 50 books (over about 45 years). My earliest sci-fi was Vonnegut, Heinlein, Le Guin, and Asimov. If I had to choose 5 desert island books from the above list, they would be: [boo..."Angry Planet not so much disappointed me, it's just meant for a completely different audience. It's politically correct in a US liberal way, very silly, and for young adults. But yes, it disappointed me. Wasted my time.
Stewart wrote: "I've read 30. Don't know what I would delete but my additions would be:A Canticle for Leibowitz, Walter M. Miller Jr.
Roadside Picnic, Arkady Strugatsky & Boris Strugatsky
Solaris, Stanislaw Lem"
I agree these titles need to be added
Alas I have only read seven of the chosen list. 'Star Ships Troopers' given to me by my father inspired my interest in Sci-Fi, 'Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep' is one of THE classics along with 'I Robot' but there are other true classics missing from the list from John Wyndham, Philip K Dick and A.C Clarke.
16 total but two before I started recording what books I read and then Goodreads doesn't recognize Wool on my read list?
21 read, several others already bought and waiting to be read (as I loved To Say Nothing of the Dog I look forward especially to reading Doomsday Book).Most of the others marked as to read or at least to check out whether they could match my preferences.
Thanks for the list.
17 also. Since Neal Stephenson is my brother-in-law, I have the rare privilege of being in the acknowledgments of Snow Crash! Now I've got more reading to do...
22. A few of those that I have not read are on my shelves, both virtual and physical, to be read...
Mitchell wrote: "Kind of a repeat from last year - see Popular Highly Rated Science Fiction for a list of the 122 science fiction books with 25,000 ratings, first book in a series only, and an average rating of 4.0..."Good list - read 27 of the 125. I also enjoy historical fiction and historical thrillers.
29, though there are a few on here I have in my to read pile
Read 28, so 22 more great reads to look forward to!
Biil, try Station Eleven, and maybe Doomsday Book if you haven’t read Connie Willis.
Bill wrote: "30. I used to read a ton of Sci-Fi, but I can't seem to find anything written in the last 20 years that appeals to me."Have you read CJ Cherryh's 'Foreigner' series? It's fascinating!
I love list like this, sometimes I forget about great books I have read and want to go and do a re-read. Sometimes books get lost in my "to read" pile and I forget about them...I've only finished reading 20 of these, with 4 that I did not finish. I have about 7 on my to read list.
Reading...movies in your mind.
Ami wrote: "The problem with such lists (according to 4.0 rating, #of rates) is that it creates strong inclination towards new books. Hence great books, some of the corner stones of the genre, are left behind...."Preach!
This week I'll dedicate to Lem. Yet, I would rather pick a different book for that list; I've never considered Solaris his best work.
I'm surprised that Station Eleven and Handmaid's Tale are science fiction.
I've read only 4, 11 on my TBR list. And 4 more added to my TBR :-)
So many comments, read 27 and have 4 others on my shelf. Missing in this list for me are especially Stranger in a Strange Land by Heinlein, Ringworld by Larry Niven and Arthur Clark's Rama series
Steve wrote: "17 also. Since Neal Stephenson is my brother-in-law, I have the rare privilege of being in the acknowledgments of Snow Crash! Now I've got more reading to do..."nice! which of his books do you recommend to start with? I am a Stephenson newbie!
No Brothers Strugadsky Roadsaid Picnic? No Stanislaw Lem Solaris and Fiasco? No M.Faber's Under the skin? No Ted Chiang? Your are kidding?
35 books. But then I've been reading SF for a long time.
I've read 16 of these and have 14 of them on my to read list. Throw in Ancillary Justice to my to read list. Added A Handmaids Tale because of this list. Thanks guys this was helpful.
Some good books here, a lot of bad ones too though.Saga, garbage.
Y, garbage.
Dark Matter, garbage.
If you're going to add "Star Wars" to this list you may as well add "The Karate Kid" too.
(21) I also have about 5 DNF from this list. Herbert wrote many books but Dune is far and away the best. I see two Le Guin, and two Heinlein, and two Willis but I think one from each of these would be fine. I have found Willis hard to get into reading.Maybe see Bester's The Stars My Destination for more classic science fiction or Alastair Reynolds' more recent Revelation Space (though it was rated only 3.97.)
Richard K. Morgan's Altered Carbon is very good. I think his 1st edition hardcover is now a collectible. His other books are not nearly as outstanding. Also I would continue to look to the British with China Mieville though his best book is again, 3.97.
Bill wrote: "30. I used to read a ton of Sci-Fi, but I can't seem to find anything written in the last 20 years that appeals to me."Anathem! Read Stephenson's Anathem! Seriously, one of the most unique books, let alone sci-fi books,e ver.
Build is the best. Worldbuilding, characters, story, all come together to make you laugh and cry. Space opera with emotion and heart.
Bimugdha wrote: "Paul wrote: "Dune is one of the best books ever."
please give me a reading order of the DUNE series :("
Dune stands alone. You can read as many of the sequels as you like but they are not needed, and some fans feel they aren't as good. YMMV of course. Personally I'd stop at the end of Children of Dune.
Dune
Dune Messiah
Children of Dune
God Emperor of Dune
Heretics of Dune
Chapterhouse: Dune
After that point, Frank Herbert passed away. His son Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson co-wrote the rest of the books. You can find a list of their books here:
https://www.dunenovels.com/novels
please give me a reading order of the DUNE series :("
Dune stands alone. You can read as many of the sequels as you like but they are not needed, and some fans feel they aren't as good. YMMV of course. Personally I'd stop at the end of Children of Dune.
Dune
Dune Messiah
Children of Dune
God Emperor of Dune
Heretics of Dune
Chapterhouse: Dune
After that point, Frank Herbert passed away. His son Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson co-wrote the rest of the books. You can find a list of their books here:
https://www.dunenovels.com/novels
19; from Dune to Ender. Got hooked on sci-fi as a teen. Continued to read since then. Isaac Asimov, Frank Herbert, Orson Scott Card are my favorite authors. Best book ever - Foundation.
Despite Bradbury's own words his novels all have the requirements to be classified as science fiction. Fantasy really does belong to a different literary tradition.