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The 100 Most Popular Sci-Fi Books on Goodreads
Dystopias, alien invasions, regenerated dinosaurs, space operas, multiverses, and more, the realm of science fiction takes readers out of this world to tackle all-too-real issues, including oppression, bigotry, censorship, and the horrors of war. To celebrate the most inventive of genres, we’re exploring readers’ 100 most popular science fiction novels of all time on Goodreads.
As all good sci-fi readers know, the science behind the story is half the fun. To create our list, we ran the data to reveal the most reviewed books on our site. Additionally, each title needed at least a 3.5-star rating from your fellow readers to join this list. And, since science fiction is known for its continuing voyages, in the case of multiple titles from the same series, we chose the one with the most reviews.
Here are the top science fiction novels on Goodreads, listed from 1 to 100. We hope you discover a book or two you’ll want to read in this lineup, whether it’s a classic of the genre or one of the newer entries to sci-fi.
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How many of these books have you read? What’s your favorite sci-fi novel of all time? Let’s talk books in the comments!
Comments Showing 51-100 of 521 (521 new)
Gene wrote: "Is there any reason "The Expanse" series books are not mentioned?"It is "Leviathan Wakes" at #42
I've read a fair number on this list, many a long time ago, and I don't think some have stood the test of time well.
Iain M. Banks should be a lot higher in the list IMHO.
I love lists because I’ll find out about new books sometimes, but Dune and Neuromancer should never be outside the top five of any SF type list imo.
More people need to know about The Quantum Thief it seems.
Rawzer wrote: "looking forward to spending some time working through this list. Obviously its wrong because Dune is definitively No 1 on any list of greatest SciFi novels, but looks like its got some great stuff ..."Exactly. Dune is always #1 on all the sci-fi lists.
I've read 32 so far. Dune is considered #1 on all the long-time sci-fi lists, and it's also my favorite of all time.
Looks like I've read at least 24 of these, I can't recall if I read a couple of the bradbury and clarke since I read so much of their work growing up. I've never really re-read any since I always have such a back log waiting in the wings. It's almost impossible to pick 100 books unless you narrow down the criteria. A better list would be by decade or maybe quarter-century. I think this is a good variety and a few authors I had not heard of, so I think it accomplished what it meant to...introduce new authors to try.
Phil Hartley wrote: "Really? No Sanderson? Mistborn is absolutely epic, no Feist? Lawrence? GRRM? Gemmell? This list is terrible, old does not equal best."i will look them up, who is GRRM?
Phil Hartley wrote: "Really? No Sanderson? Mistborn is absolutely epic, no Feist? Lawrence? GRRM? Gemmell? This list is terrible, old does not equal best."I understand now that these are fantasy writers but give me all of their full names anway cuz i love fantasy too. Please
I know th e 1950's were th e heyday of Sci-fi but I'm surprised how many of them books I read in my teens are still riding high. They liked of Asimov, Wyndham, and Heinlein are we'll represented as we'll as th e major classics, which goes to show great writing is timeless.
I'm a big fan of Robert Charles Wilson: Spin, Axis, Blind Lake, The Chronoliths, and my favourite: Darwinia.
I wonder what "most popular" means. These books were certainly influential when they were written, but some now read as incredibly misogynist or homophobic, regardless of the author's intent. Since this is not a list of the best/most influential/most important etc. SF books, but just the "most popular, " I'm not getting into the debate over which books should be included.
Phil Hartley wrote: "Really? No Sanderson? Mistborn is absolutely epic, no Feist? Lawrence? GRRM? Gemmell? This list is terrible, old does not equal best."Sanderson is an all time great fantasy writer. This is a sci-fi list. While I love Mistborn and some of the other books you listed, this list is not the place for those.
These are great suggestions in all of these comments but I don't understand the surprise people are having, we need to keep in mind that these lists are compiled based off of number of reviews (hence the term 'popular') at the time, not readers' opinion.
“The Cyberiad” and “The Futurological Congress” by Stanislaw Lem should definitely be on this list.
Phil Hartley wrote: "Really? No Sanderson? Mistborn is absolutely epic, no Feist? Lawrence? GRRM? Gemmell? This list is terrible, old does not equal best."Those are fantasy. Sanderson has non-science elements, literally.
Fiona wrote: "Strange list - not one Anne McCaffrey title?!"Anne McCaffrey mostly wrote fantasy. Dragons of Pern, for example.
What I can't understand is how so many people who have obviously read a great deal, completely miss the title of the article. Unless the site changed the title at some point, your complaints about which books made the list, didn't make it, and their spot in the order, are misdirected. A book's popularity is determined by the collective we, the patrons of this website.
Amy wrote: "Phil Hartley wrote: "Really? No Sanderson? Mistborn is absolutely epic, no Feist? Lawrence? GRRM? Gemmell? This list is terrible, old does not equal best."i will look them up, who is GRRM?"
Probly George R. R. Martin
Monica wrote: "What I can't understand is how so many people who have obviously read a great deal, completely miss the title of the article. Unless the site changed the title at some point, your complaints about ..."Thank you. I wonder about people's reading comprehension at times.
Amy wrote: "Phil Hartley wrote: "Really? No Sanderson? Mistborn is absolutely epic, no Feist? Lawrence? GRRM? Gemmell? This list is terrible, old does not equal best."I understand now that these are fantasy ..."
Brandon Sanderson, a great contemporary epic fantasy writer.
Raymond Feist.
Lawerence? I don't recognize.
GRRM=George RR Martin, author of Game of Thrones
Gemmell? Don't recognize.
Людовика wrote: "Wow! Whole THREE books by not English-speaking authors! Congratulations."And no Stanisław Lem on the list. Books like "Memoirs found in a Bathtub", "The Futurological Congress", "Fiasco" or "Peace on Earth" are among the best SF-novels ever written.
I am surprised that Phillip Jose Farmer was not included at all.Some of his books gave me nightmares when I read them as a callow youth.
Everyone is commenting on this as if it's a list of the best science-fiction books. From the preamble, I believe it is a list of the most popular, i.e. the most read and reviewed, not necessarily a ranking of the best.
Fiona wrote: "Strange list - not one Anne McCaffrey title?!"I was surprised that Anne McCaffrey didn't make the list. She was a trailblazer in women writing Sci-fi and was published in the early 1950's and until her passing she kept writing. She was the 1st woman to win The Hugo & Nebula awards, was the 1st women to have a NY Times bestseller for Sci-fi just to start. How many women did she and other female authors like Ursula LeGuin of this time period show that their voices should and could be heard as well?
56 read. This looks like a popularity contest, not a list of the best SciFi. So missing a lot of the books that would make my top 100 list.
Ray Van Houte wrote "This looks like a popularity contest, not a list of the best SciFi. So missing a lot of the books that would make my top 100 list." Exactly what I was thinking.
Jeanine and Friederike wrote: "Людовика wrote: "Wow! Whole THREE books by not English-speaking authors! Congratulations."And no Stanisław Lem on the list. Books like "Memoirs found in a Bathtub", "The Futurological Congress", ..."
Take a look at No.80, Solaris, which is by Stanisław Lem.
I've read 31 of them, and want to read more.
Nina wrote: "I do not understand why, there a so little recent scifi books"Recent books are going to have less reviews than older books and this list is based off of number of reviews
Jim wrote: "Ray Van Houte wrote "This looks like a popularity contest, not a list of the best SciFi. So missing a lot of the books that would make my top 100 list." Exactly what I was thinking."
"we ran the data to reveal the most reviewed books on our site"
Maybe read the article.
I have always been a "classic" SF fan, reading most everything Asimov, Heinelin, Herbert , LeGuinn and Clarke ever wrote. I've also explored Orson Scott Card, Larry Niven and Greg Bear and have become a fan of those writers too. Periodically I will pick up a - new to me and written in the last 10 years -author. I find that the experiential balance of " that was then and this is now" interesting. I don't think it's important where a book is on the list, but rather that the list exists and will further inform my explorations. I have only read 33 of the books on this list. Got some catching up to do.
Phil Hartley wrote: "Really? No Sanderson? Mistborn is absolutely epic, no Feist? Lawrence? GRRM? Gemmell? This list is terrible, old does not equal best."None of these are science fiction. They would be on a different list.
These look to me more like the most-read rather than most popular. Titles popular in English lit classes, and Those made into movies. A bunch of the ones I have read were under duress rather than by choice. Only one of Bujold’s books? No Connie Willis? No Janet Kagan? Not my favorites, and many likely to never be favorites.
Jane wrote: "I was disappointed that Iain M Banks was not higher on this list. Consider Phlebas is one of my favourite books of any genre. His culture novels are epic."I absolutely hated that book, could not finish it. I drew the line at the people eating the poop of their leader.
I read alot of sci-fi novels in my teens and early twenties and my favourite author was Edmund Cooper which I didn't expect to be on this list but is definitely worth a read if you can find any of them that is.
Candace wrote: "Amy wrote: "Phil Hartley wrote: "Really? No Sanderson? Mistborn is absolutely epic, no Feist? Lawrence? GRRM? Gemmell? This list is terrible, old does not equal best."i will look them up, who is ..."
oh...yeah def not sci fi. like him though
John wrote: "How are these sorted? For example, Crouch's Recursion has about 5,000 more ratings than Morgan's Altered Carbon, and has an average rating of 4.17 vs. 4.05. But it's ranked lower?Not to mention A..."
You're right! The intro says it's based on reviews, but those numbers are even further apart! 7,000 to 12,000.
Björn wrote: ""we ran the data to reveal the most reviewed books on our site"Obviously so many commenters failed to read this."
Some of them have been reviewed less, but are higher in the list, such as Recursion and Altered Carbon. Altered Carbon only had around 7,000 reviews, but it is higher than Recursion with 12,000.
Sorry not to see Blish's "Cities in Flight," anything by Brin (particularly from the "Uplift" series) or Schmitz's classic "The Witches of Karres." Contemporaneous patterns may play a serious role in both choice of author and placement of novel. The bulk of those who are most familiar with Doc Smith or Norton, etc. may have to vote by seance at this point...There is a great deal of worthy SciFi out there - Kapek's "War of the Newts," the Soviet "Andromeda" Chalker's "Well" series... it's a tremendously rich field to explore.
Amy wrote: "Phil Hartley wrote: "Really? No Sanderson? Mistborn is absolutely epic, no Feist? Lawrence? GRRM? Gemmell? This list is terrible, old does not equal best."i will look them up, who is GRRM?"
George R.R. Martin--Mostly known for fantasy b/c of Game of Thrones. But "Sandkings" is a terrifying sci-fi horror novella.
Gene wrote: "Is there any reason "The Expanse" series books are not mentioned?"They are! Leviathan Wakes is #42.
To me, Paul Anderson's Time Patrol and Vonnegut's "Mother Night" are glaring omissions. If it's too much Vonnegut, take off Cat's Cradle or Slaughterhouse Five. Lists like this are never definitive anyway.
Andy wrote: "Fiona wrote: "Strange list - not one Anne McCaffrey title?!"Anne McCaffrey mostly wrote fantasy. Dragons of Pern, for example."
That's a common misconception. It's actually pretty solid scifi. But fantasy-lovers love it for the dragons.
I'd say McCaffrey's "The Ship Who Sang" is a solid contender for any scifi list.
Sue wrote: "These look to me more like the most-read rather than most popular. Titles popular in English lit classes, and Those made into movies. A bunch of the ones I have read were under duress rather than b..."The Doomsday Book by Willis is on there.
Jane wrote: "I was disappointed that Iain M Banks was not higher on this list. Consider Phlebas is one of my favourite books of any genre. His culture novels are epic."Jane I agree wholeheartedly... I've read (an d in some cases re-read) all of Banks's Culture novels. They're at the top of my list.
Taalteek wrote: "For me the all-time number one is The Left Hand of Darknees by Ursula K. LeGuin."I agree. It is one of the few books I have gone back and re-read. I LOVE Ursula Leguin. I'll have to go back and check the list, but I don't think another of my favorite sci-fi authors made it: Sherri Tepper.
A major writer not on this list is China Meiville. I've read probably 90 percent of the books on this list, and I'd rate his novels (Perdido Street Station, The City and the City, Embassytown) as better than most of them. While I've never "dropped acid", I imagine that experience would be similar to the experience you get from reading any of his novels.
45, and am currently reading one on the list.
Obviously so many commenters failed to read this."
Fair enough.
My reaction was more of a general observation on such lists, not a criticism of the choices.