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84 Sci-Fi and Fantasy Recommendations for (Nearly) Every Kind of SFF Fan
The brain wants what the brain wants. Every serious book person runs into this truism sooner or later. Even within a particular genre, certain kinds of books latch onto the inside of our skulls and we find ourselves seeking out more of the same.
That’s the concept behind today’s collection in our continuing coverage of Sci-Fi and Fantasy Week here at Goodreads. We’ve sorted 84(!) sci-fi and fantasy recommendations into loosely organized categories based on reader types. Perhaps you’re the kind of reader who likes a good school of magic story. Or SFF road trips. Or historical fantasy. Then there’s the self-explanatory glory of “Here be dragons…”
We’ve deliberately cast a wide net with this collection. You’ll find old books and new books. (And, indeed, red books and blue books). We’ve included cerebral genre classics from Octavia Butler and Ursula Le Guin along with more playful SFF titles concerning space nuns, draconic family drama, and Roswell. There’s even a little bit of sexytime here, if you’re in the mood.
Adventurous readers will appreciate the many instances in which inventive authors find new approaches to traditional SFF concepts. For instance, Martha Wells’ fantastic Murderbot series provides delightfully weird insights into robot psychology. Jeff VanderMeer’s Annihilation takes the weird fiction aesthetic into new territories. And Nnedi Okorafor rethinks postapocalyptic genre designations with Who Fears Death.
Have fun, click through the book cover images for more details on each title, and add any interesting leads to your Want to Read shelf. Feel free to add additional category suggestions in the comments below. And please play nice! Be the comments section you wish to see in the world.
I like big books, I cannot lie
I'm obsessed with messed-up magic schools
Beep-boop, robots!
Here be dragons
Give me lovable found families, please!
I'll read any story set on a spaceship
I'm a sucker for an unconventional vampire story
I like books that feel like a weird fever dream
How about an SFF-inflected road trip?
Science fantasy! I love when the genre boundaries are blurred
I'm always up for reading philosophical, thought-provoking SFF
Tell me an old story in a new way
Give me your wackiest, campiest premises
I like a good ol' "let's overthrow the empire" plot
I like SFF that's a little quite sexy
Tell me about the books that other SFF readers can't stop raving about
Give me an unassuming protagonist who really would rather be left out of this narrative, thank you very much
Historical fantasy is my jam
Time travel? Time travel!
I'm always in the mood for a speculative short story
I'm more of a literary fiction reader. Can you help me dip my toes into SFF?
Now it's your turn! What type of SFF reader are you? Which books would you recommend for the categories above? Let us know in the comments!
Check out more recent fantasy and science fiction articles:
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Jul 20, 2023 01:26PM
A great list with a number of books that I've read and loved, but more importantly, a lot of books I've never heard of! Always love finding new books by authors I don't know about.
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Jordan wrote: "Time Travel - Reply by Ken Grimwood (5 star book)"Agree - Excellent read - great reminder for a re-read!
For the "unassuming protagonist who really would rather be left out of this narrative" one, Nettle & Bone by T. Kingfisher is also really good.
The fact that I have (almost) all of them in my tbr already says perhaps a little too much about my reading tastes, lmfao.
Cala wrote: "Kay wrote: "Where's the Queer SFF? And Space Opera? And Military SF? And quest fantasies? And Space Pirates (like R E Stearns Shield Runner series)? What about Urban Fantasy with authors like Jim..."
Thanks Cala and I've read those, except for TJ Klune books which I won't read. I've also read heaps more that would fit that category and it would be great if others could find them too.
I've read a bunch of these books already but now I have so many more recommendations. It's always a treat to scroll down these lists you guys make, I love them! I love how they're formatted and organized, they're so aesthetically pleasing! Thanks, guys!!
For 'let's overthrow the empire' Casie Aufenthie - The Drift The DriftFor 'blurred genres' - R. Lee Smith 'The Last Hour of Gann' & 'Cottonwood' ( warning : violent & a lot of triggers though, check the reviews beforehand) . The Last Hour of Gann Cottonwood
For 'On a spaceship' - Craig Alanson - 'Columbus Day & SpecOps'; Columbus DayJessie Mihalik 'Hunt the Stars'Hunt the Stars
What I like are 1. coming of age or coming into one's gifts stories. -- Robin Hobb, Lois Bujold, Orson Card
2. building a better society stories -- Modessitt, Weber Safehold series.
3. post tragedy, rebuilding a civilization under limits -- Stirling's early books in "Dies the Fire" series
4. alternative fact worlds where people can have unusual skills which seem magical, paranormal, different physics -- Modessitt again
Next month, please use some of the above categories.
this whole article is so funny!! great recommendations too :)
Kay wrote: "Where's the Queer SFF? And Space Opera? And Military SF? And quest fantasies? And Space Pirates (like R E Stearns Shield Runner series)? What about Urban Fantasy with authors like Jim Butcher (Dr..."
Literally all of these except possibly the last are included in this list.
Love this list! I need to spend some time looking into half of these. The other half is either already on my TBR, or they’re books I already love, like the Murderbot Diaries by Martha Wells. Tanith Lee and Tad Williams might also be good transitions between, or blends of, sci-fi and fantasy.
A real lack of some classic SFF on here. Two? total listed.
I’m delighted by how many good queer books are on this list! Great recs 🥰
Where is The hands of the emperor by Victoria Goddard for big books? One of those books in the list isn't even 500 pages...
I love this list & saved a bunch of books to read! On the off chance that the post author or sfi fan sees this comment, my co worker wrote a great Sci-fi / horror book called The Lucky Few, by C.M Schultz. It was awesome and it’s free on kindle. I recommend someone to check it out! 😊
David Weber - March to the Sea and its sequels. Love!!! I’m also thrilled CJ Cherryh is stilling writing books in her Foreigner universe.
Keep lists like this coming please! I’ve added at least 10 more books to my TBR list 😅
Tade Thompson's Far from the Light of Heaven is a pretty good spaceship-murder mystery, with additional social comment.
How can you have a section on dragons and not list Naomi Novik’s Temeraire series, which begins with His Majesty’s Dragon? How can you have a section on time travel and not list Jodi Taylor’s Chronicles of St. Mary’s? It begins with Just One Damned Thing After Another.
I've read several on this list, I wish there were more independent authors. If you like witchy fantasy, check out the Esoteric Alchemy series by Ryan Kurr , all three books are great, but the third one was the best! There are even real recipes in the back of each book that were mentioned throughout the story!Sage, Smoke & Fire
Powdered Oak & Seven Metals
The Black Hen
For lovers of literary fiction or historical fiction (with a hint of fantasy), I would recommend the works of Guy Kay.
A shame I've only read one from the list. Jodi Taylor's Time Police, follow-up series to Chronicles, is equally worth reading.
I've taken to reading longer series of books (not all of which have the highest brow), rather than those with only one or two titles, e.g. Richelle Mead, Yasmine Gallenorn, Carrie Vaughan, Charlaine Harris, Kim Harrison.
It strikes me that 'Dystopian or alternative futures' might also work as a category, (and needs a funky label), as it would allow reference to the expanding worlds of both Steampunk, 40k.
Great list! I’ve read a few and now have so many more on my TBR list. :D
Disappointed not to see any alternate history such as Fatherland by Robert Harris, or anything by Michael Chabon.
I feel like "Ninefox Gambit" could have made either the Fever Dream category, or Overthrow The Empire, and I thought that Alistair Reynolds' "Eversion" could have been somewhere in there, but it defies categorisation.
Alyssa wrote: "Law wrote: "The only book I've read that's on this list is The House in the Cerulean Sea and it was ok but not the best one ever..."I absolutely LOVED that book! I told all my friends about it and they loved it too! Funny how we all get tickled by books differently.
Alyssa wrote: "Law wrote: "The only book I've read that's on this list is The House in the Cerulean Sea and it was ok but not the best one ever..."I absolutely LOVED that book! I told my friends to read it and they loved it too! It's funny how we're all tickled by books differently.
Think Neal Stephenson should’ve been included here with multiple entries, most definitely Cryptonomicon, and probably Umberto Eco with Foucault's Pendulum too.
Arok wrote: "For lovers of literary fiction or historical fiction (with a hint of fantasy), I would recommend the works of Guy Kay."Do you mean Guy Gavriel Kay?
Amy wrote: "I loved The Spare Man — I’m looking for more sci-if cozy mysteries!"The Midsolar Murders by Mur Lafferty may appeal. And The Murderbot Diaries series by Martha Wells too
Where are the humorous/self aware category(ies) ?Thanks
