Add and vote for your favorite Science Fiction books first published in last century. For this list that means first published between 1900 and 1999.

Please only add books that have received at least one thousand ratings .

No Fantasy books please!

Books not meeting this list's criteria will be removed.

Inspired by Best Science Fiction of the 21st Century

Other SF Lists of Note:
Best Science Fiction
Best Science Fiction of the 21st Century
Best Science Fiction of the 20th Century
Best Forgotten Science Fiction of the 20th Century
Popular Highly Rated Science Fiction
Best Science Fiction Fantasy Books

SF Subgenres:
Alternate History
Dystopian and Post Apocalyptic Fiction
Space Opera
Steampunk

Locus Recommended Science Fiction:
2019, 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015,
2014, 2013, 2012, 2011, 2010
2009, 2001, 2000

Sci Fi Award Nominees
2017, 2016, 2015, 2014, 2013, 2012, 2011, 2010
2009, 2008, 2007, 2006

Science Fiction By Decade:
1930s, 1940s, 1950s, 1960s, 1970s,
1980s, 1990s, 2000s, 2010s, 2020s

New Speculative Writers by Decade:
2000s, 2010s

Science Fiction By Ratings:
100,000 and more, 50000 to 99999, 25000 to 49999, 10000 to 24999
1000 to 9999, 100 to 999, Less than 100

See also:
Best Books of the 20th Century
Best Fantasy of the 20th Century
Best Forgotten Fantasy of the 20th Century
1

by
4.20 avg rating — 5,407,976 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
2

by
3.97 avg rating — 2,809,701 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
3

by
4.29 avg rating — 1,615,801 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
4

by
4.22 avg rating — 2,006,320 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
5

by
4.42 avg rating — 108,373 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
6

by
3.99 avg rating — 2,064,311 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
7

by
4.31 avg rating — 1,469,208 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
8

by
4.09 avg rating — 509,734 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
9

by
4.15 avg rating — 2,400,073 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
10

by
4.21 avg rating — 377,582 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
11

by
4.24 avg rating — 788,470 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
12

by
4.02 avg rating — 4,506,085 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
13

by
4.18 avg rating — 335,224 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
14

by
4.27 avg rating — 296,529 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
15

by
4.16 avg rating — 284,710 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
16

by
4.10 avg rating — 1,476,714 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
17

by
4.10 avg rating — 218,541 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
18

by
4.15 avg rating — 138,581 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
19

by
3.92 avg rating — 326,139 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
20

by
3.98 avg rating — 129,668 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
21

by
4.13 avg rating — 1,056,221 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
22

by
4.01 avg rating — 245,560 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
23

by
4.12 avg rating — 172,957 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
24

by
3.94 avg rating — 128,606 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
25

by
4.19 avg rating — 111,649 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
26

by
4.26 avg rating — 149,695 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
27

by
3.97 avg rating — 1,279,298 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
28

by
4.14 avg rating — 179,854 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
29

by
3.89 avg rating — 362,410 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
30

by
3.59 avg rating — 234,403 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
31

by
4.39 avg rating — 592,352 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
32

by
4.15 avg rating — 435,517 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
33

by
4.12 avg rating — 183,353 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
34

by
4.20 avg rating — 314,941 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
35

by
4.35 avg rating — 831,146 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
36

by
4.01 avg rating — 297,105 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
37

by
3.99 avg rating — 118,926 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
38

by
4.13 avg rating — 107,431 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
39

by
4.01 avg rating — 117,123 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
40

by
4.11 avg rating — 270,373 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
41

by
4.15 avg rating — 152,076 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
42

by
4.03 avg rating — 64,579 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
43

by
4.05 avg rating — 152,142 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
44

by
4.06 avg rating — 55,286 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
45

by
4.13 avg rating — 87,682 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
46

by
3.89 avg rating — 398,820 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
47

by
really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 766,588 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
48

by
3.89 avg rating — 153,138 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
49

by
4.08 avg rating — 143,496 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
50

by
3.88 avg rating — 111,787 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
51

by
4.07 avg rating — 72,916 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
52

by
4.12 avg rating — 2,789,389 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
53

by
4.23 avg rating — 116,759 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
54

by
4.02 avg rating — 117,772 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
55

by
4.16 avg rating — 93,075 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
56

by
3.99 avg rating — 839,810 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
57

by
4.11 avg rating — 122,121 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
58

by
4.07 avg rating — 36,287 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
59

by
3.97 avg rating — 36,973 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
60

by
4.19 avg rating — 63,290 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
61

by
4.13 avg rating — 66,424 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
62

by
4.28 avg rating — 80,265 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
62

by
4.24 avg rating — 147,068 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
64

by
4.23 avg rating — 36,261 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
65

by
4.07 avg rating — 27,367 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
65

by
4.19 avg rating — 259,142 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
67

by
4.20 avg rating — 34,005 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
68

by
3.86 avg rating — 88,429 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
69

by
4.05 avg rating — 35,445 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
70

by
4.15 avg rating — 157,208 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
71

by
3.93 avg rating — 106,282 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
72

by
4.10 avg rating — 44,173 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
73

by
4.09 avg rating — 68,542 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
74

by
3.93 avg rating — 45,768 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
75

by
4.24 avg rating — 62,173 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
76

by
4.03 avg rating — 109,945 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
77

by
4.27 avg rating — 30,270 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
78

by
4.01 avg rating — 17,806 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
79

by
4.17 avg rating — 593,373 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
80

by
4.32 avg rating — 179,550 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
81

by
4.04 avg rating — 26,470 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
82

by
really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 45,343 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
83

by
4.16 avg rating — 249,719 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
84

by
3.72 avg rating — 19,988 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
85

by
3.93 avg rating — 33,685 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
86

by
3.66 avg rating — 18,479 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
87

by
4.01 avg rating — 43,361 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
88

by
4.31 avg rating — 269,089 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
89

by
4.02 avg rating — 28,573 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
90

by
4.15 avg rating — 63,082 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
91

by
3.93 avg rating — 61,890 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
92

by
4.16 avg rating — 61,426 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
92

by
3.96 avg rating — 138,939 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
94

by
3.99 avg rating — 131,906 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
95

by
4.16 avg rating — 52,388 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
96

by
3.94 avg rating — 13,167 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
97

by
4.14 avg rating — 81,628 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
98

by
3.93 avg rating — 31,279 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
99

by
3.91 avg rating — 45,640 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
100

by
3.84 avg rating — 197,548 ratings
Rate this book
Clear rating
166 likes · 
Lists are re-scored approximately every 5 minutes.


Mitchell 11519 books
168 friends
Randy 1898 books
0 friends
Dirk 1641 books
78 friends
Jain 843 books
24 friends
B 490 books
3 friends
Helger 563 books
20 friends
Johnny 1559 books
12 friends
Aitch 145 books
41 friends

More voters…


Comments Showing 1-18 of 18 (18 new)

dateUp arrow    newest »

message 1: by Chip (new)

Chip What happened to Hyperion and Contact? I added them but I don't see them anymore.


message 2: by Mitchell (new)

Mitchell Friedman Chip wrote: "What happened to Hyperion and Contact? I added them but I don't see them anymore."

Hyperion is #15 and you are one of the two voters.
Contact is #58 and you are the only voter.

I think books are initially put at the very bottom and then the list is recalculated around every 10 minutes.

There are a lot of books missing from this list. If you wanted to add 100 that would be awesome. The lists by decade are useful for this like SF of the 80s


message 3: by Chip (new)

Chip Thanks for the clarification!


message 4: by Mitchell (new)

Mitchell Friedman removed Children of Time since published in 2015


message 5: by Chris (new)

Chris Gager looks like "Hitchhiker's Guide ..." is in there twice.


message 6: by Mitchell (new)

Mitchell Friedman Chris wrote: "looks like "Hitchhiker's Guide ..." is in there twice."

looks like the "remove duplicates" command for editing a list is working, at least for this list, at least for the moment. So duplicates handled.


message 7: by Chris (new)

Chris Gager THX


message 8: by William (new)

William The Call of Cthulhu as Science Fiction? (94 as of posting)


message 9: by Mitchell (new)

Mitchell Friedman William wrote: "The Call of Cthulhu as Science Fiction? (94 as of posting)"

I would consider that a bit of a stretch. I think it fits better as horror and fantasy.


message 10: by Mitchell (new)

Mitchell Friedman removed The Experiment for not having enough ratings


message 11: by Mitchell (new)

Mitchell Friedman removed Summa technologiae for not having enough ratings


message 12: by Mitchell (new)

Mitchell Friedman removed Old Man's War for being published in 2005

removed Afterworlds for being published in 2014


message 13: by Pierfrancesco (new)

Pierfrancesco Aiello Thanks for the curators of this list. Sharing lists (or information in general) is already nice, but curating those over time is not an easy feat - especially if there are tons of edits - and can be very helpful.


message 14: by Mitchell (new)

Mitchell Friedman Mavis wrote: "The rating requirement prevents most of the best science fiction from being added to the list. I personally thought that Cybernarc and Star Quest and [book:Galaxy 666|..."

if you really feel this way, you ought to add these books to the forgotten list - https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/1...


message 15: by Steve (new)

Steve LaForest I see that there was a discussion about H.P. Lovecraft, and what to do. I confess that I haven't read any of his work, and I can't imagine that I ever will. It really seems like an extremely remote possibility that it could qualify as science fiction.

From what I have read on the matter, it doesn't sound as though there would be merit in the debate either, in terms of SF, Fantasy, literary considerations, or moral considerations, Couldn't we just declare the subject utterly irrelevant?


message 16: by Mitchell (new)

Mitchell Friedman Steve wrote: "I see that there was a discussion about H.P. Lovecraft, and what to do. I confess that I haven't read any of his work, and I can't imagine that I ever will. It really seems like an extremely remote..."

The Call of Cthulhu has been tagged as classics by 970 people, fiction by 888 people, short stories by 714 people, fantasy by 710 people, favorites by 372 people and science fiction by 270 people.

This list does not list a threshold for declaring what is science fiction - unlike some of my other lists.

Classification of a book as fantasy or horror or science fiction or lousy or whatever is an interesting conversation to some folks. As long as no librarian arbitrarily removes a book for this or other lists, I find the conversation to be fine.


message 17: by C.E.C. (new)

C.E.C. Sorry to bother but The War of the Worlds shows up near the beginning of page 3 (#210 at the moment of my writing this comment) despite being from the 19th century


message 18: by Mitchell (new)

Mitchell Friedman C.E.C. wrote: "Sorry to bother but The War of the Worlds shows up near the beginning of page 3 (#210 at the moment of my writing this comment) despite being from the 19th century"

removed. thanks for the call out. sorry it took so long


back to top



Related News

For devoted bookworms, the new year is an exciting time. Specifics on the year’s upcoming books start making the rounds, along with release...

Anyone can add books to this list.