Most Under-rated Science Fiction
Show me the most UNDER-rated sci-fi in your library.
What are the unsung masterpieces of science fiction? Who blew you away but got no awards? Which are the novels that don't get the attention they deserve? Which books do you bring up in conversation where people say "Huh? Never heard of it!"?
Show me the five-star novels that you found collecting dust in some used bookstore somewhere.
Best Science Fiction
Some Subgenres:
Alternate H*story [asterisk here so this list isn't misclassified]
Dystopian and Post Apocalyptic Fiction
Space Opera
Science Fiction By Year:
Classic Science Fiction - 1930-1939
Classic Science Fiction - 1940-1949
Classic Science Fiction - 1950-1959
Classic Science Fiction - 1960-1969
Classic Science Fiction - 1970-1979
Classic Science Fiction - 1980-1989
Classic Science Fiction - 1990-1999
Classic Science Fiction - 2000-2009
Science Fiction - 2010-2019
Most Popular Fantasy on Goodreads:
All fantasy with at least 100,000 ratings
Most Popular Science Fiction on Goodreads:
All science fiction with at least 50,000 ratings
All science fiction with 25,000 to 49,999 ratings
All science fiction with 10,000 to 24,999 ratings
All science fiction with 1,000 to 9,999 ratings
All science fiction with 100 to 999 ratings
Best Science Fiction on Goodreads with less than 100 ratings
What are the unsung masterpieces of science fiction? Who blew you away but got no awards? Which are the novels that don't get the attention they deserve? Which books do you bring up in conversation where people say "Huh? Never heard of it!"?
Show me the five-star novels that you found collecting dust in some used bookstore somewhere.
Best Science Fiction
Some Subgenres:
Alternate H*story [asterisk here so this list isn't misclassified]
Dystopian and Post Apocalyptic Fiction
Space Opera
Science Fiction By Year:
Classic Science Fiction - 1930-1939
Classic Science Fiction - 1940-1949
Classic Science Fiction - 1950-1959
Classic Science Fiction - 1960-1969
Classic Science Fiction - 1970-1979
Classic Science Fiction - 1980-1989
Classic Science Fiction - 1990-1999
Classic Science Fiction - 2000-2009
Science Fiction - 2010-2019
Most Popular Fantasy on Goodreads:
All fantasy with at least 100,000 ratings
Most Popular Science Fiction on Goodreads:
All science fiction with at least 50,000 ratings
All science fiction with 25,000 to 49,999 ratings
All science fiction with 10,000 to 24,999 ratings
All science fiction with 1,000 to 9,999 ratings
All science fiction with 100 to 999 ratings
Best Science Fiction on Goodreads with less than 100 ratings
Comments Showing 1-50 of 88 (88 new)
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Adam
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Dec 16, 2009 06:36PM

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Why single me out? I didn't vote for Hitchhiker's... as underrated. (I like it, but it's hardly underrated.)

Makes no difference to me if people vote for it; I just created the list for folks to enjoy. All I was saying in my reply was that even though the book appears in the list, I didn't vote for it--and I'd hope that folks wouldn't suggest that I did.

Makes no difference to me if people vote for it; I just created the list for folks to enjoy. All I was saying in my reply was that even though t..."
I would remove it. It's annoying seeing the same books at the top of every list, regardless of what the list name is. "Hitchhiker's" appears in top 5 always. For goodness sake, there was a movie. I think any books that are in top 10 "best sf" cannot be in this list.


I just added Dreamsnake and moved it to the top of my list. It's the only Hugo-Nebula-Locus winning novel that is now out of print (and has been for over a decade).



Going to remove the individual Stainless Steel Rat books by Harry Harrison which are included in Adventures of the Stainless Steel Rat (#1-3) (curr. highest ranking).


But as said earlier, it's rather difficult to say what's underrated...

Given that many awards (and/or nominations) then I'd say that it doesn't really belong here. I'm currently reading it and loving it, but given those facts... *not* underrated. I've removed it.



What awards has it won? I'm familiar with Le Guin, of course, and am fairly well versed in sf/f field, but "Lathe of Heaven" was completely off my radar. In fact, it's this list that made me take a note. Perhaps because it didn't win and it should have that it can be considered underrated? I
If I'm going to disagree with anything, it's all the other top 10 books - Alfred Bester - yes he's great, but has anyone not read these? Or especially John Scalzi's "Old Man's War" - hugely popular, almost like "Ender's Game" in that it got people who didn't read military scif into the genre. But for those who HAVE read a lot of Sf/f, and that who the audience for this list is, in my opinion, "Old Man's War" is a rehash of "Starship Troopers" plus "Forever War" plus "Armor" with a touch of "Spin State" or "Altered Carbon," take your pick. In my humble opinion.
And Neal Stephenson? Overrated if anything.

But perhaps not as famous as her other works, I suppose.
I haven't read Bester, nor Scalzi *grins*.
Didn't realise Old Man's War was quite that recently - thought it might have been a 90s novel - but maybe that just attests to its fame.
Actually, re-reviewing the top 50 or so, I'd say Day of the Triffids stands out. Much more so than any of the others.



Exactly! (Another great example.) Totally agree there (even if it undermines my theory) -- there you have something that's considered to be a classic among folks who've read it; but you'd be hard-pressed to find too many folks who've read it. (That last bit there being one of those "in my experience..." type remarks.)
So much for making the selection and/or winnowing process easier... ;-)


Two that pop in to my head:
Gateway - Yes it won some awards back in the 70s but it seems like no one reads it or appreciates it.
Nova - Delany's retelling of Moby Dick (and shorter!) where he foreshadows cyberpunk and man/computer interfacing 20 years before it became popular.



I only read Hyperion because it was at, or near the top of every top Sci-fi list...and for good reason.

Good point... As a Hugo Award winner, I'm to go ahead and say that it's not under-rated. I have removed it.


I just added Dreamsnake and moved it to the top of my list. It's the only Hugo-Nebula-Locus winning novel that is now out of print (and ..."
Great read!

I don't really see how Ursula K Leguin can be number one, she is one of the most recognized and praised writer of either fantasy or science fiction. Maybe it's on there because it is a rather obscure novel by her, but still I wouldn't put the Children of Hurin on an underrated fantasy list, because even though it is obscure compared to the authors other works, the author is so well known, they would know what kind of book you were talking about if you just mentioned who the author was.
I couldn't find them, but I had to add A Princess of Mars and Bio of A Space Tyrant, Usually nobody knows who Edgar Rice Burroughs is, and they only know Tarzan from the disney movie, I've never met another person who had ever heard of the Barsoom novels, and all the critical reviews I've read of the book trash it, at least the teacher's I've heard reference it on courses on Sci-Fi.
Same goes for Bio of a Space Tyrant, everyone who has read it(at least on goodreads) trashes it for having too much rape. I say Piers Anthony is a damn fine writer and I absoulutely adored the first two books, if number one was a bit disturbing, but just because something is disturbing doesn't mean it's bad, like Titus Andronicus.
I couldn't find them, but I had to add A Princess of Mars and Bio of A Space Tyrant, Usually nobody knows who Edgar Rice Burroughs is, and they only know Tarzan from the disney movie, I've never met another person who had ever heard of the Barsoom novels, and all the critical reviews I've read of the book trash it, at least the teacher's I've heard reference it on courses on Sci-Fi.
Same goes for Bio of a Space Tyrant, everyone who has read it(at least on goodreads) trashes it for having too much rape. I say Piers Anthony is a damn fine writer and I absoulutely adored the first two books, if number one was a bit disturbing, but just because something is disturbing doesn't mean it's bad, like Titus Andronicus.


The Host - 335k+ ratings and a Hollywood movie
Mega Man X Official Game Secrets - not fiction
Inferno and The Reluctant King are both fantasy.



Hi Mitchell,
Just looking at rating count does not capture what it means for a book to be underrated. A book may have been read by a lot of people, but still be underrated because it was under-appreciated. In fact, the more people that under-appreciate a book, the more it makes that book "most underrated". Sheer number of readers may be one factor in judging underratedness, but rating value is the bigger factor.

NibbledToDeathByCats: There's a list for underrated books, ie. those with an average GR rating of less than 3.7.

NibbledToDeathByCats: There's a list for underrated books, ie. those with an average GR rating of less than 3.7."
Not sure I follow your meaning. Just because something has a low rating doesn't mean it is underrated.

https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/1...

https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/1......"
I like that this list does not set artificial criteria like that. I see the term "underrated" as representing a combination of factors, often nuanced.

Science Fiction By Year:
Classic Science Fiction - 1930-1939
Classic Science Fiction - 1940-1949
Classic Science Fiction - 1950-1959
Classic Science Fiction - 1960-1969
Classic Science Fiction - 1970-1979
Classic Science Fiction - 1980-1989
Classic Science Fiction - 1990-1999
Classic Science Fiction - 2000-2009
Science Fiction - 2010-2019
Most Popular Science Fiction on Goodreads:
All science fiction with at least 50,000 ratings
All science fiction with 25,000 to 49,999 ratings
All science fiction with 10,000 to 24,999 ratings
All science fiction with 1,000 to 9,999 ratings

Lathe of Heaven
The Stars Are My Destination
Anathem
A Canticle for Leibowitz
Flowers for Algernon
Doomsday Book
Necromancer
Old Man's War
*https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/1...)
*https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/3...
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