The 50 best science fiction books of all time
The best science fiction books ranked: classic sci-fi, space opera, dystopian and hard sci-fi. A top 50 with short reviews and where to read each one.
Science fiction asks what happens next. This list spans the classics (Dune, Foundation, Frankenstein), dystopias such as 1984 and Brave New World, modern space opera and recent award-winners, so you can find a book that fits the kind of future you want to read about.
These are editorial picks, ranked for readability and lasting appeal, and nobody pays to be on the list. Not sure where to start? Try the book finder and get three picks for your mood.
Top 50 science fiction books, ranked
-
Dune
A young heir is drawn into a struggle for control of a desert planet and its valuable spice.
- Thoughtful
- Gripping
Where to read
-
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
A man is swept off Earth just before it is demolished.
- Funny
Where to read
-
Project Hail Mary
A lone astronaut wakes with no memory and a mission to save Earth.
- Gripping
- Funny
Where to read
-
The Martian
An astronaut stranded on Mars uses science and humour to stay alive.
- Funny
- Gripping
Where to read
-
Ender's Game
A gifted child is trained at a military school to fight an alien threat.
- Gripping
- Thoughtful
Where to read
-
Foundation
A mathematician tries to shorten the dark age that follows the fall of a galactic empire.
- Thoughtful
Where to read
-
Nineteen Eighty-Four
A clerk in a surveillance state begins to question the Party.
- Thoughtful
Where to read
-
Brave New World
A society engineered for comfort and conformity is challenged by an outsider.
- Thoughtful
Where to read
-
Fahrenheit 451
A fireman whose job is to burn books starts to question his world.
- Thoughtful
- Gripping
Where to read
-
The Time Machine
An inventor travels to the year 802,701 and finds humanity split into two species.
- Thoughtful
Where to read
-
Frankenstein
A scientist creates life and then rejects what he has made.
- Thoughtful
- Moving
Where to read
-
Neuromancer
A washed-up hacker is hired for one last job in a world of corporations and artificial intelligence.
- Gripping
Where to read
-
Snow Crash
A pizza-delivering hacker uncovers a virus that spreads in both the virtual and the real world.
- Funny
- Gripping
Where to read
-
The Three-Body Problem
Humanity makes contact with a distant civilisation, with consequences nobody expected.
- Thoughtful
- Gripping
Where to read
-
The Left Hand of Darkness
An envoy visits a frozen planet whose people have no fixed gender.
- Thoughtful
Where to read
-
Ready Player One
A teenager hunts for a hidden prize inside a vast virtual world.
- Gripping
- Funny
Where to read
-
The Hunger Games
Katniss volunteers to take her sister's place in a televised fight to the death.
- Gripping
Where to read
-
Never Let Me Go
Three friends grow up at an English boarding school with a dark purpose.
- Moving
- Thoughtful
Where to read
-
Klara and the Sun
An artificial friend watches closely and learns what love might mean.
- Moving
- Thoughtful
Where to read
-
Station Eleven
A travelling theatre company performs Shakespeare in the world after a pandemic.
- Moving
- Thoughtful
Where to read
-
A Psalm for the Wild-Built
A tea monk and a robot travel together and ask what people truly need.
- Cozy
- Moving
Where to read
-
The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet
A mixed crew on a tunnelling spaceship travels the galaxy and becomes a family.
- Cozy
- Moving
Where to read
-
Jurassic Park
A theme park of cloned dinosaurs goes catastrophically wrong.
- Gripping
Where to read
-
Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?
A bounty hunter hunts rogue androids in a ruined future.
- Thoughtful
- Gripping
Where to read
-
The War of the Worlds
Martians invade Victorian England.
- Gripping
Where to read
-
I, Robot
Linked stories about robots and the laws that govern them.
- Thoughtful
Where to read
-
Childhood's End
Alien Overlords arrive to guide humanity.
- Thoughtful
Where to read
-
2001: A Space Odyssey
A mysterious monolith leads astronauts toward Jupiter.
- Thoughtful
- Gripping
Where to read
-
Rendezvous with Rama
Humans explore a giant alien spacecraft passing through the solar system.
- Thoughtful
- Gripping
Where to read
-
Solaris
Scientists orbiting a strange planet face their own memories.
- Thoughtful
Where to read
-
The Handmaid's Tale
In a theocratic dystopia, a woman is forced into reproductive servitude.
- Thoughtful
- Gripping
Where to read
-
Oryx and Crake
A man recalls the events that led to the end of the world.
- Thoughtful
- Gripping
Where to read
-
Hyperion
Seven pilgrims tell their stories on a journey to the Time Tombs.
- Gripping
- Thoughtful
Where to read
-
Red Mars
The first settlers begin to colonise Mars.
- Thoughtful
Where to read
-
Leviathan Wakes
A detective and a ship's officer uncover a conspiracy across the solar system.
- Gripping
Where to read
-
Children of Time
Humans and a species of evolved spiders compete for a new world.
- Gripping
- Thoughtful
Where to read
-
Annihilation
An expedition enters a mysterious zone called Area X.
- Thoughtful
- Gripping
Where to read
-
The Dispossessed
A physicist travels between an anarchist moon and a capitalist planet.
- Thoughtful
Where to read
-
Starship Troopers
A young soldier joins the Mobile Infantry in a war with aliens.
- Gripping
- Thoughtful
Where to read
-
Stranger in a Strange Land
A human raised by Martians returns to Earth.
- Thoughtful
Where to read
-
Slaughterhouse-Five
Billy Pilgrim becomes unstuck in time after surviving the bombing of Dresden.
- Thoughtful
- Funny
Where to read
-
The Forever War
A soldier fights an interstellar war while time slows for him.
- Thoughtful
- Gripping
Where to read
-
A Canticle for Leibowitz
Monks preserve knowledge through centuries after a nuclear war.
- Thoughtful
Where to read
-
Ancillary Justice
A starship AI in a single human body seeks revenge.
- Thoughtful
- Gripping
Where to read
-
The Martian Chronicles
Linked stories about humans settling Mars.
- Thoughtful
- Moving
Where to read
-
Old Man's War
At 75, John Perry joins the military and gets a new body.
- Funny
- Gripping
Where to read
-
Red Rising
A young miner infiltrates the elite ruling class on Mars.
- Gripping
Where to read
-
Dark Matter
A physicist is abducted and wakes in a different version of his life.
- Gripping
- Thoughtful
Where to read
-
Dune Messiah
Paul Atreides faces the price of his rule.
- Thoughtful
- Gripping
Where to read
-
The Memory Police
On an island, objects disappear and so do memories of them.
- Thoughtful
- Moving
Where to read
Each link opens that store’s search for the book. Availability and prices vary by store and country. We may earn a commission from some stores, which never changes the ranking.
Types of science fiction books
Looking for something more specific? These are the main kinds of science fiction, with the sort of story or subject each one covers.
Space opera
Interstellar adventure, empires and big ideas.
Dystopian fiction
Warnings about governments and technology.
Hard science fiction
Plots built on real physics and engineering.
Cyberpunk
Hackers and corporations in near-future cities.
Time travel
Paradoxes, alternate histories and second chances.
First contact
What happens when we meet someone else.
Want to write and publish your own science fiction book?
Many readers of this page are also writers. The stores in the lists above are where readers find books, while Amazon Kindle Direct Publishing, IngramSpark, Lulu and Draft2Digital are the tools authors use to publish and distribute a book to those stores. You can also publish to Barnes & Noble Press and Google Play Books directly.
Our free KDP calculators help with print cost, royalties and cover size, and our publishing services can take care of setup for you.
Frequently asked questions
What is the best science fiction book for beginners?
The Martian and Project Hail Mary are the easiest to read. For a classic, try Ender's Game, Fahrenheit 451 or The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.
What is the difference between science fiction and fantasy?
Science fiction explains its inventions through science or technology, even if it is speculative. Fantasy relies on magic or the supernatural.
Where can I read or buy the best science fiction books?
Each of the 50 books has links to Amazon, Kindle, Barnes & Noble and Google Play Books. Authors who want to publish their own science fiction book can start with our free guides to Amazon KDP, IngramSpark, Lulu and Draft2Digital.
Not sure what to read next?
Pick a genre and a mood and the book finder will suggest three books to try.