50 Essential Science Fiction Books

Famous adventure tale that practically launched the genre in 1864.

The Martians come to England. A famous example of invasion literature from 1898.

Set in 2540, this novel imagines a radically different future. So good, it’s taught in schools.

Earth must be evacuated because another planet is on a collision course.

A superhuman novel where supernormal abilities lead to conflict.

Social sci-fi from the era of Soviet growth where a nasty political system defines the plot.

The original novel in a pioneering series. An immense plot that I cannot sum up in a sentence.

18 masterful and highly imaginative short stories from one of the genre’s masters.

First Hugo winner.  A science fiction detective novel featuring telepathy.

Clever invasion novel from the 1950s where aliens introduce devices to disrupt Earth’s economy.

A world-building novel on a planet with variable surface gravity. Insect-like locals, human explorers.

Following a nuclear war, religious sects create an anti-technology society.

Set way in the future in a fundamentalist society. Telepathy makes people different.

A virus kills off all strains of grasses & causes a famine. England descends into anarchy.

Fine example of military science fiction from the late 1950s. A war against bugs.

Douglas Adams described it as a “tour de force” – a novel set amid a Martian invasion of Earth.

Frank imagines the effects of nuclear war on a small town in Florida.

Post-apocalyptic science fiction where monks are trying to preserve vital books and humanity.

20th century Charlie Johns wakes in a future filled with overpopulation, bigotry, and no gender.

Humans study a planet while the planet studies them. A novel about miscommunication.

The ice-caps melt and the world floods. Set in 2145, the protagonist has adapted rather well.

An ecological-themed novel set in the far future with fantasy elements.

Children’s fiction, with fantasy elements, where a government scientist goes missing.

This novel has sold 12 million copies so can’t be bad. Spice before the Spice Girls.

Set in 1999, a novel about over-population. Basis for the movie, Soylent Green.

Age-themed science fiction. Everyone is killed off at 21 but there are “runners.”

A bounty hunter tracks down escaped androids in a post-apocalyptic future.

Le Guin is prolific and a must-read for everyone. This book details an imagined universe.

A time travel story where a man goes from 1970 back to AD 28 to meet Jesus.

From the golden era of the early 1970s. Set in 2850 in a radically different universe.

A classic set in the 22nd century, an alien starship enters the solar system.

Roadside Picnic is a classic alien-encounter story from Russia’s most important sci-fi writers.

A novel following the lives of four women in parallel worlds. Feminist sci-fi.

Cyborg (where man & machine combine) science fiction as humans attempt to colonize Mars.

Apocalyptic novel where a virus kills off most people and it is nightmarish for survivors.

A radio series. Adams introduced a huge and much-needed dose of humor into the genre.

Violent futuristic sci-fi where the Earth is threatened by an ant-like species.

Pure space opera. First in the Culture series, this novel features a sprawling space war between species.

Quaddies are genetically modified humans used as slaves. They become obsolete and face a grim end.

First in a readable trilogy imagining the colonization of Mars.

Biopunk short story collection – a spin-off from cyberpunk featuring biotechnology.

Historical science fiction adored by Geeks for its technology themes.

A novel based on cosmetic surgery for teenagers. Modern science fiction on a modern issue.

Scalzi’s debut saw humans fighting aliens Heinlein-style except old people pull the trigger.

Modern cyberpunk in post-9/11 era.  Teenage hackers battle Homeland Security over civil rights.

Post-modern plot in a graphic novel. A sci-fi writer & his girlfriend are the last humans on Earth.