Best Sci-Fi Books: The 70 Best Sci-Fi Novels of All Time

by Arthur Worsley
M.A. Psychology, Oxford. McKinsey Alum. Founder & Editor at TAoL.

Contents

1. The 70 Best Sci-Fi Books Of All Time

2. Books 1-10: The Top 10 Best Sci-Fi Books of All Time

3. BONUS: The Top 10 Best Sci-fi Books (Ignoring Publication Date)

4. Books 11-70: More Great Sci-Fi Books to Read

5. Best Sci-Fi Book FAQs

6. What Sci-Fi Book Should I Read Next?

7. What Are the Top 5 Best Selling Science Fiction Novels?

8. Where Should I Start Sci-Fi Books?

Looking for the best sci-fi books of all time? You’re in the right place!

From Orwell to Asimov to Huxley; from Simmons to Chiang to Le Guin, I’ve done the exploring and gathered the best sci-fi series and best science fiction books in the solar system for you here, in one list.

Note: This list of best sci-fi books is strictly limited to the sci-fi genre. For my top fantasy picks, go check out this reading list of the 70 best fantasy books of all time. Or click here to explore all TAoL‘s book recommendations.

Where should you start? I’m a huge fan of classic science fiction and because my ranking algorithm factors in publication date (more details below), it has a tendency to promote older, time-tested titles to top spots.

That said, from the Hyperion Cantos (#29) to Red Rising (#55) to the Commonwealth Saga (#62), there are some incredible, must-read modern science fiction books to be found further down the page. So while the rankings still stand, the fact is you won’t go far wrong with ANY of the best sci-fi books on this list.

My advice? Don’t overthink it.

Scan the titles, pick the first book that excites you and start reading!

And whatever you choose, I hope you find wonder, I hope you find wisdom and I hope you remember not to panic on your rollercoaster ride through the multiverse.

The 70 Best Sci-Fi Books Of All Time

Why these best sci-fi books and not others? The best sci-fi books below are the top picks from my long list of hundreds of books, ranked by a combination of Goodreads rating, number of Goodreads reviews and first publication date. The aim is to surface what’s most loved, what’s most popular and what’s proven timelessly relevant.

Note: To maximise diversity I’ve only included the top-ranked science fiction novel from any sci-fi book series where multiple books from that series would have made the list. Where the book listed below is not the first in a sequence, you may want to click through and start with the first in the series.

Think something’s missing? Leave a comment or email me and I’ll add it to the next round of updates. I honestly love hearing from you so please, do get in touch!

Books 1-10: The Top 10 Best Sci-Fi Books of All Time

Here are the top 10 best sci-fi books from my database…

1. 1984 – George Orwell

Published 1949 // 237 pages // Rated 4.2 over 3,055,100 reviews on Goodreads

Best Sci-Fi Books: Second Foundation (Foundation, #3)

2. Second Foundation (Foundation, #3) – Isaac Asimov

Published 1953 // 256 pages // Rated 4.3 over 139,900 reviews on Goodreads

Best Sci-Fi Books: I, Robot (Robot, #0.1)

3. I, Robot (Robot, #0.1) – Isaac Asimov

Published 1950 // 224 pages // Rated 4.2 over 270,300 reviews on Goodreads

Best Sci-Fi Books: Dune (Dune Chronicles, #1)

4. Dune (Dune Chronicles, #1) – Frank Herbert

Published 1965 // 604 pages // Rated 4.2 over 728,700 reviews on Goodreads

5. Brave New World – Aldous Huxley

Published 1932 // 288 pages // Rated 4.0 over 1,412,600 reviews on Goodreads

6. The End of Eternity – Isaac Asimov

Published 1955 // 192 pages // Rated 4.2 over 42,700 reviews on Goodreads

7. Childhood’s End – Arthur C. Clarke

Published 1953 // 224 pages // Rated 4.1 over 126,600 reviews on Goodreads

8. Cat’s Cradle – Kurt Vonnegut Jr.

Published 1963 // 306 pages // Rated 4.2 over 334,900 reviews on Goodreads

9. The Sirens of Titan – Kurt Vonnegut Jr.

Published 1959 // 224 pages // Rated 4.2 over 111,300 reviews on Goodreads

10. Fahrenheit 451 – Ray Bradbury

Published 1953 // 194 pages // Rated 4.0 over 1,638,800 reviews on Goodreads

BONUS: The Top 10 Best Sci-fi Books (Ignoring Publication Date)

Books that are proven survivors usually have something worth saying. That’s why I almost always use publication date as a factor in my book-ranking algorithm.

But when it comes to the best sci-fi books of all time, I understand that a modern perspective has its advantages. Which is why you’ll find a quick top 10 sci-fi book list below that only considers what’s most loved and most popular…

Best Sci-Fi Books: The Hunger Games (The Hunger Games, #1)

1. The Hunger Games (The Hunger Games, #1) – Suzanne Collins

Published 2008 // 374 pages // Rated 4.3 over 6,881,700 reviews on Goodreads

Best Sci-Fi Books: Cress (The Lunar Chronicles, #3)

2. Cress (The Lunar Chronicles, #3) – Marissa Meyer

Published 2014 // 552 pages // Rated 4.4 over 308,300 reviews on Goodreads

Best Sci-Fi Books: Ender's Game (Ender's Saga, #1)

3. Ender’s Game (Ender’s Saga, #1) – Orson Scott Card

Published 1985 // 324 pages // Rated 4.3 over 1,109,700 reviews on Goodreads

Best Sci-Fi Books: Golden Son (Red Rising Saga, #2)

4. Golden Son (Red Rising Saga, #2) – Pierce Brown

Published 2015 // 430 pages // Rated 4.4 over 143,100 reviews on Goodreads

Best Sci-Fi Books: Ready Player One (Ready Player One, #1)

5. Ready Player One (Ready Player One, #1) – Ernest Cline

Published 2011 // 374 pages // Rated 4.3 over 835,700 reviews on Goodreads

Best Sci-Fi Books: The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (Hitchhiker, #1)

6. The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy (Hitchhiker, #1) – Douglas Adams

Published 1979 // 193 pages // Rated 4.2 over 1,402,600 reviews on Goodreads

7. Dune (Dune Chronicles, #1) – Frank Herbert

Published 1965 // 604 pages // Rated 4.2 over 728,700 reviews on Goodreads

Best Sci-Fi Books: Leviathan Wakes (The Expanse, #1)

8. Leviathan Wakes (The Expanse, #1) – James S.A. Corey

Published 2011 // 561 pages // Rated 4.3 over 162,300 reviews on Goodreads

Best Sci-Fi Books: Divergent (Divergent, #1)

9. Divergent (Divergent, #1) – Veronica Roth

Published 2011 // 487 pages // Rated 4.2 over 3,180,400 reviews on Goodreads

10. 1984 – George Orwell

Published 1949 // 237 pages // Rated 4.2 over 3,055,100 reviews on Goodreads

Books 11-70: More Great Sci-Fi Books to Read

Here are the next 60 books on my list of best sci-fi books of all time (with publication date factored back in)…

11. Flowers for Algernon – Daniel Keyes

Published 1966 // 216 pages // Rated 4.1 over 469,100 reviews on Goodreads

12. The Day of the Triffids – John Wyndham

Published 1951 // 228 pages // Rated 4.0 over 88,300 reviews on Goodreads

13. The Moon is a Harsh Mistress – Robert A. Heinlein

Published 1966 // 288 pages // Rated 4.2 over 108,000 reviews on Goodreads

14. I Am Legend and Other Stories – Richard Matheson

Published 1954 // 317 pages // Rated 4.0 over 117,500 reviews on Goodreads

15. Starship Troopers – Robert A. Heinlein

Published 1959 // 335 pages // Rated 4.0 over 187,400 reviews on Goodreads

16. Slaughterhouse-Five – Kurt Vonnegut Jr.

Published 1969 // 275 pages // Rated 4.1 over 1,111,800 reviews on Goodreads

17. The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy (Hitchhiker, #1) – Douglas Adams

Published 1979 // 193 pages // Rated 4.2 over 1,402,600 reviews on Goodreads

18. Ender’s Game (Ender’s Saga, #1) – Orson Scott Card

Published 1985 // 324 pages // Rated 4.3 over 1,109,700 reviews on Goodreads

19. We – Yevgeny Zamyatin

Published 1921 // 255 pages // Rated 3.9 over 67,600 reviews on Goodreads

20. War with the Newts – Karel Čapek

Published 1935 // 241 pages // Rated 4.2 over 9,600 reviews on Goodreads

21. Out of the Silent Planet (The Space Trilogy, #1) – C.S. Lewis

Published 1938 // 224 pages // Rated 3.9 over 72,000 reviews on Goodreads

22. The City and the Stars – Arthur C. Clarke

Published 1956 // 255 pages // Rated 4.1 over 27,300 reviews on Goodreads

23. The Dispossessed (Hainish Cycle, #6) – Ursula K. Le Guin

Published 1974 // 387 pages // Rated 4.2 over 83,700 reviews on Goodreads

24. The Machine Stops – E.M. Forster

Published 1909 // 48 pages // Rated 4.1 over 11,700 reviews on Goodreads

25. A Canticle for Leibowitz (St. Leibowitz, #1) – Walter M. Miller Jr.

Published 1959 // 334 pages // Rated 4.0 over 90,300 reviews on Goodreads

26. The Forever War (The Forever War, #1) – Joe Haldeman

Published 1974 // 278 pages // Rated 4.2 over 135,700 reviews on Goodreads

27. Rendezvous with Rama (Rama, #1) – Arthur C. Clarke

Published 1973 // 243 pages // Rated 4.1 over 131,200 reviews on Goodreads

28. Stranger in a Strange Land – Robert A. Heinlein

Published 1961 // 528 pages // Rated 3.9 over 272,200 reviews on Goodreads

29. The Demolished Man – Alfred Bester

Published 1953 // 250 pages // Rated 4.0 over 27,400 reviews on Goodreads

30. Hyperion (Hyperion Cantos, #1) – Dan Simmons

Published 1989 // 482 pages // Rated 4.2 over 180,700 reviews on Goodreads

31. The Lathe of Heaven – Ursula K. Le Guin

Published 1971 // 176 pages // Rated 4.1 over 49,900 reviews on Goodreads

32. The Gods Themselves – Isaac Asimov

Published 1972 // 288 pages // Rated 4.1 over 51,700 reviews on Goodreads

33. Lord of Light – Roger Zelazny

Published 1967 // 296 pages // Rated 4.1 over 27,100 reviews on Goodreads

34. The Mote in God’s Eye (Moties, #1) – Larry Niven

Published 1974 // 596 pages // Rated 4.1 over 62,000 reviews on Goodreads

35. More Than Human – Theodore Sturgeon

Published 1953 // 186 pages // Rated 4.0 over 14,900 reviews on Goodreads

36. The Giver (The Giver, #1) – Lois Lowry

Published 1993 // 208 pages // Rated 4.1 over 1,951,700 reviews on Goodreads

37. Way Station – Clifford D. Simak

Published 1963 // 210 pages // Rated 4.0 over 21,800 reviews on Goodreads

38. Ringworld (Ringworld, #1) – Larry Niven

Published 1970 // 288 pages // Rated 4.0 over 102,500 reviews on Goodreads

39. The Hunger Games (The Hunger Games, #1) – Suzanne Collins

Published 2008 // 374 pages // Rated 4.3 over 6,881,700 reviews on Goodreads

40. Cryptonomicon – Neal Stephenson

Published 1999 // 1,139 pages // Rated 4.3 over 97,600 reviews on Goodreads

41. Gateway (Heechee Saga, #1) – Frederik Pohl

Published 1977 // 278 pages // Rated 4.1 over 38,800 reviews on Goodreads

42. Have Space Suit—Will Travel – Robert A. Heinlein

Published 1958 // 276 pages // Rated 3.9 over 26,400 reviews on Goodreads

43. The Diamond Age – Neal Stephenson

Or, A Young Lady’s Illustrated Primer

Published 1995 // 499 pages // Rated 4.2 over 80,700 reviews on Goodreads

44. Pebble in the Sky (Galactic Empire, #3) – Isaac Asimov

Published 1950 // 308 pages // Rated 3.9 over 18,400 reviews on Goodreads

45. Old Man’s War (Old Man’s War, #1) – John Scalzi

Published 2005 // 332 pages // Rated 4.2 over 155,500 reviews on Goodreads

46. Double Star – Robert A. Heinlein

Published 1956 // 243 pages // Rated 3.9 over 19,200 reviews on Goodreads

47. Invasion of the Body Snatchers – Jack Finney

Published 1955 // 216 pages // Rated 3.9 over 19,100 reviews on Goodreads

48. Ready Player One (Ready Player One, #1) – Ernest Cline

Published 2011 // 374 pages // Rated 4.3 over 835,700 reviews on Goodreads

49. Cress (The Lunar Chronicles, #3) – Marissa Meyer

Published 2014 // 552 pages // Rated 4.4 over 308,300 reviews on Goodreads

50. Stories of Your Life and Others – Ted Chiang

Published 2002 // 281 pages // Rated 4.3 over 61,000 reviews on Goodreads

51. A Deepness in the Sky (Zones of Thought, #2) – Vernor Vinge

Published 1999 // 775 pages // Rated 4.3 over 28,500 reviews on Goodreads

52. Snow Crash – Neal Stephenson

Published 1992 // 559 pages // Rated 4.0 over 233,800 reviews on Goodreads

53. Time Enough for Love – Robert A. Heinlein

Published 1973 // 589 pages // Rated 4.0 over 31,400 reviews on Goodreads

54. Lucifer’s Hammer – Larry Niven

Published 1977 // 629 pages // Rated 4.0 over 39,300 reviews on Goodreads

55. The Dark Forest (Remembrance of Earth’s Past, #2) – Liu Cixin

Published 2008 // 512 pages // Rated 4.4 over 59,600 reviews on Goodreads

56. Little Fuzzy (Fuzzy Sapiens, #1) – H. Beam Piper

Published 1962 // 252 pages // Rated 4.0 over 8,800 reviews on Goodreads

57. To Your Scattered Bodies Go – Philip José Farmer

Published 1971 // 220 pages // Rated 4.0 over 28,200 reviews on Goodreads

58. Leviathan Wakes (The Expanse, #1) – James S.A. Corey

Published 2011 // 561 pages // Rated 4.3 over 162,300 reviews on Goodreads

59. Divergent (Divergent, #1) – Veronica Roth

Published 2011 // 487 pages // Rated 4.2 over 3,180,400 reviews on Goodreads

60. Golden Son (Red Rising Saga, #2) – Pierce Brown

Published 2015 // 430 pages // Rated 4.4 over 143,100 reviews on Goodreads

61. The Sparrow (The Sparrow, #1) – Mary Doria Russell

Published 1996 // 516 pages // Rated 4.2 over 60,100 reviews on Goodreads

62. Callahan’s Crosstime Saloon (Callahan’s, #1) – Spider Robinson

Published 1977 // 224 pages // Rated 4.2 over 9,900 reviews on Goodreads

63. Galactic Patrol (Lensman, #3) – E.E. “Doc” Smith

Published 1937 // 273 pages // Rated 4.0 over 3,900 reviews on Goodreads

64. Pandora’s Star (Commonwealth Saga, #1) – Peter F. Hamilton

Published 2004 // 768 pages // Rated 4.2 over 41,000 reviews on Goodreads

65. Startide Rising (The Uplift Saga, #2) – David Brin

Published 1983 // 458 pages // Rated 4.1 over 28,800 reviews on Goodreads

66. The Man Who Fell to Earth – Walter Tevis

Published 1963 // 209 pages // Rated 4.0 over 6,400 reviews on Goodreads

67. Wool Omnibus (Silo, #1) – Hugh Howey

Published 2012 // 509 pages // Rated 4.2 over 155,700 reviews on Goodreads

68. Protector (Known Space) – Larry Niven

Published 1973 // 224 pages // Rated 4.1 over 9,400 reviews on Goodreads

69. The Fifth Season (The Broken Earth, #1) – N.K. Jemisin

Published 2015 // 468 pages // Rated 4.3 over 135,100 reviews on Goodreads

70. The System of the World (The Baroque Cycle, #3) – Neal Stephenson

Published 2004 // 908 pages // Rated 4.3 over 20,400 reviews on Goodreads

Best Sci-Fi Book FAQs

What Sci-Fi Book Should I Read Next?

Not sure what sci-fi book to read next? My top recommendation right now is Red Rising (the first book from Pierce Brown's incredible Red Rising Saga). Read it already? Want more ideas on what sci-fi book to read next? Go check out this ranked list of the best classic and modern sci-fi books of all time.

What Are the Top 5 Best Selling Science Fiction Novels?

The top 5 best selling science fiction novels of all time are:

1984 (30 million copies);
The Hunger Games (29 million copies);
Catching Fire (21 million copies);
Dune (20 million copies); and
Andromeda Nebula (20 million copies).

Source: The 101+ Best Selling Books of All Time

Where Should I Start Sci-Fi Books?

If you're totally new to sci-fi I'd recommend starting with more modern top sci-fi titles like Ender's Game, The Hunger Games or Red Rising. Once you're a bit more familiar with the genre, though, I'd definitely recommend checking out more classic sci-fi titles like 1984, Second Foundation or I, Robot. Want more ideas? Check out the full list of the 70+ best sci-fi books of all time.

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