Trending in Sci-Fi

Project Hail Mary

Andy Weir · Sci-Fi

Ryland Grace is the sole survivor on a desperate, last-chance mission–and if he fails, humanity and the earth itself will perish.

quest · high stakes survival

Red Rising

Pierce Brown · Sci-Fi

Darrow is a Red, a member of the lowest caste in the color-coded society of the future.

dystopian society · chosen one · high stakes survival · revenge plot

Dune

Frank Herbert · Sci-Fi

Set on the desert planet Arrakis, Dune is the story of the boy Paul Atreides, heir to a noble family tasked with ruling an inhospitable world where…

chosen one · quest · high stakes survival

The Martian

Andy Weir · Sci-Fi

Six days ago, astronaut Mark Watney became one of the first people to walk on Mars.

high stakes survival

The Last Contract of Isako

Fonda Lee · Sci-Fi

Get ready to be blown away by this searing standalone science fiction epic where corporate samurai fight beneath merciless stars, and death is always…

revenge plot · redemption arc · morally grey character · high stakes survival

Children of Time

Adrian Tchaikovsky · Sci-Fi

The last remnants of the human race left a dying Earth, desperate to find a new home.

post apocalyptic · high stakes survival · found family · twist ending

Hyperion

Dan Simmons · Sci-Fi

A stunning tour de force filled with transcendent awe and wonder, Hyperion is a masterwork of science fiction that resonates with excitement and…

quest · chosen one · multiple timelines · high stakes survival

Operation Bounce House

Matt Dinniman · Sci-Fi

A man must fight for his planet against impossible odds when gamers from Earth attempt to remotely annihilate it in this epic, fast-paced novel from…

high stakes survival · found family · quest

Slow Gods

Claire North · Sci-Fi

My name is Mawukana na-Vdnaze, and I am a very poor copy of myself.

unreliable narrator · quest · found family

Children of Strife

Adrian Tchaikovsky · Sci-Fi

From the award-winning master of sci-fi Adrian Tchaikovsky, Children of Strife is the unmissable follow-up space opera to the highly acclaimed…

quest · post apocalyptic · found family · high stakes survival

Empire of Silence

Christopher Ruocchio · Sci-Fi

It was not his war. On the wrong planet, at the right time, for the best reasons, Hadrian Marlowe started down a path that could only end in fire.…

morally grey character · anti hero · quest · redemption arc

11/22/63

Stephen King · Sci-Fi

11/22/63 is a novel by Stephen King about a time traveller who attempts to prevent the assassination of United States President John F.

time travel · quest · slow burn · second chance romance · high stakes survival

Neuromancer

William Gibson · Sci-Fi

Henry Dorsett Case was the sharpest data-thief in the Matrix, until an ex-employer crippled his nervous system.

dystopian society · heist · quest

Never Let Me Go

Kazuo Ishiguro · Sci-Fi

Ishiguro explores what it means to have a soul and how art distinguishes man from other life forms.

dystopian society · gothic atmosphere · twist ending

Shadows Upon Time

Christopher Ruocchio · Sci-Fi

The seventh and final novel of the galaxy-spanning series merges the best of space opera and epic fantasy, as Hadrian Marlowe at last lights the…

quest · revenge plot · multiple timelines · twist ending

Howling Dark

Christopher Ruocchio · Sci-Fi

"Hadrian Marlowe is lost. For half a century, he has searched the farther suns for the lost planet of Vorgossos, hoping to find a way to contact the…

anti hero · revenge plot · high stakes survival

The Infinite State

Richard Swan · Sci-Fi

In this blistering science fiction epic, international bestselling author Richard Swan presents a thrilling tale of survival and an eviscerating…

dystopian society · multiple timelines · high stakes survival · redemption arc

Foundation

Isaac Asimov · Sci-Fi

One of the great masterworks of science fiction, the Foundation novels of Isaac Asimov are unsurpassed for their unique blend of nonstop action,…

chosen one · quest

Parable of the Sower

Octavia E. Butler · Sci-Fi

In 2025 California, an eighteen-year-old African American woman, suffering from a hereditary trait that causes her to feel others' pain as well as…

coming of age · dystopian society · high stakes survival · quest

Annihilation

Jeff VanderMeer · Sci-Fi

Area X has been cut off from the rest of the continent for decades.

unreliable narrator · quest · high stakes survival · twist ending

The Long Way to a Small Angry Planet

Becky Chambers · Sci-Fi

When Rosemary Harper joins the crew of the Wayfarer, she isn't expecting much.

found family · cozy vibes · quest

Recursion

Blake Crouch · Sci-Fi

**Memory makes reality.** That’s what New York City cop Barry Sutton is learning as he investigates the devastating phenomenon the media has…

time travel · multiple timelines · twist ending · high stakes survival

This Is How You Lose the Time War

Amal El-Mohtar · Sci-Fi

Two time-traveling agents from warring futures, working their way through the past, begin to exchange letters—and fall in love in this thrilling and…

slow burn · time travel · enemies to lovers · twist ending

This Inevitable Ruin

Matt Dinniman · Sci-Fi

quest · high stakes survival

The Left Hand of Darkness

Ursula K. Le Guin · Sci-Fi

[Comment by Kim Stanley Robinson, on The Guardian's website][1]: The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K Le Guin (1969) > One of my favorite novels…

slow burn · opposites attract · fish out of water · quest

The Murderbot Diaries

Martha Wells · Sci-Fi

"We are all a little bit Murderbot." - NPR on Martha Wells's The Murderbot Diaries...

found family · anti hero · quest

The Subtle Art of Folding Space

John Chu · Sci-Fi

The Subtle Art of Folding Space, is the exhilarating debut science fiction novel from Nebula and Hugo Award-winning author John Chu channels unhinged…

redemption arc · found family

Demon in White

Christopher Ruocchio · Sci-Fi

The third novel of the galaxy-spanning Sun Eater series merges the best of space opera and epic fantasy.

anti hero · morally grey character · high stakes survival · demons

The Handmaid's Tale

Margaret Atwood · Sci-Fi

The Handmaid's Tale is a dystopian novel by Canadian author Margaret Atwood, published in 1985.

dystopian society · high stakes survival · revenge plot

All Systems Red

Martha Wells · Sci-Fi

The series is about an artificial construct designed as a Security Unit, which manages to override its governor unit, thus enabling it to develop…

found family · revenge plot · high stakes survival · quest

Klara and the Sun

Kazuo Ishiguro · Sci-Fi

"Klara and the Sun, the first novel by Kazuo Ishiguro since he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature, tells the story of Klara, an Artificial…

unreliable narrator · dystopian society

Pandora's Star

Peter F. Hamilton · Sci-Fi

Critics have compared the engrossing space operas of Peter F.

high stakes survival · quest

Iron Gold

Pierce Brown · Sci-Fi

The explosive new novel in the Red Rising series

dystopian society · high stakes survival · revenge plot

House of Suns

Alastair Reynolds · Sci-Fi

Six million years ago, at the dawn of the star-faring era, Abigail Gentian fractured herself into a thousand male and female clones, which she called…

found family · quest · multiple timelines

Kindred

Octavia Butler · Sci-Fi

Dana, a modern black woman, is celebrating her twenty-sixth birthday with her new husband when she is snatched abruptly from her home in California…

time travel · high stakes survival · revenge plot · twist ending

The Faith of Beasts

James S. A. Corey · Sci-Fi

James S. A. Corey's Expanse series has sold more than 12 million copies worldwide and has been translated into more than 23 languages, establishing…

found family · high stakes survival · quest

The Forever War

Joe Haldeman · Sci-Fi

"The legendary novel of extraterrestrial war in an uncaring universe comes to comics, in a stunningly realized vision of Joe Haldeman's Vietnam War…

multiple timelines · high stakes survival · anti hero

Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?

Philip K. Dick · Sci-Fi

It was January 2021, and Rick Deckard had a license to kill.

quest · morally grey character · twist ending

The Dream Hotel

Laila Lalami · Sci-Fi

"From Laila Lalami-the Pulitzer Prize and National Book Award finalist and a "maestra of literary fiction" (NPR)-comes a riveting and utterly…

dystopian society · high stakes survival · quest

Hell's Heart

Alexis Hall · Sci-Fi

Gideon the Ninth meets Moby-Dick in USA Today bestselling author Alexis Hall's thrilling SF debut, Hell's Heart!

morally grey character · high stakes survival · found family

Dead but Dreaming of Electric Sheep

Paul Tremblay · Sci-Fi

Philip K. Dick meets the Coen Brothers in this genre-bending near-future tech nightmare that is as bitingly funny as it is horrifically believable…

dystopian society · fish out of water · twist ending

Chain-Gang All-Stars

Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah · Sci-Fi

She felt their eyes, all those executioners… Loretta Thurwar and Hamara “Hurricane Staxxx” Stacker are the stars of the Chain-Gang All-Stars, the…

dystopian society · high stakes survival · revenge plot · anti hero

All That We See or Seem

Ken Liu · Sci-Fi

Julia Z, a young woman who gained notoriety at fourteen as the “orphan hacker,” is trying to live a life of digital obscurity in a Boston suburb.

high stakes survival · missing person · twist ending

Revelation Space

Alastair Reynolds · Sci-Fi

Nine hundred thousand years ago, something annihilated the Amarantin civilization just as it was on the verge of discovering space flight.

quest · multiple timelines · high stakes survival · twist ending

The Lathe Of Heaven

Ursula K. Le Guin · Sci-Fi

“The Lathe of Heaven” ; 1971 ( Ursula Le Guin received the 1973 Locus Award for this story) George Orr has a gift – he is an effective dreamer: his…

dystopian society · twist ending · high stakes survival

Dark Age

Pierce Brown · Sci-Fi

*He broke the chains. Then he broke the world….* A decade ago Darrow led a revolution, and laid the foundations for a new world. Now he’s an…

dystopian society · high stakes survival · revenge plot · multiple timelines

Dune Messiah

Frank Herbert · Sci-Fi

**Book Two in the Magnificent Dune Chronicles—the Bestselling Science Fiction Adventure of All Time** Dune Messiah continues the story of Paul…

morally grey character · anti hero · high stakes survival

Ender's Game

Orson Scott Card · Sci-Fi

Young Ender Wiggin thinks he is playing war games at the Battle School, high in orbit, but he is engaged in something far more desperate.

coming of age · chosen one · anti hero · high stakes survival

Platform Decay

Martha Wells · Sci-Fi

A most-anticipated title from USA Today, Goodreads, BookPage, BookRiot, Seattle Times, and The Nerd Daily!

found family · anti hero

The Mote in God's Eye

Larry Niven · Sci-Fi

Writing separately, Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle are responsible for a number of science fiction classics, such as the Hugo and Nebula…

high stakes survival

A Fire Upon The Deep

Vernor Vinge · Sci-Fi

Thousands of years in the future, humanity is no longer alone in a universe where a mind's potential is determined by its location in space, from…

quest · high stakes survival

Altered Carbon

Richard K. Morgan · Sci-Fi

In the 25th century, humankind has spread throughout the galaxy, monitored by the watchful eye of the U.N.

post apocalyptic · high stakes survival · morally grey character

The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

Douglas Adams · Sci-Fi

DON'T LEAVE EARTH WITHOUT IT! THE HITCHHIKER'S GUIDE TO THE GALAXY is the hilarious international bestseller--with over one million copies in…

road trip · fish out of water

After The Fall

Edward Ashton · Sci-Fi

Part alien invasion story, part buddy comedy, and part workplace satire, After The Fall by Edward Ashton, author of Mickey7 (inspiration for the film…

dystopian society · high stakes survival

Spin

Robert Charles Wilson · Sci-Fi

One night in October when he was ten years old, Tyler Dupree stood in his back yard and watched the stars go out.

high stakes survival · twist ending

There Is No Antimemetics Division

qntm · Sci-Fi

(from back cover) An antimeme is *an idea with self-censoring properties*; an idea which, by its intrinsic nature, discourages or prevents people…

twist ending · unreliable narrator · high stakes survival

Isles of the Emberdark

Brandon Sanderson · Sci-Fi

All his life, Sixth of the Dusk has been a traditional trapper of Aviar - the supernatural birds his people bond with - on the deadly island of Patji.

quest · coming of age · high stakes survival

The Sparrow

Mary Doria Russell · Sci-Fi

The Sparrow is a novel about a remarkable man, a living saint, a life-long celibate and Jesuit priest, who undergoes an experience so harrowing and…

quest · multiple timelines · twist ending · forbidden romance · high stakes survival

Ancillary Justice

Ann Leckie · Sci-Fi

On a remote, icy planet, the soldier known as Breq is drawing closer to completing her quest.

revenge plot · unreliable narrator · morally grey character · secret identity · high stakes survival

The War of the Worlds

Hg Wells · Sci-Fi

The seminal masterpiece of alien invasion, The War of the Worlds (1898) conjures a terrifying, tentacled race of Martians who devastate the Earth and…

high stakes survival · post apocalyptic · closed circle

The Vanished Birds

Simon Jimenez · Sci-Fi

A “highly imaginative and utterly exhilarating” (Thrillist) debut that is “the best of what science fiction can be: a thought-provoking, heartrending…

found family · quest

The Dungeon Anarchist's Cookbook

Matt Dinniman · Sci-Fi

Welcome to the Iron Tangle! Carl and his ex-girlfriend’s cat, Princess Donut, have to team up with other contestants not just to survive, but to…

high stakes survival · found family · quest

Light Bringer

Pierce Brown · Sci-Fi

The Reaper is a legend, more myth than man: the savior of worlds, the leader of the Rising, the breaker of chains.

anti hero · morally grey character · revenge plot · high stakes survival · redemption arc

Automatic Noodle

Annalee Newitz · Sci-Fi

"From sci-fi visionary and acclaimed author Annalee Newitz comes Automatic Noodle, a cozy near-future novella about a crew of abandoned food service…

found family · cozy vibes

Fahrenheit 451

Ray Bradbury · Sci-Fi

Celebrate the fiftieth anniversary of this timeless classic with a special edition featuring a new introduction by the author and a message that is…

dystopian society · quest

Speaker for the Dead

Orson Scott Card · Sci-Fi

Ender Wiggin, the young military genius, discovers that a second alien war is inevitable and that he must dismiss his fears to make peace with…

quest · chosen one · redemption arc · high stakes survival

Leviathan Wakes

James S. A. Corey · Sci-Fi

From a New York Times bestselling and Hugo award-winning author comes a modern masterwork of science fiction, introducing a captain, his crew, and a…

missing person · revenge plot · high stakes survival · found family · multiple timelines

Where the Axe Is Buried

Ray Nayler · Sci-Fi

All systems fail. All societies crumble. All worlds end. In the authoritarian Federation, there is a plot to assassinate and replace the President, a…

dystopian society · revenge plot · morally grey character · high stakes survival

Sublimation

Isabel J. Kim · Sci-Fi

Doppelgangers, corporate intrigue, heartbreak, betrayal, and the harsh permanence of the border: Sublimation is a thrilling and provocative debut for…

dystopian society · morally grey character · twist ending

The Butcher's Masquerade

Matt Dinniman · Sci-Fi

high stakes survival · quest

Morning Star

Pierce Brown · Sci-Fi

Born a lowly Red in the mines of Mars, Darrow lost his beloved wife to the treacherous Gold overlords.

chosen one · revenge plot · dystopian society · high stakes survival

Childhood's End

Arthur C. Clarke · Sci-Fi

Childhood's End is a 1953 science fiction novel by British author Arthur C.

dystopian society · high stakes survival · twist ending

Intercepts

T. J. Payne · Sci-Fi

The word-of-mouth BookTok hit about a supervisor at a top-secret government facility running experiments on human beings.

dystopian society · high stakes survival

A Memory Called Empire

Arkady Martine · Sci-Fi

Won the 2020 Hugo for Best Novel.

secret identity · quest

Startide Rising

David Brin · Sci-Fi

David Brin: “Startide Rising” (1983) This is a sci fi story about a Terran (Earth) crew of neo-dolphins and humans on the starship “The Streaker”.

quest · found family

Wool

Hugh Howey · Sci-Fi

In a ruined and toxic landscape, a community exists in a giant silo underground, hundreds of stories deep.

post apocalyptic · high stakes survival · dystopian society

Inherit the Stars

James P. Hogan · Sci-Fi

quest

A CANTICLE FOR LEIBOWITZ

Walter M. Miller Jr. · Sci-Fi

post apocalyptic · quest · multiple timelines

To Be Taught, If Fortunate

Becky Chambers · Sci-Fi

At the turn of the twenty-second century, scientists make a breakthrough in human spaceflight.

found family · quest · portal fantasy · cozy vibes · coming of age

Gateway

Frederik Pohl · Sci-Fi

Gateway opened on all the wealth of the Universe...and on reaches of unimaginable horror.

quest · unreliable narrator

We Are Legion (We Are Bob)

Dennis E. Taylor · Sci-Fi

“Bob Johansson has just sold his software company and is looking forward to a life of leisure.

quest · found family · anti hero

Disquiet Gods

Christopher Ruocchio · Sci-Fi

The sixth novel of the galaxy-spanning Sun Eater series merges the best of space opera and epic fantasy, as Hadrian Marlowe continues down a path…

anti hero · morally grey character · revenge plot · high stakes survival

The Chrysalids

John Wyndham · Sci-Fi

THE COLD WAR SCI-FI CLASSIC: Following a global nuclear war, a telepathic young boy searches for freedom in a fundamentalist society.

post apocalyptic · dystopian society · coming of age · chosen one

The Gate of the Feral Gods

Matt Dinniman · Sci-Fi

New Achievement! Total, Utter Failure. You failed a quest less than five minutes after you received it. Now that’s talent. A floating fortress…

high stakes survival · found family · quest

Embassytown

China Mieville · Sci-Fi

From the award-winning author of Perdido Street Station and The City & the City "Richly conceived." The New York Times Book Review Embassytown: a…

fish out of water · closed circle · quest

Overgrowth

Mira Grant · Sci-Fi

Day of the Triffids meets Gretchen Felker-Martin's Cuckoo.

post apocalyptic · dystopian society · morally grey character · high stakes survival

Seveneves

Neal Stephenson · Sci-Fi

"What would happen if the world were ending?

post apocalyptic · high stakes survival · dystopian society · quest

The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August

Claire North · Sci-Fi

Wildly original, funny and moving, The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August is an extraordinary story of a life lived again and again from World…

time travel · coming of age · multiple timelines · twist ending

Look to Windward

Iain M. Banks · Sci-Fi

It was one of the less glorious incidents of a long-ago war.

found family · redemption arc · high stakes survival

The Employees

Olga Ravn · Sci-Fi

"Is this a human problem? If so, I'd like to keep it. The crew of the Six-Thousand Ship consists of those who were born, and those who were made. …

post apocalyptic · high stakes survival

Starship Troopers

Robert A. Heinlein · Sci-Fi

With Earth embroiled in a vast interplanetary war with the "Bugs," a young recruit in the Federal Reserves relates his experiences training in boot…

dystopian society · chosen one · high stakes survival

Dead Silence

S.A. Barnes · Sci-Fi

Titanic meets The Shining in S.A.

closed circle · high stakes survival · twist ending

2001: A Space Odyssey

Arthur C. Clarke · Sci-Fi

A deluxe hardcover edition of the wondrous space adventure that is the basis for Stanley Kubrick’s Oscar-winning film—now celebrating its 50th…

quest · high stakes survival

A Psalm for the Wild-Built

Becky Chambers · Sci-Fi

It's been centuries since the robots of Panga gained self-awareness and laid down their tools; centuries since they wandered, en masse, into the…

cozy vibes · found family · coming of age

Rendezvous with Rama

Arthur Charles Clarke · Sci-Fi

Written in 1973, a massive 50 kilometre long alien cylinder begins to pass through the solar system provoking a hurried effort to intercept it.

quest · closed circle

The Invisible Man

H. G. Wells · Sci-Fi

The Invisible Man (1897) is a science fiction novel.

secret identity · anti hero · morally grey character

An Unkindness of Ghosts

Rivers Solomon · Sci-Fi

"Aster has little to offer folks in the way of rebuttal when they call her ogre and freak.

found family · dystopian society · coming of age

First Mage on the Moon

Cameron Johnston · Sci-Fi

Cameron Johnston returns in this innovative space fantasy, where wizards race to be the first on the moon – also known as the land of the gods.

quest · redemption arc · high stakes survival

Toothsucker

Kaden Love · Sci-Fi

In a cyberpunk future, an alarming disease strikes, dissolving the bones of those with cybernetic enhancements.

dystopian society · forced proximity

Carl's Doomsday Scenario

Matt Dinniman · Sci-Fi

"The training levels have concluded.

high stakes survival · quest

Sea of Tranquility

Emily St. John Mandel · Sci-Fi

Edwin St. Andrew is eighteen years old when he crosses the Atlantic by steamship, exiled from polite society following an ill-conceived diatribe at a…

time travel · multiple timelines · slow burn

The Shadow of the Torturer

Gene Wolfe · Sci-Fi

It relates the story of Severian, an apprentice in the Seekers for Truth and Penitence (the guild of torturers), from his youth through his expulsion…

anti hero · unreliable narrator · quest

When the Moon Hits Your Eye

John Scalzi · Sci-Fi

John Scalzi flies you to the moon with his most fantastic tale to date: When the Moon Hits Your Eye The moon has turned into cheese.

high stakes survival · found family

This Brutal Moon

Bethany Jacobs · Sci-Fi

Bethany Jacobs returns with the thrilling conclusion to The Kindom Trilogy that began with the Philip K.

revenge plot · high stakes survival · morally grey character

The Time Machine

H. G. Wells · Sci-Fi

H. G. Wells' The Time Machine, from 1895, popularized the idea of a vehicle that allows its user to travel intentionally and selectively across time,…

time travel · quest

Celestial Lights

Cecile Pin · Sci-Fi

A coming-of-age tale inspired by Odysseus set both on Earth and in space, Celestial Lights is perfect for fans of Orbital and Normal People.

coming of age · quest · portal fantasy

Downbelow Station

C. J. Cherryh · Sci-Fi

From back cover Daw paperback February 1981: Pell's Star occupied the central spot in the coming conflict between Earth's tired stellar empire and…

high stakes survival · closed circle

The Cure

K a Riley · Sci-Fi

Before the Blight, becoming an adult was something teenagers looked forward to.

chosen one · dystopian society · coming of age · high stakes survival

Legend

Marie Lu · Sci-Fi

! What was once the western United States is now home to the Republic, a nation perpetually at war with its neighbors. Born into an elite family…

dystopian society · chosen one · revenge plot · twist ending

The Mountain in the Sea

Ray Nayler · Sci-Fi

When pioneering marine biologist Dr.

quest · high stakes survival · found family

The Day of the Triffids

John Wyndham · Sci-Fi

John Wyndham's 1951 classic post-apocalypse novel introduced the world to triffids, walking man-eating plants, preying on humanity in a world struck…

post apocalyptic · high stakes survival · quest

The One

John Marrs · Sci-Fi

A simple DNA test is all it takes.

dystopian society · twist ending · high stakes survival · closed circle

Severance

Ling Ma · Sci-Fi

Candace Chen, a millennial drone self-sequestered in a Manhattan office tower, is devoted to routine.

dystopian society · post apocalyptic · unreliable narrator · high stakes survival

Lord of Light

Roger Zelazny · Sci-Fi

quest

Divergent

Veronica Roth · Sci-Fi

‘Divergent’ is the first in a trilogy of dystopian, YA novels by Veronica Roth.

dystopian society · coming of age · chosen one · slow burn

Inverted World

Christopher Priest · Sci-Fi

The city is winched along tracks through a devastated land full of hostile tribes.

dystopian society · twist ending

Radiant Star

Ann Leckie · Sci-Fi

Space opera's sharpest mind returns to the world of the Imperial Radch in this brilliant standalone from award-winning author Ann Leckie.

quest · morally grey character

Halcyon Years

Alastair Reynolds · Sci-Fi

A private investigator is hired to look into a mysterious, high-profile death aboard the starship Halcyon in this fresh new science fiction…

closed circle · locked room