What To Read

12 of the Best Sci-Fi Books to Transport You to Other Worlds

Honoring the birth date of Isaac Asimov, who wrote more than 500 sci-fi works, this Monday is National Science Fiction Day. Here are some of the must-reads in the genre ranging from classics to new releases.

Emmanuel Hidalgo-Wohlleben •

Dec 29th, 2022

A contemporary space adventure

The Martian by Andy Weir

You probably already know of the 2015 film with Matt Damon and Jessica Chastain by director Ridley Scott (Blader Runner, Alien). In this story set in the near future, an astronaut becomes stranded on Mars. In an essay included at the end of the print edition of the book, the author discusses how the actual conditions on Mars influenced the story. "Science creates plot! No need for meteor strikes — the surprises, catastrophes, and narrow escapes were coming fast and furious on their own."

The Martian

Andy Weir

If you do anything in your lifetime, read #TheMartian by @andyweirauthor. Trust me on this. Best book I've ever read. EVER.

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A new sci-fi romance

This Is How You Lose the Time War by Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone

This multi-award winning novella follows a pair of rival agents (and star-crossed lovers) known as Red and Blue as they traverse time and space in order to secure a future for their homelands. This unique book, published in 2022, leaps from the thrill of time travel and war to the thrill of romantic connection.

This Is How You Lose the Time War

Amal El-Mohtar

since my library doesn't have any of the 20ish books on my want-to-read list, I'm rereading "This is How You Lose the Time War", which is yet another one of those books that proves the Golden Age of science fiction isn't the '50s/'60s but RIGHT FRIGGIN' NOW

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A must-read classic

Roadside Picnic by Arkady and Boris Strugatsky

First translated to English from the original Russian in 1977, this edition of the Soviet-era cult classic includes a forward from legendary sci-fi and fantasy author Ursula K. Le Guin. The book follows the aftermath of an extraterrestrial event called the Visitation that simultaneously took place in locations throughout Earth over a two-day period.

Roadside Picnic: Volume 16

Arkady Strugatsky

A book I fell so hard for that I have said aloud, more than once, and only half in jest, that it is the greatest literary work in any language or any genre, ever.

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An apocalyptic satire

Severance by Ling Ma

Released to widespread acclaim, the 2018 Kirkus Prize for Fiction winner is a satire that follows the journey of a young and aimless office worker navigating her way through an apocalypse.

Severance

Ling Ma

I’m rereading Ling Ma’s “Severance” for the third time and god damn this book is just so, so phenomenal https://t.co/l81VySLXAx

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An icon of '60s counterculture

Stranger in a Strange Land by Robert A. Heinlein

Along with Isaac Asimov and Arthur C. Clarke, Heinlein is one of the most influential sci-fi authors of the 20th century. This classic of the genre was included in the Library of Congress's list of "Books That Shaped America," and follows the journey of a human raised by Martians sent to Earth.

Stranger in a Strange Land

Robert A. Heinlein

Paul Allen and I fell in love with Heinlein when we were just kids, and this book is still one of my favorite sci-fi novels of all time. It tells the story of a young man who returns to Earth after growing up on Mars and starts a new religion.

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A high-concept thriller for fans of Black Mirror

Mickey7 by Edward Ashton

Released in early 2022, this sci-fi thriller is now being adapted for the big screen by Parasite director Bong Joon-ho, with Robert Pattison staring as Mickey7. The story is about an "expendable" worker who refuses to allow his clone replacement take his place.

Mickey7

Edward Ashton

A wildly entertaining mix of action and big ideas peppered with humor and a bizarre love story, this novel is proof that, when done right, science fiction can be one of the most entertaining genres out there.

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An existential horror story - one of the best of PKD

Ubik by Philip K. Dick

This 1969 novel, named one of the 100 best English-language novels published since 1923 by TIME, takes place in a distant 1992 where psychic powers have become weaponized by corporations. This is a great place to start for readers who are new to PKD.

Ubik

Philip K. Dick

If I could propose two essential qualities of Dick as a human, they would be cosmic bafflement and heroic hopefulness, both present in Ubik. This is a novel with a long half-life. You may not clock the full effects until you find yourself thinking about it six or 60 months later.

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An epic classic

Dune by Frank Herbert

This epic novel won the Hugo Award and inaugural Nebula Award in 1966, and has received renewed interest since the release of its 2021 film adaptation, which won six Academy Awards.

Dune

Frank Herbert

I first read Dune in graduate school. Paul's fear chant became my secret weapon against panic. The book also woke me up to our need to get serious about being stewards of our beautiful planet, not opportunistic destroyers.

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A classic from one of the "big 3" 20th-century sci-fi masters

Foundation by Isaac Asimov

Asimov's iconic short stories won the Hugo Award's "Best All-Time Series" in 1966, beating J.R.R. Tolkien's Lord of the Rings amongst other legendary collections.

Foundation

Isaac Asimov

A science fiction story set in a future when humanity has expanded across the galaxy into a universal spacefaring empire. Although the setting is [one] that implies soaring human achievement, it’s actually a story about civilizational decline and how to survive it.

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A prescient novel that has never felt more relevant

Parable of the Sower by Octavia Butler

This post-apocalyptic novel from the prolific author and MacArthur "Genius Grant" winner, Octavia Butler, provides a haunting glimpse into a world devastated by environmental and social crises.

Parable of the Sower

Octavia E. Butler

I’m 80% through Octavia Butler’s Parable of the Sower and I’m really enjoying how it gets deep into your bones with its simplicity, unsettling familiarity, and a kernel of hope in a landscape of decay and despair.

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A space opera trilogy

Lords of Uncreation by Adrian Tchaikovsky

From one of sci-fi's most popular contemporary author – this May will see the release of the last installment in the Final Architecture novel series, in which humanity is embattled in a galactic war against a race of enormous creatures with the capability to destroy entire planets. (See the first book in the series: Shards of Earth.)

Lords of Uncreation

Adrian Tchaikovsky

Hardcover, 2023

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A New York Times Editors' Choice Pick from 2022

Goliath by Tonye Onyebuchi

Hugo, Nebula, and Locus award winner Tonye Onyebuchi has written a kind of primal biblical epic that's flung into the future. In the 2050s, people with means have departed the great cities of the U.S. for the space colonies. As those left behind amidst crumbling infrastructure eke out an existence, their houses are uprooted and sent to space as quaint reminders of the world left behind.

Goliath

Tochi Onyebuchi

This is a structurally ambitious novel, fired up with righteous energy: [he] handles his kaleidoscopic narrative and large cast of characters with aplomb. Fundamentally a satire on gentrification, with space’s “Final Frontier” styled as the new suburbs, this is a giant achievement.

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