Science Fiction
Science fiction is a form of speculative fiction, with imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, parallel universes, and extraterrestrial life. Besides providing entertainment, it can also criticize present-day society and explore alternatives. It can often inspire a sense of wonder.
New to science fiction? Try these favorites:
Binti (2015)
Nnedi Okorafor
Binti leaves her home in futuristic Namibia to travel to Oomza University, the best university in the galaxy, but finds herself in the middle of a deadly war not of her making.
Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (1979)
Douglas Adams
In this absurdist sci-fi comedy, Earth is demolished to make way for a new hyperspace highway, but Arthur is rescued by a friend who turns out to be an alien. Now he's hurtling through space with a towel and a book that says "DON'T PANIC."
Ready Player One (2011)
Ernest Cline
In 2044, a teenager named Wade spends all his time in a VR-type virtual utopia called OASIS, hunting for a treasure supposedly hidden there. When he gets close, he finds himself being hunted by others seeking the prize.
Left Hand of Darkness (1969)
Ursula K. Le Guin
A human emissary visits the planet of Winter, an alien planet whose inhabitants do not have genders. His goal is to include them in a growing intergalactic civilization, but do connect with them, he must bridge a large gulf between his culture and theirs.
Newer titles you may enjoy:
Lovecraft Country (2018)
Matt Ruff
An imaginative mix of sci-fi, Lovecraftian horror, and fantasy, Ruff tells a tale of 2 Black families in the 1950s US who become caught in the web of a secret society.
Recursion (2019)
Blake Crouch
A detective investigates a puzzling phenomenon: all over the country, people are waking up to different lives, an epidemic the media have dubbed ‘False Memory Syndrome’.
Project Hail Mary (2021)
Andy Weir
Ryland is the sole survivor on a last-chance mission—and if he fails, humanity and the earth itself will perish. But right now, he doesn’t know that. He can’t even remember his own name, let alone the nature of his assignment or how to complete it.
To Sleep in the Sea of Stars (2020)
Christopher Paolini
During a routine survey mission on an uncolonized planet, Kira finds an alien relic. At first she's delighted, but elation turns to terror when the ancient dust around her begins to move.