These books are my personal favorite of the genre for one reason or another. Sci-fi is widely represented in this book list, from cozy to hard sci-fi to space operas. There’s something for every sci-fi and non-sci-fi lover.
We Are Legion (We are Bob) by Dennis E. Taylor
Perfect for fans of futuristic scifi, aliens, theoretical science, funy MC’s.
A man from twenty-first-century America is hit by a bus. Years later, he awakens, his consciousness uploaded to a computer and deemed the state’s property. He’s given a choice: Become a probe for a new and terrifying America, the first AI probe to venture into deep space, or be switched off. The safest place for Bob is in space…or so he thinks.
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Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir
Perfect for fans of buddy comedies, mysteries, aliens, speculative scifi
Ryland is on a spaceship with two dead bodies, and he has no idea how he got there. He hardly knows his name. As memories return fuzzily, it becomes clear that what he’s doing is world-savingly important… whatever it is. And he needs to figure it out before it’s too late and humanity is destroyed forever.
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The Martian Chronicles by Ray Bradbury
Perfect for fans of anthology, scifi, lyrical language
A series of interconnected short stories takes us on man’s journey to conquer Mars and then eventually be conquered by it. Mars transforms from a prosperous utopia governed by Martians to a capitalistic empire created by humans and then fallen by humanity’s vices. The prose in this book will make your heart sing.
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This is How you Lose the Time War by Max Gladstone
Perfect for fans of enemies to lovers, time travel, intricate plot lines, novellas
Red and Blue are agents for opposing timelines, each racing through the ages to alter history for their allegiances. But when they begin a tentative correspondence, things get complicated and dangerous.
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The Lathe of Heaven by Ursula K LeGuin
Perfect for fans of dream fiction, dystopian, alternate realities
George dreams, and the world changes. His psychiatrist is unconvinced until George dreams in his office and changes things before his eyes. Now, with the help of George’s dreams, Dr. Haber will change the world—for the better, of course.
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Sea of Tranquility by Emily St. John Mandel
Perfect for fans of dystopian, mystery, and time perspectives.
The sounds of a violin interconnect a woman on a book tour at the beginning of a plague, a private detective on Mars, and an eighteenth-century English aristocrat. How? We will discover. This book is beautifully written and profound.
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A Psalm for the Wild Built by Becky Chambers
Perfect for fans of cozy, forest based, scifi
Long ago, robots gained sentience and wandered into the forests. On his journey, a tea monk stumbles across a wild robot. The robot’s mission? To check up on humans and see how they’re doing. This is a cozy sci-fi, perfect for the fall season.
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Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury
Perfect for dystopian authoritarian governments, lyrical writing, evil turned good protagonist
In a dystopian world where books are the most illicit and illegal substance of all, firemen don’t put out fires—they start them. They are tasked with seeking out and destroying hidden books—until one fireman decides to read one of those illegal books, and it changes his world forever.
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Ready Player One by Ernest Cline
Perfect for fans of eighties references, adventure quests, virtual space operas
Wade Watts is just trying to get by in a dystopian future where most people spend their days in a virtual reality called the OASIS. When Wade finds the first clue in a lottery that could make him king of the OASIS, he triggers a race that could give or cost him everything.
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The Paradox Hotel by Rob Hart
Perfect for fans of time travel, murder mystery, snarky robots, and baby dinosaurs
Being the resident security chief in a hotel based around time travel as a luxury destination can be challenging. January’s job is about to get a whole lot harder when she finds a dead body that only she can see in one of the hotel guest rooms.
More Info: Goodreads | Storygraph
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