Science Fiction Books

Short sci fi deliver stories with more punch – it’s ‘concentrated fruit juice for the brain’, says author Karin Tidbeck. They talk us through their five top choices, taking in first encounters, space operas and multiverses along the way – all in perfectly crafted short novels.

The Arthur C Clarke award highlights six outstanding science fiction books every year. The judges look for books that reward re-reading and make them think, says chair of judges Andrew M. Butler. He introduces this year’s shortlist, taking in everything from time travel to heist novels: books that provoke questions, confront crises, and make us laugh.

H. P. Lovecraft has been hugely influential on many leading names in speculative fiction today, and is also frequently adapted – and frequently subverted. Jeffrey Weinstock, co-editor of The Age of Lovecraft, introduces five stories that best illustrate the themes and range of this influential figure: the anxieties, the typical Lovecraftian twists, and the ‘cosmic indifferentness’ that set his work apart.

Cyberpunk focuses on the near future, and on the impact of technology on human affairs, says Jared Shurin, anthologist and editor of The Big Book of Cyberpunk. He takes us from prescient writers of the past, up to those asking the same questions today: five stories from worlds that are plausible, challenging, and – above all – deeply human.

Fans vote every year for the best of sci fi and fantasy, in both the Hugo Awards and the Nebula Awards, and the Best Novel spot in each is always one to watch. Our fantasy and sci fi editor Sylvia Bishop introduces the sci fi winners of the last decade: from titles that are now classics of the genre, to the newest writers making waves.

Hard science fiction books build fantastical worlds underpinned by rigorous science. This constraint actually provokes originality, explains multi-award winning author Adrian Tchaikovsky. He talks us through his five favourites, and shows how every sci-fi story exploring science must also explore politics, philosophy and humanity.

The best sci-fi explores humanity’s anxieties and concerns and is in some sense about the future. But it doesn’t try to predict what’s to come. The literature professor and sci-fi writer recommends five classics of the genre.

Space opera—a popular subgenre of science fiction—features louder-than-life characters, hair-raising action sequences, and spacefaring civilisations. Kate Elliott, a prolific author of sci fi and fantasy novels, recommends five space opera books that will grab you by the collar and drag you off on an intergalactic adventure.

There are over 370 books in the Warhammer 40k series. As veteran Warhammer author Graham McNeill explains, the books offer a chance to introduce complexity and depth, while respecting the Lore the fans know and love. There are no greater fans of the 40k world, says McNeill, than the writers themselves. He introduces his top five choices, and gives us a glimpse of the writers’ world - of group workshops, complicated timelines, constant correspondence, and friends for life.

Isaac Asimov is a sci fi icon who wrote over four hundred books - which can make it hard to know where to begin. Alec Nevala-Lee, author of the group biography Astounding, is our guide to this enormous body of work: he tells us where to find Asimov’s best short stories, which of his novels show his true colours, and why his highly readable nonfiction made him a superstar.