Science Fiction Books

There is nothing that science fiction writers like more than writing about the sci fi community—and all its in-jokes, tropes, and preoccupations. Gary K. Wolfe, sci fi editor, critic and biographer, talks us through his top five novels about sci fi, and the conversation they contribute to.

Short stories are at the heart of a thriving science fiction community, where readers, writers and editors move between roles and raise each other up. R.S.A. Garcia, winner of the 2024 Nebula prize for Best Short Story, talks us through her five highlights: short takes on big themes, with community at their heart.

Interested in science fiction, but not sure where to begin? Sceptical of spaceships, but never really given them a chance? We asked Nicholas Whyte, administrator of the World Science Fiction Society's renowned annual Hugo Awards, to recommend five of the best sci fi books that should appeal to readers new to the genre

Arthur C. Clarke is one of the biggest names in science fiction, epitomizing an era of space exploration and scientific optimism. Paul March-Russell, co-editor of the essay collection Rendezvous with Arthur C. Clarke, talks us through his work and argues that Clarke should be remembered for the nuances of his writing and his humility about man’s place in the awe-inspiring cosmos.

Sci fi opens up new possibilities for romance stories, unconstrained by social reality. It’s an exciting time for the genre, says Natasha Pulley, bestselling author of The Mars House. Through her five contemporary favourites, she explores how human emotion – including romantic love and friendship – elevates the best sci-fi novels, creating stories with realism and depth.

When the rules for technology, geography and even personal identity can be changed, murder mysteries get complicated – and fascinating. Mary Robinette Kowal, award-winning novelist and author of the Hugo-nominated mystery The Spare Man, talks to us about her top five sci-fi mystery books – and takes us on a tour of the whodunnits, howdunnits, and whydunnits available to us in science fictional worlds.

Some books frighten and thrill us in equal measure. If that sounds good to you, you will love novelist Aliya Whiteley's recommendations: five outstanding sci-fi horror books that, like the original Frankenstein, use dread and disgust to raise fascinating questions about science and what it means to be human.

We use 'science fantasy' when a book seems to be both science fiction and fantasy. What distinguishes the two, and what does it mean to combine them? These books are an opportunity to explore our ways of knowing, reflect changing cultures, and find humour in the unexpected, says award-winning fantasy and sci fi author Vajra Chandrasekera.

J. G. Ballard, the British science fiction writer and surrealist, is often credited as some kind of modern-day prophet. But what he was really doing was taking contemporary trends and extending them to their logical extremes, argues Mark Blacklock, the literary scholar and editor of a new collection of Ballard's nonfiction writing. Here he selects five of Ballard's best books.

Often described as the 'father of science fiction', H G Wells was a man of extraordinary charisma and vivid imagination. Yet he suffered terribly from class anxiety and subscribed to political beliefs we now find abhorrent, says the editor and author Roger Luckhurst. He recommends the best books to learn more about the life and work of the British writer H G Wells.