Science Fiction Books

Solarpunk fiction is a form of climate fiction, but by focusing on the changes we could make, it can move us past climate anxiety, says author and editor Sarena Ulibarri. She introduces us to five favourites: ranging from near-future to far-future, they present a collection of thought experiments in the ways humanity might yet choose to live.

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.

Award-winning sci fi books this year have ranged from deep-sea dives to space operas to goats. Our fantasy and sci fi editor Sylvia Bishop talks us through the winning titles.

Every year, the judges for the Arthur C. Clarke Award highlight the best of the latest batch of science fiction books. In 2024, the six-strong shortlist includes an exploration of octopus intelligence, a queer space opera, and a dystopian novel hailed as the new Hunger Games. Andrew M. Butler, academic and chair of the judges, talks us through the finalists for the title of sci fi novel of the year.  See all our best science fiction books.

For many readers of science fiction, world building is the most important feature of their favourite books. Tom Huddleston, author of The Worlds of Dune, explains how the best fictional worlds are original and immersive—and, above all, mind-expanding. Here he introduces us to his top five sci fi worlds, and to the extraordinary thinkers who created them.

If you're looking for audiobooks that help books jump off the page, AudioFile magazine's best of 2024 lists are a great place to start. Here's their list of best audiobooks for 2024 in the science fiction and fantasy genres—from dark academia to a novel set in World War I.

Philip K. Dick was a prolific sci fi writer, publishing 44 novels and over a hundred short stories. Once hooked, you'll devour them all, says David Hyde, the publisher and festival organiser better known as 'Lord Running Clam' within the lively fan community. Here, he introduces us to his top five books by Philip K. Dick: novels featuring alternate realities, ambiguous endings and philosophical questions that are puzzling new generations of fans.

Science fiction has a rich tradition of examining not only space-age technology but political ideology. Arkady Martine, author of the Hugo-award winning A Memory Called Empire, introduces us to political science fiction books that explore systems of government, power hierarchies, and the geopolitics of other planets.

When The Day of the Triffids introduced John Wyndham to the world, it was a smash hit because of his keen interest in humanity, says his biographer Amy Binns. She talks us through her top five Wyndham books, stories that explore motherhood and feminism, religion, loneliness and uncertainty – but always wrapped in warm, witty, page-turning adventures.

Science fiction helps us work through not only the possibilities of the cosmos but also the nature of humanity itself, argues Jaime Green—science writer and author of a new book on the search for alien biology, The Possibility of Life. Here she highlights five classic works of sci-fi that explore ideas of consciousness and communication in the setting of outer space.