Our Top 3 Books to get You Hooked on Sci-Fi!
What is Sci-Fi?
Sci-Fi, the shortened version of Science Fiction, is the genre of fiction which explores futuristic and imaginative concepts. This is often centering around space exploration, advanced technology, time travel and/or aliens. Authors often enjoy writing this topic where they have a certain amount of freedom to imagine what the future may hold. Whether technology is a cause for good or ill for the human race and Earth (if it is a part of their narrative that is). They often dive into thought-provoking ideas, which usually is about the human race and their relationship with technology.
H. G. Wells is thought of as the father of Science Fiction and is often credited as the pioneer of the genre. But the first author of the genre is credited to Mary Shelley with her novel, Frankenstein.
Leading Authors of Sci-Fi
Listed below are some of the greatest Science Fiction writers of all time, and for fans of the genre, you need to include some of their works into your library. They need to be read, as some of their themes are still just as relevant today as it was when they were first published.
- Isaac Asimov – Foundation series and Robot series.
- Arthur C. Clarke – 2001: A Space Odyssey
- Philip K. Dick – Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep (more commonly known now as Blade Runner
- H.G. Wells – The War of the Worlds and The Time Machine
- Ursula K. Le Guin – Hainish Cycle and The Left Hand of Darkness
- Frank Herbert – Dune series
Our Top Pick to Get You Into Sci-Fi
And now, it is time for BridgingsBooks Recommended Books to get you into the genre. We thought long and hard to try and narrow it down and we decided to go with more modern day works. This is not because they are necessarily better than the classics like War of the Worlds or Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep, but more because we think they will be easier to read. Without having to deal with the, sometimes, outdated language or the way things were back then, we think it will be a much nicer read for those of us looking to get started into Sci-Fi.
The list below will be in publication order.
1. Leviathan Wakes (2011)
By James S. A. Corey
The Expanse #1
166,000 words, 592 pages, 19 hrs and 9 mins to read
Published by Orbit
4.30 out of 5 on Goodreads
You can learn more about this series by checking out our handy reading order guide.
Humanity has begun to colonise, now living on Mars, the Moon, the Asteroid Belt and beyond.
Jim Holden, ice miner on the rings of Saturn comes across a derelict ship on one of the runs and finds himself in possession of a secret that he never wanted.
Detective Miller is looking for a girl, and his trail leads him to the Scopuli, the very ship Jim Holden found. With war brewing, tensions are rising. And they realise that the girl could be the key to everything.
The first in the epic ten part space opera series that will get you hooked from the very beginning. This short list could not be complete without at least one recommendation that included space travel and aliens. And the first of the Expanse series will get you hooked into reading the whole ten part series with a collection of short stories and novellas.
2. Station Eleven (2014)
By Emily St. John Mandel
103,900 words, 333 pages, 55 chapters, 7 hrs to read
3,148 average words per chapter, 6 average pages per chapter
Published by Knopf
4.07 out of 5 on Goodreads
Set in Hollywood, an actor dies during a performance of King Lear and only hours later the world begins to dissolve. The narrative jumps forward and back in time, following the actor through the years.
We picked this book as it’s an amazing read, the twists and turns as you go through it will have even the people that don’t enjoy sci-fi loving it. This is definitely one for all.
3. Dark Matter (2016)
By Blake Crouch
101,730 words, 352 pages, 15 chapters, 6 hrs and 50 mins to read
6,782 average words per chapter, 23.4 average pages per chapter
Published by Ballantine Books
4.13 out of 5 on Goodreads
Jason Dessen is an intensely devoted family man trapped in an uninspiring and dead end career. He is abducted by a masked, mysterious stranger, and taken to a new and disorientating world. One that is at once similar and different from what he believed to be his real life.
Dark Matter is an exciting and riveting read that will keep you hooked until the very end. Blake Crouch beautifully blends sci-fi and fragile humanity together, thought-provoking and impactful will leave any reader a fan of the genre.
More of the same, but different:
For More of Anything:
Things to Note:
- Word count is an approximation.
- Amount of pages may differ due to different publications, font style and/or size etc.
- Time spent reading is generally an approximation based on the word count and the average reading time. The average reader will read 250 WPM (Words Per Minute).
- This is the original publisher of the books.
- The current Goodreads score at the time of writing.
- For more information on word lengths and what they mean, check out our handy guide here.
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