Since time immemorial, mankind has been looking up at the stars and dreaming, but it was only centuries ago that we started turning those dreams into fiction. And what remarkable dreams they are—dreams of distant worlds, unearthly creatures, parallel universes, artificial intelligence, and so much more. Today, we call those dreams science fiction.
Science fiction’s earliest inklings began in the mid-1600s, when Johannes Kepler and Francis Godwin wrote pioneering stories about voyages to the moon. Some scholars argue that science fiction as we now understand it was truly born in 1818, when Mary Shelley published Frankenstein, the first novel of its kind whose events are explained by science, not mysticism or miracles. Now, two centuries later, sci-fi is a sprawling and lucrative multimedia genre with countless subgenres, such as dystopian fiction, postapocalyptic fiction, and climate fiction, to name just a few. It’s also remarkably porous, allowing for some overlap with genres like fantasy and horror.
Sci-fi brings out the best in our imaginations and evokes a sense of wonder, but it also inspires a spirit of questioning. Through the enduring themes of sci-fi, we can examine the zeitgeist’s cultural context and ethical questions. Our favorite works in the genre make good on this promise, meditating on everything from identity to oppression to morality. As the Nobel Prize-winning novelist Doris Lessing said, “Science fiction is some of the best social fiction of our time.”
Over two years ago, we published a version of this list featuring 50 books. But why stop at 50? Now, as part of our latest Summer Fiction Week, we’ve cast a wider net and expanded the list to 75 titles. Choosing the 75 best science fiction books of all time wasn’t easy, so to get the job done, we had to establish some guardrails. Though we assessed single installments as representatives of their series, we limited the list to one book per author. We also emphasized books that brought something new and innovative to the genre—to borrow a great sci-fi turn of phrase, books that “boldly go where no one has gone before.”
Now, in ranked order, here are the best science fiction books of all time.
#1
181 • 1,881 Readers • 353 pages • 3.9
#2
#3
20 • 640 Readers • 182 pages • 4
#4
#5
1979 • 693 Readers • 292 pages • 4.3
#6
#4 of 9 in Hainish Cycle
1969 • 991 Readers • 267 pages • 4.1
#7
2000 • 1,314 Readers • 282 pages • 3.8
#8
2019 • 695 Readers • 350 pages • 4.2
#9
2014 • 1,386 Readers • 333 pages • 4.1
#10
1968 • 1,275 Readers • 223 pages • 3.9
#11
#1 of 4 in Remembrance of Earth's Past
2006 • 2,293 Readers • 400 pages • 3.9
#12
1949 • 4,166 Readers • 352 pages • 4.2
#13
2018 • 147 Readers • 144 pages • 3.5
#14
1930 • 2,202 Readers • 344 pages • 3.9
#15
2010 • 179 Readers • 257 pages • 3.3
#16
#17
1953 • 538 Readers • 49m • 4
#18
371 Readers • 4
#19
1959 • 405 Readers • 322 pages • 3.9
#20
#21
#22
#23
#24
#25
1992 • 50 Readers • 416 pages • 4
#26
2017 • 70 Readers • 263 pages • 3.5
#27
#1 of 3 in 1Q84
2009 • 612 Readers • 1,184 pages • 3.7
#28
#29
1975 • 155 Readers • 879 pages • 3.4
#30
2023 • 104 Readers • 380 pages • 3.6
#31
#32
#33
#34
2009 • 401 Readers • 336 pages • 4
#35
2015 • 122 Readers • 432 pages • 3.4
#36
1992 • 143 Readers • 3.3
#37
1979 • 25 Readers • 209 pages • 3.7
#38
#1 of 4 in Wayfarers
2014 • 1,132 Readers • 518 pages • 4.1
#39
2000 • 103 Readers • 3.3
#40
2021 • 2,687 Readers • 496 pages • 4.4
#41
#1 of 2 in St. Leibowitz
1959 • 460 Readers • 334 pages • 3.9
#42
#1 of 6 in The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
30 • 2,641 Readers • 215 pages • 4.2
#43
#44
1955 • 286 Readers • 278 pages • 3.9
#45
#1 of 3 in Sprawl
1984 • 1,352 Readers • 271 pages • 3.9
#46
2022 • 268 Readers • 312 pages • 4.1
#47
2017 • 209 Readers • 351 pages • 4
#48
2021 • 29 Readers • 291 pages • 4.5
#49
1894 • 871 Readers • 140 pages • 3.7
#50
#51
417 Readers • 3.8
#52
1962 • 1,058 Readers • 149 pages • 3.9
#53
1961 • 509 Readers • 232 pages • 3.7
#54
#1 of 3 in Children of Time
2015 • 1,201 Readers • 600 pages • 4.3
#55
#56
2020 • 27 Readers • 305 pages • 3.5
#57
2019 • 1,772 Readers • 3.9
#58
1967 • 182 Readers • 303 pages • 3.8
#59
#2 of 5 in The Book of the New Sun
1981 • 84 Readers • 303 pages • 4
#60
#62
#63
1949 • 11 Readers • 205 pages • 3
#64
#65
1963 • 122 Readers • 236 pages • 4.2
#66
2000 • 135 Readers • 304 pages • 3.6
#67
1985 • 459 Readers • 453 pages • 4.1
#68
76 Readers • 3.9
#69
1992 • 1,125 Readers • 448 pages • 3.9
#70
2000 • 41 Readers • 356 pages • 3.6
#71
2020 • 12 Readers • 4.3
#72
2024 • 54 Readers • 304 pages • 4.4
#73
2012 • 514 Readers • 318 pages • 3.9
#74
#1 of 4 in Lady Astronaut Universe
2018 • 418 Readers • 384 pages • 4.1
#75
2021 • 282 Readers • 256 pages • 3.7