Whether you've been inspired by our Summer Learning theme, the recent Artemis mission, or a certain blockbuster film, we've got science fiction for you! If you're unfamiliar with the genre, "science fiction" refers to stories that imagine what our future (or our past) could be. Sci-fi draws on scientific concepts and technological advancements, often in ways that challenge and reflect on the social, cultural, ethical, and scientific concerns of today. Mary Shelley, opens a new window is often credited with pioneering the genre, as Frankenstein was one of the first works to posit future scientific advancements and their consequences, but many early works of fiction dabble in what we would now consider science fiction.
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You might think of spaceships, aliens, and faraway galaxies when you think of science fiction, but there's more to these books than that. Science fiction has a multitude of subgenres and styles to explore. Some subgenres, like "hard sci-fi," employ realistic uses of science and technology that reflect current scientific knowledge. Other softer sci-fi subgenres place a stronger focus on the human aspects of the story, drawing on social sciences, ethics, and morality, or more literary techniques in place of technical space speculation.
To dig into science fact and astronomy fiction, try something from our "Fly Me to the Moon" list.
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And space exploration isn't the only scientific basis for science fiction. Writers may draw on any scientific field as the basis for their story. Medical science and research has given us everything from the clones in Kazuo Ishiguro's "Never Let Me Go,", opens a new window and the dinosaurs in Michael Crichton's "Jurassic Park,", opens a new window to disease and pandemic stories like "World War Z" by Max Brooks, opens a new window, "Parasite" by Mira Grant,, opens a new window and "Station Eleven" by Emily St. John Mandel, opens a new window, while climate fiction, like Kim Stanley Robinson's books, opens a new window, draw on climate and weather science. And that's not to mention all the books rooted in biology, physics, and the social sciences that explore the psychological and sociological challenges that could await us when contacting advanced civilizations, colonizing other planets, or embarking on time travel.
Explore trending, modern science fiction using our "The Future is Now" list of staff recommendations.
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Or you could leave the strict science behind and just enjoy the setting! Space Opera, space fantasy, space romance, and cozy sci-fi focus less on the mechanics of scientific advancement and more on the drama. Space Fantasy lives in the center of the Venn Diagram between science fiction and fantasy, featuring societies where science such as interstellar travel and cloning, exists side by side with what most people would refer to as magic, whether that's the Jedi in Star Wars, dragons in Anne McCaffrey's Pern books, opens a new window, the Bene Gesserit of Dune, opens a new window, or the necromancy of Tamsyn Muir's Locked Tomb series, opens a new window. And trending cozy sci-fi, like Becky Chambers' "A Psalm for the Wild-Built,", opens a new window or Analee Newitz's "Automatic Noodle,", opens a new window or space romance like Constance Fay's "Calamity", opens a new window or Everina Maxwell's "Winter's Orbit",, opens a new window draw their inspiration from their cozy fantasy and romantasy counterparts, but locate their action amongst hyperdrives and robots.
Set out into space with your chosen or genetically assigned family, with something from our list "Home is Where the Hyper-Drive is."
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If you're interested in exploring even more of the variety out there, check out the NoveList Genre Guide to Science Fiction, where you can browse specific subgenres or find something based on the tone, mood, or vibe you're looking for.
So, whether you're here for the science or just ready to escape the atmosphere, go through the full lists above and below to check out the books mentioned here, or one of our other sci-fi recommendations!
If you just want more stories like Ryland Grace's adventure, check out "If You Liked: Project Hail Mary"
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Or maybe you want to feel the true existential horrors of space? If that's the case, "Space Horror" is the list for you.
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