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  1. Genres
  2. ›Science Fiction

Best Science Fiction Books

Science fiction stories

1,193 summaries

Showing 25–48 of 1,193

  1. Dune

    Frank Herbert

    ★ 4.2 (766k) average on GoodreadsFantasy

    A betrayed ducal heir on a desert planet must embrace his destiny as a messianic leader to avenge his family and control the universe's most vital, mind-altering substance amidst colossal sandworms and ancient prophecies.

  2. American Gods

    Neil Gaiman

    ★ 4.1 (758k) average on GoodreadsFantasy

    An ex-convict finds a hidden world where ancient gods, forgotten by modern society, prepare for a war against new gods of technology and media across America's forgotten highways and roadside attractions.

  3. The Road

    Cormac McCarthy

    ★ 4.0 (716k) average on Goodreads

    In an ash-choked future, a father and son travel across a ruined America, their bond a fragile light against the cold, cannibals, and a world without hope.

  4. Cinder

    Marissa Meyer

    ★ 4.1 (683k) average on GoodreadsFantasy

    In a future New Beijing, a mechanic who is a cyborg discovers her hidden past and a dangerous attraction to Prince Kai. These discoveries are key to humanity's survival against lunar invaders and a deadly disease.

  5. Matched

    Ally Condie

    ★ 3.7 (653k) average on GoodreadsFantasy

    In a world where every life choice is dictated, a young woman's perfectly matched future shatters when a fleeting glimpse of an unauthorized face on her screen forces her to choose between the illusion of perfection and the dangerous truth of her own heart.

  6. The Stand

    Stephen King

    ★ 4.3 (616k) average on GoodreadsThriller

    After a plague kills most people, the few survivors are drawn into a fight between good and evil, led by a kind prophet and a demonic figure, for the future of a new world.

  7. A Clockwork Orange

    Anthony Burgess

    ★ 4.0 (601k) average on GoodreadsThriller

    In a dystopian future, a charismatic, ultraviolent teen enjoys his 'nadsat'-laced depravity until a State-mandated re-education program challenges his free will.

  8. Deception Point

    Dan Brown

    ★ 3.7 (591k) average on GoodreadsThriller

    An intelligence analyst uncovers a deadly conspiracy surrounding a miraculous Arctic discovery, forcing her to flee assassins and expose a scientific deception that could shatter a presidential election.

  9. Red Queen

    Victoria Aveyard

    ★ 4.0 (565k) average on GoodreadsFantasy

    Divided by blood, a commoner with silver-like powers pretends to be a lost princess. She navigates court intrigue and secretly helps a rebellion to dismantle the regime that controls her.

  10. Digital Fortress

    Dan Brown

    ★ 3.7 (561k) average on GoodreadsThriller

    An NSA cryptographer cracks an unbreakable code, uncovering a digital weapon that threatens U.S. intelligence and exposes a high-level conspiracy, forcing her to fight for her country, her life, and the man she loves.

  11. Uglies

    Scott Westerfeld

    ★ 3.9 (560k) average on GoodreadsFantasy

    In a future where cosmetic surgery dictates social status, a rebellious 'ugly' must choose between conformity and exposing the beautiful lie of her dystopian paradise.

  12. Good Omens: The Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter, Witch

    Terry Pratchett

    ★ 4.2 (543k) average on GoodreadsFantasy

    A fussy angel and a fast-living demon, who have grown quite fond of Earth, must race against time and misplaced paperwork to stop the Apocalypse they have accidentally grown to love.

  13. The Gunslinger

    Stephen King

    ★ 4.0 (515k) average on GoodreadsThriller

    In a desolate world like our own, Roland, the last gunslinger, pursues the Man in Black. He forms an unexpected bond with a boy from another Earth while on a quest about good, evil, and fate.

  14. The Three-Body Problem

    Cixin Liu

    ★ 4.1 (505k) average on Goodreads

    Decades after a secret Chinese military project broadcasts humanity's existence into the cosmos, an alien civilization on the brink of collapse intercepts the signal and sets Earth on a collision course with an invasion that divides humanity into welcoming collaborators and desperate defenders.

  15. Artemis Fowl

    Eoin Colfer

    ★ 3.9 (496k) average on GoodreadsFantasy

    A preteen criminal mastermind kidnaps a heavily armed fairy, unwittingly igniting a high-tech magical war beneath the surface of the Earth.

  16. Watchmen

    Alan Moore

    ★ 4.4 (487k) average on GoodreadsFantasy

    Costumed vigilantes are outlawed. A detective and his former allies uncover a conspiracy from their violent past that affects their nuclear-threatened present. They must confront the moral complexities of power and justice.

  17. Flowers for Algernon

    Daniel Keyes

    ★ 4.1 (478k) average on GoodreadsPsychology

    A mentally disabled man's diary entries chronicle his rise to genius through an experimental surgery, only to race against time as the procedure's tragic, inevitable decline first consumes a lab mouse, then threatens to reclaim his own mind.

  18. Wrong Place Wrong Time

    Gillian McAllister

    ★ 4.0 (473k) average on GoodreadsThriller

    A mother wakes up the day before her son commits a murder, only to find herself traveling further back in time each morning, desperate to uncover the root cause and prevent the tragedy before it ever happens.

  19. Never Let Me Go

    Kazuo Ishiguro

    ★ 3.8 (471k) average on GoodreadsLiterary Fiction

    Three friends raised in a secluded boarding school uncover the truth about their existence and face their predetermined purpose as organ donors, finding bittersweet comfort in their memories and bond.

  20. The Scorch Trials

    James Dashner

    ★ 3.9 (446k) average on GoodreadsFantasy

    Thomas and the Gladers thought escaping the Maze meant freedom. Instead, WICKED sends them into the Scorch, a sun-baked wasteland with new enemies and impossible odds, where their next trial is a fight for survival.

  21. World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War

    Max Brooks

    ★ 4.0 (440k) average on GoodreadsFantasy

    Decades after a zombie apocalypse nearly wiped out humanity, an interviewer gathers harrowing firsthand accounts from survivors, revealing the truth behind the war and the human spirit that endured.

  22. Neverwhere

    Neil Gaiman

    ★ 4.2 (430k) average on GoodreadsFantasy

    An act of kindness plunges an ordinary London businessman into a perilous, hidden world beneath the city, where forgotten souls, ancient evils, and dark wonders lurk.

  23. The Elite

    Kiera Cass

    ★ 4.0 (426k) average on GoodreadsFantasy

    As the competition for Prince Maxon's heart narrows to the final six Elite, America faces a difficult choice between a royal future and her first love, with time running out.

  24. 11/22/63

    Stephen King

    ★ 4.3 (420k) average on GoodreadsThriller

    A high school teacher finds a diner portal to 1958. He goes on a mission to stop JFK's assassination, but his biggest challenge may be choosing between saving history and the woman he loves in a past that resists change.

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