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  1. Genres
  2. ›Science Fiction

Best Science Fiction Books

Science fiction stories

1,193 summaries

Showing 49–72 of 1,193

  1. Delirium

    Lauren Oliver

    ★ 4.0 (417k) average on GoodreadsFantasy

    In a world where love is a curable disease, a young woman awaiting her 'treatment' finds her future and her heart threatened by a forbidden encounter, just ninety-five days before she's meant to forget.

  2. The 5th Wave

    Rick Yancey

    ★ 4.0 (388k) average on GoodreadsFantasy

    In a post-apocalyptic world ravaged by four devastating alien waves, a lone teenage girl must decide whether to trust a mysterious stranger to save her brother, or risk losing everything to the insidious fifth wave.

  3. The Subtle Knife

    Philip Pullman

    ★ 4.1 (366k) average on GoodreadsFantasy

    In a haunted city where soul-eating Spectres lurk, Lyra and the fugitive Will Parry navigate treacherous alternate worlds to uncover a powerful, world-shattering secret, evading a destiny that threatens to consume them both.

  4. Atlas Shrugged

    Ayn Rand

    ★ 3.7 (354k) average on GoodreadsPolitics

    In a dystopian America where innovators vanish, a brilliant heiress races to uncover the truth behind the disappearing industrialists and the enigmatic John Galt, who vows to stop the world's progress.

  5. The Death Cure

    James Dashner

    ★ 3.8 (338k) average on GoodreadsFantasy

    In the conclusion, Thomas, with his memories back, must outsmart WICKED and face the truth to save his friends and humanity, even if it means losing everything.

  6. Station Eleven

    Emily St. John Mandel

    ★ 4.0 (322k) average on GoodreadsLiterary Fiction

    After a devastating flu, a nomadic acting and music group called the Traveling Symphony travels the Great Lakes region, risking danger to keep art and humanity alive. Their lives connect with a dead Hollywood star and the dangerous prophet who emerges after him.

  7. The Color of Magic

    Terry Pratchett

    ★ 4.0 (316k) average on GoodreadsFantasy

    On a flat world on the back of a giant turtle, a jaded wizard is reluctantly saddled with the Discworld's first tourist and his sentient luggage, going on a chaotic journey to the edge of their belief-powered world.

  8. I Am Number Four

    Pittacus Lore

    ★ 3.9 (312k) average on GoodreadsFantasy

    An alien teenager, the fourth of nine powerful fugitives hiding on Earth, must embrace his developing superpowers and fight for survival as an ancient enemy hunts down and murders his kind.

  9. The Amber Spyglass

    Philip Pullman

    ★ 4.1 (298k) average on GoodreadsFantasy

    Guided by angels and haunted by prophecy, Will, the Knife Bearer, must journey to the Underworld and beyond to reunite with Lyra and deliver a cosmic weapon that will decide the fate of infinite worlds.

  10. Shatter Me

    Tahereh Mafi

    ★ 4.0 (291k) average on GoodreadsFantasy

    Imprisoned for her lethal touch, a girl discovers her curse might be the key to igniting a rebellion against a tyrannical regime that seeks to weaponize her unique power.

  11. The Ultimate Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

    Douglas Adams

    ★ 4.4 (287k) average on GoodreadsFantasy

    Arthur Dent, a perpetually confused human, navigates the cosmos with an odd crew, avoiding galactic demolition, existential dread, and the constant search for a good cup of tea, armed only with a towel and an unreliable digital guide.

  12. Stranger in a Strange Land

    Robert A. Heinlein

    ★ 3.9 (275k) average on GoodreadsFantasy

    Raised by Martians, Valentine Michael Smith returns to Earth as an innocent alien prophet, challenging humanity's deepest-held beliefs about love, sex, and religion with his otherworldly perspective on 'grokking' the universe.

  13. Cress

    Marissa Meyer

    ★ 4.4 (275k) average on GoodreadsFantasy

    A socially isolated hacker, bound to a satellite, falls for her rescuer and becomes key to a rebellion against a tyrannical lunar queen. Their daring escape scatters the crew, imperiling their last hope.

  14. V for Vendetta

    Alan Moore

    ★ 4.3 (264k) average on GoodreadsPolitics

    In a dystopian Britain ruled by a fascist regime, a mysterious anarchist in a Guy Fawkes mask sparks a rebellion against oppression, forcing a young woman to confront the cost of freedom and identity.

  15. Neuromancer

    William Gibson

    ★ 3.9 (262k) average on GoodreadsFantasy

    In a future ruled by artificial intelligence, a former hacker navigates corporate espionage, cyberspace gods, and threats to human consciousness.

  16. Under the Dome

    Stephen King

    ★ 3.9 (257k) average on GoodreadsThriller

    An invisible dome traps a small Maine town, forcing residents to fight for survival. An Iraq veteran leads a group against a corrupt politician and the dome's mystery before humanity collapses.

  17. Saga, Vol. 1

    Brian K. Vaughan

    ★ 4.2 (252k) average on GoodreadsFantasy

    Two star-crossed soldiers from warring alien races risk their lives and defy galactic conflict to protect their newborn daughter in a universe that wants them dead.

  18. Red Rising

    Pierce Brown

    ★ 4.3 (248k) average on GoodreadsFantasy

    In a brutal, color-coded future, a low-caste miner unearths a galaxy-spanning lie and infiltrates the elite ruling class, transforming himself into the very enemy he vows to destroy in order to liberate his people.

  19. The War of the Worlds

    H.G. Wells

    ★ 3.8 (245k) average on GoodreadsFantasy

    When towering tripods descend from Mars, humanity's dominion is shattered, revealing the terrifying fragility of civilization against an alien invasion armed with heat-rays and black smoke.

  20. A Wizard of Earthsea

    Ursula K. Le Guin

    ★ 4.0 (241k) average on GoodreadsFantasy

    A young wizard unleashes a shadow, forcing him on a journey of self-discovery, dragon-taming, and confronting death to restore balance to Earthsea.

  21. Snow Crash

    Neal Stephenson

    ★ 4.0 (237k) average on GoodreadsFantasy

    In a future Los Angeles where pizza delivery is a sword fight and the internet is a fully realized virtual world, a legendary hacker and a fearless skateboard courier must uncover the secrets of an ancient Sumerian language to stop a digital drug that threatens to collapse reality itself.

  22. The Restaurant at the End of the Universe

    Douglas Adams

    ★ 4.2 (233k) average on GoodreadsFantasy

    Arthur Dent, a two-headed ex-president, and a depressed robot try to outrun cosmic destruction and navigate space's absurdities to find the best meal at the end of time.

  23. Pretties

    Scott Westerfeld

    ★ 3.9 (230k) average on GoodreadsFantasy

    To become 'pretty' means sacrificing memories and individuality. Tally must decide if perfection's cost is too high when a message from her past threatens her beautiful, yet empty, new life.

  24. Speaker for the Dead

    Orson Scott Card

    ★ 4.1 (225k) average on GoodreadsFantasy

    Haunted by his past as the 'Xenocide,' Ender Wiggin, now the Speaker for the Dead, must unravel the deadly mysteries of a new alien race to prevent humanity from repeating its genocidal history.

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