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  1. Genres
  2. ›Science Fiction

Best Science Fiction Books

Science fiction stories

1,193 summaries

Showing 73–96 of 1,193

  1. The Andromeda Strain

    Michael Crichton

    ★ 3.9 (223k) average on GoodreadsThriller

    A crashed satellite in rural Arizona unleashes a deadly alien microorganism, wiping out a town and threatening humanity, forcing scientists into a desperate race against time in an underground lab.

  2. Breakfast of Champions

    Kurt Vonnegut Jr.

    ★ 4.1 (223k) average on GoodreadsLiterary Fiction

    An aging science fiction writer's bizarre tales become unsettling reality for a car dealer, forcing America to confront its own absurdities through Vonnegut's satirical lens.

  3. Oryx And Crake

    Margaret Atwood

    ★ 4.0 (221k) average on GoodreadsFantasy

    In a world reshaped by genetic engineering after an apocalypse, Snowman, possibly the last human, navigates a desolate land, haunted by his past and the green-eyed Children of Crake, as he grapples with the destructive legacy of the man who altered life itself.

  4. Pandemonium

    Lauren Oliver

    ★ 4.0 (220k) average on GoodreadsFantasy

    Haunted by the girl she left behind in a fiery escape, Lena navigates the Wilds and a growing rebellion, fueled by defiance and a forbidden love that ignites the revolution.

  5. The Drawing of the Three

    Stephen King

    ★ 4.2 (217k) average on GoodreadsThriller

    The last gunslinger must pull three souls from modern-day New York through mystical doors to aid him in his desperate quest for the Dark Tower, battling both earthly and otherworldly demons along the way.

  6. Cloud Atlas

    David Mitchell

    ★ 4.0 (216k) average on GoodreadsLiterary Fiction

    Six connected stories span centuries, from a 19th-century Pacific journey to a future after the world ends, showing how lives change and choices echo through time, shaping destinies as civilizations rise and fall.

  7. Crossed

    Ally Condie

    ★ 3.5 (211k) average on GoodreadsFantasy

    In a world where love is controlled, a determined girl defies a strict society and ventures into the dangerous wilderness to find her forbidden love, only to uncover a rebellion and a network of lies that threatens everything.

  8. The Martian Chronicles

    Ray Bradbury

    ★ 4.1 (210k) average on GoodreadsFantasy

    Humanity's dreams and fears meet the ancient, psychic world of Mars, as Earth's settlers colonize a planet that reflects their deepest desires and anxieties.

  9. The Testaments

    Margaret Atwood

    ★ 4.2 (209k) average on GoodreadsLiterary Fiction

    Fifteen years after Offred's uncertain fate, three women from within and without Gilead reveal the explosive truths and hidden rebellions that could finally shatter its totalitarian grip.

  10. The Angel Experiment

    James Patterson

    ★ 4.1 (206k) average on GoodreadsFantasy

    Six children with wings and powers must outrun scientists, uncover their origins, and decide if they will save or doom humanity.

  11. Left Behind

    Tim LaHaye

    ★ 3.8 (204k) average on GoodreadsThriller

    After millions vanish, an airborne Boeing 747 becomes a terrifying symbol of global chaos as the Rapture leaves humanity struggling with unexplained disappearances and the start of the apocalypse.

  12. Prodigy

    Marie Lu

    ★ 4.3 (202k) average on GoodreadsFantasy

    On the run and labeled traitors, June and Day navigate rebel alliances, where the line between help and manipulation blurs, making them question if their fight for freedom is just part of a larger, deadlier game.

  13. 1Q84

    Haruki Murakami

    ★ 3.9 (201k) average on GoodreadsFantasy

    In an alternate 1984 Tokyo, a contract killer and a math teacher find their lives inextricably linked by a mysterious cult, a cryptic teenage girl, and the subtle, unsettling presence of two moons in the sky.

  14. Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea

    Jules Verne

    ★ 3.9 (198k) average on GoodreadsFantasy

    Captain Nemo takes three castaways on an extraordinary journey through undersea forests, coral labyrinths, and the sunken city of Atlantis aboard his futuristic submarine, the Nautilus.

  15. Glass Sword

    Victoria Aveyard

    ★ 3.9 (197k) average on GoodreadsFantasy

    Haunted by betrayal, Mare Barrow, a Red with Silver powers, must unite an army of superpowered outcasts while battling the darkness threatening to consume her as she flees the vengeful king who once loved her.

  16. Mort

    Terry Pratchett

    ★ 4.2 (196k) average on GoodreadsFantasy

    A bumbling, lovestruck apprentice to Death himself learns that even the Grim Reaper's job comes with soul-crushing relationship drama and the ultimate ethical dilemma.

  17. Every Day

    David Levithan

    ★ 3.9 (196k) average on GoodreadsFantasy

    A nomadic soul, shifting bodies daily, risks a lifetime of solitude to pursue a singular, impossible love with a girl who can only know them anew with each sunrise.

  18. Life, the Universe and Everything

    Douglas Adams

    ★ 4.2 (196k) average on GoodreadsFantasy

    Threatened by genocidal robots, a group of misfits—a confused human, a wild alien, and a ship powered by odd logic—must stop universal destruction while dealing with personal issues, gods, and complex intergalactic relationships.

  19. Winter

    Marissa Meyer

    ★ 4.4 (194k) average on GoodreadsFantasy

    A kind-hearted Lunar princess, secretly in love with a guard, must confront her tyrannical, beauty-obsessed stepmother and join forces with a cyborg mechanic to ignite a revolution and reclaim her kingdom.

  20. Starship Troopers

    Robert A. Heinlein

    ★ 4.0 (192k) average on GoodreadsFantasy

    Juan Rico leaves his youth behind to join the Mobile Infantry, fighting an interstellar war against alien insects where citizenship is earned through service.

  21. Cell

    Stephen King

    ★ 3.6 (192k) average on GoodreadsThriller

    When cell phone calls turn ordinary people into rabid, murderous zombies, a graphic artist navigates a post-apocalyptic New England to find his son.

  22. Unwind

    Neal Shusterman

    ★ 4.2 (192k) average on GoodreadsThriller

    In a future where unwanted teens are harvested for their body parts, three fugitives—a rebel, a musician, and a true believer—must unite to survive being 'unwound'.

  23. Firestarter

    Stephen King

    ★ 3.9 (190k) average on GoodreadsThriller

    With the government after her, a young girl with fire powers must control her gift and escape those who would turn her into a weapon.

  24. Timeline

    Michael Crichton

    ★ 3.9 (190k) average on GoodreadsThriller

    When archaeologists find a way to travel to 14th-century France, their study of history turns into a fight for survival against knights, castles, and a corporation trying to control the past.

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