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Science Fantasy All-Time Greats

The 20 greatest Science Fantasy books — essential reads that defined the genre.

  1. 1 Dune
    Dune
    Dune #1
    Frank Herbert
    ★★★★★ ★★★★★ 4.28 · 🕯️🕯️🕯️🕯️ Dark

    Set on the desert planet Arrakis, Dune is the story of Paul Atreides, heir to a noble family tasked with ruling an inhospitable world where the only thing of value is the spice melange—a drug capable of extending life and enhancing consciousness. When House Atreides is betrayed, the destruction of Paul's family will set the boy on a journey toward a destiny greater than he could ever have imagined.

    Desert KingdomPolitical IntrigueLost Heir
  2. 2 Red Rising
    Red Rising
    Red Rising #1
    Pierce Brown
    ★★★★★ ★★★★★ 4.30 · 🕯️🕯️🕯️🕯️ Dark

    Darrow is a Red, a miner in the lowest caste of a colour-coded society on Mars. When he discovers his people have been enslaved for centuries to build a paradise for the ruling Golds, he infiltrates their ranks to destroy them from within — in a brutal competition where only one survives.

    Outcast HeroRebellionTournament Arc
  3. 3 Gideon the Ninth
    Gideon the Ninth
    The Locked Tomb #1
    Tamsyn Muir
    ★★★★★ ★★★★★ 4.29 · 🕯️🕯️🕯️🕯️ Dark

    Gideon Nav has only ever wanted to escape the miserable, decaying Ninth House and its morbid rituals. But when the Emperor calls all Houses to a deadly trial for immortality, Gideon finds herself conscripted as the sword-arm to her lifelong rival, the necromancer Harrowhark Nonagesimus. Trapped in a crumbling, haunted palace filled with powerful necromancers and ancient traps, they must navigate a labyrinth of political intrigue and lethal puzzles, all while a monstrous conspiracy threatens to unravel the entire empire. As the competition turns deadly, Gideon must decide whether to betray the one person she despises most, or die protecting the only home she's ever known.

    Outcast HeroReluctant HeroMorally Grey Hero
  4. 4 The Book of the New Sun
    The Book of the New Sun
    The Book of the New Sun #1
    Gene Wolfe
    ★★★★★ ★★★★★ 4.24 · 🕯️🕯️🕯️🕯️ Dark

    Recently voted the greatest fantasy of all time, after The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit, Gene Wolfe's The Book of the New Sun is an extraordinary epic, set a million years in the future, on an Earth transformed in mysterious and wondrous ways, in a time when our present culture is no longer even a memory. Severian, the central character, is a torturer, exiled from his guild after falling in love with one of his victims, and journeying to the distant city of Thrax, armed with his ancient executioner's sword, Terminus Est. This edition contains the first two volumes of this four volume novel, The Shadow of the Torturer and The Claw of the Conciliator

    QuestComing of AgeOutcast Hero
  5. 5 The Dark Tower
    The Dark Tower
    The Dark Tower #7
    Stephen King
    ★★★★★ ★★★★★ 4.34 · 🕯️🕯️🕯️🕯️ Dark

    Roland, the world's last gunslinger, tracks an enigmatic Man in Black toward a forbidding dark tower, fighting forces both mortal and other-worldly on his quest.

    Last Of Their KindQuestAnti-Hero
  6. 6 A Wizard of Earthsea
    A Wizard of Earthsea
    Earthsea #1
    Ursula K. Le Guin
    ★★★★★ ★★★★★ 4.04 · 🕯️🕯️ Mild

    A boy with strange powers becomes a student at a school for wizards, where his pride and impatience lead him to meddle with long-held secrets—unleashing a terrible shadow upon the world. A wizard must pursue the shadow he has created across the archipelago of Earthsea before it can find and devour him.

    Coming of AgeReluctant HeroQuest
  7. 7 Golden Son
    Golden Son
    Red Rising #2
    Pierce Brown
    ★★★★★ ★★★★★ 4.61 · 🕯️🕯️🕯️🕯️ Dark

    "With shades of The Hunger Games, Ender's Game, and Game of Thrones, debut author Pierce Brown's genre-defying epic Red Rising hit the ground running and wasted no time becoming a sensation. Golden Son continues the stunning saga of Darrow, a rebel forged by tragedy, battling to lead his oppressed people to freedom from the overlords of a brutal elitist future built on lies. Now fully embedded among the Gold ruling class, Darrow continues his work to bring down Society from within. A life-or-death tale of vengeance with an unforgettable hero at its heart, Golden Son guarantees Pierce Brown's continuing status as one of fiction's most exciting new voices. Praise for Red Rising "[A] spectacular adventure. one heart-pounding ride. Pierce Brown's dizzyingly good debut novel evokes The Hunger Games, Lord of the Flies, and Ender's Game. [Red Rising] has everything it needs to become meteoric."--Entertainment Weekly "I don't know what Pierce Brown did before he started writing books, but whatever it was, he was wasting his time. Fast-paced, gripping, well-written--the sort of book you cannot put down. I am already on the lookout for the next one."--Terry Brooks, New York Times bestselling author of The Sword of Shannara "Pierce Brown has done an astounding job at delivering a powerful piece of literature that will definitely make a mark in the minds of readers."--The Huffington Post "Ender, Katniss, and now Darrow: Pierce Brown's empire-crushing debut is a sprawling vision of humanity's diaspora to the stars."--Scott Sigler, New York Times bestselling author of Nocturnal "[A] great debut. The author gathers a spread of elements together in much the same way George R. R. Martin does."--Tor.com"--

    RebellionPolitical IntrigueRevenge Story
  8. 8 Morning Star
    Morning Star
    Red Rising #3
    Pierce Brown
    ★★★★★ ★★★★★ 4.63 · 🕯️🕯️🕯️🕯️ Dark

    Born a lowly Red in the mines of Mars, Darrow lost his beloved wife to the treacherous Gold overlords. Vowing to fight for the future that his wife believed in, Darrow joins a secret revolutionary group and is remade into a Gold so that he can infiltrate the ruling class and bring them down from the inside. Now, after years of hiding amongst the Golds, Darrow is finally ready to declare open revolution and throw off the chains of oppression. Nothing in Darrow's world has been easily won, and this final fight will be the most harrowing of all.

    RebellionRevenge StorySecret Identity
  9. 9 Harrow the Ninth
    Harrow the Ninth
    The Locked Tomb #2
    Tamsyn Muir
    ★★★★★ ★★★★★ 4.08 · 🕯️🕯️🕯️🕯️ Dark

    Can't wait to read Harrow the Ninth, the sequel to the sensational, USA Today best-selling novel Gideon the Ninth? Check out this free ebook preview and read the whole first act early. Harrow the Ninth is available for pre-order now, and on-sale everywhere August 4, 2020. She answered the Emperor's call. She arrived with her arts, her wits, and her only friend. In victory, her world has turned to ash. After rocking the cosmos with her deathly debut, Tamsyn Muir continues the story of the penumbral Ninth House in Harrow the Ninth, a mind-twisting puzzle box of mystery, murder, magic, and mayhem. Nothing is as it seems in the halls of the Emperor, and the fate of the galaxy rests on one woman's shoulders. Harrowhark Nonagesimus, last necromancer of the Ninth House, has been drafted by her Emperor to fight an unwinnable war. Side-by-side with a detested rival, Harrow must perfect her skills and become an angel of undeath — but her health is failing, her sword makes her nauseous, and even her mind is threatening to betray her. Sealed in the gothic gloom of the Emperor's Mithraeum with three unfriendly teachers, hunted by the mad ghost of a murdered planet, Harrow must confront two unwelcome questions: is somebody trying to kill her? And if they succeeded, would the universe be better off?

  10. 10 Nona the Ninth
    Nona the Ninth
    The Locked Tomb #3
    Tamsyn Muir
    ★★★★★ ★★★★★ 4.29 · 🕯️🕯️🕯️🕯️ Dark

    Tamsyn Muir's New York Times and USA Today bestselling Locked Tomb Series continues with Nona ...the Ninth? Download a FREE sneak peek today! “You will love Nona, and Nona loves you.” —Alix E. Harrow “Unlike anything I've ever read.” —V.E. Schwab on Gideon the Ninth “Deft, tense and atmospheric, compellingly immersive and wildly original.” —The New York Times on Gideon the Ninth Her city is under siege. The zombies are coming back. And all Nona wants is a birthday party. In many ways, Nona is like other people. She lives with her family, has a job at her local school, and loves walks on the beach and meeting new dogs. But Nona's not like other people. Six months ago she woke up in a stranger's body, and she's afraid she might have to give it back. The whole city is falling to pieces. A monstrous blue sphere hangs on the horizon, ready to tear the planet apart. Blood of Eden forces have surrounded the last Cohort facility and wait for the Emperor Undying to come calling. Their leaders want Nona to be the weapon that will save them from the Nine Houses. Nona would prefer to live an ordinary life with the people she loves, with Pyrrha and Camilla and Palamedes, but she also knows that nothing lasts forever. And each night, Nona dreams of a woman with a skull-painted face...

    Outcast HeroReluctant HeroFound Family
  11. 11 The Fifth Season
    The Fifth Season
    The Broken Earth #1
    N.K. Jemisin
    ★★★★★ ★★★★★ 4.29 · 🕯️🕯️🕯️🕯️ Dark

    This is the way the world ends. Again. Three women are torn apart by catastrophe on a continent long familiar with apocalypse, where the power of the earth can be wielded for destruction or salvation. Their stories interweave into a tale of survival, power, and the lengths a mother will go for her child.

    End of the World StakesMagical PlagueSurvival Journey
  12. 12 The Obelisk Gate
    The Obelisk Gate
    The Broken Earth #2
    N.K. Jemisin
    ★★★★★ ★★★★★ 4.28 · 🕯️🕯️🕯️🕯️ Dark

    Winner of the Hugo Award for Best Novel The second book in the record-breaking triple Hugo Award-winning trilogy The season of endings grows darker, as civilization fades into the long cold night. Essun has found shelter, but not her missing daughter. Instead there is Alabaster Tenring, destroyer of the world, with a request only Essun can grant. Praise for this trilogy: 'Amazing' Ann Leckie 'Breaks uncharted ground' Library Journal 'Beautiful' Nnedi Okorafor 'Astounding' NPR 'Brilliant' Washington Post 'Heartbreaking, wholly unexpected' Brian Staveley 'Awesome' Book Smugglers 'A powerful story of hope and survival' The Root The Broken Earth trilogy begins with The Fifth Season, continues in The Obelisk Gate and concludes with The Stone Sky - out now. Also by N. K. Jemisin: The Inheritance trilogy The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms The Broken Kingdoms The Kingdom of Gods The Dreamblood Duology The Killing Moon The Shadowed Sun

    End of the World StakesSurvival JourneyCursed Character
  13. 13 The Stone Sky
    The Stone Sky
    The Broken Earth #3
    N.K. Jemisin
    ★★★★★ ★★★★★ 4.34 · 🕯️🕯️🕯️🕯️ Dark

    WINNER OF THE HUGO AWARD WINNER OF THE NEBULA AWARD WINNER OF THE LOCUS AWARD FOR BEST FANTASY An Amazon Best Book of the Year The incredible conclusion to the record-breaking triple Hugo award-winning trilogy that began with the The Fifth Season The Moon will soon return. Whether this heralds the destruction of humankind or something worse will depend on two women. Essun has inherited the phenomenal power of Alabaster Tenring. With it, she hopes to find her daughter Nassun and forge a world in which every outcast child can grow up safe. For Nassun, her mother's mastery of the Obelisk Gate comes too late. She has seen the evil of the world, and accepted what her mother will not admit: that sometimes what is corrupt cannot be cleansed, only destroyed. Praise for this trilogy: 'Amazing' Ann Leckie 'Breaks uncharted ground' Library Journal 'Beautiful' Nnedi Okorafor 'Astounding' NPR 'Brilliant' Washington Post The Broken Earth trilogy begins with The Fifth Season, continues in The Obelisk Gate and concludes with The Stone Sky - out now. Also by N. K. Jemisin: The Inheritance trilogy The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms The Broken Kingdoms The Kingdom of Gods The Dreamblood Duology The Killing Moon The Shadowed Sun

    Cursed CharacterComing of AgeEnd of the World Stakes
  14. 14 A Memory Called Empire
    A Memory Called Empire
    Teixcalaan #1
    Arkady Martine
    ★★★★★ ★★★★★ 4.06 · 🕯️🕯️🕯️ Serious

    Ambassador Mahit Dzmare arrives in the Teixcalaanli Empire to find her predecessor dead—and no one willing to admit it. She is sent to discover what really happened, while navigating a glittering, treacherous court where even language is a weapon and assimilation is pressure. A space opera about power, identity, and belonging.

    Political IntrigueQuestOutcast Hero
  15. 15 Record of a Spaceborn Few
    Record of a Spaceborn Few
    Wayfarers #3
    Becky Chambers
    ★★★★★ ★★★★★ 4.09 · 🕯️🕯️ Mild

    Centuries after the last humans left Earth, the Exodus Fleet is a living relic, a place many are from but few outsiders have seen. Humanity has finally been accepted into the galactic community, but while this has opened doors for many, those who have not yet left for alien cities fear that their carefully cultivated way of life is under threat.

  16. 16 The Dispossessed
    The Dispossessed
    Ursula K. Le Guin
    ★★★★★ ★★★★★ 4.16 · 🕯️🕯️🕯️ Serious

    Frequently reissued with the same ISBN, but with slightly differing bibliographical details.

  17. 17 The Left Hand of Darkness
    The Left Hand of Darkness
    Ursula K. Le Guin
    ★★★★★ ★★★★★ 4.30 · 🕯️🕯️🕯️ Serious

    Le Guin's Hainish series begins with the assumption that centuries ago humanoids from the planet Hain ventured through the solar system establishing colonies on various planets including Earth. For mysterious reasons these colonies lose all contact and knowledge of each other until the 21st century when an attempt is made to establish a galactic league. Individual stories in this loosely organized series explore the inherent communication difficulties in the mingling and clash of cultures that, over the centuries of separation, have developed widely disparate social and political structures as well as a range of biological differences.

  18. 18 Ender's Game
    Ender's Game
    Ender's Game #1
    Orson Scott Card
    ★★★★★ ★★★★★ 4.32 · 🕯️🕯️🕯️ Serious

    Andrew "Ender" Wiggin thinks he is playing computer simulated war games; he is in fact engaged in something far more desperate. The result of genetic experimentation, Ender may be the military genius Earth's desperate leaders need. The war with the alien Buggers has been raging for a hundred years, and the quest for the perfect general has been underway almost as long.

    Chosen OneProphecy ChildReluctant Hero