Total Nerd The Greatest Science Fiction Novels of All Time  

Originally by Ranker Community

454.1k votes 22.6k voters 338.7k views 175 items

1

8,055 3,120

Dune Frank Herbert Dune is a 1965 epic science fiction novel by Frank Herbert. It won the Hugo Award in 1966, and the inaugural Nebula Award for Best Novel. Dune is the world's best-selling science fiction novel ...more

2

8,919 2,576

The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy Douglas Adams The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy is the first of five books in the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy comedy science fiction "trilogy" by Douglas Adams. The novel is an adaptation of ...more

3

7,425 1,807

Nineteen Eighty-Four George Orwell Nineteen Eighty-Four, sometimes published as 1984, is a dystopian novel by English author George Orwell published in 1949. The novel is set in Airstrip One, a province of the superstate Oceania ...more

4

4,615 2,160

Foundation Isaac Asimov Foundation is the first novel in Isaac Asimov's Foundation Trilogy. Foundation is a collection of five short stories, which were first published together as a book by Gnome Press in 1951 which, ...more

5

4,420 1,882

Brave New World Aldous Huxley Brave New World is a novel written in 1931 by Aldous Huxley and published in 1932. Set in London of AD 2540, the novel anticipates developments in reproductive technology, sleep-learning, ...more

6

5,058 1,590

The Time Machine H. G. Wells The Time Machine is a science fiction novel by H. G. Wells, published in 1895. Wells is generally credited with the popularization of the concept of time travel by using a vehicle that allows an ...more

7

6,916 2,165

Ender's Game Orson Scott Card Ender's Game is a 1985 military science fiction novel by American author Orson Scott Card. Set in Earth's future, the novel presents an imperiled mankind after two conflicts with the ...more

8

5,934 1,462

Fahrenheit 451 Ray Bradbury Fahrenheit 451 is a dystopian novel by Ray Bradbury published in 1953. It is regarded as one of his best works. The novel presents a future American society where books are outlawed and ...more

9

4,961 1,557

Frankenstein Mary Shelley Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus, is a novel written by English author Mary Shelley about the young student of science Victor Frankenstein, who creates a grotesque but sentient creature ...more

10

3,954 1,749

2001: A Space Odyssey Arthur C. Clarke 2001: A Space Odyssey is a 1968 science fiction novel by Arthur C. Clarke. It was developed concurrently with Stanley Kubrick's film version and published after the release of the film. Clarke ...more

11

4,404 1,587

The War of the Worlds H. G. Wells The War of the Worlds is a science fiction novel by English author H. G. Wells. It first appeared in serialized form in 1897, published simultaneously in Pearson's Magazine in the UK and ...more

12

3,480 1,455

The Martian Chronicles Ray Bradbury The Martian Chronicles is a 1950 science fiction short story collection by Ray Bradbury that chronicles the colonization of Mars by humans fleeing from a troubled and eventually atomically ...more

13

3,788 1,761

Stranger in a Strange Land Robert A. Heinlein Stranger in a Strange Land is a 1961 science fiction novel by American author Robert A. Heinlein. It tells the story of Valentine Michael Smith, a human who comes to Earth in early adulthood ...more

14

4,260 1,472

I, Robot Isaac Asimov I, Robot is a collection of nine science fiction short stories by Isaac Asimov. The stories originally appeared in the American magazines Super Science Stories and Astounding Science Fiction ...more

15

3,640 1,706

Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? Philip K. Dick Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? is a science fiction novel by American writer Philip K. Dick. First published in 1968, the book served as the primary basis for the 1982 film Blade Runner. ...more

16

4,444 1,364

A Wrinkle in Time Madeleine L'Engle A Wrinkle in Time is a science fantasy novel by American writer Madeleine L'Engle, first published in 1962. The story revolves around a young girl whose father, a government scientist, has gone ...more

17

3,561 1,412

20,000 Leagues Under the Sea Jules Verne Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea is a classic science fiction novel by French writer Jules Verne published in 1870. It tells the story of Captain Nemo and his submarine Nautilus, as seen ...more

18

3,510 1,513

Flowers for Algernon Daniel Keyes Flowers for Algernon is a science fiction short story and subsequent novel written by Daniel Keyes. The short story, written in 1958 and first published in the April 1959 issue of The Magazine ...more

19

3,099 1,852

A Clockwork Orange Anthony Burgess A Clockwork Orange is a dystopian novella by Anthony Burgess published in 1962. Set in a near future English society that has a subculture of extreme youth violence, the novella has a teenage ...more

20

4,193 1,806

Jurassic Park Michael Crichton Jurassic Park is a science fiction novel written by Michael Crichton, divided into seven sections. Often considered a cautionary tale on unconsidered biological tinkering in the same spirit as ...more

21

3,665 1,778

Starship Troopers Robert A. Heinlein Starship Troopers is a military science fiction novel by Robert A. Heinlein, first published as a serial in The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction and published hardcover in December ...more

22

3,332 1,552

Slaughterhouse-Five Kurt Vonnegut Slaughterhouse-Five, or The Children's Crusade: A Duty-Dance with Death is a satirical novel by Kurt Vonnegut about World War II experiences and journeys through time of a soldier named Billy ...more

23

3,889 1,640

The Stand Stephen King The Stand is a post-apocalyptic horror/fantasy novel by American author Stephen King. It expands upon the scenario of his earlier short story, "Night Surf". The novel was originally ...more

24

1,893 1,657

Rendezvous with Rama Arthur C. Clarke Rendezvous with Rama is a hard science fiction novel by Arthur C. Clarke first published in 1973. Set in the 2130s, the story involves a 50-kilometre cylindrical alien starship that enters ...more

25

2,113 1,654

Ringworld Larry Niven Ringworld is a 1970 science fiction novel by Larry Niven, set in his Known Space universe and considered a classic of science fiction literature. It is followed by three sequels and four ...more

26

2,225 1,385

The Invisible Man H. G. Wells The Invisible Man is a science fiction novella by H. G. Wells published in 1897. Originally serialized in Pearson's Weekly in 1897, it was published as a novel the same year. The Invisible Man ...more

27

1,624 1,698

Hyperion Dan Simmons Hyperion is a Hugo Award-winning 1989 science fiction novel by American writer Dan Simmons. It is the first book of his Hyperion Cantos, and is the only book in it to extensively employ the ...more

28

1,944 1,772

Neuromancer William Gibson Neuromancer is a 1984 novel by William Gibson, a seminal work in the cyberpunk genre and the first winner of the science-fiction "triple crown" — the Nebula Award, the Philip K. Dick ...more

29

2,035 1,551

The Island of Doctor Moreau H. G. Wells The Island of Doctor Moreau is an 1896 science fiction novel by H. G. Wells, who called it "an exercise in youthful blasphemy". The text of the novel is the narration of Edward ...more

30

2,051 1,454

Contact Carl Sagan Contact is a 1985 science fiction novel by Carl Sagan. It deals with the theme of contact between humanity and a more technologically advanced, extraterrestrial life form. It ranked No. 7 on the ...more

31

1,271 1,644

A Canticle for Leibowitz Walter M. Miller, Jr. A Canticle for Leibowitz is a post-apocalyptic science fiction novel by American writer Walter M. Miller, Jr., first published in 1960. Set in a Catholic monastery in the desert of the ...more

32

2,513 1,174

midnightq2 added Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde Robert Louis Stevenson Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde is the original title of a novella written by the Scottish author Robert Louis Stevenson that was first published in 1886. The work is commonly known ...more

33

1,975 1,536

The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress Robert A. Heinlein The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress is a 1966 science fiction novel by American writer Robert A. Heinlein, about a lunar colony's revolt against rule from Earth. The novel expresses and discusses ...more

34

2,897 1,233

The Andromeda Strain Michael Crichton The Andromeda Strain, by Michael Crichton, is a techno-thriller novel documenting the efforts of a team of scientists investigating the outbreak of a deadly extraterrestrial microorganism in ...more

35

1,174 1,775

Snow Crash Neal Stephenson Snow Crash is Neal Stephenson's third novel, published in 1992. Like many of Stephenson's other novels it covers history, linguistics, anthropology, archaeology, religion, computer science, ...more

36

2,413 1,355

pontus-söderlund added The Martian Andy Weir The Martian is a 2011 science fiction novel written by Andy Weir. The story follows an American astronaut, Mark Watney, as he becomes stranded alone on Mars in the year 2035 and must improvise ...more

37

1,365 1,450

The Mote in God's Eye Larry Niven, Jerry Pournelle The Mote in God's Eye is a science fiction novel by American writers Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle, first published in 1974. The story is set in the distant future of Pournelle's CoDominium ...more

38

1,548 1,691

The Road Cormac McCarthy The Road is a 2006 novel by American writer Cormac McCarthy. It is a post-apocalyptic tale of a journey of a father and his young son over a period of several months, across a landscape blasted ...more

39

2,415 1,462

The Green Mile Stephen King The Green Mile is a 1996 serial novel written by Stephen King. It tells the story of death row supervisor Paul Edgecombe's encounter with John Coffey, an unusual inmate who displays inexplicable ...more

40

3,372 1,413

but chickens double d added The Hunger Games Suzanne Collins The Hunger Games is a 2008 science fiction novel by the American writer Suzanne Collins. It is written in the voice of 16-year-old Katniss Everdeen, who lives in the dystopian, post-apocalyptic ...more

41

1,729 1,387

midnightq2 added The Call of Cthulhu and Other Weird Stories H. P. Lovecraft The Call of Cthulhu and Other Weird Stories is Penguin Classics' first omnibus edition of works by seminal 20th-century American author H. P. Lovecraft. It was released in October 1999 and is ...more

42

2,283 1,326

The Handmaid's Tale Margaret Atwood The Handmaid's Tale is a dystopian novel, a work of speculative fiction, by Canadian author Margaret Atwood. Set in the near future, in a totalitarian Christian theocracy which has overthrown ...more

43

1,755 963

The foundation trilogy Isaac Asimov

44

1,618 1,375

Cat's Cradle Kurt Vonnegut Cat's Cradle is the fourth novel by American writer Kurt Vonnegut, first published in 1963. It explores issues of science, technology, and religion, satirizing the arms race and many other ...more

45

1,814 1,088

Around the World in Eighty Days Jules Verne Around the World in Eighty Days is a classic adventure novel by the French writer Jules Verne, published in 1873. In the story, Phileas Fogg of London and his newly employed French valet ...more

46

1,278 1,384

The Left Hand of Darkness Ursula K. Le Guin The Left Hand of Darkness is a 1969 science fiction novel by Ursula K. Le Guin. It is part of the Hainish Cycle, a series of books by Le Guin set in the fictional Hainish universe, which she ...more

47

2,150 1,545

Speaker for the Dead Orson Scott Card Speaker for the Dead is a 1986 science fiction novel by Orson Scott Card and an indirect sequel to the novel Ender's Game. This book takes place around the year 5270, some 3,000 years after the ...more

48

2,378 1,230

but chickens double d added Catching Fire Suzanne Collins Catching Fire is a 2009 science fiction young adult novel by American novelist Suzanne Collins, the second book in The Hunger Games trilogy. As the sequel to the 2008 bestseller The Hunger ...more

49

2,223 1,689

Ender's Shadow Orson Scott Card Ender's Shadow is a parallel science fiction novel by the American author Orson Scott Card, taking place at the same time as the novel Ender's Game and depicting some of the same events from the ...more

50

1,777 1,237

Childhood's End Arthur C. Clarke Childhood's End is a 1953 science fiction novel by the British author Arthur C. Clarke. The story follows the peaceful alien invasion of Earth by the mysterious Overlords, whose arrival begins ...more