This page has the Science Fiction books that I have read, and rated as A+
Here are the books rated A, the books rated A-, the books rated B, and the books that are NOT recommended.
Some of these were recommended by science fiction magazines that I subscribe to. These include Fantasy & Science Fiction, Asimov’s Science Fiction and Interzone.
Click here for the other books, some courtesy of the now defunct Oprah Winfrey book club. Here is a NPR’s flowchart of 100 Great Fantasy and Science Fiction books. I have read a lot of these books.
| Name |
|
Notes |
| Ventus
by Karl Schroeder ISBN 0-812-57635-7 |
A*
|
In a class of its own, and an amazing first novel by Schroeder. A fascinating, beautiful story about terraforming and nanotechnology. |
NOTE – the most recent books I have read are listed near the top of each section below. |
||
| Oryx & Crake
by Margaret Atwood |
A+ | This is the first book of the trilogy. Most of humanity has been eliminated by some sort of pandemic. This books sets up the background, but leaves a lot of open questions.
The main characters are Jimmy (aka Snowman), Oryx and Crake. Jimmy recounts his history, including his family life. His parents worked at a research lab that tried to create human tissue transplant organs in a transgenic pig host (pigoons). Crake is Jimmy’s friend from the school days. He became a scientific genius who apparently gene-engineered new children (The Crakers), subject to his own whims. Oryx is a woman they met on the internet, who Jimmy brings on as his research assistant. This started slowly, but got really interesting. I really loved reading this complex story. |
| The Year of the Flood
by Margaret Atwood |
A+ | This is the second book of the trilogy. Margaret Atwood did not plan to write a trilogy, but wrote this to answer some of the open questions from the first book.
Two women (Ren and Toby) are the main characters. They are both members of God’s Gardeners, a hippie like group led by Adam One. Most of the book covers the period leading up to the pandemic. I definitely enjoyed reading this – but there are still more questions! |
| Maddaddam
by Margaret Atwood |
A+ | This is the third book of the trilogy. This time the main narrator is Toby.
There are several new story threads, which are really creative. This time, we finally find out how the pandemic started. The characters from the first two books are brought together as they try to survive. I definitely enjoyed reading this entire trilogy. I just love how everything tied together. |
| The Three Body Problem
by Cixin Liu |
A+ | This is the first book of a trilogy – which I generally avoid. But it won a Hugo award, and almost everyone said it was a great read. This is an incredible story about aliens who try to conquer the Earth. The way they do this is really “far out”, and this book is a VERY long read. This story kept me enthralled, and I couldn’t wait to start reading the next volume. |
| The Dark Forest
by Cixin Liu |
A+ | This is the second book of the trilogy.
“The Dark Forest” refers to a theory of intelligent life in the universe. Is it better to announce your presence to all the alien races (potential adversaries), or should we remain hidden. This is another VERY long read, with some slow spots. But there is a real payoff at the end which makes it worthwhile. |
| Death’s End
by Cixin Liu |
A+ | This is the third book of the trilogy.
This continues the story of humanity’s struggle against the aliens. This is another VERY long read, with some slow spots. But there is a real payoff at the end which makes it worthwhile. |
| The Greatship
by Robert Reed |
A+ | Over the years, I have enjoyed several of Robert Reed’s “Greatship stories” as part of Gardner Dozois’ The Year’s Best Science Fiction collections. This is space opera on a grand scale! The Great Ship is literally huge – larger than a few planets. The inhabitants of the ship are essentially immortal … or just very hard to kill. Some of the stories focus on relationships with certain alien races, others on those darn humans. I really enjoyed this book. Each story is about 50 pages long, and intricately plotted, sometimes covering thousands of years. He put these stories in a logical order, so you get introduced to characters who appear in subsequent stories. He also added a few pages of background to introduce each story. |
| The January Dancer
by Michael Flynn ISBN 978-0-7653-181-7 |
A+ | This is a novel about a stone that shifts its shape, which is called the January Dancer. It is rumored to give its owner special powers, and there are numerous groups traversing the galaxy vying to own the January Dancer. The novel is written with very elegant prose, in a rather dense style. There are multiple plot lines which can be a bit challenging. In the end, the effort is quite worthwhile. After reading this book and The Wreck of the River of Stars, I now hold Michael Flynn in the highest regard. |
| Pushing Ice
by Alastair Reynolds ISBN 978-0-441-01502-3 |
A+ | A moon of Saturn “wakes up” and departs the solar system. This story focuses on the crew of an asteroid mining ship who are ordered to follow and observe. There are lots of human conflicts that develop, which result in quite a struggle to survive. This is another great “space opera” from Alastair Reynolds. It kept me enthralled. |
| House of Suns
by Alastair Reynolds ISBN 0-441-01064-4 |
A+ | This is another great space opera by Alastair Reynolds. This is another sci fi murder mystery, and it is very well told. The story focuses on Campion and Purslane, two members of the Gentian Line. The members of the line gather for a reunion once every 200,000 years to share memories and experiences. This is another VERY BIG novel with tons of VERY BIG ideas. Suffice it to say that this is very well done, and everything is tied up at the end very neatly. |
| Anathem
by Neal Stephenson ISBN 978-0-061-69494-3 |
A+ | This novel is a detailed study of a civilization that is structured quite differently than ours. There are groups of people like monks who live in walled fortresses, and rarely intermix with the “normal” population outside those walls. Some groups of “monks” remain isolated for 10 years at a time, and others go for 100 or 1,000 years at a time. Then the interior walls open, and the different groups intermingle. At certain times, they also mix with those outside the walls. This is a very long book, and parts of it can seem rather slow. There are Socratic arguments, some logical / mathematical proofs, and a VERY lengthy Glossary at the end of the book. I found myself making numerous trips back there to understand what the characters were talking about. It was a very interesting read, and I found the resolution at the end quite satisfying. After the disaster of trying to read the Baroque Cycle (which I hated), I loved Anathem. |
| Blindsight
by Peter Watts ISBN 978-0-7653-1964-7 |
A+ | This is a first contact story, and one of the deepest I have read. 65,536 probes appear around the Earth, take a picture, and send a message to deep space. Then, “something” travels into the solar system.
This book focuses on the crew of the ship traveling to intercept. Each member of the crew is fascinating. The main character has the ability to read people’s expressions, similar to, but much more developed than empathy. Some of the story is told in this character’s flashbacks. The captain of the crew is a vampire – really! Well, the actual captain of the ship is an AI, but it communicates directly with the vampire. Things really get interesting when the aliens start communicating. This story is simply packed with information – I haven’t even gotten to the various conflicts with the aliens. This is one of the best hard SF stories I have read in years. It has a lengthy bibliography with notes and references! |
| Against a Dark Background
by Ian M. Banks ISBN 0-553-29225-0 |
A+ |
This novel is another example of why I love Ian M. Banks. It is comparable to more modern “space operas” such as works by Alastair Reynolds. This story revolves around a fabled weapon called the Lazy Gun, and the battles between two factions to gain control over it. The story has lots of action sequences, which are described in great detail. I found the ending especially well written. |
| Spin
by Robert Charles Wilson ISBN 978-0-7653-4825-8 |
A+ |
This novel won the Hugo award, and it really is quite impressive. An alien race places a shield around the earth, which slows the passage of time on Earth relative to the rest of the galaxy. The story chronicles the lives of three people, two of whom are intimately involved in the struggle to overcome the effects of the shield. The story has two main threads, which alternate between “now” and 4×109 AD. This is primarily a story of individual people overcoming adversity. There are some great ideas here, and they are |
| Consider Phlebas
by Ian M. Banks ISBN 1-85723-138-4 |
A+ |
This novel (written in 1987) is quite impressive. It is comparable to The story has lots of action sequences, which are described in great detail. I look forward to reading more of Banks’ work. |
| River of Gods
by Ian McDonald ISBN 1-591-02436-6 |
A+ |
This novel describes a future India. It is a very scary place, mostly due to a proliferation of rogue AI. The story has some very graphic sequences, which made it more real to me. There are about 10 main characters, and the story is told using first person plural. This makes the book challenging to read, but I found it well worth the effort. It is more difficult if you don’t read the glossary of Indian words at the end of the book! This is chock full of BIG ideas, and is another example of Ian McDonald’s best work. |
| Hyperion
by Dan Simmons ISBN 0-553-28368-5 |
A+ |
The key figure of the novel is the Shrike, a mythical / mystical creature on the planet Hyperion. Seven individuals have all been The majority of the novel has each pilgrim telling their life story to the others, in the hope their inter-relationships will be clarified. The stories are really interesting, and each pilgrim reveals their dark secrets. This book is worth reading just for the first of the seven stories. It runs about 90 pages, and it covers several fascinating ideas. Most of the other stories are also really good. |
| Chasm City
by Alastair Reynolds ISBN 0-441-01064–4 |
A+ | This is a sci-fi murder mystery, told in a compelling fashion. There are stories of two characters interwoven here, who are a century apart. One is Tanner Mirabel, who is trying to exact revenge on Argent Reivich. The other is Sky Hausmann, who is a mythic figure who is revered by many on the planet where Tanner is currently stationed.
In the end, the various threads of this story converge to a satisfying conclusion. With this novel, I have become an ardent admirer of Alastair Reynolds. |
| Hatrack River
by Orson Scott Card ISBN 1–568–65989–X |
A+
|
This book is more fantasy than science fiction. For me, it firmly established Orson Scott Card as a great writer. There are three novels contained in the book: Seventh Son, Red Prophet and Prentice Alvin.
The story is about early American history, and the relationship between the white men and the native Indians. The key character is Alvin, who is the seventh son of a seventh son. He is a Maker, who has nearly magical powers. The most impressive part of this collection of three novels is the second one, Red Prophet. It retells some events from the point of view of an Indian who also has magical powers. Many times I was quite literally blown away by what the retelling revealed. |
| Perdido Street Stationby China MiévilleISBN 0-345–45940-7 |
A+ | This is set on a world with multiple races. Some are human, others birdlike, and others totally alien. I was really impressed by the author’s ability to communicate just how alien some of these races are. This is a complex story with lots of interconnecting threads. The character development and writing are both quite well done. |
| The Diamond Age, or A Young Lady’s Illustrated Primer
by Neal Stephenson ISBN 0-553-38096-6 |
A+ | This novel has nanotechnology as its central theme. There are many related threads which are brought together with great skill. I was truly impressed by the depth and elegance of the prose! |
| Terminal Cafe
by Ian McDonald ISBN 0-553-37416-8 |
A+ | This is the BEST of several books I have read on this idea – What happens when immortality is available to almost everyone? Wars tend to stretch out over centuries, and require really long range planning.
Everyone who dies becomes a second class citizen. They have to work a long time to pay off the cost of their resurrection. All of the dead have no rights, and must spend each night in a compound. The prose in this book is beautiful, and the ideas are simply amazing. I think it is Ian McDonald’s best work. |
| The Great Wheel
by Ian R MacLeod ISBN 0-15-100293-2 |
A+ | This is another dark vision of a future earth. There are two races coexisting: the Borderers, and the Europeans. The Borderers all carry a disease which is fatal to the Europeans. The Borderers are the “have-nots” of the world, while the Europeans have advanced medical technology.
This tells the story of a European priest / doctor who tries to solve a mystery related to the Borderers. The prose is extremely well written. It gives a clear picture of the very different lives of the Borderers, and |
| Schismatrix Plus
Bruce Sterling ISBN 0-441-00370-2 |
A+ | This is collection that includes the novel Schismatrix, as well as several related stories that Sterling wrote before the novel was published. The basic story covers the conflict between the Shapers (psychological warfare) and the Mechanists (high tech hardware). These stories span over 100 years, so there is plenty of time for various ideas to develop. |
| Gravity’s Angels
by Michael Swanwick ISBN 1-58394-029-4 |
A+ | This is a short story collection, dating back to the mid 1980’s. It is one of the most impressive collections I have ever read. I was simply blown away by half of these stories – I had to sit and think a while after reading them! |
| Cryptonomicon
by Neal Stephenson ISBN 0-380-97346-4 |
A+ | This novel follows two plot lines through history, and it includes cryptography and computers prominently in both. There is also a bit of “altered history” involving World War II. |
| Bones of the Earth
by Michael Swanwick ISBN 0-380-97836-9 |
A+ | This book successfully mixes dinosaurs and time travel paradoxes. I have enjoyed past novels such as Stations of the Tide, but this one really amazed me. The character development is excellent. |
| Burning Chrome
by William Gibson |
A+ | This is a collection of short stories, which was my first introduction to William Gibson. My favorites are Johnny Mnemonic, Dogfight, and Burning Chrome. I used to like Gibson’s novels a lot, but his material has gotten weak recently. |