Science Fiction

This page is meant to cover the basics works and stellar pieces of science fiction literature. While the bulk of Science Fiction is trashy genre-work there are genuine masterpieces. The purpose of this article is to illustrate those masterpieces as best as possible. As always however, this list is imperfect and always growing. If there is anything missing please add to it. If there is a work you think is missing, feel free to add it.

The Big Three

Isaac Asimov

Title	Author	Description	Pages	Book Cover
The Caves of Steel	Isaac Asimov	A Science Fiction / mystery novel set on earth some 3 millennia in the future. The overall plot features the dealings of a detective and his highly intelligent android partner.	288
The Complete Robot	Isaac Asimov	A collection of 31 of Isaac Asimov's short stories, they share a theme of the interaction of humans, robots and morality, and put together tell a larger story of Asimov's fictional history of robotics. Includes the story "Runaway" which outlines Asimov's laws of Robotics.	496
The Gods Themselves	Isaac Asimov	The main plotline is a project by aliens who inhabit a parallel universe (the para-Universe) with different physical laws from this one. By exchanging matter with Earth, they seek to exploit these differences in physical laws. The exchange of matter provides an alternative source of energy in their dying Universe. However, the exchange of physical laws will have consequences.	304
The Foundation Trilogy	Isaac Asimov		678
The Naked Sun	Isaac Asimov	Another Science Fiction/Mystery Novel that features a protagonist who manages to circumvent the laws of robotics in order to have his wife murdered.	288

Arthur C. Clarke

Title	Author	Description	Pages	Book Cover
2001: A Space Odyssey	Arthur C. Clarke		320
Childhood's End	Arthur C. Clarke	Story regarding the future of mankind after the advent of a "devil-like" alien race appears and offers them a golden era of prosperity.	256
The Collected Short Stories of Arthur C. Clarke	Arthur C. Clarke	A Collection of nearly every short story Arthur Clarke has ever published tallying at over 100. Includes: The Nine Billions Names of God, The Sentinel, and his flash fiction "God said, 'Cancel Program GENESIS.' The universe ceased to exist."	976
The Fountains of Paradise	Arthur C. Clarke		332
Rendevous with Rama	Arthur C. Clarke	Classic book featuring mankind's encounter with the alien vessel Rama.	274

Robert Heinlein

Title	Author	Description	Pages	Book Cover
Friday	Robert Heinlein	The tale of a genetically modified female, designed to be superior physically, and mentally to normal human beings. The story follows her struggles with the prejudice against artificial humans and her attempts to assimilate.	368
Have Space Suit - Will Travel	Robert Heinlein		256
Methuselah's Children	Robert Heinlein		183
The Moon is a Harsh Mistress	Robert Heinlein		384
Orphans of the Sky	Robert Heinlein		224
Starship Troopers	Robert Heinlein	One of Heinlein's most famous pieces of science fiction, Starship Troopers follows the eyes of a human soldier going through the ranks in an alien war.	263
Stranger in a Strange Land	Robert Heinlein		528
Time for the Stars	Robert Heinlein		256

Early and Proto Science Fiction

Title	Author	Description	Pages	Book Cover
20,000 Leagues Under the Sea	Verne, Jules		426
A Journey to the Center of the Earth	Verne, Jules		256
A Voyage to Arcturus	Lindsay, David		274
Frankenstein	Shelley, Mary		328
The Invisible Man	Wells, H.G.		208
The Island of Dr. Moreau	Wells, H.G.		160
The Last Man	Shelley, Mary		352
True History	Lucian of Samosata		44
Micromegas	Voltaire		48
The Time Machine	Wells, H.G.		104
The War of the Worlds	Wells, H.G.		138

Golden Age Science Fiction

Title	Author	Description	Pages	Book Cover
A Princess of Mars	Burroughs, Edgar Rice		160
The Big Time	Leiber, Fritz		152
The Day of the Triffids	Wyndham, John		256
The Demolished Man	Bester, Alfred		256
Dorsai!	Dickson, George R.		288
The Martian Chronicles	Bradbury, Ray		288
Mission of Gravity	Clement, Hal		203
Out of the Silent Planet	Lewis, C.S.		160
Slan	van Vogt, A.E.		272
Star Maker	Stapledon, Olaf		232
Stars My Destination	Bester, Alfred		272
To Your Scattered Bodies Go	Farmer, Philip Jóse		184
Triplanetary	Smith, Edward E.		240
The Voyage of the Space Beagle	van Vogt, A.E.		224
Who?	Budrys, Algis		158
Who Goes There	Campbell Jr., John W.		168
The World of Null-A	van Vogt, A.E.		272

Modern Science Fiction

Title	Author	Description	Pages	Book Cover
A Fire Upon the Deep	Vinge, Vernor		624
A Time of Changes	Silverberg, Robert		304
The Algebraist	Banks, Iain M.		434
Babel-17	Delany, Samuel R.		158
Behold the Man	Moorcock, Michael		124
Beyond Apollo	Malzberg, Barry N.		156
Bill, the Galactic Hero	Harrison, Harry	Anti-War Military Satire	208
Blood Music	Bear, Greg		294
Camouflage	Haldeman, Joe		304
Consider Phlebas	Banks, Iain M.		544
Cryptonomicon	Stephenson, Neal		1168
Darwin's Radio	Bear, Greg		544
The Dispossessed	Le Guin, Ursula K.		400
Doomsday Book	Willis, Connie		592
Downbelow Station	Cherryh, C.J.		352
Dune	Hebert, Frank		544
Dying Inside	Silverberg, Robert		304
Ender's Game	Card, Orson Scott		352
The Faded Sun Trilogy	Cherryh, C.J.		784
Fire time	Anderson, Poul		288
Flowers for Algernon	Keyes, Daniel		324
Footfall	Niven, Larry & Pournelle, Jerry		524
The Forever War	Haldeman, Joe		384
The Forge of God	Bear, Greg		480
Gateway	Pohl, Frederik		288
Halcyon Drift	Stableford, Brian		175
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy	Adams, Douglas		272
Hyperion	Simmons, Dan		481
I Have No Mouth and I Must Scream	Ellison, Harlan		20
Ilium	Simmons, Dan		752
The Illuminatus! Trilogy	Shea, Robert & Wilson, Robert Anton		805
Kiln People	Brin, David		336
The Left Hand of Darkness	Le Guin, Ursula K.		320
Lord Valentine's Castle	Silverberg, Robert		528
Lord of Light	Zelazny, Roger		304
Make Room! Make Room!	Harry Harrison	Soylent was neither green nor made of people in this book, which is quite a bit different (better) than the movie it spawned. This story is basically a murder mystery set in an overpopulated world. The tone of the novel paints a slightly goofy (but always sympathetic) portrait of humanity.
Man Plus	Pohl, Frederik		320
The Man Who Melted	Dann, Jack		274
The Man Who Folded Himself	Gerrold, David		144
Mote in God's Eye	Niven, Larry & Pournelle, Jerry		592
Moving Mars	Bear, Greg		448
Old Man's War	Scalzi, John		320
The Peace War	Vinge, Vernor		304
Rainbow's End	Vinge, Vernor		368
Red Mars	Robinson, Kim Stanley		592
Revelation Space	Reynolds, Alistair		576
Ringworld	Niven, Larry		352
Rite of Passage	Panshin, Alexei		260
River of Gods	McDonald, Ian		599
Singularity Sky	Stross, Charles		352
Slaughterhouse Five	Vonnegut Jr., Kurt		288
The Snow Queen	Vinge, Joan D.		448
Solaris	Lem, Stanislaw		204
The Sparrow	Russell, Mary Doria		408
Spin	Wilson, Robert Charles		464
Sundiver	Brin, David		352
Tau Zero	Anderson, Poul		190
Think Like a Dinosaur and Other Stories	Kelley, James Patrick		275
This Immortal / ...And Call Me Conrad	Zelazny, Roger		176
Timescape	Benford, Gregory		512
The Time Ships	Baxter, Stephen		544
Troika	Chapman, Stepan		256
Ubik	Dick, Philip K.		224
Vurt	Noon, Jeff		342
World of Ptavvs	Niven, Larry		192

Cyberpunk

Title	Author	Description	Book Cover
Accelerando	Charles Stross
Altered Carbon	Richard K. Morgan
The Diamond Age	Neal Stephenson
The Difference Engine	William Gibson & Bruce Sterling
Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep	Philip K. Dick
Islands in the Net	Bruce Sterling
Neuromancer	William Gibson
Permutation City	Greg Egan
The Shockwave Rider	John Brunner
Snow Crash	Neal Stephenson
Software	Rudy Rucker

Post Apocalyptic

Title	Author	Description	Book Cover
A Canticle for Leibowitz	Walter M. Miller, Jr.
A Wrinkle in Time	Madeleine L'Engle
The Chrysalids	John Wyndam
Cloud Atlas	David Mitchell
The Deep	John Crowley
Dies the Fire	S.M. Sterline
Dr. Bloodmoney	Philip K. Dick
Dreamsnake	Vonda M. McIntyre
The Dying Earth	Jack Vance
Earth Abides	George R. Stewart
The Elfin Ship	James Blaylock
I Am Legend	Richard Matheson
Lucifer's Hammer	Larry Niven & Jerry Pournelle
The Mount	Carol Emshwiller
The Nightland	William Hope Hodgson
The Planet of the Apes	Pierre Boulle
The Postman	David Brin
Ravage	Rene Barjavel
Riddley Walker	Russell Hoban
The Road	Cormac McCarthy
Shadow and Claw	Gene Wolfe
The Sheep Look Up	John Brunner
The Tripods Trilogy	Samuel Youd

Dystopian

Title	Author	Description	Book Cover
1984	George Orwell
A Scanner Darkly	Philip K. Dick
Brave New World	Aldous Huxley
Fahrenheit 451	Ray Bradbury
Flow My Tears, The Policeman Said	Philip K. Dick
The Giver	Lois Lowry
The Handmaid's Tale	Margaret Atwood
Logan's Run	William F. Nolan & George Clayton Johnson
The Man in the High Castle	Philip K. Dick
Stand on Zanzibar	John Brunner
We	Yevgeny Zamyatin
Where Late the Sweet Birds Sang	Kate Wilhelm
The World Inside	Robert Silverberg