The Best Sci-Fi Books of 2021

We take a look at the most exciting new sci-fi books of 2021, the best sci-fi books of 2020, as well as the best science fiction novels of all time.

From spectacular sequels to award-winning novels to ongoing adventures set in the hottest science fiction universes, we're looking ahead to some of the most anticipated new sci-fi books of 2021. No matter what kind of science fiction fan you are, we'll know sure to find something to add to your reading list. We also look back at some of the best sci-fi books of 2020, and for even more inspiration, share some of the best sci-fi novels of all time. 

Looking for your next fantasy novel? Read our adaptation of the best new fantasy books, here.

The Best New Sci-Fi Books of 2021

A Desolation Called Peace
by Arkady Martine 

This spectacular sequel to Arkady Martine Hugo Award-winning debut sci-fi book sees the Tlaxcalans Empire facing an alien threat that could cause its utter destruction. Fleet Captain Nine Hibiscus is all that stands between the Empire and all-out war, so in desperation, he sends an envoy to negotiate with the mysterious invaders. . . Arkady Martine's Tlaxcala duology is a must-read for fans of epic space opera. 

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The Best Sci-Fi Books of 2020

The Doors of Eden
by Adrian Tchaikovsky

A new science fiction novel by Adrian Tchaikovsky to get excited about, The Doors of Eden is a standalone adventure set in the world of MI5 investigations and in the depths of Bodmin Moor. After an attack on a government physicist and rumors of monsters and missing people, British security forces are investigated. When they discover that there are cracks between our world and countless others, it shatters everything they previously thought about the universe.

Sleeping in a Sea of ​​Stars
by Christopher Paolini

Sleeping in a Sea of ​​Stars is the highly anticipated all-new epic science fiction novel from New York Times and Sunday Times bestselling author Christopher Paolini. 

The novel follows xenobiologist Kira Navárez as she discovers an alien relic that pushes her into the wonders and nightmares of first contact. Following the fate of humanity, epic space battles take her to the farthest reaches of the galaxy, transforming not only her, but the entire course of history.

Read Christopher Paolini about why he was inspired to write about First Contact.

        

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by Rian Hughes Rian Hughes

novel taps into the full narrative potential of graphic design, using twenty-first century visual culture to ask who we are and where we are going now. When an alien signal is detected, artificial intelligence expert Jack Fenwick is sure to decode it. But when he makes his way into an alien realm, he finds it already inhabited by ghostly entities that may come from our own past. This unique novel features NASA transcripts, news and magazine articles, and books in books. There is no book like this.

Exhalation
by Ted Chiang

Named in Barack Obama's 2019 Summer Reading List, this groundbreaking collection of science fiction short stories is the second from acclaimed author Ted Chiang. In these nine astonishingly original and poignant stories, we encounter a gate through time in ancient Baghdad, a scientist who makes a shocking discovery that will affect all humanity and a woman who has been around an AI for over twenty years. pet '. By answering essential questions about the nature of the universe and what it means to be human, among other things, this is science fiction writing at its most thoughtful.

Children of Ruin
by Adrian Tchaikovsky Echoing

Tchaikovsky's Arthur C. Clarke Award-winning science fiction novel, Children of Time,discovers Children of Ruin that modern humanity is dealing with the ramifications of Earth's ancient empire. A terraforming program changes the world of Nod, with unplanned and ominous side effects. Centuries later, a reconnaissance mission finally discovers this part of space. They hope to find cousins ​​of the old earth, but realize that something else awaits.

The Last Emperox
by John Scalzi

In the conclusion of the Interdependency series from sci-fi great John Scalzi, the paths connecting the stars rapidly collapse, accelerating the fall of civilization and threatening to strand billions of people. The evidence is insurmountable, but many people deny and even try to take advantage of this disaster. 

Emperox Grayland II is finally in control of her empire, but as she works to save her people, others are desperate to have her fall from the throne. . . Will it save civilization?

Discover all of John Scalzi's books in order.

The Saints of Salvation
by Peter F. Hamilton

The Olympics have besieged the earth and harvested people for their god. Cities are falling prey to their devastating weapons, and millions have fled to take refuge in space or wage a war that seems impossible to win. As Earth's defeat draws closer, a team is sent to infiltrate the Olyix's ark ship. Their plan? To pass its location on to future generations and take the battle to the enemy. . . This is the last science fiction novel in Peter F. Hamilton's stunning series The Salvation Sequence. 

Discover all books and series by Peter F. Hamilton.

The Human
by Neal Asher

The epic finale to the Rise of the Jain trilogy, The Human, begins with the fate of an entire galaxy at stake. A Jain warship has risen from a five-million-year-old prison, determined to capture an old enemy and ready to destroy everything in its path. Orlandine must once again fight the seemingly unstoppable Jain and their old but deadly technology to save humanity and herself. 

The Best Sci-Fi Books of All Time

The Time Machine
by HG Wells

HG Wells was one of the first to express a plausible scientific method of time travel, and he also coined the term 'time machine' in this science fiction novella. The book has been adapted into three different films and continues to influence science fiction writers. The Time Machine is a groundbreaking classic considered by many to be the most influential science fiction book of all time.

The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
by Douglas Adams

Towels at the ready and DON'T PANIC, but yes, Douglas Adams' sci-fi classic will really celebrate its 42nd birthday in 2020. The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy began as a Radio 4 show in 1978 and has spawned adaptations in almost every format ever since, making it a staple of any respectable list of the best sci-fi books. Following Arthur Dent's galactic adventures following the premature demolition of his home to make way for a new hyperspace express route, this new edition of the Guide features exclusive bonus archival footage and a new introduction from Russell T. Davies. This classic science fiction novel is a must-read for fans of the genre. 

Don't miss our complete guide to The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.

Recursion
by Blake Crouch

This high-concept sci-fi thriller asks the question: what if someone could rewrite your entire life? When Detective Barry Sutton is called to assist a woman who threatens to jump out of a building, he is oblivious to the chain of events that will trigger the incident. Unable to keep the woman from taking her own life, the last words she says to him are, "My son has been blotted out." As Barry begins to investigate her case, he finds she is not alone in making such claims. All over the country, people are waking up to different lives, an epidemic the media has dubbed 'False Memory Syndrome'. But what if the cause is more sinister than disease?

Blake Crouch shares his all-time favorite science fiction.  

A Memory Called Empire
by Arkady Martine

Arkady Martine's debut sci-fi book is a compelling space political opera for fans of Ann Leckie and Iain M. Banks. A Memory Called Empire introduces the idea of ​​a technology that allows a select few to carry their predecessors in their heads and take advantage of their wisdom and memories - a fascinating theme for the reader to hit their heads around. The first book in Texican duology writer, fans will eagerly await news about the second novel from this exciting new science fiction.

Salvation
by Peter F. Hamilton

The first book in the series from bestselling science fiction author Peter F. Hamilton, The Salvation Sequence, features genetically engineered soldiers, alien shipwrecks and galaxy travel - what more could a space opera fan want? 

The year is 2204 AD. And a mysterious shipwreck appears on a planet at the edge of the galaxy. The charge is disturbing, so a team led by security director Ferritin Kayne is sent to investigate. But what they discover raises mind-boggling questions - and can predict humanity's demise.

War of the Worlds
by HG Wells

Inspiring countless sci-fi stories and novels, HG Wells' sci-fi classic is a must for any sci-fi fan's bookshelf. Written in semi-documentary style, the 1938 radio adaptation famously caused panic when listeners believed the fictional new bulletins were real, and this novel about a terrifying alien invasion continues to captivate readers to this day. 

Journey to the Center of the Earth
by Jules Verne

When the accidental discovery of an ancient cryptogram reveals a path to the underworld, adventurous professor Otto Lidenbrock sets off for Iceland, determined to reach the center of the earth. But nothing can prepare him and his cousin Axle for what they will find underground; vast caves and vast subterranean seas reveal all of Earth's known history and more, as dinosaurs fight, giant men herd mastodons, and danger and excitement await around every corner.

Pandora's Star
by Peter F. Hamilton

Peter F. Hamilton's epic Commonwealth Saga duology begins with the galaxy-spanning sci-fi novel Pandora's Star. Humanity has spread across the galaxy and colonized hundreds of planets linked by wormholes. Finally there is peace. But when stars begin to disappear thousands of light years away, ex-NASA astronaut Wilson Kime is sent to discover the cause.

Traveling in his faster-than-light spaceship, Kime arrives to find the stars trapped in an immense force field. Entire galaxies are closed off. But who could own this technology? And did they try to keep us out? . . or save something else?

Parable of the Sower
by Octavia E. Butler

No list of the best sci-fi books is complete without Octavia Butler's sci-fi classic Parable of the Sower. Set in a dystopian Los Angeles in a crumbling America, Lauren Olamina struggles to survive in a world ravaged by drugs, disease and war as she battles hyperempathy, a condition that makes her extremely sensitive to the pain of others .

Zone One
by Colson Whitehead

 Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist Colson Whitehead was inspired to write this apocalyptic sci-fi novel because of his teenage fascination with the work of Stephen King and Issac Asimov. A plague has ravaged the planet and the population is divided into the living and the living dead. Mark Spitz is working on a task force to remove the infected people from 'Zone One', but things are quickly going from bad to worse. . . 

Binti
by Nnedi Okorafor

Binti is the first person in her family to be accepted into the prestigious Oomza University, but to take that place, she must leave everything she knows behind for a new life that travels among the stars. And there are dangers in this new life, as the university has long battled with a nightmare alien race called the Meduse. . . This Hugo award-winning novella is the first in Nnedi Okorafor's science fiction series. 

Dune
By by Frank Herbert 

The science fiction one of the best-selling sci-fi books of all time and was adapted into the movie of the same name, directed by David Lynch. The universe is 20,000 years in the future and relies on the supply of Melange, a rare element that can be used for everything from life extension to interstellar travel. This precious element can be found on only one planet, Arrakis. And whoever controls Arrakis controls the universe. . . 

Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea
by Jules Verne

The Macmillan Collector's Library edition of this classic sci-fi book is beautifully illustrated by French painter Édouard Riou, who worked with Jules Verne on six of his novels. When three adventurers set out to kill a sea monster, everything isn't what it seems. . .