my Science Fiction Reading List

Science fiction is not the only genre I read. I enjoy other types of fiction. Nor do I only read fiction. In fact, I would say that I have a habit of alternating one fiction book with one non-fiction book. It is often the non-fiction books that I enjoy the most, but I do believe that science fiction is a good counterbalance to non-fiction because it expands the mind and allows for creative imagination of better worlds.

People often misinterpret science fiction as fiction that is set in the future, but nothing could be farther from the truth. Some of the most famous science fiction is set in the present or even the past. Star Wars opens with “a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away.” Some people prefer the term “speculative fiction,” and although I don’t use it regularly, I do like the idea that the premise that the foundation of of science fiction is to take all of the laws of the universe and change one, and build a plot around that change. That doesn’t apply to all science fiction, but it certainly is a better definition than “set in the future.

This list was developed as an attempt by me to define what is the canon of the body of work called science fiction that is most representative of the genre, but is heavily skewed by a few idiosyncrasies of my own warped personality.

1. These are almost all books that I have read personally. That means that there are books geared towards children that were popular in the ’80s and early ’90s, and it also means that there’s heavy influence from my friends who are also heavily into the genre.
2. In books, as in music and film, I have a certain tendency towards trilogies or series, or otherwise long novels where it takes time to develop a universe and to explore that universe from multiple angles.
3. In generating this list, I pulled from other lists such as past Nebula and Hugo award winners. More importantly, I looked at various maps of all of the subgenres of science fiction and fantasy, at where there were concentrations of books that I liked and adjacent subgenres that I had perhaps ignored, and looked for canonical books to plug those gaps. That is how Ringworld made it onto my list, for example, which I have not yet read, and it is how I discovered the great works of Ursula Le Guin.
4. I’ve shared this list with a few science fiction aficionados and authors, and they have suggested a couple additions which have made it into this list.

So, without much further ado, I introduce you to my own personal science fiction reading list: