Science fiction books are not only a divertimento ; they are almost always impregnated with reflections about our society, the psychological mechanisms that guide our thinking and the material and social conditions that make us behave in one way or another.

Science-fiction books you should read

In this selection of science fiction books you can find excellent examples of how this genre is a description of both what it is and what our universe could become.

1. Cyberiad, by Stanislaw Lem

Fables in the form of stories that talk about a universe in which visiting other planets is as normal as going to buy bread. The stories told by Stanislaw Lem in this book are full of humour and interesting reflections .

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2. The Martian Chronicles, by Ray Bradbury

A collection of stories that have something in common: are set on a planet Mars colonized by humans . Ray Bradbury makes good use of all the possibilities that this context offers when it comes to creating original stories.

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3. Ubik, by Philip K. Dick

In a world where psychic powers are part of everyday life, Joe Chip, the protagonist of this novel, offers services to block these mental abilities in those contexts where they can be used to damage or steal property. But all this changes when he is entrusted with the mission of protecting a lunar facility .

  • Here you can read more about this book.

4. I, Robot, by Isaac Asimov

The compilation of stories in which the famous laws of robotics are exposed and, in general, the paradoxes that can arise in those logical rules that humanity can give to artificial intelligence.

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5. Orson Scott Card’s Ender Game

Ender is the product of an ambitious training project for warriors who must face an alien race. To do this, must train together with other young people in a special training center with zero gravity .

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6. Neuromancer, by William Gibson

A novel as stimulating as it is demanding, in which the adventures of a cowboy from cyberspace are narrated who can connect his nervous system to a kind of Internet in which everything has its representation.

  • If you are interested in this novel, here is more information about it.

7. 1984, by George Orwell

A country in a permanent state of emergency, cameras everywhere and a ruthless apparatus of repression of citizens. This novel by George Orwell has become one of the best science fiction books because of the parallels that can be drawn between his universe and reality.

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8. The left hand of darkness, by Ursula K. Le Guin

In this novel, Ursula K. Le Guin reflects on what life could be like if intelligent beings like humans were able to change their sexes periodically. That is, writes a society without sex differentiation .

  • Here you can read more about this title.

9. The Man in the Castle by Philip K. Dick

An alternative world in which the axis of Nazi Germany and Japan have won the war and occupy the United States , with all that this implies in terms of repression and persecution of ethnic minorities. In this context, different lines of argument are narrated about spies, Jews who remain in hiding, and people who struggle to preserve their dignity in an occupied country.

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10. A Happy World, by Aldous Huxley

One of the most famous dystopias for its resemblance to the West of the 21st century . A society in which formal freedom hides a mode of manipulation based on the constant search for pleasure.

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11. Jurassic Park by Michael Crichton

A well-known argument: a theme park based on the exhibition of real dinosaurs cloned from preserved DNA, an entrepreneur eager to exploit this asset and a group of researchers who must examine the site before it opens its doors. However, the book is very different from the film and contains many very interesting reflections on nature, science and chaos theory.

  • On this page you can read it.

12. Watchmen, by Alan Moore

Not all science fiction books have to be novels ; there are also graphic science fiction novels. Alan Moore is one of those who has demonstrated more expertise in storytelling through cartoons, and in Watchmen he makes it clear that the colored pages have nothing to envy the cinema, even when it comes to focusing all the weight of the plot in the development of complex characters.

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13. I have no mouth and must scream, by Harlan Elliston

One of the most famous science fiction stories , and also one of the rawest. It tells the misadventures of a group of people who are kept alive by a computer that tortures them to get back at humanity for having created it.

14. Dune, by Frank Herbert

Among the best known science fiction books is Dune , a book that has given rise to the creation of two parallel sagas located in the same fictional universe . Set on a desert planet whose dunes are crossed by huge giant worms and by tribes of humans living in misery, this book shows one of the most immersive worlds ever written.

  • Here you can read more about Dune.

15. The Dispossessed, by Ursula K. Le Guin

One of the characteristics of science fiction is that it allows us to carry out “imaginary experiments” to reflect on alternative forms of social and political organisation. This book by Ursula K. Le Guin is a good example of this, since its pages describe an anarchist society that lives in a phase of communism in which property has been abolished.

  • You can read it in this compilation.

16. Dhalgren, by Samuel R. Delany

The story takes place in a city isolated from the rest of the world, immersed in a constant post-apocalyptic state , in which all kinds of unexplainable situations occur. But this novel is much more than the setting where the events occur: the way in which it is narrated, the subjects dealt with and the approach given to the story have made it one of the great references in science fiction.

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17. Solaris, by Stanislaw Lem

This author’s best known book: for a reason it has been adapted to the cinema on two occasions . In this novel he talks about a psychologist who travels to an observation station located on the surface of a strange planet, as its inhabitants have long been suspected of developing mental disorders.

  • You can learn more about the book here.