Science fiction books are some of the best books out there in our opinion. But not all science fiction books are equal. That is why we decided to look at some of the lists out there. Today, we will be looking at Esquire’s 50 best science fiction books of all time. Keep reading to see which books made their list!
Esquire might have started off focusing on men’s fashion in the early 1900’s, it has changed a lot since then. Now, they have their hands on a little bit of everything. That makes us wonder how much credibility they have. The only way to find that out is to see how their list holds up.
Esquire’s 50 Best Science Fiction Books of All Time
- The Echo Wife by Sarah Gailey
- Snow Crash by Neal Stephenson
- Contact, by Carl Sagan
- A Canticle for Leibowitz by Walter M. Miller Jr.
- Solaris by Stanislaw Lem
- Neuromancer by William Gibson
- The Book of Phoenix by Nnedi Okorafor
- A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess
- The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams
- This Is How You Lose the Time War by Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone
- The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress by Robert A. Heinlein
- A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L’Engle
- The Time Machine by H.G. Wells
- Rosewater by Tade Thompson
- The Stand by Stephen King
- Radiance by Catherynne M. Valente
- Red Mars by Kim Stanley Robinson
- The City & The City by China Miéville
- Hyperion by Dan Simmons
- Dhalgren by Samuel R. Delany
- The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet by Becky Chambers
- The Body Scout by Lincoln Michel
- Zone One by Colson Whitehead
- 1Q84 by Haruki Murakami
- Future Home of the Living God by Louise Erdich
- Ammonite by Nicola Griffith
- Oryx and Crake, by Margaret Atwood
- The Resisters, by Gish Jen
- Shikasta, by Doris Lessing
- An Unkindness of Ghosts, by Rivers Solomon
- Annihilation, by Jeff VanderMeer
- The Sirens of Titan by Kurt Vonnegut
- Childhood’s End by Arthur C. Clarke
- The Complete Robot by Isaac Asimov
- How to Live Safely in a Science Fictional Universe by Charles Yu
- Brave New World by Aldous Huxley
- The Employees by Olga Ravn
- 1984 by George Orwell
- The Three-Body Problem by Cixin Liu
- Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? by Philip K. Dick
- Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel
- Exhalation by Ted Chiang
- Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro
- The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K. Le Guin
- Kindred by Octavia Butler
- The Fifth Season by N.K. Jemisin
- The Martian Chronicles by Ray Bradbury
- Dune by Frank Herbert
- Frankenstein by Mary Shelley
Can’t Argue With This List
This list contains most if not all of the major science fiction classics. It has A Clockwork Orange, The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, and The Time Machine. No list is perfect without those and a few others which this list contains.
Conclusion
That is all for Esquire’s 50 best science fiction books of all time list. What did you think of their list? Let us know in the comments below!
I am always curious as to the criteria for any of these lists. Why is Dune on the list but Ring World not? Why does The Martian Chronicles make the list but The Martian doesn’t? How about some of the books that cross genres, such as Something Wicked This Way Comes, as I see that book as being horror as well as science fiction and is a great book.
If the reasons are just preference then my list is every bit as valid as all other lists. If there are actual criteria I would love to know what they are. Perhaps the criteria is just whether the list maker has read to book or not. Have they read Ring World, the Rama series, the Lensman series?
I’m glad that Octavia Butler is on here, but where is Jules Verne?
So you have “The Complete Robot”, which is a collection of novels, not a book, but not the “Foundation” series. You have “Exhale” by Ted Chiang, which is brilliant, but a collection of short stories, not a novel. Nothing at all by Iain M Banks. No “Ender’s Game”. And why does every list like this have to include “Brave New World”? Have you even read it? It is a not particularly original story which is not especially well written. Get sick of people treating it like scifi holy writ.
Timothy Zahn the Thrawn Trilogy 15 million copies sold Heir to the Empire, Dark Force Rising and The Last Command why is this not on the list
I can’t believe you didn’t include Foundation series as this is probably the epitome of science fiction
What about the Wheel of Time series. And Brandon Sanderson?
Those are fantasy, not scifi.