Classic Science Fiction Novels
How can we define classic science fiction novels? In order to attempt that, we need to look at what would constitute a “classic” work in the science fiction genre. Are the classics the books that stood the test of time; are they the books that have real literary value and would make any literary critic drool; are they the most popular works (i.e. bestsellers) in the genre; are they the titles in the genre that get reprinted the most; or are they simply any old work of science fiction?
As you can see, there can be many different definitions for the term “classic science fiction novels“, and different people will always have different opinions on it. However you may look at the subject, here are some “classic science fiction novels” that could fit in any of the above-mentioned categories. Whether you are a voracious reader of the genre and need to read more science-fiction books than the most popular works, or whether you are interested in older works in the genre or in the development of science fiction over the years; or whether you want to read classic science fiction novels because of nostalgia or out of curiosity; or whether you are someone new to the genre – there will be something here for you in the list.
I’ve attempted to place the books in the most appropriate category according to the sub-genres of science fiction. If you feel that you can add to the list, please feel free to contact me and let me know about it.
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If you are new to science fiction, you might want to take a look at this post: What is Science Fiction?
I hope you enjoy finding classic science fiction novels in this list and I trust that you will learn more about the genre on this website.
Random Post: The War of the Worlds – Literary Touchstone edition
This Prestwick House Literary Touchstone Classic™ includes a glossary and reader’s notes to help the modern reader contend with Wells’ vocabulary, use of science, and British references. Originally written for a magazine in 1897, The War of the Worlds became an instant, popular favorite. Long before our modern fascination with flying saucers and brightly glowing UFOs, H. G. Wells anticipated a close encounter between puny Earthlings and seemingly all-powerful Martians. A flash of light observed coming from the red planet sets the stage for a terrifying invasion, against which Earth’s modern weapons are useless. Throughout the epic battle, Wells points out that humans just might not have the talent or ability to defeat an extraterrestrial rival. Could we become slaves to a race of alien monsters? Will their heat-ray destroy all of London and decimate the rest of civilization? Can one man save the world? The War of the Worlds is a science fiction masterpiece that has fascinated us for more than a century, through at least three different movies, the infamous Orson Welles radio broadcast, and even a Broadway musical. Few books have captured the popular imagination as forcefully as this H. G. Wells novel.
2001: A Space Odyssey book
The 2001 A Space Odyssey book is one of the “must read” classic science fiction novels of all time. Arthur C. Clarke authored the 2001 A Space Odyssey book whilst Stanley Kubrick produced the motion picture, each of these two working together on both projects. The novel is far more comprehensive as well as personal, and is undoubtedly simpler to understand.
A scientific expedition uncovers a tall black monolith, purposefully buried below the moon’s surface. Exposure to sunlight triggers a powerful radio signal from the mysterious object. NASA determines the signal’s destination: Saturn. Although, Arthur C. Clarke’s 2001: A Space Odyssey centers around the discovery of unquestionable proof of extraterrestrial intelligence, what is truly being commemorated in this science fiction classic is mankind’s own investigation and realization of the wonders around him – (P. N. Keppler, Amazon.com reviewer).
Nemesis
A gripping tale of high adventure, action, and mystery, Nemesis is Grand Master Isaac Asimov at his best–and destined to become a classic for many years to come.
Posted in Classic Science Fiction Novels, Isaac Asimov | 
Tags: high-adventure, Isaac Asimov, mystery, nemesis
Eye
A compilation of short stories by Frank Herbert, with black and white illustrations. Includes the short story “The Road to Dune.”
The Collected Stories of Arthur C. Clarke
Author of 2001: A Space Odyssey, Childhood’s End, The City and the Stars, and the Hugo and Nebula Award-winning Rendezvous with Rama, Arthur C. Clarke is the most celebrated science fiction author alive. He is—with H. G. Wells, Isaac Asimov, and Robert A. Heinlein—one of the writers who define science fiction in our time. Now Clarke has cooperated in the preparation of a massive, definitive edition of his collected shorter works. From early work like “Rescue Party” and “The Lion of Comarre,” through classics like “The Star,” “Earthlight,” “The Nine Billion Names of God,” and “The Sentinel” (kernel of the later novel, and movie, 2001: A Space Odyssey), all the way to later work like “A Meeting with Medusa” and “The Hammer of God,” this immense volume encapsulates one of the great SF careers of all time.
The Santaroga Barrier
Santaroga seemed to be nothing more than a prosperous farm community. But there was something . . . different . . . about Santaroga.
Santaroga had no juvenile delinquency, or any crime at all. Outsiders found no house for sale or rent in this valley, and no one ever moved out. No one bought cigarettes in Santaroga. No cheese, wine, beer or produce from outside the valley could be sold there. The list went on and on and grew stranger and stranger.
Maybe Santaroga was the last outpost of American individualism. Maybe they were just a bunch of religious kooks. . . .
Or maybe there was something extraordinary at work in Santaroga. Something far more disturbing than anyone could imagine.
Chapterhouse: Dune (The Dune Chronicles)
A beautiful new hardcover package for the “exciting and gripping” (Kirkus Reviews) New York Times bestselling science fiction classic.
The desert planet Arrakis, called Dune, has been destroyed. The remnants of the Old Empire have been consumed by the violent matriarchal cult known as the Honored Matres. Only one faction remains a viable threat to their total conquest-the Bene Gesserit, heirs to Dune’s power.
Under the leadership of Mother Superior Darwi Odrade, the Bene Gesserit have colonized a green world on the planet Chapterhouse, and are turning it into a desert, mile by scorched mile. And once they’ve mastered breeding sandworms, the Sisterhood will control the production of the greatest commodity in the known galaxy-the spice Melange. But their true weapon remains a man who has lived countless lifetimes-a man who served under the God Emperor Paul Muad’Dib.
Caves of Steel (Robot (Spectra Books))
A millennium into the future two advancements have altered the course of human history: the colonization of the galaxy and the creation of the positronic brain. Isaac Asimov’s Robot novels chronicle the unlikely partnership between a New York City detective and a humanoid robot who must learn to work together. Like most people left behind on an over-populated Earth, New York City police detective Elijah Baley had little love for either the arrogant Spacers or their robotic companions. But when a prominent Spacer is murdered under mysterious circumstances, Baley is ordered to the Outer Worlds to help track down the killer. The relationship between Life and his Spacer superiors, who distrusted all Earthmen, was strained from the start. Then he learned that they had assigned him a partner: R. Daneel Olivaw. Worst of all was that the “R” stood for robot–and his positronic partner was made in the image and likeness of the murder victim!
Second Foundation (Foundation Novels)
Isaac Asimov’s Foundation novels are one of the great masterworks of science fiction. As unsurpassed blend of nonstop action, daring ideas, and extensive world-building, they chronicle the struggle of a courageous group of men and women dedicated to preserving humanity’s light in a galaxy plunged into a nightmare of ignorance and violence thirty thousand years long.
After years of struggle, the Foundation lies in ruins—destroyed by the mutant mind power of the Mule. But it is rumored that there is a Second Foundation hidden somewhere at the end of the Galaxy, established to preserve the knowledge of mankind through the long centuries of barbarism. The Mule failed to find it the first time—but now he is certain he knows where it lies.
The fate of the Foundation rests on young Arcadia Darell, only fourteen years old and burdened with a terrible secret. As its scientists gird for a final showdown with the Mule, the survivors of the First Foundation begin their desperate search. They too want the Second Foundation destroyed…before it destroys them.
Whipping Star
In the far future, humankind has made contact with numerous other species: Gowachin, Laclac, Wreaves, Pan Spechi, Taprisiots, and Caleban, and has helped to form the ConSentiency to govern among the species. After suffering under a tyrannous pure democracy, the sentients of the galaxy find the need for a Bureau of Sabotage (BuSab) to slow the wheels of government, thereby preventing it from legislating recklessly. BuSab is allowed to sabotage and harass the governmental, administrative, and economic powers in the ConSentiency. Private citizens must not be harassed, and vital functions of society are also exempt.
Jorj X. McKie is a born troublemaker who has become one of BuSab’s best agents. Drafted for the impossible task of establishing meaningful communication with an utterly alien entity who defies understanding, McKie finds himself racing against time to prevent a mad billionairess from wiping out all life in the ConSentiency.
The White Plague
It begins in Ireland, but soon spreads throughout the entire world: a virulent new disease expressly designed to target only women. As fully half of the human race dies off at a frightening pace and life on Earth faces extinction, panicked people and governments struggle to cope with the global crisis. Infected areas are quarantined or burned to the ground. The few surviving women are locked away in hidden reserves, while frantic doctors and scientists race to find a cure. Anarchy and violence consume the planet.
The plague is the work of a solitary individual who calls himself the Madman. As government security forces feverishly hunt for the renegade scientist, he wanders incognito through a world that will never be the same. Society, religion, and morality are all irrevocably transformed by the White Plague.
Dune, 40th Anniversary Edition (Dune Chronicles, Book 1)
The all-time science fiction masterpiece…now in a special hardcover edition.
“Unique…I know nothing comparable to it except Lord of the Rings.”–Arthur C. Clarke
Here is the novel that will be forever considered a triumph of the imagination. Set on the desert planet Arrakis, Dune is the story of the boy Paul Atreides, who would become the mysterious man known as Maud’dib. He would avenge the traitorous plot against his noble family–and would bring to fruition humankind’s most ancient and unattainable dream.
A stunning blend of adventure and mysticism, environmentalism and politics, Dune won the first Nebula Award, shared the Hugo Award, and formed the basis of what is undoubtedly the grandest epic in science fiction. Frank Herbert’s death in 1986 was a tragic loss, yet the astounding legacy of his visionary fiction will live forever.
Posted in Classic Science Fiction Novels, Frank Herbert | Tags: 40th-anniversary, anniversary-edition, arthur-c, desert-planet, Frank Herbert, hardcover-edition, hugo-award, live-forever, mysterious-man, nebula-award, paul-atreides, planet-arrakis, stunning-blend, tragic-loss, unattainable-dream, visionary-fiction
God Emperor of Dune (Dune Chronicles)
A beautiful new package with a new introduction…
Millennia have passed on Arrakis, and the oncedesert planet is green with life. Leto Atreides, the son of the world’s savior, the Emperor Paul Muad’Dib, is still alive but far from human. To preserve humanity’s future, he sacrificed his own by merging with a sandworm, granting him nearimmortality as God Emperor of Dune for the past 3,500 years.
Leto’s rule is not a benevolent one. His transformation has not only made his appearance inhuman, but his morality. A rebellion has risen to oppose the despot’s rule, led by Siona, a member of the Atreides family. But Siona is unaware that Leto’s vision of a Golden Path for humanity requires her to fulfill a destiny she never wanted…or could possibly conceive…
Posted in Classic Science Fiction Novels, Frank Herbert | Tags: dune-dune, emperor-paul, golden-path, leto-atreides, muad-dib, s-vision
Children of Dune (The Dune Chronicles)
The science fiction masterpiece continues in the “major event,”( Los Angeles Times) Children of Dune.
With millions of copies sold worldwide, Frank Herbert’s Dune novels stand among the major achievements of the human imagination and one of the most significant sagas in the history of literary science fiction.
The Children of Dune are twin siblings Leto and Ghanima Atreides, whose father, the Emperor Paul Muad’Dib, disappeared in the deserts of Arrakis. Like their father, they possess supernormal abilities—making them valuable to their aunt Alia, who rules the Empire. If Alia can obtain the secrets of the twins’ prophetic visions, her rule will be absolute. But the twins have their own plans for their destiny.
Dune Messiah (Dune Chronicles (Econo-Clad Hardcover))
With millions of copies sold worldwide, Frank Herbert’s magnificent Dune novels stand among the major achievements of the human imagination as one of the most significant sagas in the history of literary science fiction.
Dune Messiah continues the story of Paul Atreides, better known-and feared-as the man christened Muad’Dib. As Emperor of the Known Universe, he possesses more power than a single man was ever meant to wield. Worshipped as a religious icon by the fanatical Fremens, Paul faces the enmity of the political houses he displaced when he assumed the throne-and a conspiracy conducted within his own sphere of influence.
And even as House Atreides begins to crumble around him from the machinations of his enemies, the true threat to Paul comes to his lover, Chani, and the unborn heir to his family’s dynasty.
The Great Dune Trilogy: “Dune”, “Dune Messiah”, “Children of
Herbert’s evocative, epic tales are set on the desert planet Arrakis, the focus for a complex political and military struggle with galaxy-wide repercussions. Arrakis is the source of spice, a mind enhancing drug which makes interstellar travel possible; it is the most valuable substance in the galaxy. When Duke Atreides and his family take up court there, they fall into a trap set by the Duke’s bitter rival, Baron Harkonnen. The Duke is poisoned, but his wife and her son Paul escape to the vast and arid deserts of Arrakis, which have given the planet its nickname of Dune. Paul and his mother join the Fremen, the Arrakis natives, ho have learnt to live in this harsh and complex ecosystem. But learning to survive is not enough – Paul’s destiny was mapped out long ago and his mother is committed to seeing it fulfilled.
The Great Dune Trilogy: “Dune”, “Dune Messiah”, “Children of Dune” (GollanczF.)
The Time Machine
“The Time Machine”, H.G. Wells’ classic science fiction story, is generally credited with the popularization of the concept of time travel using a vehicle that allows an operator to travel purposefully and selectively. The Time Traveller, a scientist and inventor, developed a time machine and travels to the year A.D. 802,701 in the future. He finds a peaceful race, the Eloi, who are unimaginative and incurious about the world. Very soon the Time Traveller finds that the Utopian existence of the Eloi turns out to be deceptive when he discovers the downtrodden working classes who have evolved into the bestial Morlocks, cannibal hominids resembling human spiders. The Morlocks toil underground maintaining the machinery that keep the Eloi docile and plentiful. Eventually, the Time Traveller has to battle the Morlocks for possession of his time machine.
Posted in Classic Science Fiction Novels, H. G. Wells | Tags: peaceful-race, Time Travel, time-machine, time-traveller
The War of the Worlds – Literary Touchstone edition
This Prestwick House Literary Touchstone Classic™ includes a glossary and reader’s notes to help the modern reader contend with Wells’ vocabulary, use of science, and British references. Originally written for a magazine in 1897, The War of the Worlds became an instant, popular favorite. Long before our modern fascination with flying saucers and brightly glowing UFOs, H. G. Wells anticipated a close encounter between puny Earthlings and seemingly all-powerful Martians. A flash of light observed coming from the red planet sets the stage for a terrifying invasion, against which Earth’s modern weapons are useless. Throughout the epic battle, Wells points out that humans just might not have the talent or ability to defeat an extraterrestrial rival. Could we become slaves to a race of alien monsters? Will their heat-ray destroy all of London and decimate the rest of civilization? Can one man save the world? The War of the Worlds is a science fiction masterpiece that has fascinated us for more than a century, through at least three different movies, the infamous Orson Welles radio broadcast, and even a Broadway musical. Few books have captured the popular imagination as forcefully as this H. G. Wells novel.
2061: Odyssey Three
“[Clarke] remains a master at describing the wonders of the material universe in sentences that combine a respect for scientific accuracy with an often startling lyricism.”
*The New York Times Book Review
Fifty years after meeting the spirit of Dave Bowman aboard the abandoned Discovery and witnessing the fiery transformation of Jupiter into Earths second sun, 103-year-old Dr. Heywood Floyd boards the luxury spaceship Universe for the historic first landing on the surface of Halley’s Comet.
At the same time, the Galaxy expedition sets out to probe the evolutionary upheaval on Jupiter’s former moon Europa haunted by the fate of a doomed Chinese mission and by the ominous message from space: “All these worlds are yours *except Europa. Attempt no landings there. ” Read the rest of this entry »
3001 The Final Odyssey
One thousand years after the Jupiter mission to explore the mysterious Monolith had been destroyed, after Dave Bowman was transformed into the Star Child, Frank Poole drifted in space, frozen and forgotten, leaving the supercomputer HAL inoperable. But now Poole has returned to life, awakening in a world far different from the one he left behind–and just as the Monolith may be stirring once again . . .
Foundation (Foundation Novels)
For twelve thousand years the Galactic Empire has ruled supreme. Now it is dying. But only Hari Sheldon, creator of the revolutionary science of psychohistory, can see into the future—to a dark age of ignorance, barbarism, and warfare that will last thirty thousand years. To preserve knowledge and save mankind, Seldon gathers the best minds in the Empire—both scientists and scholars—and brings them to a bleak planet at the edge of the Galaxy to serve as a beacon of hope for a fututre generations. He calls his sanctuary the Foundation.
But soon the fledgling Foundation finds itself at the mercy of corrupt warlords rising in the wake of the receding Empire. Mankind’s last best hope is faced with an agonizing choice: submit to the barbarians and be overrun—or fight them and be destroyed.