As genres go, it’s particularly great being a science fiction fan. There is simply no shortage of great sci-fi movies, television shows, and even books to enjoy with each telling stories that take readers into the future, to alien worlds, that push technology to limits we can barely even dream of, and much, much more. But while there are some sci-fi offerings that are well-known and well-loved across all forms of media, there are others that don’t necessarily get as much attention or simply get forgotten as more great offerings emerge.
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This is especially true for books. Each year many new and fascinating sci-fi books are published, capturing our imaginations before we move onto the next item on our to-be-read pile. That means that there are probably a few great books that, if you’re a sci-fi fan, you’ve probably missed or forgotten about. Here are seven underrated sci-fi books that might just fall into that category for you, books that every sci-fi fan should read — and we wouldn’t mind getting an adaptation of #2.)
7) The Need by Helen Phillips
Helen Phillips’ The Need is possibly the most divisive novel on this list, but it’s still a solid read that will leave you thinking and really shouldn’t be missed. The book follows Molly, a scientist who is left home alone with her two small children who finds her biggest anxieties come to left when she confronts a masked intruder in her who home who knows way too much about her and her family. The story takes some wild turns and spirals into a reality-twisting tale of anxiety, motherhood, and self.
The biggest complaints about The Need typically come down to a focus on a specific detail of motherhood and the novel’s unusual ending, but with its exploration of maternal love and personal identity as well as a superb use of suspense, it’s a nice little sci-fil thriller that will certainly leave you with more questions than answers.
6) The Windup Girl by Paolo Bacigalupi
One of the most underappreciated subgenres of sci-fi is biopunk, but if you’re looking to explore, Paolo Bacigalupi’s debut novel The Windup Girl is not only the perfect choice, but a must-read sci-fi in general. Set in a future Thailand, The Windup Girl takes readers into a world where climate change and overconsumption have reached a grim, natural point to where the world’s ocean level has risen, carbon fuel sources are gone, and food is an issue due to rampant bioterrorism. In this world, calories are currency.
The story of The Windup Girl largely follows a genetically modified human, Emiko, who was abandoned in Thailand by her Japanese owner and is living in fear of being discovered as her kind are illegal. In broad strokes, this is a novel about revolution, but there’s so much more nuance than that. It’s a richly created world that is, at times, traumatic, but has serious themes that are really worth exploring.
5) Radiance by Catherynne M. Valente
If you like both alternate history and space opera then Radiance is for you. The world of Radiance is very different than our own, wherein serious space travel is possible but movies with sound are a novelty thanks to Thomas Edison’s family hoarding patents. The story is set in an alternate late 1980s and is about the disappearance of filmmaker Severin Unck who, in defiance of her famous director father, begins making documentaries throughout the solar system. However, she goes missing making a film about the disappearance of a diving colony on Venus.
The novel has a neat structure, telling Severin’s story through found footage mechanics, elements from gossip magazine reporting, and more. It’s a unique approach not only to the idea of a solar system very different than ours and divergent history, but a unique approach to telling the tale by using techniques from various forms of media as well.
4) The Calculating Stars by Mary Robinette Kowal
Another alternate history, The Calculating Stars is the first book in the four-book Lady Astronaut series — and you can consider this entry a four-for-one because the whole series is very good. In The Calculating Stars, a meteorite fell to earth on a spring night in 1952 and took out most of the east coast of the United States, including Washington D.C., and has dire consequences for all of earth as it will set off a chain of events that will wipe out humanity the way a meteorite did the dinosaurs. It’s a crisis that kicks into high gear efforts to colonize space. When Elma York is brought on as a calculator to help with the efforts to put man on the moon, she soon starts to question why women can’t go to — and becomes driven to become the first Lady Astronaut.
The book — and the series — leans into a bit of real history (the women who worked as calculators for NASA doing the manual calculations that did, indeed, get us to the moon) as well as the early efforts of women to become astronauts ala the Mercury 13. But it also Explores questions about what would our world look like if we had taken a different path in our course to the stars. It’s just a really gorgeous “what if” with high stakes and a delightful read.
3) Children of Time by Adrian Tchaikovsky
This one comes with a little bit of a trigger warning if you’re like me and don’t like spiders but at the same time, the book is good enough that it’s worth pressing past the dislike of spiders. Trust me. Children of Time is another series on this list where all three books really need to be on your list (the sequels are Children of Ruin and Children of Memory).
Set in the far future, an Earth in collapse previously terraformed a planet for humanity to go to and start anew. Unfortunately, the virus that was supposed to kickstart the evolutionary process on a cargo of monkeys ended up going to work on something else, creating intelligent, uplifted, evolving spiders. The story is a rich exploration of what happens when humanity’s plans don’t exactly work as well as themes of evolution of survival. I’m not going to lie, this is a weird series, but it’s really, really good.
2) The Echo Wife by Sarah Gailey
Every list needs a good sci-fi murder mystery and The Echo Wife fits the bill. The film follows Dr. Evelyn Caldwell who happens to be a scientist researching cloning who finds that her husband Nathan used her research to create a clone of her named Martine. Except, there’s a catch. Nathan made Martine to be the “ideal” version of Evelyn and was having an affair with the clone. However, when Martine ends up killing Nathan in self-defense, both women have to clean up the mess.
The book is full of drama and a lot of fun for a thriller. It’s also an interesting story where the clone gets the upper hand and has a little bit of a Black Mirror vibe to it. It’s also a book that really needs a movie adaptation — and we are theoretically getting one. Back in 2021, Annapurna acquired the film rights for the book, but as of yet there haven’t been any updates.
1) An Accidental Goddess by Linnea Sinclair
Another subgenre that needs to be on every sci-fi fan’s list is romance so we’re adding a fun one: An Accidental Goddess by Linnea Sinclair. In the novel, Raheiran Special Forces captain Gillaine Davre’s wakes up three centuries after her ship was attacked in a battle defending her home. Because she was presumed dead, her people started to revere her as a goddess. Gillaine decides to keep her identity a secret for some form of normal life, but that all goes out the window when she ends up falling for Admiral Rynan Mackarian — who happens to be a follower of the goddess.
You’ve got a little bit of everything with this one. You’ve got a space story, you’ve got time travel, there’s a cool AI ship named Simon, there’s plenty of action, and there’s romance. it’s just good fun as science fiction goes, but there’s a lot of depth as well, particularly as Gillaine struggles with her identity and sense of self.
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