Best Sci-Fi Books for Beginners

1. 1

   

   Project Hail Mary

   by Andy Weir

   ★ 4.93 BLT Score (1.4M ratings)

   ★ 4.51 Goodreads (1.4M)

   476 pages • 2021

   Get the Book → Start Listening →
   Get the Book → Start Listening →
2. 2

   

   Dungeon Crawler Carl

   Dungeon Crawler Carl • Book 1

   by Matt Dinniman

   ★ 4.80 BLT Score (284.3K ratings)

   ★ 4.48 Goodreads (284.3K)

   464 pages • 2020

   Get the Book → Start Listening →
   Get the Book → Start Listening →
3. 3

   

   The Martian

   The Martian • Book 1

   by Andy Weir

   ★ 4.76 BLT Score (1.3M ratings)

   ★ 4.42 Goodreads (1.3M)

   369 pages • 2011

   Get the Book → Start Listening →
   Get the Book → Start Listening →
4. 4

   

   Dune

   Dune • Book 1

   by Frank Herbert

   ★ 4.66 BLT Score (1.6M ratings)

   ★ 4.29 Goodreads (1.6M)

   658 pages • 1965

   Get the Book → Start Listening →
   Get the Book → Start Listening →
5. 5

   

   Red Rising

   Red Rising • Book 1

   by Pierce Brown

   ★ 4.64 BLT Score (820.6K ratings)

   ★ 4.27 Goodreads (820.6K)

   382 pages • 2014

   Get the Book → Start Listening →
   Get the Book → Start Listening →
6. 6

   

   Leviathan Wakes

   The Expanse • Book 1

   by James S. A. Corey

   ★ 4.63 BLT Score (324.2K ratings)

   ★ 4.31 Goodreads (324.2K)

   561 pages • 2011

   Get the Book → Start Listening →
   Get the Book → Start Listening →
7. 7

   

   Jurassic Park

   Jurassic Park • Book 1

   by Michael Crichton

   ★ 4.60 BLT Score (1.1M ratings)

   ★ 4.13 Goodreads (1.1M)

   466 pages • 1990

   Get the Book → Start Listening →
   Get the Book → Start Listening →
8. 8

   

   Ender's Game

   The Ender Saga • Book 1

   by Orson Scott Card

   ★ 4.59 BLT Score (1.5M ratings)

   ★ 4.31 Goodreads (1.5M)

   324 pages • 1985

   Get the Book → Start Listening →
   Get the Book → Start Listening →
9. 9

   

   Ender's Shadow

   Ender's Shadow • Book 1

   by Orson Scott Card

   ★ 4.59 BLT Score (180.6K ratings)

   ★ 4.32 Goodreads (180.6K)

   469 pages • 1999

   Get the Book → Start Listening →
   Get the Book → Start Listening →
10. 10

    

    We Are Legion (We Are Bob)

    Bobiverse • Book 1

    by Dennis E. Taylor

    ★ 4.58 BLT Score (128.3K ratings)

    ★ 4.26 Goodreads (128.3K)

    383 pages • 2016

    Get the Book → Start Listening →
    Get the Book → Start Listening →
11. 11

    

    The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

    Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy • Book 1

    by Douglas Adams

    ★ 4.56 BLT Score (2.0M ratings)

    ★ 4.22 Goodreads (2.0M)

    Get the Book → Start Listening →
    Get the Book → Start Listening →
12. 12

    

    1984

    by George Orwell, Thomas Pynchon

    ★ 4.55 BLT Score (5.5M ratings)

    ★ 4.2 Goodreads (5.5M)

    368 pages • 1948

    Get the Book → Start Listening →
    Get the Book → Start Listening →
13. 13

    

    Columbus Day

    Expeditionary Force • Book 1

    by Craig Alanson

    ★ 4.53 BLT Score (34.1K ratings)

    ★ 4.25 Goodreads (34.1K)

    299 pages • 2016

    Get the Book → Start Listening →
    Get the Book → Start Listening →
14. 14

    

    Halo: The Fall of Reach

    Halo • Book 1

    by Eric S. Nylund

    ★ 4.51 BLT Score (36.3K ratings)

    ★ 4.26 Goodreads (36.3K)

    352 pages • 2001

    Get the Book → Start Listening →
    Get the Book → Start Listening →
15. 15

    

    Kindred

    by Octavia E. Butler

    ★ 4.49 BLT Score (278.5K ratings)

    ★ 4.31 Goodreads (278.5K)

    288 pages • 1979

    Get the Book → Start Listening →
    Get the Book → Start Listening →
16. 16

    

    Wool Omnibus

    Silo • Book 1

    by Hugh Howey

    ★ 4.48 BLT Score (280.3K ratings)

    ★ 4.23 Goodreads (280.3K)

    509 pages • 2012

    Get the Book → Start Listening →
    Get the Book → Start Listening →
17. 17

    

    Parable of the Sower

    Earthseed • Book 1

    by Octavia E. Butler

    ★ 4.47 BLT Score (272.8K ratings)

    ★ 4.19 Goodreads (272.8K)

    345 pages • 1993

    Get the Book → Start Listening →
    Get the Book → Start Listening →
18. 18

    

    Deathtrap

    Mavericks • Book 1

    by Craig Alanson

    ★ 4.46 BLT Score (3.9K ratings)

    ★ 4.31 Goodreads (3.9K)

    425 pages • 2019

    Get the Book → Start Listening →
    Get the Book → Start Listening →
19. 19

    

    Old Man's War

    Old Man\u2019s War • Book 1

    by John Scalzi

    ★ 4.42 BLT Score (226.8K ratings)

    ★ 4.23 Goodreads (226.8K)

    318 pages • 2005

    Get the Book → Start Listening →
    Get the Book → Start Listening →
20. 20

    

    Children of Time

    Children of Time • Book 1

    by Adrian Tchaikovsky

    ★ 4.40 BLT Score (180.0K ratings)

    ★ 4.3 Goodreads (180.0K)

    600 pages • 2015

    Get the Book → Start Listening →
    Get the Book → Start Listening →
21. 21

    

    The Primal Hunter

    The Primal Hunter • Book 1

    by Zogarth

    ★ 4.40 BLT Score (21.0K ratings)

    ★ 4.25 Goodreads (21.0K)

    716 pages • 2022

    Get the Book → Start Listening →
    Get the Book → Start Listening →
22. 22

    

    Ready Player One

    Ready Player One • Book 1

    by Ernest Cline

    ★ 4.38 BLT Score (32 ratings)

    ★ 4.16 Goodreads (32)

    38 pages • 2016

    Get the Book → Start Listening →
    Get the Book → Start Listening →
23. 23

    

    2001: A Space Odyssey

    Space Odyssey Series • Book 1

    by Arthur C. Clarke

    ★ 4.38 BLT Score (338.0K ratings)

    ★ 4.18 Goodreads (338.0K)

    297 pages • 1968

    Get the Book → Start Listening →
    Get the Book → Start Listening →
24. 24

    

    The Handmaid's Tale

    The Handmaid's Tale • Book 1

    by Margaret Atwood

    ★ 4.36 BLT Score (2.5M ratings)

    ★ 4.15 Goodreads (2.5M)

    320 pages • 1985

    Get the Book → Start Listening →
    Get the Book → Start Listening →
25. 25

    

    Steelheart

    The Reckoners • Book 1

    by Brandon Sanderson

    ★ 4.36 BLT Score (197.0K ratings)

    ★ 4.14 Goodreads (197.0K)

    386 pages • 2013

    Get the Book → Start Listening →
    Get the Book → Start Listening →

Found an author or subgenre that clicks? Sci-fi has incredible depth — hard sci-fi, space opera, cyberpunk, and more are waiting.