10 books for fans of What If? 10th Anniversary Edition
- 1
The Consuming Fire
The Interdependency • Book 2
by John Scalzi
More about this pick
Emperox Grayland watches the Flow that enables interstellar travel disappear, stranding entire star systems while politicians deny the coming catastrophe.
★ 4.22 Goodreads (37.6K ratings) - 2
Fuzzy Nation
Fuzzy Sapiens • Book 7
by John Scalzi
More about this pick
Independent prospector Jack Holloway's discovery of cute, possibly intelligent creatures could destroy ZaraCorp's mining operation. Scalzi updates a sci-fi classic with humor, corporate satire, and genuine heart.
★ 4.15 Goodreads (32.3K ratings) - 3
The Last Emperox
The Interdependency • Book 3
by John Scalzi
More about this pick
Star systems vanish behind the collapsing Flow while politicians and profiteers deny the science, leaving Emperox Grayland to save what she can of human civilization.
★ 4.14 Goodreads (33.4K ratings) - 4
The Kaiju Preservation Society
by John Scalzi
More about this pick
COVID-era food delivery driver Jamie Gray accidentally lands a job protecting kaiju in an alternate dimension. Scalzi wrote this as pandemic comfort reading, and it shows in the best possible way.
★ 3.98 Goodreads (72.6K ratings) - 5
Agent to the Stars
by John Scalzi
More about this pick
Benevolent aliens want to make contact but face a PR nightmare: they're hideous and smell terrible, so they hire Hollywood's hottest agent to rebrand them.
★ 3.93 Goodreads (24.1K ratings) - 6
Redshirts
by John Scalzi
More about this pick
What happens when Star Trek redshirts figure out they're expendable? Scalzi's brilliant meta-fiction follows crew members who realize they're trapped in a badly written TV show where extras always die horribly on away missions.
★ 3.87 Goodreads (118.6K ratings) - 7
The Martian
The Martian • Book 1
by Andy Weir
More about this pick
Weir's debut follows botanist Mark Watney's resourceful attempt to survive alone on Mars after his crew evacuates, believing him dead during a dust storm.
★ 4.42 Goodreads (1.3M ratings) - 8
The Greatest Science Fiction Stories of the 20th Century
by Martin H. Greenberg, Greg Bear, Terry Bisson, David Brin, John W. Campbell Jr., Arthur C. Clarke, Harlan Ellison, Ursula K. Le Guin, Judith Merril, Frederik Pohl, Eric Frank Russell, Terry Farrell, Denise Crosby, Alexander Siddig, Melissa Manchester
More about this pick
Essential 20th-century sci-fi collection spans from Arthur C. Clarke's cosmic mysteries to Harlan Ellison's twisted childhood nightmares in "Jeffty Is Five."
★ 3.61 Goodreads (165 ratings) - 9
All These Worlds
Bobiverse • Book 3
More about this pick
Taylor concludes his Bobiverse trilogy as Bob's clones face their greatest challenge: ancient aliens bent on destroying every thinking species they encounter.
★ 4.40 Goodreads (65.4K ratings) - 10
Bloodchild and Other Stories
More about this pick
In Butler's award-winning title story, humans serve as hosts for alien reproduction in an arrangement that's both intimate and horrifying. Her collected stories examine power, survival, and what it means to be human when humanity isn't in control.
★ 4.34 Goodreads (27.6K ratings)