Good Books to Read - Science Fiction and Fantasy

Good Books to Read - Science Fiction & Fantasy

Science fiction and fantasy novels have imagined worlds where fantastic things happen. Some novels extrapolate aspects of our world, some provide metaphors of human life and others just provide rip roaring adventure.

Science fiction novels tell tales that could conceivably happen within our current knowledge of science.

The best fantasy books involve magic, fantastical dragons and devices that science tells us are impossible.

Both genres contain good books to read and many fine movies have been derived from them.

Below are our 10 classics and latest recommendations:
If any of the books interests you, buy it now, at a cheap price, by clicking on the image.

10 Classic science fiction & fantasy books

Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien

This good book to read is listed in many reader polls as the best book - period. It practically invented the high fantasy genre. In Lord of the Rings Tolkien pits good versus evil at the most fantastical level. Sauron, the Dark Lord, possesses all his rings of Power except for one. That ring, the one ring, was lost long ago and eventually becomes the property of a hobbit called Frodo who shows it to his friend, Gandalf the Grey. Gandalf, a stonkingly powerful wizard, realizes the ring is the last chance to prevent Sauron from ruling all of Middle Earth. Destroy the ring, and Sauron will be killed. So begins a great adventure to the Volcano of Mount Doom, the only place hot enough to destroy the ring. Along the way Frodo gains human, dwarf and elven helpers and encounters enemies in the form of wraiths, wights, orcs, spiders and goblins.

The Eye of the World by Robert Jordan

This novel and its sequels in Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time is ripe with traditional fantasy fayre: reluctant heroes suddenly set upon the path of fighting dark powers and hordes of monsters; a darkly powerful enemy who is practically immortal, an apocalyptic end of the world which is fast approaching; a hidden sisterhood whose powers are used to manipulate leaders and kingdoms from the shadows; and a ferocious battle-hardened warrior race. Mix all the above with lashings of suspense, combat and magic, and what ensues, is a classic good fantasy book to read.

Watership Down by Richard Adams

If you can believe in thinking talking rabbits without having to smoke some heavy tobacco, this good book to read of the fantasy persuasion, is right up your meadow. The rabbit called Fiver senses something real bad is going to hit his home warren. Hazel, his brother, trusts him, Fiver’s sixth sense has never been wrong. Together they persuade the other rabbits to join them, and leave the warren. So begins a long and perilous trek for the small band of rabbits, away from all they knew, in search of a safe home. After many trials they finally arrive at Watership Down and hope for a new beginning, but here they face their most formidable challenge of all. Published in 1972 this fantastic fantasy novel is a heart stirring tale of adventure, courage and survival against the odds.

The Chronicles of Amber by Roger Zelazny

Corwin is a prince of a city called, Amber, the "immortal city which is the blueprint for all others."
Corwin has been stranded on Earth for centuries, an amnesiac unaware of his true heritage and the bizarre multiverse around him underpinned by Amber. But when another member of his Royal family tries to kill him there, Corwin begins to learn the truth about himself. He can travel between Amber, its shadows, and Chaos by manipulating reality; can use magical cards to communicate instantaneously; and walk the magical Pattern that created Amber. As he regains his memory, and use of his abilities, he solves the mystery of his father Oberon's disappearance, and fulfills his destiny.

The Colour of Magic by Terry Pratchett

Take classic fantasy ideas extrapolated to bizarre and funny extremes, stir in classical mythology and heat in an oven of allusions to the absurdity of modern life, and you have the works of Pratchett. Imagine a flat world resting on the backs of four giant elephants who themselves balance on a giant turtle. The Discworld is that world, a world with the absurdities of ours yet having magic, gods and even Death as active ingredients. The Colour of Magic tells the bizarre misadventures of the hilariously inept wizard Rincewind and Twoflower, Discworld's very first tourist. Twoflower's Luggage, independently minded, and full of teeth, is worth the read alone.

1984 by George Orwell

This science fiction good book to read could be listed in the horror section of our site too, it gives us the shivers. Winston Smith, working in the Ministry of Truth, artfully rewrites the past to suit the needs of the Party. Inwardly he rebels against the totalitarian world he lives in, which demands total obedience and watches everyone through the all-seeing telescreens via Big Brother, symbolic head of the Party. In his longing for escape and truth, Smith begins falls in love with Julia, a fellow worker, but soon discovers the true price of freedom is betrayal.

Brave New World by Aldous Huxley

Another great Dystopian good Science fiction book to read. Far in the future man has finally created the ideal society. Genetic science has brought the human race to perfection, by growing it in test tubes. From the Alpha-Plus leader caste to the manual labour Epsilon-Minus Semi-Morons, man is designed and educated to be blissfully content with his pre-destined role.
But, in the Central London Hatchery and Conditioning Centre, Bernard Marx is not so blissful. Harbouring a discontent with the endless pleasures of compulsory promiscuity, Bernard feels the need to break free and gain solitude. He visits one of the few remaining reservations of the Savages, where the old historic way of life still continues, in the hope it may be the cure for his distress.

The Time Machine by H.G. Wells

Good science fiction often extrapolates existing human society - as a warning. This good book to read extrapolates man's evolution. When a Victorian scientist travels forward in time to the year 802,701 AD, he finds that suffering appears to have been replaced by beauty, innocence and peace. But soon he realises, the Eloi, an elfin species descended from man are simply remnants of a once-great culture – now ignorant and naive. Deep in tunnels beneath their paradise lurks another race, also descended from humanity, the sinister Morlocks. When the scientist’s time machine is taken into these tunnels he must descend and confront the evil man has become, if he is ever to return to his own era.

Do Androids Dream of Electric Sleep by Philip K. Dick

Bounty hunter Rick Deckard is stalking androids, which, in this good book to read are almost identical to humans except they lack empathy. Deckard is a regular guy with bills to pay and a wife who selects her own moods using a machine. It's a world where most animals are extinct, and real pets are prime source of social status, Deckard can only afford a robot imitation. In parallel story-lines the simpleton John Isidore has nightmares of a tomb-world where entropy has finally triumphed; and, everyone jacks in to the broadcast spiritual agony of a man called Mercer as he is stoned walking an endless mountain trail. This novel asks dark questions about the nature of human identity and altruism - and leaves you thinking deeply on the world long after you have read it.

Mote in God's Eye by Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle

From a star system called the Mote, an alien vessel travels into the Empires of Man, but its crew are accidentally killed before the races can meet. The Empire responds with an expedition to Mote - one ship carrying civilian scientists, the other a battleship ready for war, unsure what they will find. The Mote inhabitants belong to an apparently peaceful biological caste based system of workers, diplomats and engineers; but the Empire's expedition suspect's not all is as it seems. Slowly, the pieces fall together; Moties have been hiding their warrior caste and their inability to control a biologically inevitable population explosion. Suddenly, understanding the risk to man the expedition must try to escape the Mote system before it is too late.