The best science fiction struggles with big ideas, even as it explores our modern society, just like the best mysteries since Raymond Chandler.
Evidence of this is that science fiction and fantasy have gone mainstream, with film and TV adaptations enjoying box office success and often receiving critical acclaim.
From thrilling sequels and award-winning novels to never-ending adventures in the most loved sci-fi universes, our list of science fiction books features some of the most anticipated books of 2022. No matter how much of a science fiction fan you are, whether you’re into space opera, dystopia, or even classic sci-fi books – we’re sure you’ll find something to add to your reading list.
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With that sorted, let us get into our list of best Sci-fi books you must read.
1. Upgrade by Blake Crouch
Blake Crouch has always been a remarkable storyteller.
No matter the genre, he weaves down-to-earth, accessible stories with surprising inner precision. He can be scary.
He can make specific fiction that will turn into science fiction in the near future. He creates catastrophes, mysteries, and procedures that seem easy.
This new novel by Blake Crouch was definitely different from the novels he has written in the past. However, it was like watching a movie and hoping that one day someone will pick it up (probably). Much of this book feels influenced by the events of the last few years.
From a pandemic to climate change to social justice issues, the story depicts the total collapse of humanity and recreates a futuristic America where humanity is on the verge of annihilation.
And in this world, science has overtaken science fiction, as people now have the ability to manipulate their genes. It’s a bit crazy to think that you can change yourself and change your face, make yourself smarter, or even create new types of animals, and yet we’re still heading toward the end of our species.
2. The Andromeda Strain by Michael Crichton
The Andromeda Tribe starts in a small town where all but two people have died of mysterious causes. Some of them committed suicide, others suffocated, and some of them had their blood frozen in their veins. Only the baby and the old man survived.
The connection between the two unlikely survivors becomes the key to understanding the solution to the problem. To understand this potential threat, a secret government agency called Project Wildfire is deployed.
Michael Crichton takes some of the potentially boring stuff and somehow makes it extremely interesting.
With historical fiction about the underworld of government activity adding intrigue and a huge sense of looming fear, the story is gripping without the typical plot you might expect. Scientific technology and methods are the only way to save humanity, and they become the real heroes in this stellar Sci-fi novel.
3. Leviathan Wakes (The Expanses #1) by James S. A. Corey
Humanity has colonized the solar system – Mars, the Moon, the asteroid belt, and other areas – but the stars are still out of our reach.
Jim Holden is a miner’s first mate who travels from the rings of Saturn to the mining stations in the belt. When he and his crew stumble upon the derelict Scopuli ship, they discover they have a secret they never wanted.
A secret that someone is willing to kill for – on a scale beyond the imagination of Jim and his team. War is brewing in the system if he can’t figure out who left the ship and why.
The team of Authors James S.A. Corey has created an incredible world that is both close and far enough from our reality to remain fantastic.
4. How High We Go in the Dark by Sequoia Nagamatsu
Nagamatsu’s collection of interconnected stories unabated after a 30,000-year-old arctic plague erupted by melting permafrost: an aimless young man works at an amusement park dedicated to euthanasia for terminally ill children and puts them on a slide that will kill them before the plague, the guinea pig regains consciousness only to realize its true purpose as an organ donor; People communicate in virtual reality online chats to make a suicide pact.
Make no mistake, this book can be morbid at points since it centers around death.
But this is not the only reductive representation of death. It’s the cynicism of how death gives way to flourishing commerce.
The hotels where visitors can fake the last moments with the bodies of loved ones to close them, Bitcoin whose value rises and falls with the death toll, and social media profiles that allow digital ghosts to live beyond their bodies of flesh and blood.
5. This is How You Lose The Time War by Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone
The story features two main characters, agents representing different possible futures, who fight across different timelines in an attempt to change reality to create the future they came from.
The two agents begin leaving notes for each other as they communicate up and down multiple timelines, and their animosity decreases as their communication progress over time.
In addition to the technical difficulties presented in scenes such as the movement of a person’s consciousness through the chemical channels of plants, or messages writtenon objects that cannot be seen by the human eye, there are also deliberately left obscure passages that are key to the plot.
Wrapping it up
Science fiction brings out the best in our imagination and evokes a sense of wonder, but it also evokes the spirit of questions. The recurring themes of science fiction allow us to explore the cultural context and ethical issues of the zeitgeist. Our favorite pieces from the genre deliver on that promise, reflecting on everything from identity to coercion to morality.
