
My reading goal for the year was 15 books. By June, I had blown past that goal. In early August, I hit my stretch goal. All in all, I ended up reading 36 books, most of which were sci-fi — from classic to brand new and everything in between. Hard sci-fi, military sci-fi, sci-if horror, first-contact, dying-earth, cyberpunk — you name it.
As I’ve been reflecting on my year-in-books, I thought I’d jot down my thoughts about each book and attempt to rank each of them — no easy task but here goes…
Contenders
The full list of sci-fi novels I read this year, in chronological reading order:
The Three-Body Problem
by Cixin Liu
The Dark Forest
by Cixin Liu
Death’s End
by Cixin Liu
Roadside Picnic
by Boris & Arkady Strugatsky
Children of Time
by Adrian Tchaikovsky
The Redemption of Time
by Baoshu, Ken Liu
Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?
by Philip K. Dick
Project Hail Mary
by Andy Weir
Ender’s Game
by Orson Scott Card
Rendezvous with Rama
by Arthur C. Clarke
Childhood’s End
by Arthur C. Clarke
Children of Ruin
by Adrian Tchaikovsky
Ubik
by Philip K. Dick
Solaris
by Stanisław Lem
The Left Hand of Darkness
by Ursula K. Le Guin
Shards of Earth
by Adrian Tchaikovsky
Dawn
by Octavia E. Butler
The Gunslinger
by Stephen King
Stranger in a Strange Land
by Robert A. Heinlein
Spin
by Robert Charles Wilson
Hyperion
by Dan Simmons
Blindsight
by Peter Watts
Second Foundation
by Isaac Asimov
A Fire Upon the Deep
by Vernor Vinge
Ancillary Justice
by Anne Leckie
The Kaiju Preservation Society
by John Scalzi
House of Suns
by Alastair Reynolds
Consider Phlebas
by Iain M. Banks
Sea of Tranquility
by Emily St. John Mandel
The Player of Games
by Iain M. Banks
Revelation Space
by Alastair Reynolds
Neuromancer
by William Gibson
🏆
Top 5
I know, I know, I’m cheating by placing a trilogy at the top — but hear me out.This series was a journey, I couldn’t put these books down. I read the three “official” books (The Three-Body Problem, The Dark Forest, and Death’s End) back-to-back, then the fourth and “unofficial” fourth book later in the year.
I don’t want to give too much away but the over-arching plot through the series revolves around the consequences of one person’s decision to establish return contact with a desperate alien civilization, despite explicit warnings against doing so (“Do not answer! Do not answer!! Do not answer!!!”). This sets off a chain of events that change the course of history and force all of humanity to work together — or face annihilation.
This series has stuck with me on so many levels — from its mind-bending and reality-shattering sci-fi concepts to the drama and existential dread of humanity unraveling as it tries to grapple with the impending doom.
Synopses
The Three-Body Problem — An alien civilization on the brink of destruction captures the signal and plans to invade Earth. Meanwhile, on Earth, different camps start forming, planning to either welcome the superior beings and help them take over a world seen as corrupt, or to fight against the invasion.
The Dark Forest — In The Dark Forest, the aliens’ human collaborators may have been defeated, but the presence of the sophons, the subatomic particles that allow Trisolaris instant access to all human information remains. Humanity responds with the Wallfacer Project, a daring plan that grants four men enormous resources to design secret strategies, hidden through deceit and misdirection from Earth and Trisolaris alike. Three of the Wallfacers are influential statesmen and scientists, but the fourth is a total unknown. Luo Ji, an unambitious Chinese astronomer and sociologist, is baffled by his new status. All he knows is that he’s the one Wallfacer that Trisolaris wants dead.
Death’s End — Half a century after the Doomsday Battle, Cheng Xin, an aerospace engineer from the early 21st century, awakens from hibernation in this new age. She brings with her knowledge of a long-forgotten program dating from the beginning of the Trisolar Crisis, and her very presence may upset the delicate balance between two worlds. Will humanity reach for the stars or die in its cradle?
Children of Time
by Adrian Tchaikovsky
If I were to rank these purely as standalone novels, Children of Time would probably my number one (although Project Hail Mary is a very close second). This book completely blew my socks off. Tchaikovsky somehow managed to craft a story that not only had me empathizing with a rapidly-evolving species of spiders (a feat on its own) but actively rooting for them over humans.
The concepts and world-building in this novel are among the best. I love the way it imagines the evolution of another species, what their culture, technology, and society would look like, and the way it portrays how humankind might act in dire times. It’s just as effective on a small scale (i.e. examining interpersonal intricacies and biological evolution) as it is on a grand scale (i.e. following space-faring civilizations). It’s rare for sci-fi to do both things so well.
synopsis
A race for survival among the stars… Humanity’s last survivors escaped earth’s ruins to find a new home. But when they find it, can their desperation overcome its dangers?
The last remnants of the human race left a dying Earth, desperate to find a new home among the stars. Following in the footsteps of their ancestors, they discover the greatest treasure of the past age—a world terraformed and prepared for human life.
But all is not right in this new Eden. In the long years since the planet was abandoned, the work of its architects has borne disastrous fruit. The planet is not waiting for them, pristine and unoccupied. New masters have turned it from a refuge into mankind’s worst nightmare.
Now two civilizations are on a collision course, both testing the boundaries of what they will do to survive. As the fate of humanity hangs in the balance, who are the true heirs of this new Earth?
Project Hail Mary
by Andy Weir
I absolutely adored Project Hail Mary. The story took me on an adventure from the start when the main character, Ryland wakes up on a spaceship without any recollection of who he is or why he is there and has to re-learn everything about himself in order to solve problems under extraordinary circumstances.
Project Hail Mary also features what is probably one of my all-time favorite takes on first-contact — a totally unique and thoroughly enjoyable spin on one of science fiction’s most familiar tropes that challenges assumptions and provides moments of hope — and humanity — where you’d least expect it. This is the book that I recommend the most to people who aren’t as into sci-fi because while it does get pretty technical at times, it’s mostly a story about a man re-discovering himself and his humanity.
Synopsis
Ryland Grace is the sole survivor on a desperate, last-chance mission—and if he fails, humanity and the earth itself will perish. Except that right now, he doesn’t know that. He can’t even remember his own name, let alone the nature of his assignment or how to complete it.
All he knows is that he’s been asleep for a very, very long time. And he’s just been awakened to find himself millions of miles from home, with nothing but two corpses for company. His crewmates dead, his memories fuzzily returning, Ryland realizes that an impossible task now confronts him. Hurtling through space on this tiny ship, it’s up to him to puzzle out an impossible scientific mystery—and conquer an extinction-level threat to our species.
And with the clock ticking down and the nearest human being light-years away, he’s got to do it all alone. Or does he?
House of Suns
by Alastair Reynolds
This was my first experience with Alastair Reynolds, and it exceeded my high expectations. Originally published in 2008, House of Suns is a vast space opera that spans millions of years of space and time. The story follows two main storylines: the travels of Campion and Purslane, two shatterlings from Gentian line, one of the ancient family lines of clones, and Abigail Gentian, back to whom the line can be traced — about six million years prior.
Reynolds takes us on a journey, introducing some huge, thought-provoking ideas — such as cloning and its implications, near-light and FTL space travel, time-dilation, AI, augmented human intelligence and sentience, and much more. If you’re curious about Alastair Reynolds, I’d highly recommend starting with this self-contained and readable standalone.
Synopsis
Six million years ago, at the dawn of the star-faring era, Abigail Gentian fractured herself into a thousand male and female clones, which she called shatterlings. She sent them out into the galaxy to observe and document the rise and fall of countless human empires. Since then, every two hundred thousand years, they gather to exchange news and memories of their travels.
Only there is no Gathering. Someone is eliminating the Gentian line. And now Campion and Purslane — two shatterlings who have fallen in love and shared forbidden experiences — must determine exactly who, or what, their enemy is, before they are wiped out of existence…
Spin
by Robert Charles Wilson
I read Spin on a whim after seeing Moid rave about it and I’m glad I did because it is one of the best sci-if books I’ve ever read. The premise is unique, though-provoking, and incredibly well-executed. The main characters are relatable and well-developed, the flow kept me as engaged, and the ending was satisfying. I think Spin would particularly well-suited to be adapted as an episodic TV series or film, so I’m kind of surprised that this hasn’t been attempted (although there was a rumored SyFy adaptation, which apparently never happened).
synopsis
One night in October when he was ten years old, Tyler Dupree stood in his back yard and watched the stars go out. They all flared into brilliance at once, then disappeared, replaced by a flat, empty black barrier. He and his best friends, Jason and Diane Lawton, had seen what became known as the Big Blackout. It would shape their lives.
Life on Earth is about to get much, much stranger.
Honorable Mentions
Rendezvous with Rama
by Arthur C. Clarke
It’s kind of incredible how well this Arthur C. Clarke classic has held up. Rendezvous with Rama was a thrill to read, definitely the best take on the “big dumb object” trope that I’ve seen. From the moment scientists discover a huge celestial object that’s approaching the solar system at incredible speed, Clarke gifts us with a series of mysteries and encounters unlike anything we’ve seen. It gets weird and I loved every page of it. I could not be more excited about the fact that my favorite sci-fi film-maker is working on a film adaptation of Rama.
A Fire Upon the Deep
by Vernon Vinge
A Fire Upon the Deep features some of the most unique and absolute best world-building I’ve ever read. Vinge introduces us to a diverse cast of species and entities that inhabit different “Zones of Thought”. The “zones” are essentially nested layers of space around the galactic core, like a nesting doll, each zone progressively more advanced as you head further out from the core — from the Unthinking Depths where the simplest organic intelligences function poorly, to The Transcend where there are no limits to FTL travel and beings are so intelligent they seem like gods. This one deserves a re-read and I’d also like to read the sequel, A Deepness in the Sky.
The Left Hand of Darkness
by Ursula K. Le Guin
The Left Hand of Darkness was my introduction to Ursula K. Le Guin and one of the books in the Hainish Cycle. I found the book to be a wonderfully-written, very human story that challenges assumptions and perspectives by dropping the main character into a similar-yet-completely-foreign civilization that operates within different gender, political, and cultural norms. From a purely story-telling perspective, it doesn’t get much better than this.
Ubik
by Philip K. Dick
Ubik is a really bizarre, at times trippy read. It was the second of two Philip K. Dick novels that I’ve read and probably my favorite. For me, the book was a tale of two halves. I’d describe the first half as interesting but semi-incoherent and the second half as holy shit, wait, what?!. Throughout most of the book, I could tell the book was saying something, but I couldn’t say for sure what it was. But as I’ve come to expect from PKD, he brings it all together in a powerful way. There are many layers to peel back in this one, which I think would make it even better on a re-read.
Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?
by Philip K. Dick
What else can I say about this one that hasn’t already been said? It’s a classic for a reason. I think I enjoyed it more than the film adaptation (Blade Runner) from the 80s, which was also quite good. PKD has a gift for weaving huge, complex ideas into his characters in a way that can simultaneously feel perplexing and foreign, yet real and personal.
Solaris
by Stanisław Lem
Solaris caught me by surprise. It’s a very human story, a psychological exploration wrapped in a hard sci-fi shell. I found myself getting lost in the environment and headspace of the main character, Kris, simultaneously vividly present and inside a foggy distant memory. Despite the vast world that surrounds the story, Solaris manages to feel close and personal.
Blindsight
by Peter Watts
Blindsight really crept up on me. It is a complex and dark psychological sci-if thriller that offers some of the most thought-provoking commentary on AI that I’ve read. The last half of the book is intense — chock-full of suspense and surprises at every turn. I found the pacing a little bit slow in the middle, but Watts does a pretty great job in tying seemingly unrelated threads back together for a fantastic ending sequence.
Dawn
by Octavia E. Butler
I thoroughly enjoyed reading Dawn and love Butler’s writing style. The book was engaging, thought-provoking, and made me feel uneasy at times, but I think I need to read the sequels to get the full picture. The next book in the Xenogenesis series is high on my TBR, which I’m very much looking forward to reading.
The Kaiju Preservation Society
by John Scalzi
I had an absolute blast reading Kaiju, blazing through it in ~36 hours. Scalzi packed a ton of action into this one without sacrificing character development and intrigue. And while it wasn’t necessarily the most ground-breaking novel, it might’ve been the most fun book from start to finish that I read this year. I highly recommend this one as a quick standalone gap book.
Childhood’s End
by Arthur C. Clarke
While I prefer Rendezvous with Rama over Childhood’s End in terms of sheer enjoyment, I’ll admit that Childhood’s End is probably the better-written of the two. The structure and pacing make this one approachable, but what I love the most is that just when you think you’ve got it all figured out, Clarke flips the story in an unexpected direction. This happened at least two or three times, where I thought “okay…I bet I can guess what he’s going to do next” only to be proven completely wrong. This book is a pretty straight forward read but in typical Clarke fashion, there are some darker themes and undertones.
Other Favorites
Sea of Tranquility
by Emily St. John Mandel
Sea of Tranquility is a super well-written and enjoyable take on time-travel. It is considered sci-fi, but I would definitely say it’s lighter on the sci. The story follows multiple timelines throughout the book, which St. John Mandel somehow manages to weave without confusing the reader in the process. While the book didn’t necessarily knock my socks off with huge ideas or scale, I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book — each of the main characters were compelling, relatable, and crafted in a way that paid off in the final portion of the book, which was fantastic.
The Gunslinger
The Dark Tower #1
by Stephen King
The Gunslinger was my first King. It had one of the best endings of any book I’ve ever read, the culmination of tension and suspense, subtly and masterfully built up to a mind-bending and unexpected reveal. Throughout most of the book, I found the plot and characters challenging a bit hazy, but in retrospect I think that made the ending more impactful when it all came together.
Roadside Picnic
by Boris and Arkady Strugatsky
The more I think about Roadside Picnic, the better it gets. Similar to how I felt about The Gunslinger, the haziness that envelops the story adds to the experience — there was an unsettling eeriness and sense of dread that stuck with me well after reading it. If there were a sequel, I would’ve read it immediately. Do yourself a favor and read it with the audiobook — Robert Forster’s narration is perfection.
The Player of Games
Culture Series #2
by Iain M. Banks
Had I realized the books in The Culture series (of which this is the second) aren’t sequential, I would have started with this one because it would’ve been a stronger introduction to the series than Consider Phlebas. Everything about The Player of Games was better — pacing was solid, the characters and ideas were well-written and storylines connected nicely. The ending sequence almost put it in my top 10 for the year. I’ll definitely be reading more from The Culture series next year.
Children of Ruin
by Adrian Tchaikovsky
Following up Children of Time is basically an impossible task, but I really liked the second book in the series, Children of Ruin. It’s not quite as unique or ground-breaking as the first novel, but the concepts are similarly though-provoking (and definitely more terrifying — “we’re going on an adventure!” 😱).
Ender’s Game
by Orson Scott Card
I really enjoyed reading Ender’s Game, all the way through. The pacing and writing style make it easy to read, the concepts are thought-provoking and at times positively jarring. The characters are really well-developed, especially for a relatively short novel. I’ve heard that this only scratches the surface of the Enderverse, so I’ll definitely be continuing the series.
Second Foundation
by Isaac Asimov
I’m not sure why I waited so long to read this, the last book in the classic Foundation series considering the first two (Foundation, Foundation and Empire) are among my all-time favorites — but I’m glad I did! Second Foundation felt like a perfect ending to the trilogy. I didn’t like it as much as the first two books but it was a wonderful end to the trilogy.
Shards of Earth
by Adrian Tchaikovsky
It’s unfair to compare this with Children of Time, but that’s where my head was at when I started Shards of Earth. The first book in The Final Architect series, this is more of a military sci-fi story that gave me Star Trek vibes at the time, and The Culture vibes at other times. My main gripe with the book was that it was a bit heavy on dialog and short on time spent directly with the over-looming threat of The Architects. In any case, I will definitely be reading the sequels (Eyes of the Void and Lords of Uncreation after it arrives in May).
Liked but didn’t love
Revelation Space
by Alastair Reynolds
I just finished this book, so how I rate it may change after I have more time to digest it. I found the middle third of Revelation Space to be a bit of a slog to get through, and took away from the impact of some big ideas from later in the book.
Stranger in a Strange Land
by Robert Heinlein
Stranger in a Strange Land was my first Heinlein novel. I love the premise of this novel and while I did enjoy the reading experience and give it 4 stars on Goodreads, it hasn’t stuck with me in the way that some of the other books have.
Hyperion
by Dan Simmons
Hyperion is a top 5-er for many sci-fi readers but I found it inconsistently good and hard to follow at times. Everything came together nicely in the end, but I thought that some of the strongest concepts, characters, and storylines didn’t get enough focus throughout the rest of the book.
Consider Phlebas
by Iain M. Banks
Consider Phlebas was my introduction to Iain M. Banks and The Culture. It has a lot of really interesting concepts but I found the first half of the book to be aimless and the characters weren’t very compelling. The ending was pretty great, though.
Ancillary Justice
by Anne Leckie
I have mixed feelings about this book. I really enjoyed parts of this — especially some of the concepts related to AI and identity — but I found the dialog a bit monotonous, which overshadowed the strengths and lessened the impact.
The Redemption of Time
by Baoshu
The unofficial fourth book in the Remembrance of Earth’s Past series, The Redemption of Time was written by a fan following the release of Death’s End and published with Cixin Liu’s support. The author attempts to fill in some of the gaps from the original trilogy, which is interesting in a couple of cases but mostly just kills the intrigue — sometimes it’s better *not* having the answers to every question. 🤷♂️
Neuromancer
by William Gibson
(Did not finish)
I tried — I really tried. But as I trudged my way through it, I was completely lost, didn’t find the characters compelling, and while I have an appreciation for some of the groundbreaking concepts (which inspired so many future books and films, i.e. The Matrix), the pacing and writing style made everything feel so disconnected that I had to put it down. I probably could have slogged my way through the final ~130 pages but threw in the towel after about 160 pages. I appreciate the concepts in the book enough that I’ll probably loop back to give it another go at some point in 2023, especially if the rumors about an Apple TV+ adaptation of Neuromancer are true.
What should I read next?
Send me your recommendations!
Leave a Reply