Sci-fi for beginners: 9 books to add to your wishlist
I’ve fallen in love with sci-fi over the last few years. I used to be a bit intimidated by it, worried about alienating (*eyebrow raise*) language and huge battles scenes that I would get worried by, and while I’m sure some is like that, I’ve stumbled across some truly amazing sci-fi novels.
Space and space travel have always fascinated me. The idea of seeing the Earth from space is one of those things that I sadly won’t get to experience, but I’m hopefully that maybe my nephew and his generation will.
So I have to experience everything via books for now, and luckily for me there are some incredible sci-fi novels out there to get you stuck in to the genre.
I’ve read all of these books bar one, and I’ve loved them all.
‘The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet’, Becky Chambers - this diverse, soft sci-fi about a tunneling crew travelling the galaxy is a dream, full of heart and one of my favourite series of all time.
‘Project Hail Mary’, Andy Weir - on a mission to save the planet from the sun dimming, Ryland Grace travels on a one-way mission to collect the information to save the planet, and makes the first contact with an alien. Fun, fast-paced and genuinely funny.
‘Skyward’, Brandon Sanderson - Spensa has always dreamed of being one of the fighter pilots defending her planet from the relentless attack of the Krell, but must fight against the legacy of her father who deserted the effort when she was a child.
‘Goldilocks’, Laura Lam - Valerie is spear-heading the first all-female mission to the Goldilocks Zone where the conditions are near that of Earth, and during their journey her adoptive daughter, Naomi, begins to believe that there may be a bigger secret at stake.
‘Do You Dream of Terra-Two’, Temi Oh - It will take 10 astronauts 23 years to reach Terra-Two and see if the planet will be the saviour of the dying Earth, but something always goes wrong on a mission like this.
‘An Absolutely Remarkable Thing’, Hank Green - Hank Green’s debut is a different type of sci-fi to the rest of the this list, but when April May finds a strange statue in the middle of NYC she’s catapulted into the centre of celebrity, online fame and the search for the identity of the Carls.
‘The Martian’, Andy Weir - You’ve probably already seen the film with Matt Damon where Mark Watney finds himself stranded on Mars with no way to communicate with Earth and a habitat that won’t last more than a month, but you really should read the book - it’s brilliant and funny.
‘The Last Human’, Zack Jordan - Saraya is a human, the most feared creature in the galaxy, and she must hide her identity from everyone, until she encounters a bounty hunter who changes her perspective on everything.
‘The Space Between Worlds’, Micaiah Johnson - This alternate dimension space adventure is on my June TBR and I’m so excited to find out what’s happening to her parallel universe doppelgangers.
Have you read any of these? Do you have any sci-fi recs?
Written by Sophie
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