Are you pulling your hair out trying to shop for your Trekkie friend? Or does your dad love Herbert’s Dune but hasn’t been willing to branch out to other sci-fi novels? Or perhaps you are looking to try out some sci-fi novels, because you normally read fantasy? Well look no further! I have compiled a small list of my favorite science fiction novels that would make great gifts for the holiday season.
1. The Red Rising Trilogy by Pierce Brown
This is by far and away one of the best sci-fi stories I’ve read. I seriously cannot recommend it enough! See my review for Red Rising here, my review for Golden Son here, and click here to see 9 reasons why you should just read this series already! This is an adult sci-fi trilogy, so it may be a bit complex for the younger readers.
2. Ready Player One by Ernest Cline
This is a seriously fun sci-fi/dystopian geek-to-the-extreme read. It’s probably one of my favorite books of all time. Click here to see 5 reasons you should read this book (or gift it to someone who will love it!).
3. The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet by Becky Chambers
I was shocked by how much I loved this book. Again, one of my new all-time favorites, and definitely a favorite of 2016. It’s a lot different than your typical sci-fi novel, as it isn’t as focused on the action as most sci-fi novels are. Instead, it’s more of a social/cultural sci-fi novel. Kind of like Friends meets Star Trek. And it’s so well done! See my review of it here.
4. The Illuminae Files series by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff
This series is a great gift for a young sci-fi reader or a reader who likes unique books, because the formatting is entirely distinct. The stories are told through files, video records, illustrations, e-mails, etc., so your reading experience is entirely different than your normal book. See my review for Illuminae here (and see photos of the crazy pages there as well), and see my review for Gemina here! I didn’t love Gemina as much as Illuminae, but I would still recommend this book series to people due on the interesting formatting alone! Plus, lots of people loved Gemina, so my opinion might be a bit of an outlier.
What are some of your favorite sci-fi novels? What books do you plan to gift to folks this year?
A.S. Thornton has evolved from book blogger to author with a particular fondness for writing forbidden love in ancient deserts. When not writing, she’s caring for dogs and cats as a veterinarian. You’ll never find animals at the center of her writing, though, because those fictional worlds don’t have veterinarians and her literal brain can’t accept that the poor critters would be without parasite prevention. Thornton’s debut, DAUGHTER OF THE SALT KING is available wherever books are sold.
Holly
I love Ready Player One and Illuminae! I’ve heard really great things about the Red Rising trilogy, but I’ve never read it. I’ll definitely have to give it a try! I would also recommend Ender’s Game by Orson Scott Card and Gone by Michael Grant.
Ali
Ender’s Game is fun for sure! I haven’t heard of Gone – going to check it out now. Thanks for the rec!! 😀
Esther @ Chapter Adventures
These all sound great and I have some on my TBR. I can’t believe I haven’t read them already! I love Science Fiction, but I don’t reach for the genre enough. I’ve been reading too much Fantasy lately and I definitely want to take a break from it, so hopefully I’ll read one of these soon. The Long Way to a Small Angry Planet sounds so good :O
Ali
It IS so good! I recommend it to anyone who likes sci-fi even a little bit! Yes, you definitely have to start adding some sci-fi into your fantasy mix 😀
The Suspense Is Thrilling Me
Oo I’ll have to give these a try; thanks Ali!
Ali
Hope you like the ones you try! (:
Rebecca
The Red Rising series is incredible, you just can’t miss it. And I loved Ready Player One – I’m always recommending that book to non-readers. I have the Illuminae series on my to-read list but I’ve never heard of The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet. Thanks for the heads up!
Rebecca @ The Portsmouth Review
Follow me on Bloglovin’
Ali
RPO is perfect for non-readers! I do the same! If you ever end up reading The Long Way… I hope you enjoy it (: Thanks for stopping by!
downrightdystopian
Ready Player One is my all time favorite science fiction novel! I also really like Illuminae. I’m currently reading Gemina.
Krystianna @ Downright Dystopian
Ali
Yeah!! RPO is probably one of my favorite books ever, lol. I just loved it so much!
Molly's Book Nook
I still need to read Red Rising and Ready Player One. If you’re posts about Red Rising aren’t enough to get me to finally read it, I’m probably crazy hahaah. I WILL read it soon though!
Molly @ Molly’s Book Nook
Ali
Haha, in fairness our TBRs are a bit out of control. I hope you get to it one day!! 😀 (And then love it when you do!)
Lucia @Reading Is My Breathing
Great list! Red Rising trilogy is the best sci-fi series I have ever read as well 🙂
I got Illuminae as Christmas gifts for my teenage goddaughters, hopefully they will love it. And Red Rising was finally released in my native language so I got a copy for my brother who does not read in english.
Ali
That’s awesome!! I hope your brother loves it 😊 and I hope your goddaughters enjoy Illuminae!!
Puput @ Sparkling Letters
This is exactly the post I’m looking for at the moment! 😀 I watched Star Wars Rogue One a few days ago and I’ve been in a sci fi, more specifically, outer space kind of mood 😛 I don’t know many good books set in space so I ended up re-reading Illuminae yesterday. STILL LOVED IT, by the way, haha and I just added The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet to my TBR because it sounds so interesting 😀
Ali
Yes!! The Long Way to a Small Angry Planet is AWESOME – especially if you like all of the details of the Star Wars worlds – it excels in the amount of details it provides!
Bec (@booktineus)
The only book on here I’ve read is Illuminae D: I’ve been meaning to get to Ready Player One and Red Rising for the longest time though. Hopefully soon!
Ali
Yes, soon! Definitely start with RPO because it’s fast, easy, and a standalone. And also you’ll LOVE it (well, at least there’s a VERY good chance you’ll love it!).