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?