outer space travel books

50 Must-Read Books Set In Space

Jenn Northington

Jenn Northington has worked in the publishing industry wearing various hats since 2004, including bookseller and events director, and is currently Director of Editorial Operations at Riot New Media Group. You can hear her on the SFF Yeah! podcast nerding out about sci-fi and fantasy. When she’s not working, she’s most likely gardening, running, or (obviously) reading. Find her on Tumblr at jennIRL and Instagram at iamjennIRL .

View All posts by Jenn Northington

I grew up watching the various Star Trek s and Star Wars ; I saw Apollo 13 in the theaters. Space, that final frontier, has always been one of my favorite frontiers to explore. And there are a ton of writers who apparently just want to make me happy, because there are many, many—seriously, so many!—excellent books set in space just waiting to be read! While there are many great nonfiction books about actual space, I’ve always leaned more towards fictional Spaaaaaaaaaace, if you will. What might be out there? (Aside from The Truth, obviously.) And so my criteria for putting together this list was simple: a work of science fiction or fantasy set at least partly in outer space, or on a planet other than Earth that required space travel to get to. Here are 50 speculative works that play with Spaaaaaaaaaace in all its mystifying, occasionally terrifying, really freaking huge glory, in alphabetical order.

Note: descriptions in quotations are taken from publisher materials.

After the Flare (Nigerians in Space #2) by Deji Olukotun

I know this is #2 in a series—just trust me!

“After a solar flare upended the world order, Kwesi Brackett’s life disintegrated. His wife took up with a millionaire in the heavily armed Silicon territories and his daughter’s university, Yale, relocated to the Caribbean. After being laid off by NASA, Brackett finds himself in Africa, as one of the head engineers for the newly formed Nigerian Space Program. Suddenly, the NSP’s goal of getting astronauts into space is more important than ever. With most of Europe, Asia, and North America knocked off-line, thousands of satellites about to plummet to Earth, and the political minefield that is the rescue of an international group of astronauts trapped on the international station, time is of the essence.

“The deranged and violent militant group Boko Haram is steadily approaching, and the last surviving members of the Fulani tribe, an ancient matriarchal nomadic society, have found refuge in the abandoned caves of the Saon people. Accessible only by sonic vibrations, the sophisticated cave system contains messages from the past in a series of astrolabes, powerful amulets whose destructive force is harnessed by the Fulani tribeswomen.

“Nigeria’s past and present are threatening to collide in a battle over its own future.”

All Systems Red (The Murderbot Diaries #1) by Martha Wells

This series has Murderbot in its name but do not be fooled. This is cozy, character-driven sci-fi at its finest.

“In a corporate-dominated spacefaring future, planetary missions must be approved and supplied by the Company. Exploratory teams are accompanied by Company-supplied security androids, for their own safety.

“But in a society where contracts are awarded to the lowest bidder, safety isn’t a primary concern.

“On a distant planet, a team of scientists are conducting surface tests, shadowed by their Company-supplied ‘droid — a self-aware SecUnit that has hacked its own governor module, and refers to itself (though never out loud) as “Murderbot.” Scornful of humans, all it really wants is to be left alone long enough to figure out who it is.

“But when a neighboring mission goes dark, it’s up to the scientists and their Murderbot to get to the truth.”

Ancillary Justice (Imperial Radch #1) by Ann Leckie

“On a remote, icy planet, the soldier known as Breq is drawing closer to completing her quest. Once, she was the Justice of Toren—a colossal starship with an artificial intelligence linking thousands of soldiers in the service of the Radch, the empire that conquered the galaxy. Now, an act of treachery has ripped it all away, leaving her with one fragile human body, unanswered questions, and a burning desire for vengeance.”

Ascension by Jacqueline Koyanagi

Looking for a queer female lead who is also a woman of color, is a brilliant mechanic, and must deal with a chronic illness while helping save her sister and the crew of the spaceship she’s stowed away on? Please look no further!

“Alana Quick is the best damned sky surgeon in Heliodor City, but repairing starship engines barely pays the bills. When the desperate crew of a cargo vessel stops by her shipyard looking for her spiritually advanced sister Nova, Alana stows away. Maybe her boldness will land her a long-term gig on the crew. But the Tangled Axon proves to be more than star-watching and plasma coils. The chief engineer thinks he’s a wolf. The pilot fades in and out of existence. The captain is all blond hair, boots, and ego…and Alana can’t keep her eyes off her. But there’s little time for romance: Nova’s in danger and someone will do anything—even destroying planets—to get their hands on her.”

Binti (Binti #1) by Nnedi Okorafor

“Her name is Binti, and she is the first of the Himba people ever to be offered a place at Oomza University, the finest institution of higher learning in the galaxy. But to accept the offer will mean giving up her place in her family to travel between the stars among strangers who do not share her ways or respect her customs.

“Knowledge comes at a cost, one that Binti is willing to pay, but her journey will not be easy. The world she seeks to enter has long warred with the Meduse, an alien race that has become the stuff of nightmares. Oomza University has wronged the Meduse, and Binti’s stellar travel will bring her within their deadly reach.

“If Binti hopes to survive the legacy of a war not of her making, she will need both the gifts of her people and the wisdom enshrined within the University, itself—but first she has to make it there, alive.”

The Collapsing Empire (The Interdependency #1) by John Scalzi

“Our universe is ruled by physics and faster than light travel is not possible—until the discovery of The Flow, an extra-dimensional field we can access at certain points in space-time that transport us to other worlds, around other stars.

“Humanity flows away from Earth, into space, and in time forgets our home world and creates a new empire, the Interdependency, whose ethos requires that no one human outpost can survive without the others. It’s a hedge against interstellar war—and a system of control for the rulers of the empire.

“The Flow is eternal—but it is not static. Just as a river changes course, The Flow changes as well, cutting off worlds from the rest of humanity. When it’s discovered that The Flow is moving, possibly cutting off all human worlds from faster than light travel forever, three individuals—a scientist, a starship captain and the Empress of the Interdependency—are in a race against time to discover what, if anything, can be salvaged from an interstellar empire on the brink of collapse.”

Consider Phlebas (Culture #1) by Iain Banks

If you’ve never read Iain Banks and enjoy Star Trek , Battlestar Galactica , and/or The Expanse , I cannot recommend highly enough that you start here.

“The war raged across the galaxy. Billions had died, billions more were doomed. Moons, planets, the very stars themselves, faced destruction, cold-blooded, brutal, and worse, random. The Idirans fought for their Faith; the Culture for its moral right to exist. Principles were at stake. There could be no surrender.

“Within the cosmic conflict, an individual crusade. Deep within a fabled labyrinth on a barren world, a Planet of the Dead proscribed to mortals, lay a fugitive Mind. Both the Culture and the Idirans sought it. It was the fate of Horza, the Changer, and his motley crew of unpredictable mercenaries, human and machine, actually to find it, and with it their own destruction.”

Dark Mirror (Star Trek: The Next Generation) by Diane Duane

This was the first (and, if I’m honest, only) Star Trek  franchise novel I’ve read, and Duane has convinced me that I need to read more.

“One hundred years ago, four crew members of the U.S.S. Enterprise crossed the dimensional barrier and found just such an empire. A mirror image of their own universe, populated by nightmare duplicates of their shipmates. Barely able to escape with their lives, they returned thankful that the accident that brought them there could not be duplicated. Or so they thought.

“But now the scientists of that empire have found a doorway into our universe. Thier plan: to destroy from within, to replace one of our starships with one of theirs. Their victims: the crew of the U.S.S. Enterprise NCC 1701-D.”

Dawn (Lilith’s Brood #1) by Octavia Butler

“Lilith Iyapo has just lost her husband and son when atomic fire consumes Earth—the last stage of the planet’s final war. Hundreds of years later Lilith awakes, deep in the hold of a massive alien spacecraft piloted by the Oankali—who arrived just in time to save humanity from extinction. They have kept Lilith and other survivors asleep for centuries, as they learned whatever they could about Earth. Now it is time for Lilith to lead them back to her home world, but life among the Oankali on the newly resettled planet will be nothing like it was before.

“The Oankali survive by genetically merging with primitive civilizations—whether their new hosts like it or not. For the first time since the nuclear holocaust, Earth will be inhabited. Grass will grow, animals will run, and people will learn to survive the planet’s untamed wilderness. But their children will not be human. Not exactly.”

Descender, Vol. 1: Tin Stars by Jeff Lemire and Dustin Nguyen

Do you love graphic novels AND getting your heart stomped on? Here’s one for you.

“Young Robot boy TIM-21 and his companions struggle to stay alive in a universe where all androids have been outlawed and bounty hunters lurk on every planet. Written by award-winning creator, Jeff Lemire, Descender is a rip-roaring and heart-felt cosmic odyssey. Lemire pits humanity against machine, and world against world, to create a sprawling epic. ”

Dune by Frank Herbert

There’s no way I could skip listing a book that I reread multiple times as a teenager, and that one day I will finally get around to rereading as an adult.

“Set in the far future amidst a sprawling feudal interstellar empire where planetary dynasties are controlled by noble houses that owe an allegiance to the imperial House Corrino, Dune tells the story of young Paul Atreides (the heir apparent to Duke Leto Atreides and heir of House Atreides) as he and his family accept control of the desert planet Arrakis, the only source of the ‘spice’ melange, the most important and valuable substance in the cosmos. The story explores the complex, multi-layered interactions of politics, religion, ecology, technology, and human emotion as the forces of the empire confront each other for control of Arrakis.”

Embassytown by China Mieville

China Mieville’s brain is one of the strangest on the planet, and in this one he’s given us aliens that don’t understand lies—and so much more.

“In the far future, humans have colonized a distant planet, home to the enigmatic Ariekei, sentient beings famed for a language unique in the universe, one that only a few altered human ambassadors can speak.

“Avice Benner Cho, a human colonist, has returned to Embassytown after years of deep-space adventure. She cannot speak the Ariekei tongue, but she is an indelible part of it, having long ago been made a figure of speech, a living simile in their language.

“When distant political machinations deliver a new ambassador to Arieka, the fragile equilibrium between humans and aliens is violently upset. Catastrophe looms, and Avice is torn between competing loyalties—to a husband she no longer loves, to a system she no longer trusts, and to her place in a language she cannot speak yet speaks through her.”

Empress of a Thousand Skies by Rhoda Belleza

I like to pitch this one as “space princess on the run from assassins,” but if you need more here’s the actual description.

“The only surviving heir to an ancient Kalusian dynasty, Rhee has spent her life training to destroy the people who killed her family. Now, on the eve of her coronation, the time has finally come for Rhee to claim her throne—and her revenge.

“Alyosha is a Wraetan who has risen above his war refugee origins to find fame as the dashing star of a DroneVision show. Despite his popularity, Aly struggles with anti-Wraetan prejudices and the pressure of being perfect in the public eye.

“Their paths collide with one brutal act of violence: Rhee is attacked, barely escaping with her life. Aly is blamed for her presumed murder.

“The princess and her accused killer are forced to go into hiding—even as a war between planets is waged in Rhee’s name. But soon, Rhee and Aly discover that the assassination attempt is just one part of a sinister plot. Bound together by an evil that only they can stop, the two fugitives must join forces to save the galaxy.”

Exo (Exo #1) by Fonda Lee

“It’s been a century of peace since Earth became a colony of an alien race with far reaches into the galaxy. Some die-hard extremists still oppose alien rule on Earth, but Donovan Reyes isn’t one of them. His dad holds the prestigious position of Prime Liaison in the collaborationist government, and Donovan’s high social standing along with his exocel (a remarkable alien technology fused to his body) guarantee him a bright future in the security forces. That is, until a routine patrol goes awry and Donovan’s abducted by the human revolutionary group Sapience, determined to end alien control.

“When Sapience realizes whose son Donovan is, they think they’ve found the ultimate bargaining chip . But the Prime Liaison doesn’t negotiate with terrorists, not even for his own son. Left in the hands of terrorists who have more uses for him dead than alive, the fate of Earth rests on Donovan’s survival. Because if Sapience kills him, it could spark another intergalactic war. And Earth didn’t win the last one…”

Feed by M.T. Anderson

“For Titus and his friends, it started out like any ordinary trip to the moon—a chance to party during spring break and play with some stupid low-grav at the Ricochet Lounge. But that was before the crazy hacker caused all their feeds to malfunction, sending them to the hospital to lie around with nothing inside their heads for days. And it was before Titus met Violet, a beautiful, brainy teenage girl who has decided to fight the feed and its omnipresent ability to categorize human thoughts and desires. Following in the footsteps of George Orwell, Anthony Burgess, and Kurt Vonnegut Jr., M. T. Anderson has created a not-so-brave new world—and a smart, savage satire that has captivated readers with its view of an imagined future that veers unnervingly close to the here and now.”

Fortune’s Pawn (Paradox #1) by Rachel Bach

“Devi Morris isn’t your average mercenary. She has plans. Big ones. And a ton of ambition. It’s a combination that’s going to get her killed one day—but not just yet.

“That is, until she just gets a job on a tiny trade ship with a nasty reputation for surprises. The Glorious Fool isn’t misnamed: it likes to get into trouble, so much so that one year of security work under its captain is equal to five years everywhere else. With odds like that, Devi knows she’s found the perfect way to get the jump on the next part of her Plan. But the Fool doesn’t give up its secrets without a fight, and one year on this ship might be more than even Devi can handle.”

Galactic Empires , edited by Neil Clarke

Want a smorgasborg of stories exploring different variations on interstellar empires, written by SF/F luminaries such as Aliette de Bodard, Ann Leckie, Yoon Ha Lee, Naomi Novik, and more? You’re welcome!

The Galaxy Game by Karen Lord

Particularly for folks looking for an inclusive Ender’s Game –esque novel!

“For years, Rafi Delarua saw his family suffer under his father’s unethical use of psionic power. Now the government has Rafi under close watch, but, hating their crude attempts to analyse his brain, he escapes to the planet Punartam, where his abilities are the norm, not the exception. Punartam is also the centre for his favourite sport, wallrunning – and thanks to his best friend, he has found a way to train with the elite. But Rafi soon realises he’s playing quite a different game, for the galaxy is changing; unrest is spreading and the Zhinuvian cartels are plotting, making the stars a far more dangerous place to aim. There may yet be one solution – involving interstellar travel, galactic power and the love of a beautiful game.”

The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams

On a personal note, I celebrate Towel Day every year (May 25; mark your calendars!) and will rewatch the 2005 movie at the slightest prompting. In fact, perhaps I should go do that now…

“Seconds before the Earth is demolished to make way for a galactic freeway, Arthur Dent is plucked off the planet by his friend Ford Prefect, a researcher for the revised edition of The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy who, for the last fifteen years, has been posing as an out-of-work actor.

“Together this dynamic pair begin a journey through space aided by quotes from The Hitchhiker’s Guide (“A towel is about the most massively useful thing an interstellar hitchhiker can have”) and a galaxy-full of fellow travelers: Zaphod Beeblebrox—the two-headed, three-armed ex-hippie and totally out-to-lunch president of the galaxy; Trillian, Zaphod’s girlfriend (formally Tricia McMillan), whom Arthur tried to pick up at a cocktail party once upon a time zone; and Marvin, a paranoid, brilliant, and chronically depressed robot.”

Hunger Makes the Wolf (Hob #1) by Alex Wells

Already torn through Becky Chambers’s books and need something else with found family and space hijinks? Tada!

“The strange planet known as Tanegawa’s World is owned by TransRifts Inc, the company with the absolute monopoly on interstellar travel. Hob landed there ten years ago, a penniless orphan left behind by a rift ship. She was taken in by Nick Ravani and quickly became a member of his mercenary biker troop, the Ghost Wolves.

“Ten years later, she discovers the body of Nick’s brother out in the dunes. Worse, his daughter is missing, taken by shady beings called the Weathermen. But there are greater mysteries to be discovered – both about Hob and the strange planet she calls home.”

Ignite the Stars by Maura Milan

“Everyone in the universe knows his name. Everyone in the universe fears him. But no one realizes that notorious outlaw Ia Cocha is a seventeen-year-old girl.

“A criminal mastermind and unrivaled pilot, Ia has spent her life terrorizing the Olympus Commonwealth, the imperialist nation that destroyed her home. When the Commonwealth captures her and her true identity is exposed, they see Ia’s age and talent as an opportunity: by forcing her to serve them, they will prove that no one is beyond their control.

“Soon, Ia is trapped at the Commonwealth’s military academy, desperately plotting her escape. But new acquaintances—including Brinn, a seemingly average student with a closely-held secret, and their charming Flight Master, Knives—cause Ia to question her own alliances. Can she find a way to escape the Commonwealth’s clutches before these bonds deepen?”

The Knife of Never Letting Go (Chaos Walking #1) by Patrick Ness

“Todd Hewitt is the only boy in a town of men. Ever since the settlers were infected with the Noise germ, Todd can hear everything the men think, and they hear everything he thinks. Todd is just a month away from becoming a man, but in the midst of the cacophony, he knows that the town is hiding something from him—something so awful Todd is forced to flee with only his dog, whose simple, loyal voice he hears too. With hostile men from the town in pursuit, the two stumble upon a strange and eerily silent creature: a girl. Who is she? Why wasn’t she killed by the germ like all the females on New World? Propelled by Todd’s gritty narration, readers are in for a white-knuckle journey in which a boy on the cusp of manhood must unlearn everything he knows in order to figure out who he truly is.”

Last Shot: A Han and Lando Novel by Daniel José Older

Listen, there are A LOT of Star Wars books out there. Take it as read that you should read this one and many others!

“Then: It’s one of the galaxy’s most dangerous secrets: a mysterious transmitter with unknown power and a reward for its discovery that most could only dream of claiming. But those who fly the Millennium Falcon throughout its infamous history aren’t your average scoundrels. Not once, but twice, the crew of the Falcon tries to claim the elusive prize — first, Lando Calrissian and the droid L3-37 at the dawn of an ambitious career, and later, a young and hungry Han Solo with the help of his copilot, Chewbacca. But the device’s creator, the volatile criminal Fyzen Gor, isn’t interested in sharing. And Gor knows how to hold a grudge…

“Now: It’s been ten years since the rebel hero Han Solo last encountered Fyzen Gor. After mounting a successful rebellion against the Empire and starting a family with an Alderaanian princess, Han hasn’t given much thought to the mad inventor. But when Lando turns up at Han’s doorstep in the middle of the night, it’s Fyzen’s assassins that he’s running from. And without Han’s help, Lando — and all life on Cloud City — will be annihilated.

“With the assistance of a young hotshot pilot, an Ewok slicer prodigy, the woman who might be the love of Lando’s life, and Han’s best and furriest friend, the two most notorious scoundrels in the New Republic are working together once more. They’ll have to journey across the stars — and into the past — before Gor uses the device’s power to reshape the galaxy.”

Leviathan Wakes (Expanse #1) by James S.A. Corey

“Humanity has colonized the solar system – Mars, the Moon, the Asteroid Belt and beyond – but the stars are still out of our reach.

“Jim Holden is XO of an ice miner making runs from the rings of Saturn to the mining stations of the Belt. When he and his crew stumble upon a derelict ship, the Scopuli, they find themselves in possession of a secret they never wanted. A secret that someone is willing to kill for – and kill on a scale unfathomable to Jim and his crew. War is brewing in the system unless he can find out who left the ship and why.”

Lightless (Lightless #1) by C.A. Higgins

“Serving aboard the Ananke, an experimental military spacecraft launched by the ruthless organization that rules Earth and its solar system, computer scientist Althea has established an intense emotional bond—not with any of her crewmates, but with the ship’s electronic systems, which speak more deeply to her analytical mind than human feelings do. But when a pair of fugitive terrorists gain access to the Ananke, Althea must draw upon her heart and soul for the strength to defend her beloved ship.

“While one of the saboteurs remains at large somewhere on board, his captured partner—the enigmatic Ivan—may prove to be more dangerous. The perversely fascinating criminal whose silver tongue is his most effective weapon has long evaded the authorities’ most relentless surveillance—and kept the truth about his methods and motives well hidden.

“As the ship’s systems begin to malfunction and the claustrophobic atmosphere is increasingly poisoned by distrust and suspicion, it falls to Althea to penetrate the prisoner’s layers of intrigue and deception before all is lost. But when the true nature of Ivan’s mission is exposed, it will change Althea forever—if it doesn’t kill her first.

The Long Way to a Small Angry Planet (Wayfarers #1) by Becky Chambers

“Rosemary Harper doesn’t expect much when she joins the crew of the aging Wayfarer. While the patched-up ship has seen better days, it offers her a bed, a chance to explore the far-off corners of the galaxy, and most importantly, some distance from her past. An introspective young woman who learned early to keep to herself, she’s never met anyone remotely like the ship’s diverse crew, including Sissix, the exotic reptilian pilot, chatty engineers Kizzy and Jenks who keep the ship running, and Ashby, their noble captain.

“Life aboard the Wayfarer is chaotic and crazy—exactly what Rosemary wants. It’s also about to get extremely dangerous when the crew is offered the job of a lifetime. Tunneling wormholes through space to a distant planet is definitely lucrative and will keep them comfortable for years. But risking her life wasn’t part of the plan. In the far reaches of deep space, the tiny Wayfarer crew will confront a host of unexpected mishaps and thrilling adventures that force them to depend on each other. To survive, Rosemary’s got to learn how to rely on this assortment of oddballs—an experience that teaches her about love and trust, and that having a family isn’t necessarily the worst thing in the universe.”

The Martian by Andy Weir

“Six days ago, astronaut Mark Watney became one of the first people to walk on Mars.

“Now, he’s sure he’ll be the first person to die there.

“After a dust storm nearly kills him and forces his crew to evacuate while thinking him dead, Mark finds himself stranded and completely alone with no way to even signal Earth that he’s alive—and even if he could get word out, his supplies would be gone long before a rescue could arrive.

“Chances are, though, he won’t have time to starve to death. The damaged machinery, unforgiving environment, or plain-old “human error” are much more likely to kill him first.

“But Mark isn’t ready to give up yet. Drawing on his ingenuity, his engineering skills—and a relentless, dogged refusal to quit—he steadfastly confronts one seemingly insurmountable obstacle after the next. Will his resourcefulness be enough to overcome the impossible odds against him?”

The Martian Chronicles by Ray Bradbury

“The Martian Chronicles tells the story of humanity’s repeated attempts to colonize the red planet. The first men were few. Most succumbed to a disease they called the Great Loneliness when they saw their home planet dwindle to the size of a fist. They felt they had never been born. Those few that survived found no welcome on Mars. The shape-changing Martians thought they were native lunatics and duly locked them up.

“But more rockets arrived from Earth, and more, piercing the hallucinations projected by the Martians. People brought their old prejudices with them—and their desires and fantasies, tainted dreams. These were soon inhabited by the strange native beings, with their caged flowers and birds of flame.”

Medusa Uploaded (The Medusa Cycle #1) by Emily Devenport

“The Executives control Oichi’s senses, her voice, her life. Until the day they kill her.

“An executive clan gives the order to shoot Oichi out of an airlock on suspicion of being an insurgent. A sentient AI, a Medusa unit, rescues Oichi and begins to teach her the truth—the Executives are not who they think they are. Oichi, officially dead and now bonded to the Medusa unit, sees a chance to make a better life for everyone on board.

“As she sets things right one assassination at a time, Oichi becomes the very insurgent the Executives feared, and in the process uncovers the shocking truth behind the generation starship that is their home.”

Ninefox Gambit (The Machineries of Empire #1) by Yoon Ha Lee

This trilogy is not only mind-blowingly good, it’s also complete! All three books are out right now; go forth.

“Captain Kel Cheris of the hexarchate is disgraced for using unconventional methods in a battle against heretics. Kel Command gives her the opportunity to redeem herself by retaking the Fortress of Scattered Needles, a star fortress that has recently been captured by heretics. Cheris’s career isn’t the only thing at stake. If the fortress falls, the hexarchate itself might be next.

“Cheris’s best hope is to ally with the undead tactician Shuos Jedao. The good news is that Jedao has never lost a battle, and he may be the only one who can figure out how to successfully besiege the fortress.

“The bad news is that Jedao went mad in his first life and massacred two armies, one of them his own. As the siege wears on, Cheris must decide how far she can trust Jedao—because she might be his next victim.”

Old Man’s War (Old Man’s War #1) by John Scalzi

I know I already recommended a Scalzi series; you should consider both of them. They’re very different!

“John Perry did two things on his 75th birthday. First he visited his wife’s grave. Then he joined the army.

“The good news is that humanity finally made it into interstellar space. The bad news is that planets fit to live on are scarce—and alien races willing to fight us for them are common. So: we fight. To defend Earth, and to stake our own claim to planetary real estate. Far from Earth, the war has been going on for decades: brutal, bloody, unyielding.

“Earth itself is a backwater. The bulk of humanity’s resources are in the hands of the Colonial Defense Force. Everybody knows that when you reach retirement age, you can join the CDF. They don’t want young people; they want people who carry the knowledge and skills of decades of living. You’ll be taken off Earth and never allowed to return. You’ll serve two years at the front. And if you survive, you’ll be given a generous homestead stake of your own, on one of our hard-won colony planets.

“John Perry is taking that deal. He has only the vaguest idea what to expect. Because the actual fight, light-years from home, is far, far harder than he can imagine—and what he will become is far stranger.”

On a Red Station, Drifting (The Universe of Xuya) by Aliette de Bodard

Don’t have time for a epically long, long-running space opera? These novellas are SO GOOD!

“For generations Prosper Station has thrived under the guidance of its Honoured Ancestress: born of a human womb, the station’s artificial intelligence has offered guidance and protection to its human relatives.

“But war has come to the Dai Viet Empire. Prosper’s brightest minds have been called away to defend the Emperor; and a flood of disorientated refugees strain the station’s resources. As deprivations cause the station’s ordinary life to unravel, uncovering old grudges and tearing apart the decimated family, Station Mistress Quyen and the Honoured Ancestress struggle to keep their relatives united and safe.

“What Quyen does not know is that the Honoured Ancestress herself is faltering, her mind eaten away by a disease that seems to have no cure; and that the future of the station itself might hang in the balance…”

Planetfall (Planetfall #1) by Emma Newman

“Renata Ghali believed in Lee Suh-Mi’s vision of a world far beyond Earth, calling to humanity. A planet promising to reveal the truth about our place in the cosmos, untainted by overpopulation, pollution, and war. Ren believed in that vision enough to give up everything to follow Suh-Mi into the unknown.

“More than twenty-two years have passed since Ren and the rest of the faithful braved the starry abyss and established a colony at the base of an enigmatic alien structure where Suh-Mi has since resided, alone. All that time, Ren has worked hard as the colony’s 3-D printer engineer, creating the tools necessary for human survival in an alien environment, and harboring a devastating secret.

“The truth Ren has concealed since planetfall can no longer be hidden. And its revelation might tear the colony apart…”

Provenance by Ann Leckie

While there are ties between Provenance and the Imperial Radch series, Provenance stands beautifully on its own—and is a great introduction to Leckie’s work!

“A power-driven young woman has just one chance to secure the status she craves and regain priceless lost artifacts prized by her people. She must free their thief from a prison planet from which no one has ever returned.

“Ingray and her charge will return to her home world to find their planet in political turmoil, at the heart of an escalating interstellar conflict. Together, they must make a new plan to salvage Ingray’s future, her family, and her world, before they are lost to her for good.”

Space Opera by Cat Valente

“A century ago, the Sentience Wars tore the galaxy apart and nearly ended the entire concept of intelligent space-faring life. In the aftermath, a curious tradition was invented—something to cheer up everyone who was left and bring the shattered worlds together in the spirit of peace, unity, and understanding.

“Once every cycle, the civilizations gather for the Metagalactic Grand Prix—part gladiatorial contest, part beauty pageant, part concert extravaganza, and part continuation of the wars of the past. Instead of competing in orbital combat, the powerful species that survived face off in a competition of song, dance, or whatever can be physically performed in an intergalactic talent show. The stakes are high for this new game, and everyone is forced to compete.

“This year, though, humankind has discovered the enormous universe. And while they expected to discover a grand drama of diplomacy, gunships, wormholes, and stoic councils of aliens, they have instead found glitter, lipstick and electric guitars. Mankind will not get to fight for its destiny—they must sing.

“A one-hit-wonder band of human musicians, dancers and roadies from London—Decibel Jones and the Absolute Zeroes—have been chosen to represent Earth on the greatest stage in the galaxy. And the fate of their species lies in their ability to rock.”

Saga, Vol. 1 (Saga #1) by Brian K. Vaughan and Fiona Staples

Do you need me to tell you to read Saga ? You probably don’t, but I will anyway!

“When two soldiers from opposite sides of a never-ending galactic war fall in love, they risk everything to bring a fragile new life into a dangerous old universe.

“From bestselling writer Brian K. Vaughan, Saga is the sweeping tale of one young family fighting to find their place in the worlds. Fantasy and science fiction are wed like never before in this sexy, subversive drama for adults.”

Salvage by Alexandra Duncan

“Ava, a teenage girl living aboard the male-dominated, conservative deep space merchant ship Parastrata, faces betrayal, banishment, and death. Taking her fate into her own hands, she flees to the Gyre, a floating continent of garbage and scrap in the Pacific Ocean.”

Six Wakes by Mur Lafferty

“It was not common to awaken in a cloning vat streaked with drying blood.

“At least, Maria Arena had never experienced it. She had no memory of how she died. That was also new; before, when she had awakened as a new clone, her first memory was of how she died.

“Maria’s vat was in the front of six vats, each one holding the clone of a crew member of the starship Dormire, each clone waiting for its previous incarnation to die so it could awaken. And Maria wasn’t the only one to die recently…”

The Space Between the Stars by Anne Corlett

“All Jamie Allenby ever wanted was space. Even though she wasn’t forced to emigrate from Earth, she willingly left the overpopulated, claustrophobic planet. And when a long relationship devolved into silence and suffocating sadness, she found work on a frontier world on the edges of civilization. Then the virus hit…

“Now Jamie finds herself dreadfully alone, with all that’s left of the dead. Until a garbled message from Earth gives her hope that someone from her past might still be alive.

“Soon Jamie finds other survivors, and their ragtag group will travel through the vast reaches of space, drawn to the promise of a new beginning on Earth. But their dream will pit them against those desperately clinging to the old ways. And Jamie’s own journey home will help her close the distance between who she has become and who she is meant to be…”

Spaceman of Bohemia by Jaroslav Kalfar

“Orphaned as a boy, raised in the Czech countryside by his doting grandparents, Jakub Procházka has risen from small-time scientist to become the country’s first astronaut. When a dangerous solo mission to Venus offers him both the chance at heroism he’s dreamt of, and a way to atone for his father’s sins as a Communist informer, he ventures boldly into the vast unknown. But in so doing, he leaves behind his devoted wife, Lenka, whose love, he realizes too late, he has sacrificed on the altar of his ambitions.

“Alone in Deep Space, Jakub discovers a possibly imaginary giant alien spider, who becomes his unlikely companion. Over philosophical conversations about the nature of love, life and death, and the deliciousness of bacon, the pair form an intense and emotional bond. Will it be enough to see Jakub through a clash with secret Russian rivals and return him safely to Earth for a second chance with Lenka?”

A Spark of White Fire by Sangu Mandanna

“In a universe of capricious gods, dark moons, and kingdoms built on the backs of spaceships, a cursed queen sends her infant daughter away, a jealous uncle steals the throne of Kali from his nephew, and an exiled prince vows to take his crown back.

“Raised alone and far away from her home on Kali, Esmae longs to return to her family. When the King of Wychstar offers to gift the unbeatable, sentient warship Titania to a warrior that can win his competition, she sees her way home: she’ll enter the competition, reveal her true identity to the world, and help her famous brother win back the crown of Kali.

“It’s a great plan. Until it falls apart.”

The Sparrow (The Sparrow #1) by Mary Doria Russell

“In 2019, humanity finally finds proof of extraterrestrial life when a listening post in Puerto Rico picks up exquisite singing from a planet that will come to be known as Rakhat. While United Nations diplomats endlessly debate a possible first contact mission, the Society of Jesus quietly organizes an eight-person scientific expedition of its own. What the Jesuits find is a world so beyond comprehension that it will lead them to question what it means to be ‘human’.”

The Stars are Legion by Kameron Hurley

“Somewhere on the outer rim of the universe, a mass of decaying world-ships known as the Legion is traveling in the seams between the stars. For generations, a war for control of the Legion has been waged, with no clear resolution. As worlds continue to die, a desperate plan is put into motion.

“Zan wakes with no memory, prisoner of a people who say they are her family. She is told she is their salvation—the only person capable of boarding the Mokshi, a world-ship with the power to leave the Legion. But Zan’s new family is not the only one desperate to gain control of the prized ship. Zan finds that she must choose sides in a genocidal campaign that will take her from the edges of the Legion’s gravity well to the very belly of the world.

“Zan will soon learn that she carries the seeds of the Legion’s destruction—and its possible salvation. But can she and her ragtag band of followers survive the horrors of the Legion and its people long enough to deliver it?”

The Stars Change by Mary Anne Mohanraj

“On a South Asian-settled university planet, tensions are rising, and as they reach the brink of interstellar war, life (and sex) continues. Humans, aliens, and modified humans gather at the University of All Worlds in search of knowledge…and self-knowledge…but the first bomb has fallen and the fate of this multicultural, multispecies mecca is in question. Some people will seek solace in physical contact, some will look for spiritual answers, while others will find their strength in community, family, and love. Some will rush home to make love to their wife. Or wives. Or husbands. Or indeterminate gender human and/or alien partners. Others will be forced to decide where they stand—what is worth fighting for, or maybe even worth dying for.”

The Telling (The Hainish Cycle #9) by Ursula Le Guin

Listen. You could start The Hainish Cycle with The Dispossessed , which is #1, or even The Left Hand of Darkness , which is #6. But The Telling is my favorite, and it’s going to be a movie soon, and this is my list, so there.

“Once a culturally rich world, the planet Aka has been utterly transformed by technology. Records of the past have been destroyed, and citizens are strictly monitored. But an official observer from Earth named Sutty has learned of a group of outcasts who live in the wilderness. They still believe in the ancient ways and still practice its lost religion—the Telling.

“Intrigued by their beliefs, Sutty joins them on a sacred pilgrimage into the mountains…and into the dangerous terrain of her own heart, mind, and soul.”

Tracked (Tracked #1) by Jenny Martin

This series was pitched to me as a teen Fast and Furious set in space, and they were not lying.

“On corporately controlled Castra, rally racing is a high-stakes game that seventeen-year-old Phoebe Van Zant knows all too well. Phee’s legendary racer father disappeared mysteriously, but that hasn’t stopped her from speeding headlong into trouble. When she and her best friend, Bear, attract the attention of Charles Benroyal, they are blackmailed into racing for Benroyal Corp, a company that represents everything Phee detests. Worse, Phee risks losing Bear as she falls for Cash, her charming new teammate. But when she discovers that Benroyal is controlling more than a corporation, Phee realizes she has a much bigger role in Castra’s future than she could ever have imagined. It’s up to Phee to take Benroyal down. But even with the help of her team, can a street-rat destroy an empire?”

An Unkindness of Ghosts by Rivers Solomon

“Odd-mannered, obsessive, withdrawn, Aster has little to offer folks in the way of rebuttal when they call her ogre and freak. She’s used to the names; she only wishes there was more truth to them. If she were truly a monster, as they accuse, she’d be powerful enough to tear down the walls around her until nothing remained of her world, save for stories told around the cookfire.

“Aster lives in the low-deck slums of the HSS Matilda, a space vessel organized much like the antebellum South. For generations, the Matilda has ferried the last of humanity to a mythical Promised Land. On its way, the ship’s leaders have imposed harsh moral restrictions and deep indignities on dark-skinned sharecroppers like Aster, who they consider to be less than human.

“When the autopsy of Matilda’s sovereign reveals a surprising link between his death and her mother’s suicide some quarter-century before, Aster retraces her mother’s footsteps. Embroiled in a grudge with a brutal overseer and sowing the seeds of civil war, Aster learns there may be a way off the ship if she’s willing to fight for it.”

Warchild (Warchild #1) by Karin Lowachee

“The merchant ship Mukudori encompasses the whole of eight-year-old Jos’s world, until a notorious pirate destroys the ship, slaughters the adults, and enslaves the children. Thus begins a desperate odyssey of terror and escape that takes Jos beyond known space to the home of the strits, Earth’s alien enemies.

“To survive, the boy must become a living weapon and a master spy. But no training will protect Jos in a war where every hope might be a deadly lie, and every friendship might hide a lethal betrayal. And all the while he will face the most grueling trial of his life…becoming his own man.”

Waypoint Kangaroo (Kangaroo #1) by Curtis Chen

“Kangaroo isn’t your typical spy. Sure, he has extensive agency training, access to bleeding-edge technology, and a ready supply of clever (to him) quips and retorts. But what sets him apart is ‘the pocket.’ It’s a portal that opens into an empty, seemingly infinite, parallel universe, and Kangaroo is the only person in the world who can use it. But he’s pretty sure the agency only keeps him around to exploit his superpower.

“After he bungles yet another mission, Kangaroo gets sent away on a mandatory ‘vacation’: an interplanetary cruise to Mars. While he tries to make the most of his exile, two passengers are found dead, and Kangaroo has to risk blowing his cover. It turns out he isn’t the only spy on the ship–and he’s just starting to unravel a massive conspiracy which threatens the entire Solar System.

“Now, Kangaroo has to stop a disaster which would shatter the delicate peace that’s existed between Earth and Mars ever since the brutal Martian Independence War. A new interplanetary conflict would be devastating for both sides. Millions of lives are at stake.

“Weren’t vacations supposed to be relaxing?”

The Wrong Stars (Axiom #1) by Tim Pratt

“The shady crew of the White Raven run freight and salvage at the fringes of our solar system. They discover the wreck of a centuries-old exploration vessel floating light years away from its intended destination and revive its sole occupant, who wakes with news of First Alien Contact. When the crew break it to her that humanity has alien allies already, she reveals that these are very different extra-terrestrials… and the gifts they bestowed on her could kill all humanity, or take it out to the most distant stars.”

Whew! If you’ve made it this far, I need to know: what’s your favorite space novel that didn’t make my list? Explode my TBR, please and thank you!

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Top 10 books about space travel

The Italian astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti chooses her favourite extraterrestrial reading, taking in fiction by Italo Calvino and Stanisław Lem alongside reportage and history

O ne of the funny little things I noticed after having lived in space for a while is that, contrary to everyday experience on Earth, it took some effort to keep my arms pressed against my body. Had I remembered better my childhood reading, I wouldn’t have been surprised. Jules Verne imagined this back in 1865. At one point, the protagonists of his From the Earth to the Moon realise that “their bodies were absolutely without weight. Their arms, full extended, no longer sought their sides.”

That wasn’t the first time literature imagined a trip to the moon: in Ludovico Ariosto’s Orlando Furioso (1516), the knight Astolfo flies to the moon in search of Orlando’s lost wits. Cyrano de Bergerac’s satirical novel The Other World: Comical History of the States and Empires of the Moon dates back to the 17th century, and in 1857 Italian astronomer Ernest Capocci wrote a novel about the first journey to the moon, which he imagined undertaken in 2057 by a woman named Urania. Yet Verne was the first to narrate the endeavour with some measure of engineering credibility, eventually coming to be recognised as one of the fathers of science fiction.

Decades later, space travel became a reality. So along with fiction, which continues to challenge the limits of our imagination and confront us with profound questions, we now have books that tell the story of real spaceflight. My book is one of those. It’s the story of my journey as an apprentice astronaut, from the long, nerve-wrecking selection process through five years of training. Years spent in classrooms and simulators, swimming pools and centrifuges, emergency and survival drills, suitcase always to hand, living across continents. Until, one day, a rocket was waiting to take me to the International Space Station , humanity’s outpost in space. For 200 days, I would inhabit a weightless body, I would see the sun rise and set 16 times per day, I would enjoy the sublime view of the Earth moving beneath me. And I would slowly learn to be an extraterrestrial human being.

In fiction and in fact, these books seem truest to that extraordinary experience.

1. Carrying the Fire by Mike Collins I am fascinated by Collins, by the absolute loneliness of his solitary orbits around the moon while his crewmates Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin were on the surface during the Apollo 11 mission. This is his autobiography – and it is honest, humble, unafraid to delve into the details. My favourite quote from the book: “I have not been able to do these things because of any great talent I possess; rather, it has all been the roll of the dice, the same dice that cause the growth of cancer cells, or an aircraft ejection seat to work or not.”

2. If the Sun Dies by Oriana Fallaci One hundred years after Jules Verne published From the Earth to the Moon, Fallaci published this account of the US space endeavour, after months of research and with extensive access to all the famous sites of the Apollo missions and to dozens of astronauts, scientists and doctors. It is written with uncompromising honesty and an engaging style that mixes factual reporting and her own emotional and intellectual struggle. Torn between embracing technology-driven progress and remaining loyal to humanistic tradition, Fallaci creates a vivid picture of the space community, and the astronauts in particular, that shatters every stereotype.

3. How Apollo Flew to the Moon by W David Woods This is an unapologetically geeky book: the complete story of how the Apollo missions were accomplished and of the engineering feats that made them possible. Rigorous and exhaustive, but written in an accessible and engaging style well-suited for the non-technical reader.

4. Sputnik and the Soviet Space Challenge by Asif A Siddiqi This is a scholarly work, grounded in many years of research of Russian-language archival sources available in the post-Soviet era. It is a fascinating account of the epic achievements and struggles of the USSR’s space programme, from its origins to the 1970s, and enjoyable reading for anyone interested in history as well as space.

5. Packing for Mars by Mary Roach If there is a Q&A session, I know that this question will be asked: how do you pee in space? This entertaining, at times hilarious book is an account of the author’s quest to understand this and many other challenges of functioning as a human being in space. While she makes no effort to hide a preference for the less palatable, sometimes disgusting, anecdotes going back to the early days of human spaceflight, and the work predates the more mature conditions of the International Space Station that I am personally familiar with, this is a fun and informative book.

6. The Martian by Andy Weir The story is well known because of the film adaptatio n, in which Matt Damon, stranded on Mars, famously declares: “I’m going to have to science the shit out of this.” With the exception of the initial storm setting the events in motion, and the almost supernatural portion of luck needed for everything to work out just right, everything is plausible.

7. The Invincible by Stanisław Lem Opening with a masterful sequence out of hard science-fiction’s classic repertoire – a vivid depiction of an interstellar spaceship’s landing on an alien planet to investigate the mystery of another crew’s demise – this novel weaves together memorable futuristic battles with an intriguing quest for understanding that shakes conventional, anthropocentric assumptions about intelligence and evolution.

8. Star Maker by Olaf Stapledon The consciousness of the disembodied narrator, to his own astonishment, is projected away from Earth on a mind-blowing journey through time and space that, by itself, would make this book unforgettable. This is obviously not about conventional space travel, not a conventional novel and there is no conventional plot. Rather, it is social-philosophical speculation on a cosmic scale accompanied by boundless, fearless imagination and mythopoeic ambition.

9. The Complete Cosmicomics by Italo Calvino In the first of his Six Memos for the Next Millennium, devoted to the virtue of lightness, Calvino wrote: “Lightness for me is related to precision and definition, not to the hazy and haphazard.” Paul Valéry said: ‘One must be light like the bird, not like the feather.’” That’s the essence of the Cosmicomics. These short stories are a dizzying journey of the imagination, witty, light-hearted, endearing and yet clearly inspired by scientific theories and coherent with their basic premises.

10. The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams “‘Forty-two,’ said Deep Thought, with infinite majesty and calm” after pondering for million of years to answer the “ultimate question to life, the universe and everything”. As a crew-member of Expedition 42 on the International Space Station, I made sure that this was in my essential luggage. It provided two important reminders for space travellers. First, don’t panic! Second, let’s not take ourselves too seriously.

• International Space Station
• Science fiction books
• Journalism books
• Italo Calvino
• Douglas Adams

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Best space books for 2023

There are plenty of great books out there about space — so many, in fact, that it can feel a little overwhelming to figure out where to start, whether searching for a perfect gift or your next engrossing read. So the editors and writers at Space.com have put together a list of their favorite books about the universe. These are the books that we love — the ones that informed us, entertained us and inspired us. We hope they'll do the same for you!

We've divided the books into five categories, which each have their own dedicated pages. On this page, we feature books we're reading now and books we've recently read, which we will update regularly. Click to see the best of:

• Space books for kids
• Astronomy and astrophysics
• Spaceflight and space history
• Space photography
• Science fiction

We hope there's something on our lists for every reader of every age. We're also eager to hear about your favorite space books, so please leave your suggestions in the comments, and let us know why you love them. You can see our ongoing Space Books coverage here .

What we're reading:

Why you can trust Space.com Our expert reviewers spend hours testing and comparing products and services so you can choose the best for you. Find out more about how we test and review products.

"The Milky Way: An Autobiography of Our Galaxy"

by Moiya McTier

The Milky Way: An Autobiography of Our Galaxy | $27 now $23.28 from Amazon

Astronomers have written the Milky Way's story many times over; scientists have traced violent collisions in its past and future and peered into the supermassive black hole lurking at its heart. But if our galaxy could tell us its story, what would it say? Astrophysicist and folklorist Moiya McTier tells that story in her delightful new book, "The Milky Way: An Autobiography of Our Galaxy." McTier's Milky Way makes for a prickly narrator as the book zips through everything from the formation of the universe through the ways scientists think it might come to an end. ~ Meghan Bartels

Read an interview with Moiya McTier Read an excerpt from "The Milky Way"

Buy "The Milky Way" on Amazon

"A Portrait of the Scientist as a Young Woman"

by Lindy Elkins-Tanton

A Portrait of the Scientist as a Young Woman | $29.99 now $22.49 from Amazon

Lindy Elkins-Tanton of Arizona State University is the principal investigator of NASA's Psyche mission, a spacecraft designed to explore the asteroid of the same name, which appears to be primarily made of metal. But the path she followed to get to that position is full of intriguing side trips she shares in her new memoir, "A Portrait of the Scientist as a Young Woman." The book covers everything from her experience conducting field research in Siberia to her work supporting healthy culture in the ivory tower. ~ Meghan Bartels

Read an interview with Lindy Elkins-Tanton

Buy "A Portrait of the Scientist as a Young Woman" on Amazon

"Horizons: The Global Origins of Modern Science"

by James Poskett

Horizons: The Global Origins of Modern Science," James Poskett | $30 now 20.99 from Amazon

What if everything we're taught about the history of astronomy and physics is wrong? In his new book, "Horizons: The Global Origins of Modern Science," James Poskett, a historian of science and technology, focuses on how science has always been a global endeavor and how that story was overshadowed by a biased Westernized version. Astronomy and physics play key roles in the story he tells, with cameos from key figures such as Ptolemy and Isaac Newton, although the book spans several scientific fields, including natural history and evolution as well. ~ Meghan Bartels

Read an interview with James Poskett

Buy "Horizons" on Amazon

"Space Forces: A Critical History of Life in Outer Space"

by Fred Scharmen

Space Forces: A Critical History of Life in Outer Space | $26.95 now $21.91 from Amazon

Like plenty of kids, Fred Scharmen was fascinated by the depictions he saw of what life in space might look like. But Scharmen grew up to be an architect and urban designer, which taught him to see all the silent assumptions, fears and hopes that were hidden in those images. In "Space Forces," Scharmen examines seven different visions of life in space, exploring the cultural beliefs they betray and asking us to think more critically about why we want to go to space and how to translate our values into exploration. ~ Meghan Bartels

Read an interview with Fred Scharmen Read an excerpt from "Space Forces"

Buy "Space Forces" on Amazon

"Back to Earth: What Life in Space Taught Me About Our Home Planet ― And Our Mission to Protect It"

by Nicole Stott

Back To Earth $30 now $20.41 on Amazon . 

Retired NASA astronaut Nicole Stott is one of the fewer than 600 people to have reached space, and she hopes the stories of that experience will inspire readers to take a planetary perspective on their daily lives. She offers new philosophies for living on Earth informed by her experience in orbit and melds her experiences in space with stories of people on Earth who act on the same value she sees as so crucial to spaceflight. ~ Meghan Bartels

Read an interview with Nicole Stott Read an excerpt from "Back to Earth"

Buy "Back to Earth" on Amazon

"The Apollo Murders" (Mulholland Books, 2021) 

By Col. Chris Hadfield

The Apollo Murders $28 now $14.63 on Amazon . 

New York Times bestselling author, YouTube star, international speaker, and popular Twitter personality, Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield, has a creative eye on the moon in his first dive into fiction, "The Apollo Murders." It's a rousing adventure placed amid the tense days of the U.S.-Soviet Union space race in the 1970s following America's lunar landings. The alternative history is set in 1973 when NASA launches a final top-secret mission to investigate a crewed Soviet space station called Almaz. The clandestine flight continues to the moon as both Russian and American crews target a huge bounty hidden on the lunar surface.

Astronaut Chris Hadfield talks about writing the book Read an excerpt from "The Apollo Murders"

Buy "The Apollo Murders" on Amazon

"Beyond: The Astonishing Story of the First Human to Leave Our Planet and Journey into Space" (Harper, 2021) 

By Stephen Walker 

Beyond $29.99 now $16.49 on Amazon . 

On April 12, 1961, Russian cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin became the first person to leave Earth's orbit and travel into space, marking a significant milestone in the space race between the United States and the Soviet Union. In "Beyond: The Astonishing Story of the First Human to Leave Our Planet and Journey into Space" (Harper, 2021), author and documentary filmmaker Stephen Walker recounts intimate details of the months, and years, leading up to Gagarin’s historic flight, revealing the true stories of the Soviet space program as the agency prepared to launch the first human into space — only weeks before American astronaut Alan Shepard's suborbital flight on May 5, 1961. Walker also discusses the historical impact of Gagarin's flight and how it set the stage for NASA's Apollo program. ~ Samantha Mathewson

Buy "Beyond" on Amazon.com .

"The Disordered Cosmos: A Journey into Dark Matter, Spacetime, & Dreams Deferred" (Bold Type Books, 2021)

By Chanda Prescod-Weinstein

The Disordered Cosmos $28 now $14.74 on Amazon .  

Theoretical physics is supposed to be about pure, crisp ideas. But physics is done by humans, and human society brings messiness to any endeavor. That reality means every aspect of physics is marked by the social constraints of who is allowed to do physics in harmony with their identity and who is not. Chanda Prescod-Weinstein, a theoretical physicist at the University of New Hampshire, tackles the implications of that reality in her thought-provoking new book. ~ Meghan Bartels

Read Space.com's interview with the author here .

Buy "The Disordered Cosmos" on Amazon.com

"The Relentless Moon" (Tor, 2020)

By Mary Robinette Kowal

Relentless Moon now $17.60 on Amazon . 

Mary Robinette Kowal's Lady Astronaut series imagines what would have happened if Apollo-era spaceflight had continued at the same pace, pushed forward by the existential threat of meteor-caused climate change. This third book follows astronaut Nicole Wargin on an investigation of threats to a lunar base, exploring how life on the ground continues amid ambitious space exploration. ~ Meghan Bartels

Buy "The Relentless Moon" on Amazon.com

"The Sirens of Mars: Searching for Life on Another World" (Crown, 2020)

By Sarah Stewart Johnson

The Sirens of Mars $28.99 now $21.16 on Amazon . 

Planetary scientist Sarah Stewart Johnson shares the human story of the search for life on Mars in this compelling book. A host of hidden moments about scientists' views of the Red Planet decorate the book's pages, and Johnson explores how scientists have found and lost hope in the process of studying our nearest neighbor. ~ Meghan Bartels

Buy "The Sirens of Mars" on Amazon.com

"See You in Orbit?: Our Dream of Spaceflight" (To Orbit Productions, 2019)

By Alan Ladwig

See You In Orbit?: Our Dream Of Spaceflight now $18 on Amazon . 

Alan Ladwig, a former NASA manager, dives into the promise of public spaceflight in this new book, which comes as Blue Origin, SpaceX, Virgin Galactic and more take aim at private and commercial space travel.

Read Space.com's interview with the author  here . 

Buy "See You In Orbit?: Our Dream of Spaceflight" on Amazon.com.

"Identified Flying Objects" (Masters Creative LLC, 2019)

By Michael Masters

Identified flying objects now $22.95 on Amazon . 

Unidentified flying objects (UFOs) have captured the public's attention over the decades. Rather than aliens, could those piloting UFOs be us — our future progeny that have mastered the landscape of time and space? Perhaps those reports of people coming into contact with strange beings represent our distant human descendants, returning from the future to study us in their own evolutionary past. The idea of us being them has been advanced before, but this new book takes a fresh look at this prospect, offering some thought-provoking proposals. ~Leonard David

Read Space.com's review  here . 

Buy "Identified Flying Objects: A Multidisciplinary Scientific Approach to the UFO Phenomenon" on Amazon.com.

"They Are Already Here: UFO Culture and Why We See Saucers" (Pegasus Books, 2020)

By Sarah Scoles

They Are Already Here $27.95 now $17.30 on Amazon . 

Do you remember reading a New York Times story in 2017 that claimed to unveil a Pentagon program dedicated to investigating UFOs? Did you hear rumors about why the FBI closed a solar observatory the next year for then-undisclosed reasons? Are you confused about why there seem to be so many documentaries about alien sightings? "They Are Already Here: UFO Culture and Why We See Saucers" by freelance journalist Sarah Scoles, tackles these questions and many more. Read an excerpt from "They Are Already Here," and read Space.com's interview with the author  here . 

Buy "They Are Already Here" on Amazon.com.

"The Andromeda Evolution" (Harper, 2019)

By Daniel H. Wilson

The Andromeda Evolution now $7.50 on Amazon . 

There's finally a sequel to Michael Crichton's 1969 classic about extraterrestrial life trying to take over humanity from, of all places, Arizona. In "The Andromeda Evolution," author Daniel H. Wilson continues Crichton's work and brings the terrifying tale into outer space. ~Elizabeth Howell

Read Space.com's review here . 

Buy "The Andromeda Evolution" on Amazon.com.

"For Small Creatures Such As We" (G.P Putnam's Sons, 2019)

By Sasha Sagan

For Small Creatures Such As We $26 now $14.45 on Amazon . 

In her new book "For Small Creatures Such as We," Sasha Sagan, daughter of "Cosmos" co-writer Ann Druyan and famed astronomer Carl Sagan, dives into the secular side of spirituality. Upon starting a family of her own, Sagan wanted to have rituals and traditions that would bond them together. But being non-religious, she reevaluated what these traditions could be and this book explores how rituals like holidays can be inspired by the "magic" of nature, space and science rather than religion. ~Chelsea Gohd

Buy "For Small Creatures Such as We" on Amazon.com . 

"Dr. Space Junk Vs. the Universe" (MIT Press, 2019)

By Alice Gorman

Dr. Space Junk Vs The Universe $27.95 now $20.69 on Amazon . 

What happens to satellites when they die, and come to think of it, when do they die? Alice Gorman is an Australian archaeologist who studies objects related to spaceflight, and what we can learn by thinking about space through the lens of archaeology. Her book is an engaging story of the ways being human shapes how we go to space. From Aboriginal songs tucked on the Voyagers' Golden Records to the importance of the size of a spacecraft, Gorman offers a new perspective on the history — and future — of space. ~ Meghan Bartels

Read a Q&A with Gorman about the new book and the archaeology of space here .

Buy "Dr. Space Junk Vs. the Universe" on Amazon.com.

"Einstein's Unfinished Revolution" (Penguin Press, 2019)

By Lee Smolin

Einstein's Unfinished Revolution $28 now $23.55 on Amazon . 

Although many believe that the quantum-mechanics revolution of the 1920s is settled science, Lee Smolin wants to disrupt that assumption. Smolin, a theoretical physicist based at the Perimeter Institute in Toronto, argues that quantum mechanics is incomplete. The standard quantum model only allows us to know the position or trajectory of a subatomic particle — not both at the same time. Smolin has spent his career looking to "complete" quantum physics in a way that allows us to know both pieces of information. Smolin's very engaging new book, "Einstein's Unfinished Revolution," offers this unique perspective honed through four decades at the forefront of theoretical physics. ~Marcus Banks

Read a Q&A with Smolin about the new book and the state of quantum physics here .

Buy "Einstein's Unfinished Revolution" on Amazon.com . 

"Apollo's Legacy" (Smithsonian Books, 2019)

By Roger Launius

Apollo's Legacy now $27.95 on Amazon . 

How do we understand a transformative event like the Apollo missions to the moon? Many present it as proof of American ingenuity and success, but there's much more to the story. In "Apollo's Legacy: Perspectives on the Moon Landings," space historian Roger Launius probes the impacts Apollo had technologically, scientifically and politically, as well as analyzing what we can draw from it to understand the country's modern space program. The slim volume is written as a scholarly text, but it's accessible to anybody with an interest in space history and the circumstances that spawned Apollo. ~Sarah Lewin

Read a Q&A with the author here . 

Buy "Apollo's Legacy" on Amazon.com.

"Finding Our Place in the Universe" (MIT Press, 2019)

By Hélène Courtois

Finding Our Place In The Universe now $24.95 on Amazon . 

In "Finding Our Place in the Universe," French astrophysicist Helene Courtois describes the invigorating quest to discover the Milky Way's home. In 2014 Courtois was part of a research team that discovered the galactic supercluster which contains the Milky Way, which they named Laniakea. This means "immeasurable heaven" in Hawaiian. 

In this engaging and fast paced book, Courtois describes her own journey in astrophysics and highlights the key contributions of numerous female astrophysicists. The reader is right there with her as Courtois travels to the world's leading observatories in pursuit of Laniakea, and it's easy to see why the challenge of discovering our galaxy's home became so seductive. Readers who want them will learn all the scientific and technical details needed to understand the discovery of Laniakea, but it's also possible to enjoy this book as a pure tale of adventure. ~Marcus Banks

Read a Q&A with Courtois about her book and the hunt for Laniakea here .

Buy "Finding Our Place in the Universe" on Amazon.com.

"The Girl Who Named Pluto" (Schwartz & Wade, 2019)

By Alice B. McGinty, Illustrated by Elizabeth Haidle

The Girl Who Named Pluto $18.99 now $17.99 on Amazon . 

How did an 11-year-old English schoolgirl come to name Pluto? In "The Girl Who Named Pluto: The Story of Venetia Burney," Alice B. McGinty recounts one child's history-making turn on a fateful morning in 1930. Although the book is aimed at kids ages 4 to 8, there's plenty for older children to connect with as well. And the vintage-flavored illustrations by Elizabeth Haidle make the experience a visual delight. 

Venetia had connected her love of mythology with her knowledge of science to christen the new planet after the Roman god of the underworld, refusing to let her age or gender to hold her back. 

McGinley says she hopes Venetia's tale inspires her readers — girls, in particular. "I hope girls read it and feel empowered to be part of the scientific process," she said. "I hope boys read it and feel empowered, too, and understand how important girls are to science." ~Jasmin Malik Chua

Read Space.com's interview with the author here . 

Buy "The Girl Who Named Pluto" on Amazon.com.

"Delta-v" (Dutton, 2019)

By Daniel Suarez

Delta-V now $28 on Amazon . 

In "Delta-v," an unpredictable billionaire recruits an adventurous cave diver to join the first-ever effort to mine an asteroid. The crew's target is asteroid Ryugu, which in real life Japan's Hayabusa2 spacecraft has been exploring since June 2018. From the use of actual trajectories in space and scientific accuracy, to the title itself, Delta-v — the engineering term for exactly how much energy is expended performing a maneuver or reaching a target — Suarez pulls true-to-life details into describing the exciting and perilous mission. The reward for successful asteroid mining is incredible, but the cost could be devastating. ~Sarah Lewin

Read a Q&A with the author  here .

Buy "Delta-v" on Amazon.com.

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Best Sci-Fi Space Adventure Books to Travel the Universe with

• August 11, 2021

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Ready for some sci-fi space adventure books?

For this list, I’ve picked books that take place in space ships (or take place in them for the most part), where the protagonist travels the universe. 

Other than that, the genres are quite diverse. 

Think action sci-fi, thriller sci-fi, and romance sci-fi. But all in a space ship, on an adventure.

Scroll down to see my best picks for the sci-fi space adventure books to travel the universe with. 

Sci-Fi Books with Space Adventures

Light chaser by peter f. hamilton and gareth l. powell.

Genre:  Adult Sci-Fi Space Opera Pubdate:  24th of August Publisher:  Tordotcom

Amahle is a Light Chaster, an explorer who travels the universe alone (except for her onboard AI), trading trinkets for life stories. When she listens to the stories, she hears the same voice talking directly to her from different times and on different worlds. She realizes something terrible is happening, and she is the only one who can do anything about it. And it will cost everything to put it right.

This is a nice novella, that’s fast and easy to read.

I have to admit, the first chapter was really confusing. I’m not sure why they chose to do it that way. If they’d started with the second chapter, I think it would’ve read better.

That said, it’s quite an imaginative story, with a very deep message about life and growth. The few different worlds we visit are all unique in their own way and we can see how others live through Amahle.

I do feel it’s actually a large story to have condensed into a novella, and I can’t help but wonder if it might’ve worked better as a novel. That way, the authors could’ve built more tension and slowly increased the sense of danger.

But if you want to read something easy, fast, and entertaining and visit a few different worlds, then this is a great book.

Stowaway by John David Anderson

Genre:  Middle-Grade Adventure Sci-Fi Publisher:  Walden Pond Press

Scientists discover a rare and mysterious mineral buried in the Earth’s crust. It’s not long before aliens show up offering a promise of protection, some fabulous new technology, and entry into their intergalactic coalition—all in exchange for this precious resource. It’s so precious, the other alien forces are willing to start a war over it, which soon makes its way to earth.

Leo knows this all too well: his mother was killed in one such attack, and his father, a Coalition scientist, decides it’s best for them to leave Earth behind. On this expedition their ship is attacked, Leo’s father is kidnapped, and Leo and his brother remain stranded in the middle of space. Their only chance is for Leo to stow away on a strange ship of mercenary space pirates and beg the captain to help him find his father. But the road is dangerous, and pirates only look out for themselves. Who can Leo trust?

Ashfall Legacy by Pittacus Lore

Genre:  YA Adventure Sci-Fi Pubdate:  17th of August Publisher:  HarperCollins

Syd Chambers knows there’s life on other planets—he’s descended from it. His father was from a world called Denza and has been missing—presumed dead—for years. Then Syd discovers a device his father left behind, showing not only that he’s alive, but where he is. And so, Syd sets out on a mission. Along the way, however, he discovers a deadly secret that could destroy Denza, Earth, and the universe.

The Orpheus Plot by Christopher Swiedler

Genre: Middle-Grade Sci-Fi Adventure Publisher:  HarperCollins

Lucas Adebayo grew up on a small ship in the asteroid belt with the dream of joining the Navy. Though they never accepted a Belter before, his skill secures him a place on the training ship: the Orpheus. Lucas struggles to find his place on the ship. As a Belter, he’s an outsider among his peers, and he doesn’t fit in at home anymore, either. Things get worse when he’s caught between his past and his future when a Belter rebellion puts everyone’s lives at risk.

The Darkness Outside Us by Eliot Schrefer

Genre:  YA Sci-Fi Romance, LGBTQ Publisher:  Katherine Tegen Books

When the distress signal of the first settler on Titan is tripped, none of the countries on Earth can afford a rescue mission on their own. And so, two sworn enemies are put in the same spaceship: Ambrose and Kodiak. However, when Ambrose wakes up on the ship, he’s got no memory of the launch, and there’s evidence that strangers have been on board. In the meantime, Kodiak has barricaded himself away. Nothing will stop Ambrose from making the mission succeed, though; not when he’s rescuing his own sister. Ambrose and Kodiak need to work together and learn to trust each other to survive the ship’s secrets.

The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet (Wayfarers #1) by Becky Chambers

Genre: Adult Sci-Fi Adventure, LGBTQ Publisher: Hodder & Stoughton

Rosemary Harper doesn’t have high expectations when she joins the crew of Wayfarer. The patched-up ship has definitely seen better days, but it offers a bed, a chance to explore the galaxy, and some distance from her past. Life aboard the Wayfarer is chaotic and crazy—exactly what Rosemary wants. But when they get offered the job of a lifetime, things are about to get extremely dangerous. While tunneling wormholes through space to a distant planet is certainly lucrative, risking her life wasn’t part of the plan. Rosemary has to learn how to love and trust, and realize that having a family isn’t necessarily the worst thing in the universe

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Ascension (Tangled Axon #1) by Jacqueline Koyanagi

Genre:  Sci-Fi Adventure Romance, LGBTQ Publisher:  Masque Books

Alana Quick is an amazing sky surgeon, but repairing starship engines barely pays the bills. So, when a crew stops by her shipyard looking for her spiritually advanced sister Nova, Alana stows away, hoping to get a long-term gig on the crew. But it proves to be more challenging than she thought. Let alone that she can’t keep her eyes off the beautiful captain. There’s little time for romance, however. Nova is in danger.

A Big Ship at the Edge of the Universe (The Salvagers #1) by Alex White

Genre: Adult Sci-Fi Adventure Thriller Publisher: Orbit

In another life, Boots Elsworth was a famous treasure hunter. However, now she’s washed up, making a meager living faking salvage legends and selling them to the highest bidder. Until she stumbles on something that might be the real story of the Harrow, a famous warship, capable of untold destruction.

Nilah Brio is the top driver in the Pan Galactic Racing Federation and the darling of the racing worlds until she’s framed for the murder of a fellow racer. On the hunt to clear her name, Nilah has only one lead: the killer is also hunting a woman named boots.

Both women board a smuggler’s ship that will take them on a quest for fame, riches, and justice.

The Epsilon Queen (Travellers Book 1) by Paul Kidd, Doc Rat Jenner (Illustrator)

Genre: Adult Sci-Fi Adventure Romance, LGBTQ Publisher: Self-published

According to some reviews I read, pretty much every character in this book is queer. So, if you’re fed up with reading stories that features only (or mostly) straight characters, you might want to give this book a whirl.

Five hundred years ago, The Epsilon Queen lifted into the Warp—the greatest space liner ever built. Carrying one hundred thousand refugees, she departed on her greatest voyage, and simply disappeared.

Today, the mystery still endures. Patricia Bretonard—pilot, fencer, and mistress of a great many freckles—has the mystery flung into her lap. A historical researcher by the name of Jemima McLeoud is hot on the trail of the Epsilon Queen. With a ship, they set out on an adventure to uncover the great, romantic mysteries of space.

Leviathan Wakes (The Expanse #1) by James S.A. Corey

Genre: Adult Sci-Fi Adventure Mystery Publisher: Orbit

Jim Holden is XO of an ice miner making runs from the rings of Saturn to the mining stations of the Belt. When he and his crew stumble upon the Scopuli, a derelict ship, they find themselves in possession of a secret they never wanted. Someone is willing to kill for that secret, on a scale unfathomable to Jim and his crew.

Detective Miller is looking for one girl in a system of billions, a seemingly impossible task. But her parents have money, and money talks. The trail leads him to the Scopuli and Holden, and he realizes the girl may be the key to everything.

Holden and Miller must threat the needle between the Earth government, the Outer Planet revolutionaries, and secretive corporations—and the odds are stacked against them.

Sentient by Jeff Lemire, Gabriel Hernández Walta (Illustrator), Steve Wands (Letterer)

Genre: YA Sci-Fi Adventure Graphic Novel Publisher: TKO Studios

When an attack kills all the adults on a colony ship, VALERIE, the onboard AI, has to help the ship’s children survive the perils of space. Can Valerie rise up to this task?

Those were the sci-fi space adventure books

I hope you found some nice additions to your reading list among these sci-fi space adventure books.

Have you read any of these? What did you think?

Also, if you want to add to the space adventure books in this list, feel free to put it in the comments & I’ll be sure to add the book (with credit to you, of course).

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Science » Astronomy

The best books on space exploration, recommended by andrew chaikin.

A Man on the Moon by Andrew Chaikin

Space historian Andrew Chaikin tells us about five books that capture the thrill and achievement of our venturing into the great beyond. He picks the best books on space exploration.

Carrying the Fire by Michael Collins

Apollo: the Race to the Moon by Catherine Bly Cox & Charles Murray

Beyond by Michael Benson

The Red Limit by Timothy Ferris

Mars and the Mind of Man by Arthur C. Clarke, Bruce Murray, Carl Sagan, Ray Bradbury & Walter Sullivan

1 Carrying the Fire by Michael Collins

2 apollo: the race to the moon by catherine bly cox & charles murray, 3 beyond by michael benson, 4 the red limit by timothy ferris, 5 mars and the mind of man by arthur c. clarke, bruce murray, carl sagan, ray bradbury & walter sullivan.

Y ou’ve chosen five books about space exploration, but none are about NASA’s space shuttle. Was the programme ultimately worth it?

The space shuttle was created as much by political forces as by engineering. For instance, the shuttle was supposed to be the satellite launcher for the military. Its big wings were required because the military wanted to be able to land as much as two thousand miles from the shuttle’s flight path. The Department of Defense ended up not using the shuttle to launch all of its satellites, and only a handful of shuttle missions were defence-related. So those big wings, which added a lot of weight and vulnerability, were never needed.

“I love being able to walk around knowing that when I look up at the sky, I’m really looking up into an endless universe that we’ve only begun to explore.”

NASA was compelled to try to make the shuttle be all things to all people. It was supposed to be a laboratory in space, but it was never optimised for that. It was sized so that it could bring up big modules, which were used for the international space station. But we could have done a space station with smaller modules or we could have used rockets to launch large modules. So while I admire the engineering behind the shuttle – and am amazed by the repair work that shuttle astronauts did on the Hubble space telescope – I don’t think the shuttle was the best possible path for the space programme. It was not sustainable, and the fact that the shuttle and the space station consumed most of NASA’s budget made it difficult to innovate.

You’ve said that the shuttle became more of a “jobs programme” than a space programme. Please explain.

Let’s get on to the books you’ve chosen about space exploration. The first is about the most momentous moment in space history: Michael Collins, who piloted the first mission to the moon, provides a view of space exploration from the cockpit. Tell us about the man and his autobiography Carrying the Fire .

Carrying the Fire  is widely regarded as the best of the memoirs written by astronauts. Mike Collins was the co-pilot on one of the two-man Gemini missions in 1966. He went on to be the command-module pilot on Apollo 11. He was the astronaut that stayed in lunar orbit while Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin landed on the moon. Readers really get their money’s worth with Mike because his book is readable, personal, poignant and funny. It sets the bar for astronaut books.

Collins addresses what he believes the space programme means for humankind. What does he, and what do you, have to say on that subject?

Let’s talk about the Apollo mission itself. First published in 1989, Apollo: The Race to the Moon  by Charles Murray and Catherine Cox focuses on the people who built the space programme. What can we learn by reading this book?

It’s a book about engineers and flight controllers who – very many of them – are the people who built the space programme, not only the hardware but the techniques and the methods. They figured out how to choreograph the precise orbital ballet of a rendezvous in space between two spacecraft that are each traveling at 17,500 miles an hour. They designed and built a space ship that could take three human beings to another celestial body and home again, re-entering the earth’s atmosphere at speeds of thousands of miles an hour with temperatures outside the vehicle climbing to 5,000 degrees Fahrenheit [2,760 degrees Celsius]. These are very daunting problems.

And then they had to figure out how to deal with every conceivable emergency that might come up during a flight, as we saw with Apollo 13. Apollo 13 is the best known example, and really epitomises the kind of “what if” thinking that NASA brought to these problems. Even today, many of the techniques that NASA developed for Apollo stand as monumental contributions to managing very complex operations or endeavours, involving many hundreds or even thousands of people. The Murray and Cox book is a superb account of how NASA managed a complex operation involving thousands of employees. In my work, I focus on the astronauts and their experiences, but that only tells half the story. The story of Apollo would not have been complete without this book.

I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention that your book A Man on the Moon , which was made into a 12-part Emmy-winning television series by Tom Hanks, is commonly ranked as the definitive account of the mission. What did you set out to accomplish in writing this space exploration book?

There were two questions that I wanted to answer. What is it like to go to the moon? And how did the trip affect the handful of human beings who made the journey? Twenty-four people have gone to the moon. Out of those 24, 12 walked on the surface. By the time I started my research, Jack Swigert from Apollo 13 had died. I spoke to all 23 of the surviving moon voyagers. I spent many, many hours talking to them about every aspect of the experience of going to the moon. I wanted to get into their heads as much as possible. When I wrote the book I really wanted it to read like a historical novel. I wanted it to transport the reader along with the astronauts, as if you could be a stowaway on those flights.

You know space travellers well. So I wanted to ask you: What will become of America’s astronaut corps while the nation awaits a plan for the next manned mission?

Next on your list of space books is Beyond: Visions of the Interplanetary Probes,  a book of photography from robotic space probes. Please tell us about it.

It’s the best collection of images from robotic missions to other worlds in our solar system. I got my start as a geologist studying Mars. I was a student intern at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory during the first Mars landing in 1976. So my heart is with the robotic exploration of the solar system as much as it is with human space flight. Even though lots of important data comes back from space probes that land on Mars, or go past Jupiter, images have always been the most compelling aspect of these missions. Michael Benson has selected and processed truly spectacular images and the publisher did a beautiful job of printing them. The sight of a giant canyon on Mars, or the icy surface of one of Saturn’s moons, or the pockmarked face of Mercury, give us the ability to transport ourselves to these alien landscapes.

So these images in this book convey the beauty and mystery of our solar system.

I’ve always felt that space exploration is a spiritual endeavour. To me, exploration is essential to who we are as human beings. We are made to make discoveries. We’ve learned so much mind-boggling stuff about the solar system in the last 50 years. I love being able to walk around knowing that when I look up at the sky, I’m really looking up into an endless universe that we’ve only begun to explore.

Is robotic space exploration a substitute for manned space exploration? Tell us about the trade-offs between the two, and about NASA’s ongoing programmes.

We need both. We’ll always need the robots to go places that are too far away or too risky for humans to reach. No human has been beyond the moon, but we’ve sent our space probes way out past Neptune. In fact, one of the Voyager probes is still sending back data even though it’s escaped the solar system and is in interstellar space. Robotic probes extend our reach, by many orders of magnitude, beyond where we can send humans.

The Red Limit tells the story of our discovery that the universe is expanding. Please give us a précis and tell us why you choose this as one of your space exploration books.

Timothy Ferris is a great writer. The Red Limit is the beautifully told story of the first mind-boggling leaps in discovery that 20th century astronomers gave us through the development of bigger and better telescopes. Whether you’re talking about Edwin Hubble in the 1920s – realising that there are other galaxies out there, and that we are all flying away from each other in the rush of cosmic expansion – or if you’re talking about today, when we analyse the data from the Hubble space telescope and find that 95% of the universe is made of dark energy and dark matter, which is still unexplained, it’s awe-inspiring to think about it. Particularly when you’re standing under a night sky full of stars.

So when we look through a telescope we’re exploring space?

Your final choice, Mars and the Mind of Man , started with a panel discussion with astronomer Carl Sagan, planetary scientist Bruce Murray, science writer Walter Sullivan and sci-fi authors Arthur C Clarke and Ray Bradbury. What makes this out-of-print space book worth finding?

It captures a unique moment in the history of human discovery. It’s a combination of the transcript of that panel discussion – which took place the day before the Mariner 9 became the first spacecraft to orbit Mars in 1971 – and essays that the panel participants wrote roughly one year later. The transcript and the essays book-end one of the most spectacular unveilings we’ve had in the history of solar system exploration.

Before Mariner 9 got to Mars, we thought it might be another pockmarked ball like the moon, probably not a place that could have ever harboured life or even had interesting geological phenomena. Once Mariner 9 arrived and the dust cleared, what was revealed to its cameras was nothing less than a geological wonderland. We saw enormous volcanoes towering above surrounding plains, one of which was three times the height of Mt Everest. We saw a giant canyon, as wide as the United States. We saw ancient river valleys that were once carved by flowing water, even though today liquid water cannot exist on Mars because the atmosphere is so thin and the pressure is too low. And we found a kind of climatic time capsule – interbedded layers of dust and ice at the polar caps that reveal thousands of years of Martian climate history.

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The book combines the scientific with the poetic. It includes a couple of poems by Ray Bradbury , whom I think of as the poet laureate of space. To hear him, Arthur C Clarke, Bruce Murray, Carl Sagan and Walter Sullivan all discussing Mars, its relationship to humanity and its claim on our imaginations, is like listening to the tribal elders debate the meaning of the universe. Mars has been a Rorschach test for us over the centuries, as I wrote in my own Mars book.

You also refer to this space exploration book in A Passion for Mars . Is the red planet the right place to reach for next?

Mars is the most compelling destination we have in space, in that it is potentially an abode for life, past or present, and it may even someday become a second home for humanity. For those reasons Mars is a very compelling target but it’s also a tremendously difficult target. The atmosphere is extremely thin and there is a lot of deadly radiation from the sun. We aren’t ready to go yet. We’d learn a tremendous amount by going back to our moon and we’d learn a tremendous amount by going to Phobos, one of the moons of Mars, which could also serve as a base for astronauts to tele-operate robots on the surface of Mars.

But ultimately, Mars is the place to reach for because it is a world with a story to tell. It’s a place where life might once have existed and might still exist, if you drill down past the deadly radiation on the surface. It’s the best place we have to try to homestead. It’s a resource-rich place. It has ice, which you could melt for water or break down into hydrogen and oxygen to make fuel for the trip back. Over decades of work we could figure out how to live there and establish another foothold for humanity.

As I detail in A Passion for Mars , I consider it to be humanity’s Mt Everest. It’s going to take all of the ingenuity, perseverance and hard work that we can muster to climb that mountain. There are so many technical, medical and psychological challenges that stand in the way. Not to mention costs. But it is within reach.

You seem to be more optimistic about the future of space exploration than many of the dire op-eds and news accounts I’ve read. Why?

I’m very optimistic because I see the ingenuity at companies like SpaceX in California and Blue Origin, which is run by Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos. There are many companies committed to finding ways to get humans into space without breaking the bank and in a way that’s sustainable – two things NASA has never been able to achieve. We’re witnessing the beginning of a new era. Over the last several decades, NASA has had diminishing resources and very expensive projects to maintain, like the space station and the space shuttle. We’re entering a new era of invention in which NASA has the freedom to devote resources to develop new technologies, to allow us to leave the vicinity of earth and venture out, as we did with Apollo.

When I told my four-year-old son that we could watch the last flight of the space shuttle, he asked: “What’s next?”

Show him the Falcon Heavy launch vehicle on the SpaceX website . It will be powerful enough to send people back to the moon. There is a lot that’s coming up. Right now we’re at a point where people are holding on to what’s come before and saying it can’t be any other way. But others are moving full-speed ahead.

So can I assure him that the new era of space exploration will be as much the stuff of story books as the space age you grew up in?

When your son is able to have his honeymoon in low earth orbit, that’s going to be tremendously exciting. When we start looking up at the moon and seeing it as a place where people are living, making discoveries, and working make us a multi-planet species, that’s going to be tremendously exciting. And someday, maybe in your son’s lifetime, we will be able to look up at Mars and hear human voices transmitted from it. Then it will definitely be the stuff of story books as well as science books.

July 8, 2011

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Andrew Chaikin

Chaikin is an American author, speaker and science journalist. His book A Man on the Moon is a detailed description of the Apollo missions to the Moon.

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• Sci-Fi Novels About Outer Space
• The Best Space Western Films
• Best Space Shows on Right Now
• Space Movies for People Who Aren't Space People
• More Science, Less Fiction
• TV Shows Set in Outer Space
• The Best Alien Movies Ever Made
• Spaceships You Want to Fly
• Great Songs About Outer Space
• Greatest Space Battles on Film
• The Best Space Westerns on TV
• Cool Airlocks in TV and Film
• Martians in Fiction, Ranked
• Underrated Space Operas
• Wonderful Movies About the Moon
• Top Space Movies for Kids
• The Greatest Space Opera Shows
• The Best Alien Invasion Movies
• Life on Mars?
• The Spaceships You Think You Could Live In
• Behind the Scenes of 'Apollo 13'

The Best Sci-Fi Novels About Outer Space

While we await the technology to fly humanity to Mars, there's always one way to travel the vast, mysterious depths of the great unknown: books! This is a list of the greatest sci-fi novels about outer space, from Starship Troopers to The Martian , ranked by user votes. The best space novels come in many forms. Some great novels about space are travel tales while other good space science fiction novels are about alien life forms . Many of the best sci fi novels about space have even been adapted into award-winning films.

What books will you find on this best space novels list? Douglas Adams's  The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy has to be at the top. The first book in the series of the same name finds Arthur Dent avoiding the apocalypse by hopping on a space ship and traveling across the universe. Arthur C. Clarke's incredibly riveting novel, 2001: A Space Odyssey is another great space novel.

Dune , by Frank Herbert, was famously adapted into a film by the incomparable director, David Lynch. Other interesting works featured on this top space novels list include Ender's Game , The Martian Chronicles , and The Forever War .

Which sci-fi book about outer space is your favorite? Give the best novels a thumbs up and get in on the conversation in the comments section.

2001: A Space Odyssey

The Martian

Rendezvous with Rama

The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

Ender's Game

Starship Troopers

The Martian Chronicles

Revelation Space

Leviathan Wakes

The Forever War

Consider Phlebas

The Fall of Hyperion

Old Man's War

Caliban's war.

2010: Odyssey Two

The Three-Body Problem

The Uplift War

Speaker for the Dead

The Mote in God's Eye

The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress

The forge of god.

Have Space Suit—Will Travel

• The Space Page

Exploring the many ways space, space travels, and extraterrestrial life are depicted in film, TV, literature, anime, comics, and technology.

Every morning that I wake up and realize that, yes, the Trump administration is still in power and this hasn't all been some kind of cruel nightmare, I can't help but wonder: When are we moving to Mars already? While life on another planet is still only a fictional possibility rather than a realistic one, these new science fiction books about space travel will let you pretend like moving to space is an option.

One of the best things about the science fiction genre is its capacity for complexity, creativity, and imagination. From action-packed space operas to dystopian alternate futures to robot fiction, sci-fi has the power to transport readers to another time, another place, and another world entirely. It's the kind of genre that lets you unplug from the real world and instead enter a wholly new, fully-fleshed out universe where the only limitation is that of your own imagination.

To me, the best kinds of science fiction books are the ones that bring readers aboard a ship and into the deep, vast expanse of space. They're brimming with adventure, overflowing with action, but, most importantly, full of endless possibility. They may not be an actual ticket to the outer planets of the solar system, but they're a pretty good next-best thing. When you're flying through space, hopping from galaxy to galaxy at light speed, its easy to forget about the problems right here on the home planet. At least, for a little while.

If you need a break from your Earthly worries, check out one of these nine new science fiction novels about space travel. Who knows, maybe there's a planet out there

'The Collapsing Empire' by John Scalzi

You're going to want to buckle up, because John Scalzi's latest space opera is a truly thrilling intergalactic ride. In The Collapsing Empire , humanity has abandoned Earth in favor of the vast expanse of space, thanks in part to the discovery of an extra-dimensional field called The Flow that makes traveling around to other planets and stars possible. But when The Flow is revealed to be far more complicated than it seems, it's up to a rag-tag team of heroes to keep humanity together across time and space.

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'Radiate' by C.A. Higgins

Hit the skies again in the third installment of C.A. Higgins's The Lightless Trilogy, a suspenseful and exciting sci-fi adventure. In Radiate , Althea and Ananke, now a sentient artificial intelligence with the power of a god, travel the galaxy in search of the advanced space ship's "father," Mathew, the man responsible for creating the code that gave her life. Meanwhile, Matthew is on a journey of his own, but soon enough, their paths will collide in one brilliant burst of light. A beautiful and bold story about what it means to be alive, Radiate will take you to the corners of space you've never even dreamed of going and beyond.

'The Stars Are Legion' by Kameron Hurley

Take an journey to the outer rim of the universe with award-winning author Kameron Hurley's The Stars Are Legion , an epic space adventure starring one unforgettable heroine. In a sci-fi reality where humanity is pushed off of the dying planets and onto a fleet of decaying world-ships known as the Legion, one girl has the power of salvation: she can board one of the ships capable of breaking away from all the rest. But When Zan is forced to pick sides in the war for control and survival, she must decide who she can trust, and who she can believe in. An electrifying work of science fiction, The Stars Are Legion will pull you out of this world and drop among the stars.

'Infinity Engine' by Neal Asher

The final installment of the Transformation series, Neal Asher's Infinity Engine is another out-of-this-world adventure staring the unforgettable rogue AI, Penny Royal. The power struggle for control over Factory Station 101, the war factory that produced Penny Royal, continues to heat up in this third novel, and aliens, humans, and AI's are all attempting to come out on top. Things get even more complicated when an ancient alien with unknown motivations boards the ship, throwing the already tense situation into further upheaval. An action-packed conclusion to a thrilling series, Infinity Engine will take you to the edge of a black hole and back, but don't be surprised if you leave a part of yourself behind.

'Vanguard' by Jack Campbell

Return to the world of of Jack Campbell's Lost Fleet novels in his latest installment, Vanguard . A prequel to the author's beloved bestselling series and the first in the Genesis Fleet series, this newest book chronicles the founding of the Alliance, including the lives and sacrifices of the men and women who gave up everything to create it. An imaginative and in-depth novel that spans time and space, Vanguard will make you want to explore the vast possibilities the universe has to offer.

'Defy the Stars' by Claudia Gray

Starring a bad ass heroine so inspiring you'll want to sign up to fight in the interstellar war in her name, Defy the Stars is an imaginative and exciting journey through space. When Noemi, a teen soldier, finds herself stranded on an abandoned enemy spaceship following a disastrous battle, she soon learns she is not alone. Abel, a complex AI with complex human-like emotions, is there waiting in the darkness to kill her, but his programming instead forces him to serve her instead. With his reluctant help, will Noemi be able to save the universe, or will Abel's humanity stop her from winning the war? You'll have to take a journey to the stars to find out.

'The Wanderers' by Meg Howrey

If you've dreamed of being an astronaut but never quite made it to NASA, Meg Howrey's latest novel is the next best thing. In The Wanderers , three brilliant individuals train for the mission of a lifetime as they prepare to be the first humans on Mars. But as their seventeen month stimulation begins to feel too real, the astronauts begin to realize that the complications they face on Earth won't stay behind when they're launched into the sky. While this book may take place on this planet, it's story is so out of this world, it will make you feel like you're living among the stars.

'Empress of a Thousand Skies' by Rhoda Belleza

A sweeping novel that is as beautiful as it is diverse, Rhoda Belleza's Empress of a Thousand Skies plucks readers off of Earth and drops them among the stars for a dazzling adventure unlike any other. On the Eve on her coronation, Rhee can taste the power and, more importantly, revenge she's been waiting her whole life training to achieve, but a deadly attack changes everything. When Aly, a war refugee and famous star of the DroneVision show, is blamed for the princess's murder, he must team up with the girl he's accused of killing to uncover the truth behind the violence that threatens the safety of the entire galaxy. A phenomenally stunning debut, Empress of a Thousand Skies kicks off what is sure to be an outstanding series that is out of this world.

'Mars One' by Jonathan Maberry

Prepare for the mission of a lifetime alongside Tristan and his family, the first humans tasked with colonizing another planet, in Jonathan Maberry's YA space adventure, Mars One . Trained since the age of 12 to be the first mission to leave Earth and settle among the stars, Tristan is now 16 and the time has come to leave his home planet and say goodbye to everything he loves, including Izzy. But when the world learns there is another ship already en route to Mars, a terrorist group steps in and begins to threaten the project and the future of Tristan and his family. Is taking the trip to space really worth it, or is Earth the only place they can stay safe? You'll have to read Mars One an find out for yourself.

The Best Sci Fi Books

Find a great science fiction book, 25 best deep space science fiction books.

Sure, all kinds of weirdness and wonder may exist within our solar system, but the feeling of actually traveling out among the stars is something special.

Have Spacesuit—Will Travel is for kids, but it’s still a fun book.

First prize in the Skyway Soap slogan contest was an all-expenses-paid trip to the Moon. The consolation prize was an authentic space suit, and when scientifically-minded high school senior Kip Russell won it, he knew for certain he would use it one day to make a sojourn of his own to the stars. But “one day” comes sooner than he thinks when he tries on the suit in his backyard—and finds himself worlds away, a prisoner aboard a space pirate’s ship, and heading straight for what could be his final destination…

The Terran exploration vessel Streaker has crashed in the uncharted water world of Kithrup, bearing one of the most important discoveries in galactic history. Below, a handful of her human and dolphin crew battles an armed rebellion and the whole hostile planet to safeguard her secret—the fate of the Progenitors, the fabled First Race who seeded wisdom throughout the stars.

Winner of both the Hugo and Nebula awards, Startide Rising is the second book in the Uplift series (there’s a total of six), but popular opinion has it that the first book, Sundiver , can safely be skipped.

John Perry did two things on his 75th birthday. First he visited his wife’s grave. Then he joined the army.

The good news is that humanity finally made it into interstellar space. The bad news is that planets fit to live on are scarce―and alien races willing to fight us for them are common. So we fight. To defend Earth, and to stake our own claim to planetary real estate. Far from Earth, the war has been going on for decades: brutal, bloody, unyielding.

Earth itself is a backwater. The bulk of humanity’s resources are in the hands of the Colonial Defense Force. Everybody knows that when you reach retirement age, you can join the CDF. They don’t want young people; they want people who carry the knowledge and skills of decades of living. You’ll be taken off Earth and never allowed to return. You’ll serve two years at the front. And if you survive, you’ll be given a generous homestead stake of your own, on one of our hard-won colony planets.

John Perry is taking that deal. He has only the vaguest idea what to expect, because the actual fight, light-years from home, is far, far harder than he can imagine―and what he will become is far stranger.

“[A]stonishingly proficient first novel reads like an original work by the late grand master [Heinlein].” — Publishers Weekly (starred review)

The Skolian Empire rules a third of the civilized galaxy through its mastery of faster-than-light communication. But war with the rival empire of the Traders seems imminent, a war that can only lead to slavery for the Skolians or the destruction of both sides. Destructive skirmishes have already occurred. A desperate attempt must be made to avert total disaster.

“[T]houghtful, engaging characters and an intriguing vision of the future.” — Publishers Weekly

A charismatic Jesuit priest and linguist, Emilio Sandoz, lead a scientific mission entrusted with a profound task: to make first contact with intelligent extraterrestrial life. The mission begins in faith, hope, and beauty, but a series of small misunderstandings brings it to a catastrophic end.

“A startling, engrossing, and moral work of fiction.” — The New York Times Book Review

In an alternate universe, scientists, philosophers, and mathematicians live in seclusion behind ancient monastery walls. That is, until they are called back into the world to deal with a crisis of astronomical proportions.

Readers of Stephenson’s earlier works will not be surprised by this take on Anathem :

“[L]ong stretches of dazzling entertainment occasionally interrupted by pages of numbing colloquy.” —Publishers Weekly

colloquy: a high-level, serious discussion (I had to look it up.)

It’s 2600 AD and humans are doing great. We’ve colonized the galaxy and improved lives with genetic engineering. Even the giant sentient spaceships are getting rich.

Then, of course, someone screws it all up. On a primitive colony planet, a renegade criminal’s chance encounter with an utterly alien entity opens a portal to a dimension, allowing strange creatures to enter our universe. Those strange creatures were called “The Reality Dysfunction” by an extinct race. And that Dysfunction is out among us.

It’s also 1,200 pages long. So buckle up for a long ride.

“Elements of space opera, Straubesque horror and adrenaline-laced action make this a demanding, rewarding read.” — Publishers Weekly

In the 22nd century, humankind has colonized the solar system. Starflight is possible but hugely expensive, so humankind’s efforts are focussed on Isis, the one nearby Earth-like world. Isis is rich with complex DNA-based plant and animal life. And every molecule of this life is spectacularly toxic to human beings. The entire planet is a permanent Level Four Hot Zone.

Despite that, Isis is the most interesting discovery of the millennium: a parallel biology with lessons to teach us about our own nature. It’s also the hardest of hardship posts, the loneliest place in the universe.

Zoe Fisher was born to explore Isis. Literally. Cloned and genetically engineered by a faction within the hothouse politics of Earth, Zoe is optimized to face Isis’s terrors. Now, at last, Zoe has arrived on Isis. But there are secrets implanted within her that not even she suspects. And the planet itself has secrets that will change our understanding of life in the universe.

“Wilson’s most tightly constructed pure adventure tale to date.”— Locus

A brilliant young scientist rises to power on Cyteen, haunted by the knowledge that her predecessor and genetic duplicate died at the hands of one of her trusted advisors.

“A psychological novel, a murder mystery and an examination of power on a grand scale, encompassing light years and outsize lifetimes.” — Locus

As Alex Benedict investigates a mysterious project his uncle had been working on at the time of his death, he’s drawn deep into the history of a war between human civilization and a neighboring alien civilization. He uncovers secrets that challenge the foundation of the current human government.

A Talent for War is a good example of science fiction mystery. In fact, it’s probably best described as a mystery in a far-future setting. If you’re looking for a wild, spaceship-exploding adventure, this isn’t it. However, if you’re intrigued by what mysteries may appear in ten thousand years and enjoy getting into characters’ heads, give this book a try.

Some critics claim this is not McDevitt’s best novel. It is, however, arguably his most famous, and sets the stage for several well-regarded sequels.

Few science fiction books can claim to use the same structure as The Canterbury Tales and still be kick-ass sci-fi, but Hyperion pulls it off.

On the world called Hyperion, beyond the law of the Hegemony of Man, there waits the creature called the Shrike. There are those who worship it. There are those who fear it. And there are those who have vowed to destroy it. In the Valley of the Time Tombs, where huge, brooding structures move backward through time, the Shrike waits for them all. On the eve of Armageddon, with the entire galaxy at war, seven pilgrims set forth on a final voyage to Hyperion seeking the answers to the unsolved riddles of their lives. Each carries a desperate hope—and a terrible secret. And one may hold the fate of humanity in his hands.

Centuries ago, space settlers and soldiers fled to the stars from the sentient AI war machines that engulfed Earth. They colonized Eurydice, a planet whose rocks contain traces of its own war machines—some of which still guard a vast, enigmatic artifact on a remote tundra. When an expedition raids this strange artifact, the Eurydiceans discover that they weren’t the last survivors of humanity after all. Their leisured lifestyle is about to be disrupted by new arrivals for whom Eurydice is a prize worth fighting over. And the long-dormant war machines are awakening.

“Amid the somewhat strident politics there are some outrageously funny patches in this over-packed space opera.” — Publishers Weekly

Gateway deals with first contact with alien technology (not actual aliens), and it’s a lot of fun. In fact, there’s a really wonderful tension in stories about screwing around with alien technology you don’t understand, and Pohl uses that to full effect. The characters are vulnerable, the scope is cinematic, and it’s just a hoot.

Hard science fiction with a hell of an idea: what would happen if your light-speed engine malfunctioned and instead of slowing down, you just went faster and faster? Tau Zero does a masterful job of dealing with the consequences of near-light-speed, and the reaction of the humans trapped in the ship.

Given that the suns of Draco stretch almost sixteen light years from end to end, it stands to reason that the cost of transportation is the most important factor of the 32nd century. And since Illyrion is the element most needed for space travel, Lorq von Ray is plenty willing to fly through the core of a recently imploded sun in order to obtain seven tons of it. The potential for profit is so great that Lorq has little difficulty cobbling together an alluring crew that includes a gypsy musician and a moon-obsessed scholar interested in the ancient art of writing a novel. What the crew doesn’t know, though, is that Lorq’s quest is actually fueled by a private revenge so consuming that he’ll stop at nothing to achieve it.

“Samuel R. Delany is the most interesting author of science fiction writing in English today.” — New York Times Book Review

This book isn’t technically deep space, since it takes place in our solar system, but so much of it happens in space (and it’s so fun) that it’s worth bending the rules for it.

Humanity has colonized the solar system—Mars, the Moon, the Asteroid Belt and beyond—but the stars are still out of our reach.

Jim Holden is an officer on an ice miner making runs from the rings of Saturn to the mining stations of the Belt. When he and his crew stumble upon a derelict ship, The Scopuli , they find themselves in possession of a secret they never wanted. A secret that someone is willing to kill for—and kill on a scale unfathomable to Jim and his crew.

Detective Miller is looking for a girl. One girl in a system of billions, but her parents have money, and money talks. When the trail leads him to The Scopuli and rebel sympathizer Holden, he realizes that this girl may be the key to everything.

Holden and Miller must thread the needle between the Earth government, the Outer Planet revolutionaries, and secretive corporations, and the odds are definitely against them. But out in the Belt, the rules are different, and one small ship can change the fate of the universe.

(James S.A. Corey is the pen name used by collaborators Daniel Abraham and Ty Franck.)

Thousands of years hence, many races inhabit a universe where a mind’s potential is determined by its location in space, from superintelligent entities in the Transcend, to the limited minds of the Unthinking Depths, where only simple creatures and technology can function. Nobody knows what strange force partitioned space into these “regions of thought,” but when the warring Straumli realm use an ancient Transcendent artifact as a weapon, they unwittingly unleash an awesome power that destroys thousands of worlds and enslaves all natural and artificial intelligence.

Fleeing the threat, a family of scientists, including two children, are taken captive by the Tines, an alien race with a harsh medieval culture, and used as pawns in a ruthless power struggle. A rescue mission, composed not entirely of humans, must rescue the children—and a secret that may save the rest of interstellar civilization.

“Vinge offers heart-pounding, mind-expanding science fiction at its best.” — Publishers Weekly

In the year 3016, the Second Empire of Man spans hundreds of star systems, thanks to the faster-than-light Alderson Drive. No other intelligent beings have ever been encountered, not until a light sail probe enters a human system carrying a dead alien. The probe is traced to the Mote, an isolated star in a thick dust cloud, and an expedition is dispatched.

Robert A. Heinlein, who gave the authors extensive advice on the novel, described the story as “possibly the finest science fiction novel I have ever read.”

Revelation Space is a sprawling, hard-SF tale with enough original ideas for three thick novels. Seriously, it’s overflowing with the stuff. And it’s written by a guy with a PhD in astronomy, so all the science feels solid.

It’s got aliens, artificial intelligence, megastructures, colonized planets, ancient mysteries, cyborgs, big-ass spaceships, intrigue, betrayal, and murder. Reads don’t get much more satisfying than this.

The Dispossessed is a utopian science fiction novel set in the same fictional universe as that of The Left Hand of Darkness .

Shevek, a brilliant physicist, decides to take action. He will seek answers, question the unquestionable, and attempt to tear down the walls of hatred that have isolated his planet of anarchists from the rest of the civilized universe. To do this dangerous task will mean giving up his family and possibly his life. Shevek must make the unprecedented journey to the utopian mother planet, Anarres, to challenge the complex structures of life and living, and ignite the fires of change.

“Le Guin’s book, written in her solid, no-nonsense prose, is so persuasive that it ought to put a stop to the writing of prescriptive Utopias for at least 10 years.” — The New York Times

This is one of the funniest books written in the English language. It begins with the destruction of Earth, and things go downhill from there.

Do not read this book around other people, because you will annoy them by laughing so much.

The Stars My Destination anticipated many of the staples of the later cyberpunk movement. For instance, the megacorporations as powerful as governments, and a dark overall vision of the future and the cybernetic enhancement of the body.

Marooned in outer space after an attack on his ship, Nomad , Gulliver Foyle lives to obsessively pursue the crew of a rescue vessel that had intended to leave him to die.

“Science fiction has only produced a few works of actual genius, and this is one of them.” — Joe Haldeman, author of The Forever War

Author Stanislaw Lem has the best aliens, mostly because he makes them completely and profoundly, well, alien. Communication with them is often impossible, and the humans that attempt to interact with them are well intentioned but unsuccessful. Lem’s humans are some of the best in science fiction, as well: they screw up, are late, fail to see the whole picture, act irrationally, and even the brightest of them can be swayed by vanity and pride.

It’s possible to argue that Stanislaw Lem is the best science fiction writer ever, and Solaris is his most famous book.

When Kris Kelvin arrives at the planet Solaris to study the ocean that covers its surface, he finds a painful, hitherto unconscious memory embodied in the living physical likeness of a long-dead lover. Others examining the planet, Kelvin learns, are plagued with their own repressed and newly corporeal memories. The Solaris ocean may be a massive brain that creates these incarnate memories, though its purpose in doing so is unknown, forcing the scientists to shift the focus of their quest and wonder if they can truly understand the universe without first understanding what lies within their hearts.

I’m a huge fan of Banks and his Culture novels, so there’s no way one of them wouldn’t show up on this list.

The man known as Cheradenine Zakalwe was one of Special Circumstances’ foremost agents, changing the destiny of planets to suit the Culture through intrigue, dirty tricks and military action.

The woman known as Diziet Sma had plucked him from obscurity and pushed him towards his present eminence, but despite all their dealings, she did not know him as well as she thought.

Dune is the best-selling science fiction novel of all time, and has spawned a huge franchise (I think we’re past “series” at this point). Dune ’s sandworms remain one of the most fascinating alien species in science fiction literature.

Many of the human characters in Dune are altered in different ways, though the changes sometimes border on mystical instead of technological.

Oddly enough, no one’s been able to tell Dune visually (no, I’m not counting Lynch’s Dune . He tried, but it wasn’t good).

Whoever can crack the Dune visuals and create a film or show that fans embrace will make shocking amounts of money. In the meantime, enjoy Dune and God Emperor of Dune (the others are iffy). The other books by Frank’s son Brian and Kevin J. Anderson lack the depth of the original Dune , but are all entertaining reads.

20 thoughts on “ 25 Best Deep Space Science Fiction Books ”

Lynches Dune is awful. It didn’t help that a) Lynch hated sci fi and b) never read more than the first half dozen pages of Dune. I think the three part mini series with Alec Baldwin, Saskia Reeves, William Hurt etc. was an excellent attempt and also was faithful to the storyline.

Then there is always Jodorowsky’s Dune, …….. dissolves into mirth …….

I second that. What did you think of the mini-series Dan?

I haven’t seen it yet. Is it worth a look?

I think so: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BL5FRUPP8PU

Thanks! I’ll check it out.

Too bad that Spielberg fella hasn’t gave it a try.

Thanks for list! I’ve always thought of Catherine Asaro as Barbara Cartland in space. I’ll have to take another look.

I have read over half of your offerings, and will endeavor to check out the others. Thanks much for an informative list!

Thanks for the list. And a huge thanks for including “The Stars My Destination”. Of course we all have the one, very special novel that touched us deeply, has been good for several rereads and we still ponder on today. This one is mine.

What no Larry Nivea Ringworld ??

Gateway is one of my all-time favorite sf books! I’ve been meaning to read the Vinge, I somehow managed to read both the sequel and prequel over the years before I realized they were all connected.

I have had The Mote In Gods Eye in my hand at the book store I don’t know how many times. Next time I’m getting it!

Great Sky River by Gregory Beneford is one of my favorites and it seems to be almost completely unnoticed by other Readers. Humanity has, figuratively, flown too close to the sun and brought unwanted attention to itself. We have gone from a star-farering civilization to nomadic tribes living like pests on and among alien artifacts, barely scraping out an existence. It’s wonderful and harrowing and oh so human. Give it a try. You won’t be disappointedm

I love The Reality Dysfunction. You note that it’s 1200 pages long but neglected to mention it’s only the first part of a trilogy of equally long books. Well worth the 3600 page read though. Space Opera at it’s best.

All the books are good but I read an Indian comedy and adventurous space fiction novel named Oops the Mighty gurgle, by RamG Vallath. I suggest the developer to read it and confirm whether it is worthy to be placed in this list.

I quite agree that Gregory Fred Pohl’s GATEWAY series and Gregory Benford’s GREAT SKY RIVER sequence should be included, as should Stephen Baxter’s stunning novels of the Xeelee, notably THE RING, Robert Reed’s MARROW, Charles Sheffield’s TOMORROW AND TOMORROW, Jack Vance’s four TSCHAI novels and five DEMON PRINCES novels, John Varley’s OPHIUCHI HOTLINE, Philip Jose Farmer’s TO YOUR SCATTERED BODIES GO, Clifford Simak’s TIME AND AGAIN, Bob Shaw’s ORBITSVILLE, NORSTRILIA by Cordwainer Smith, Moorcock’s DANCERS AT THE END OF TIME (three novels), TAU ZERO by Poul Anderson, DYDEETOWN WORLD by F Paul Wilson, CITIES IN FLIGHT by James Blish (four novels), HOTHOUSE by Brian Aldiss, to mention but a few.

I am looking for a book from 1973 or 1974. Probably ‘74 but I don’t think ‘75. I only remember a couple of vague things about it but I really want to read it again. You probably hate these kind of requests. I got it from the library and I remember it said it won some kind of award if that helps. The only thing I remember is that a human space traveler is stranded alone on another planet somehow and the inhabitants are going to execute him because they don’t trust him and there is a female who has befriended him. He is on the execution scaffold or judgement scaffold and a dove type of bird trying to escape a predator bird flies into his chest desperately trying to get away and he punches the predator bird away and the dove is safe and flies away. From then on the people see that he is compassionate and don’t kill him and that is all I remember. I hope somebody knows this book. Been trying to find it for a long time. Thanks.

A few of my favorites: Peter Watts – Freeze-frame revolution, Marina J. Lostetter – Noumenon, Emily Devenport – Medusa Uploaded, S. K. Dunstall – Linesman.

I have only read one Dune. The original. The rest sounds meh. Indeed, nobody has captured the might of Shai-hulud well. But the latest Dune flick came close. Also, this lady called Becky Chambers is doing some good work so far. Her emotion-rich sci-fi is good. Then this guy of the Martian. Ha, Oh yeah. Project Hail Mary nailed it.

Dune happens to be one of the most widely read scifi novels and its appeal only keeps getting better with time. This list of scifi novels is very detailed and definitely helpful.

Emotion rich scifi is hard to come across, and Becky Chambers stands out as formidable force.

You may also like: They Loved in 2075, an intense romance science fiction.

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Pop Out Space Travel: Read, Build, and Play on a Trip to Space. An Interactive Board Book About Outer Space (Pop Out Books) Board book – September 20, 2022

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Read, Learn, Build, and Have Fun During a Space Mission with This Innovative Book and Play Set.

This sturdy board book is chock-full of information about a space mission alongside pages with chunky press-out pieces that kids can use to build their space journey. Kids will read about the different steps on a fun space mission, from training to returning to Earth. Tots will have a blast building the astronaut's suit and an awesome rocket, as well as making the Space Station and bringing to life the way astronauts live and work in space. They will love constructing their own space vehicle and will surely enjoy building the space capsule that will bring the space crew back to Earth!

Made from thick, sturdy board, the pieces press out easily from the pages and are simple to put together (no glue or scissors necessary!). The 12 build-ups include simple and intuitive instructions; kids just have to match the numbers on each piece. All build-ups are safety rated for ages 4 years and up. 

Both a book and a play set, Pop Out Space Travel is the ultimate screen-free activity for curious tots ready to explore the wonders of space travel. 

• Training for space
• Astronaut's suit
• The rocket launch
• The Space Station
• Living in the Space Station
• The space vehicle
• Back to Earth
• Reading age 2 - 12 years
• Part of series Pop Out Books
• Print length 12 pages
• Language English
• Grade level Preschool - 8
• Dimensions 6.5 x 1 x 8.5 inches
• Publisher duopress
• Publication date September 20, 2022
• ISBN-10 1955834008
• ISBN-13 978-1955834001
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duopress labs creates innovative books and gifts for children and adults. Recent titles include the TummyTime®, Terra Babies, SmartFlash™, Pop Out, and High-Contrast series; The Belly Sticker Book; 100 Pablo Picassos; My Fridge; and A Good Deck.

SEAN SIMS studied illustration at the Cleveland College of Art and Design in Ohio. His illustrations have been used across the globe on children’s books, magazines, greeting cards, packaging, toys, and fabric.

Product details

• Publisher ‏ : ‎ duopress (September 20, 2022)
• Language ‏ : ‎ English
• Board book ‏ : ‎ 12 pages
• ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1955834008
• ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1955834001
• Reading age ‏ : ‎ 2 - 12 years
• Grade level ‏ : ‎ Preschool - 8
• Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.32 pounds
• Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6.5 x 1 x 8.5 inches
• #104 in Children's Mystery & Wonders Books (Books)
• #114 in Children's Astronomy Books (Books)
• #273 in Children's Puzzle Books (Books)

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Five Best: Books on Space Travel

The Right Stuff

By Tom Wolfe (1979)

1. Watching Neil Armstrong take man’s first steps on the moon in 1969, when I was 6 years old, made me want to become an astronaut. But at age 8, I discovered that I was afraid of heights. My dream of spaceflight fell dormant, only to roar back to life when, as a senior in college, I read Tom Wolfe’s “The Right Stuff,” about the original seven Mercury astronauts and the test pilots who came before them. The account of John Glenn’s spaceflight in 1962, the first orbital flight of Earth by an American, was captivating. Wolfe’s description of a sunset in space mesmerized me: “The edge of the sun began to touch the edge of the horizon. . . . The brilliant light over the earth began to dim.” Then Glenn “couldn’t see the sun at all, but there was a tremendous band of orange light that stretched from one side of the horizon to the other, as if the sun were a molten liquid that had emptied into a tube along the horizon.” I wanted to see that firsthand. Thanks to “The Right Stuff,” I wanted to be an astronaut again, and in 1996 that dream finally came true.

Carrying the Fire

By Michael Collins (1974)

2. Michael Collins flew on Apollo 11 with Buzz Aldrin and Neil Armstrong. In “Carrying the Fire,” he offers not only a firsthand account of mankind’s voyage to the moon, but also a behind-the-scenes description of the astronaut’s job and of astronauts as people. He shares insights into his colleagues, their teamwork and their dedication to the space program. He details his training and his engineering contributions to the mission, and gives this self-deprecating self-assessment: “Mike Collins: O.K. if you’re looking for a handball game, but otherwise nothing special. Lazy . . . frequently ineffectual, detached, waits for happenings instead of causing them.” Apollo 12’s Cmdr. Pete Conrad is “funny, noisy, colorful, cool, competent; snazzy dresser, race-car driver. One of the few who lives up to the image. Should play Pete Conrad in a Pete Conrad movie.” Who couldn’t like these guys—Collins for writing so frankly, and Conrad for being so cool?

Lost Moon: The Perilous Voyage of Apollo 13

By Jim Lovell and Jeffrey Kluger (1994)

3. Due to a malfunction in their life-support system during their 1970 mission to the moon, the crew of Apollo 13 was very much in peril and faced nearly insurmountable odds against making it back to Earth alive. “Lost Moon” explains how they managed to do so. A series of technical achievements—stretching battery power beyond expectations, using the lunar module as a lifeboat, creatively replumbing carbon-dioxide filters to clean the cabin air—demonstrated the expertise and dedication of everyone involved. Near the end of the mission, the astronaut Fred Haise was running a fever and violently shaking with the chills. His commander, Jim Lovell, offered words of comfort: “Two hours, that’s all you have to hang on for. After that, we’re floating in the South Pacific, we open the hatch, and it’s 80 degrees outside.” Mr. Lovell embraced his crewmate: “Moving up behind Haise, the commander wrapped him in a bear hug, to share his body heat. At first the gesture seemed to accomplish nothing, but gradually the trembling subsided.” “Lost Moon”—and the Tom Hanks movie it inspired, “Apollo 13”—is a tribute not only to the astronauts involved but also to the people in NASA’s Mission Control Center who helped bring the crew home alive.

Rocket Boys

By Homer H. Hickam Jr. (1998)

4. The space program can cast a powerful spell, as Homer Hickam’s memoir, “Rocket Boys,” attests. Young Homer dreamed of joining the space program in 1957 after gazing at Sputnik, the first humanmade satellite, as it orbited the Earth in the night sky. “I saw the bright little ball, moving majestically across the narrow star field between the ridgelines. I stared at it with no less rapt attention than if it had been God Himself in a golden chariot riding overhead.” This inspired Homer to start a rocket club, experiment with novel rocket designs and win selection to the National Science Fair. His space dreams took him away from his coal-mining town in West Virginia, first to college and then on to a distinguished career as a NASA engineer training astronauts to conduct science experiments in space. “Rocket Boys” demonstrates an often-overlooked benefit of space travel: its ability to inspire young people to dream big, work hard, pursue an education and overcome challenges to be part of the glorious exploration of space.

Painting Apollo

By Alan Bean (2009)

5. One of only 12 people to have walked on the moon, Alan Bean was an engineer, fighter pilot, test pilot and astronaut. He followed that with a second career as an artist, painting scientifically accurate depictions of the beauty and wonder surrounding lunar exploration. These works are on display in “Painting Apollo,” along with his descriptions of the inspirations behind each painting. Not only does Bean show us what happened on the moon, he creates scenes of things he wished he had done there. In one work, his best friend—fellow moonwalker and crewmate Pete Conrad—throws him a football on the lunar surface. The image prompts us to ask: If we could relive life’s most significant moments, what would we do differently?

Science | May 8, 2024

The Inside Story of the First Untethered Spacewalk

On February 7, 1984, astronaut Bruce McCandless ventured out into space and away from shuttle Challenger using only a nitrogen-propelled, hand-controlled backpack

Adam Higginbotham

The first space shuttle mission of 1984, the launch of Challenger on the cool, windless morning of Friday, February 3, was apparently perfect—and eagerly trailed by a national press anticipating the first flights of what they called the “Buck Rogers jetpacks.” Formally known as the Manned Maneuvering Unit , the invention was a massive backpack equipped with gas thrusters that would allow astronauts to leave their spacecraft and float free in space for the first time in history. Reporters hoped that the spectacle would approach the theatrics of watching men walk on the moon more than a decade before. But, once in orbit, as the astronauts tackled the initial tasks of their weeklong mission, they experienced a trickle of humiliating failures: First, mission specialist Ronald E. McNair oversaw the launch of the Westar 6 communications satellite, which spun like a top out of the payload bay as planned, but then apparently vanished. Mission Control sheepishly admitted that they had simply lost it somewhere in space. “We can’t find it,” they told the astronauts over the radio link. “It’s not where it’s supposed to be.”

Then an experiment designed to test the shuttle’s facility for orbital rendezvous, using a Mylar balloon inflated with gas, also ended in farce when the balloon launched but promptly exploded; meanwhile, the shuttle toilet—which had always been troublesome—stopped working altogether. After waiting 48 hours to assure themselves that Palapa B-2, the second satellite due for release on the mission, would not suffer a similar fate to Westar 6, Mission Control gave the crew instructions to proceed with launching it. Seconds later, they lost contact with that, too. The total bill for the two mislaid satellites was at least $180 million.

By the time two men—Colonel Robert L. Stewart and Captain Bruce McCandless, one of the veteran astronauts who had signed on to NASA during the Apollo program and waited 18 years for this moment—stepped into the air lock to test the Manned Maneuvering Unit on the fifth day of the mission, NASA was desperate for good publicity.

They were not disappointed. At 7:25 on Tuesday morning, Houston time, McCandless fired the thrusters of his jetpack, rose slowly from Challenger ’s cargo bay and flew clear of the spacecraft. He ran through his flight checklist, touching the joysticks with his fingertips to verify that the pack was working as it should: “Pitch down, pitch up, roll left, roll right,” he began, enunciating each word clearly into his headset microphone. Behind him, the pack trembled and shuddered like a nervous pony as its onboard computers automatically corrected his attitude with tiny whispers of gas from its two dozen nitrogen jets. Despite all his years of training and the bitter cold inside the suit, his palms prickled with sweat; his heart quickened. “It may have been a small step for Neil,” he said, “but it’s a heck of a big leap for me.”

Moving backward at no more than a foot a second, to preserve valuable fuel, McCandless watched as the gulf separating him from Challenger steadily expanded. Inside his suit, it became so cold his teeth began chattering; he switched off the internal cooling unit and continued sailing out into space. He looked for stars but saw only an enveloping darkness. The astronaut held a crude range finder—an aluminum bar etched with marks against which to measure his diminishing view of the shuttle’s cargo bay—to estimate the distance from the orbiter, and make sure he didn’t stray too far. Inside the cabin, McNair stood at the controls of the shuttle’s robot arm, ready to snatch McCandless to safety if necessary, and kept a laser tracker and Challenger ’s TV cameras trained on him, transmitting live pictures to Houston and television stations around the planet. Meanwhile, Stewart remained behind in the payload bay, conducting a separate series of tests.

Still gazing back toward the shuttle, McCandless at last reached his destination and brought the jetpack’s progress to a halt: some 320 feet out in space, 170 miles above the Atlantic—a human satellite in orbit, traveling at 23 times the speed of sound. Yet the astronaut felt no sense of movement until he looked down and saw the planet rotating beneath his feet, a pin-sharp relief map unspooling at four miles per second: “Looks like Florida. It is Florida!” he said, his composure ebbing momentarily as he spotted Cape Canaveral below. “It really is beautiful.”

Challenger: A True Story of Heroism and Disaster on the Edge of Space

The definitive, dramatic, minute-by-minute story of the Challenger disaster, based on fascinating in-depth reporting and new archival research.

Looking out from the cockpit, pilot Robert L. “Hoot” Gibson centered the distant figure in the viewfinder of his Hasselblad—but then pulled the camera away from his eye, briefly startled by the power and clarity of the image he had framed. Gibson saw McCandless suspended alone in the abyssal blackness—angled slightly from the vertical, his white suit seeming to glow beneath the unfiltered sunlight of outer space, the luminous blue band of Earth’s atmosphere curving away beneath him. Gibson checked the settings on the camera, and then checked them again; he pointed the lens through the triple-paned cabin window and tilted it to level the horizon. He squeezed the shutter.

Meanwhile, McCandless continued to test the abilities of his experimental flying machine: He sailed back toward Challenger and then drew away once more; he dipped and rose, and turned somersaults. Like the other astronauts before him who had spoken rapturously of walking in space—back in 1965, Ed White had been so reluctant to return to his Gemini capsule that he described doing so as “the saddest moment of my life”—McCandless had hoped, if only for a few moments, to experience the noiseless solitude of being alone in the heavens; but the relentless chatter of the three audio feeds in his headset made it impossible.

The experimental plan had called, too, for the astronaut to orient himself to turn away from the shuttle when he reached the limit of his journey, and face out into the void. McCandless, a grizzled and shaven- headed 46-year-old third-generation Navy officer whose father and grandfather had both been awarded the Medal of Honor, was well acquainted with the limits of fear; as a Naval aviator, he had often landed his Phantom on the pitching deck of a carrier at night, and he believed that he would never do anything more dangerous. Yet, despite his intentions, not once in the entire spacewalk did he turn his back on Challenger , his sole means of returning home.

Almost six hours after their experiment had begun, McCandless and Stewart clambered back inside the spacecraft, sealed the door of the air lock behind them and removed their helmets. Down in Mission Control, the two astronauts’ wives fell into each other’s arms and wept.

Excerpted from Challenger: A True Story of Heroism and Disaster on the Edge of Space by Adam Higginbotham. Published by Avid Reader Press / Simon and Schuster. Copyright © 2024. All rights reserved.

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Adam Higginbotham | | READ MORE

Adam Higginbotham is a journalist and author. His previous book, Midnight in Chernobyl , was the winner of the Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Nonfiction. He lives in New York.