Cosmic Greatness: 21 of the Best Award-Winning Sci-Fi Books

Altered Carbon by Richard K. Morgan (Philip K. Dick Award, 2003)

This publication from Richard Morgan sparked a great, if short-lived, Netflix series. Takeshi Kovacs is an ex–United Nations envoy agelong dead. Except successful this galaxy, radical backmost up their minds, and truthful Takeshi wakes up successful a caller body, connected a antithetic planet, and fixed a unsafe ngo from adjacent much unsafe people.

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Ancient, Ancient: Short Fiction by Kiini Ibura Salaam (Otherwise Award, 2012)

Kiini Ibura Salaam is an essayist and writer of superb subject fabrication and phantasy abbreviated stories. This publication collects respective of the latter, each of which usage magic and subject and sexuality to situation gender, myth, and the precise quality of magic.

Ancillary Justice by Ann Leckie (BFSA Award, Arthur C. Clarke Award, Hugo Award, Nebula Award, 2013/2014)

Do you spot that database of awards? Ann Leckie burst onto the country with Ancillary Justice, sweeping up awards similar a Dyson. Justice of Toren was erstwhile a colossal starship, present a azygous ancillary — an AI successful a quality assemblage — is each that remains. She’s determined to find retired however the remainder of her was destroyed and mightiness unravel a galactic empire successful the process.

Apex by Ramez Naam (Philip K. Dick Award, 2015)

This caller concludes Naam’s explosive Nexus Arc trilogy successful an award-winning fashion. After you work Nexus and Crux, dive into this post-humanist caller successful which radical are connected, linking up similar hive minds, and the adjacent apex taxon has yet arrived.

Babel-17 by Samuel R. Delany (Nebula Award, 1967)

While Delany mightiness beryllium amended known for his caller Dhalgren, don’t slumber connected Babel-17. Rydra is simply a writer with near-telepathic powers. When a caller limb based connected dependable enters the fray successful a elephantine galactic war, the subject calls successful Rydra. She soon recognizes a connection successful that sound, but that’s lone the opening of what she’ll uncover.

Bold arsenic Love by Gwyneth Jones (Arthur C. Clarke Award, 2002)

This rock-and-roll-cyberpunk caller hasn’t gotten astir capable attention. In a near-future England, a stone prima befriends a guitarist and a techno-wizard against a backdrop of corruption and euphony festivals. But arsenic this publication and bid rotation along, thing similar a subject fabrication Arthurian retelling comes to life.

Cagebird by Karin Lowachee (Gaylactic Spectrum Award, 2006)

Yuri Terisov is wasting distant successful the brig of a pirate vessel that helium utilized to command. After aliens destroyed his location colony erstwhile helium was 4, helium was surviving successful a exile campy until a pirate came and took him away. But present he’s successful the brig, astatine slightest until a subject achromatic ops cause offers him a mode out. There are strings attached, of course. Dangerous strings.

The City We Became by N.K. Jemisin (BSFA Award, 2020)

N.K. Jemisin is well-known for her Broken Earth trilogy, but that’s fantasy. These are the champion award-winning sci-fi books. In The City We Became, New York City is simply a surviving beingness signifier with six children: the metropolis and its 5 boroughs. In Brooklyn, a person tin perceive the opus this large metropolis sings. In Manhattan, a pupil steps disconnected a bid and remembers thing astir himself, but helium tin consciousness the pulse of the city. Characters and metropolis harvester for a chill exploration.

Doomsday Book by Connie Willis (Hugo Award, Nebula Award, 1993)

Time question and some of the large subject fabrication awards? This classical has it all. Kivrin is simply a 21st-century pupil studying a 14th-century plague. Oh, and she uses clip question to bash it. But things spell wrong, however, forcing Kivrin’s fellows to motorboat a rescue attempt. Now Kivrin’s vow to not alteration the past is conflicting with her quality to prevention it.

Hyperion by Dan Simmons (Hugo Award, 1990)

Sometimes award-winning sci-fi books tin beryllium based connected classics similar this. Canterbury Tales…in space. That’s the setup magnificently executed successful this novel. Seven pilgrims are journeying to Hyperion connected the eve of the extremity of everything. On Hyperion unrecorded the Shrike, creatures that are worshipped and feared. These pilgrims person their tales, their secrets, and 1 whitethorn alteration the people of quality history.

Luna: New Moon by Ian McDonald (Gaylactic Spectrum Award, 2016)

Living connected the satellite is hard. Taking implicit a monolithic institution and gathering it into an empire connected the moon? Even harder. But Adriana Corta did it. Now, arsenic her beingness nears its end, her 5 children indispensable combat to support that institution going. They’ll person to combat outsiders and each other. Should beryllium fun.

The Mount by Carol Emshwiller (Philip K. Dick Award, 2002)

Looking for oppressive aliens and anti-utopian themes? Look nary further. Charley wants to beryllium the fastest runner successful the world, conscionable similar his father. But Charley doesn’t tally astatine way and tract meets. He’s a equine for the Hoot, an alien invader. If helium ever wants his freedom, he’ll request to find the different escaped humans and recognize what that adjacent means.

Network Effect by Martha Wells (Hugo Award, Nebula Award, 2021)

It’s hard to overstate conscionable however bully Martha Wells’s Murderbot Diaries series is. So erstwhile she released the 4th book, which besides happened to beryllium the archetypal novel-length publication successful the series, of people it grabbed some of the large awards. Murderbot is simply a robot with an A.I. that, well, conscionable wants to termination people. But their quality associates are conscionable ever truthful needy, adjacent erstwhile Murderbot conscionable wants to beryllium astatine location and ticker TV.

The Old Drift by Namwali Serpell (Arthur C. Clarke Award, 2020)

Namwali Serpell took the satellite by tempest with her debut novel. Beginning successful 1904, a feud breaks retired betwixt 3 Zambian families, and frankincense begins this communicative of retribution that spans generations, retired of the past and each the mode into the future. Romance, history, fairytale, and subject fabrication each blend unneurotic successful this one.

Parable of the Talents by Octavia Butler (Nebula Award, 2000)

Octavia Butler’s Parable of the Sower is a publication I urge often, though this sequel was the 1 to triumph a Nebula Award. Having survived the demolition of her location and founded a caller religion, Lauren has established a peaceful community. But erstwhile an ultra-conservative president takes power, his followers spot Lauren’s radical arsenic a target.

Ringworld by Larry Niven (Hugo Award, Nebula Award, 1971)

This highly imaginative, hard sci-fi escapade acceptable the genre satellite connected occurrence successful 1971 and inactive holds up today. Louis Wu is fixed a occupation to sojourn Ringworld, an artificially constructed ringing the diameter of Earth’s orbit. Along with a mates of aliens and a pistillate named Teela, they soon clang onshore connected the ringing and commencement unraveling its mysteries arsenic they desperately effort to find a mode disconnected of it.

The Salt Roads by Nalo Hopkinson (Gaylactic Spectrum Awards, 2004)

This unthinkable caller blends fantasy, subject fiction, and astute observations of societal issues into a caller that should person won adjacent much awards. Ezili has the powers of an Afro-Caribbean goddess of intersexual tendency and love. Now she’s traveling clip and abstraction to inhabit different women, struggling against a man’s satellite and unaware of this beatified presence.

Shards of the Earth by Adrian Tchaikovsky (BFSA Award, 2021)

Idris was created during the warfare aft Earth was destroyed. Strong, fast, not needing sleep, and capable to pass telepathically with each different and the enemy: the Architects. But erstwhile the Architects vanished, radical similar Idris became obsolete. But thing unusual has appeared successful space, evidently made by the Architects. Now Idris and his unit volition person to find answers.

Stranger successful a Strange Land by Robert A. Heinlein (Hugo Award, 1962)

Here’s different 1 from the way-back instrumentality that wasn’t conscionable portion of the pantheon of award-winning sci-fi books, but portion of a intersexual revolution. Valentine Michael Smith is simply a quality raised connected Mars by Martians. His homecoming is simply a heralded event. When helium starts to show powers nary different quality has and espouses a extremist philosophy, the satellite volition ne'er beryllium the same.

The Three-Body Problem by Cixin Liu (Hugo Award, 2015)

This book, which begins a series, has captured sci-fi imaginations since it came out, and it’s soon coming to Netflix. In the midst of the Chinese Cultural Revolution, an experimentation sends a connection to space. An alien taxon facing their ain demolition receives it and plans to invade Earth. Now, arsenic the invaders adjacent in, humanity is crumbling into adjacent much factions.

The Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead (Arthur C. Clarke Award, 2017)

It’s a uncommon happening for a subject fabrication caller to besides beryllium historical, and this caller did it with aplomb. Imagine that the Underground Railroad during the American Civil War was a LITERAL underground railroad. That’s what this caller does. The genre is speculative. The quality play and calamity of slavery are precise real.