“Contact” is one of the best Sci-Fi books ever written about contact with another intelligent lifeform. It was written by famed scientist of the cosmos, Carl Sagan. This best-selling novel contains many of the author’s insightful speculations about the universe and its origins—all told in a page-turning work of science fiction that is both frightening and thrilling.

Ellie Arroway is a brilliant scientist who has been fascinated with the universe and the prospect of intelligent life beyond the earth since she was a child prodigy in math and science. Now the director of a special project in New Mexico that uses a radio telescope array to search for signals from space, Ellie sees her chance to find extraterrestrial life slipping away. Just when her funding for the project is in danger of being withdrawn, Ellie discovers a mysterious signal from space. The repeating signal is in the universal language of numbers. In fact, it is prime numbers in a series coming from the distant Vega system. An even more shocking transmission follows from the faraway galaxy, a recording of a speech made on earth in 1936 sent back to us from 26 light-years away.

Finally, the earth receives a third message containing the plans and instructions for building a mysterious machine. This sparks a race between governments to construct the machine. But once the mysterious dodecahedron device is complete, it becomes clear that the intelligent lifeform sending the messages to earth plans to make contact. Will Ellie be among the first humans to travel across the universe to meet an advanced lifeform?

This is one of the best Sci-Fi books ever written by a scientist and is brilliantly constructed to make complex concepts, and esoteric scientific ideas understood even by non-scientists. It is a thrill ride through the cosmos that the reader will never forget.

“Children of Time,” by Adrian Tchaikovsky is one of the best Sci-Fi books for a thought-provoking look at humanity—from the point of view of another intelligent species.

“Children of Time” keeps the reader turning pages as the story spans thousands of years and alternates perspectives between humans and a far different intelligent lifeform with whom we also share some startling similarities.

Holsten is one of a large group of human survivors from the destroyed earth who is held in stasis for thousands of years on a ship heading toward one of the terraformed planets prepared by earth’s ancestors. The crew and passengers are awakened as they near the planet where they are tasked with creating a new civilization for humans. Unfortunately, the planet meant for earth’s survivors is already inhabited by an intelligent lifeform that is decidedly NOT human.

Thousands of years earlier, a scientist planned an experiment to seed the planet with monkeys along with a nanovirus to speed their evolution. Unfortunately, the monkeys did not survive. However, the planet harbored another species that was also susceptible to the nanovirus and evolved into intelligent beings—spiders.

Many generations of spiders evolve during the thousands of years that the frozen humans are heading toward the planet. As the story also evolves, we learn what can happen when two advanced lifeforms collide on one planet.

“Children of Time” is one of the best Sci-Fi books with complex characters, a fast-paced storyline, and many twists and turns leading to a completely satisfying ending to an unforgettable story.

One of the best Sci-Fi books of all time is the beloved classic book by Madeleine L’Angle. Originally published in 1962, this book is never without relevance. “A Wrinkle in Time has a young audience in mind and is a book that opens the door for kids and young adults for a lifetime love of science fiction.

In this fast-paced novel, young Meg Murray finds understanding from a neighborhood boy named Calvin O’Keefe, when she reveals a sensitivity to the views of the community who believe her family has been abandoned by her scientist father. Mr. Murry mysteriously vanished over a year ago, leaving Meg’s mother alone to care for Meg and her brilliant little brother, Charles Wallace.

Late on a stormy night, a gust of wind blows a stranger to the Murry’s front door. Over tuna fish sandwiches around the Murry family’s kitchen table, Mrs. Whatsit announces, “There is such a thing as a tesseract.” The tesseract is a wrinkle in time that shortens distances, a phenomenon Meg’s father was exploring when he disappeared.

Meg, Charles Wallace, and Calvin launch into an interstellar adventure with Mrs. Whatset and her friends, Mrs. Who, and Mrs. Which. Together they travel to strange planets in search of Meg’s father, who is being held by a great evil “dark thing” that threatens the universe.

While this novel is a beloved classic for adolescents and young adults, it is enjoyed by readers of any age—and it’s one of the best Sci-Fi books to catch up on if you missed it during your school years.

One of the best Sci-Fi books of all time is the timelessly relevant novel, “1984’ by George Orwell. Although originally published in 1949, this book tells a chilling tale that frightens more than any horror genre book because it tells of a very real danger that all societies face in all generations—the danger of a terrifyingly oppressive government that uses fear to control every aspect of the daily lives of its citizens.

In “1984” Winston Smith is an ordinary worker and member of the Party on the outside while carefully hidden from the Thought Police is an interior narrative that rebels against the extreme over-reach of a totalitarian government. The powerful authoritarians use telescreens in each home not only to broadcast propaganda disguised as truth in “newspeak,” but also to watch each citizen and monitor for the slightest sign of rebellion, including “thought crimes.” Winston struggles to hide his very thoughts and dreams as he finds himself falling into forbidden love with a co-worker. At the same time, he learns of a secret group that seeks to free the citizens from “Big Brother” who not only watches everything each citizen does, but also uses brainwashing, torture, and intimidation to maintain an iron grip on absolute power.

George Orwell’s “1984” is often assigned reading in high school and college classes, but it’s absolutely a must-read if you’ve never read it. If you did read it in school, it’s still absolutely worth a second read. The elements that make this book such a chilling read are still incredibly relevant in today’s world, long after the actual year 1984 has passed.

“1984” is one of the best Sci-Fi books of all time and many argue that it’s the first book of the genre to begin the ever-popular science fiction theme of a dystopian society and one person’s fight for individuality in a world where citizens have no rights or freedoms to act as individuals.

The Divergent Four-Book Series is one of the best Sci-Fi books for younger readers. It features the classic Sci-Fi theme of a teenager who battles for both her own identity and to put an end to an oppressive government in a post-apocalyptic dystopian society. It includes “Divergent,” “Insurgent,” “Allegiant,” and “Four,” all written by Veronica Roth.

Set in Chicago in a future world, this series begins with 16-year old Beatrice Prior, who chooses to call herself Tris. Tris finds that she is a “Divergent,” or someone who doesn’t fit neatly into any of the five factions that each person is meant to categorize into. These factions are Abnegation, or those who are self-sacrificing, Candor, who value truth, Dauntless, who are brave, Erudite, who value the acquisition of knowledge, Amity, who prize kindness. Any person who has attributes of more than one faction is a dangerous divergent who must die.

“Divergent” and the sequel novels focus on a society of secret divergent individuals with skills that don’t allow them to fit into only one faction in a world where people must stay in their personality-type groups as a means of avoiding the conflicts that lead to civil unrest and war. The divergent people must hide their true natures while also secretly working against the controlling government and stopping the erudite faction from taking over control of the other groups in the city. Tris and her boyfriend Four, another divergent, also begin to wonder about what lies outside of the city walls in the forbidden area.

This series features a strong female protagonist and has been compared to The Hunger Games. It is one of the best Sci-Fi books for both young readers and adults. This complete series is ideal for both fans of the novels who wish to collect all four books, and for those who haven’t read them and want to dive into the whole series. It also makes a great gift!

One of the best Sci-Fi novels, and a beloved classic of the genre, is “Dune,” written by Frank Herbert and first published in 1965. This timeless novel is both a coming-of-age story and a thrilling adventure set thousands of years in the future when humans have not only evolved but also colonized distant planets.

“Dune,” is set on a planet that’s a dauntingly barren desert world filled with sand-swept dunes harboring one of the most valuable resources in the universe, a drug-like natural substance that is highly prized and sought after by the wealthy for its powers to heighten consciousness, sharpen clarity, and to extend the lifetime of those who use it.

Trained in warfare by his father who has been sent to govern the hostile desert planet of Arrakis, Paul is a young man with confidence and skill, living in a stronghold in the barren wastelands of a planet riddled with gigantic groundworms. He is also the child of an acolyte mother who has passed on some of her special abilities to her son. The family is highly respected by the planet’s hearty native people.

Paul and his mother desperately flee into the hostile desert when Paul’s father experiences a dark betrayal by those who have targeted the planet for its most valuable resource. As time passes, Paul finds his own identity and special strengths, as he rises to an important leadership role among the people of Arrakis, takes a new name, and helps to lead the people toward freedom in the midst of a planet that’s torn apart in an endless battle of greed.

Though written many decades ago, this book exists outside of time and remains not only a thrillingly epic adventure novel but also one of the best Sci-Fi books with enduring messages of hope, strength, and perseverance.

One of the best Sci-Fi books today with a unique twist on a first-contact story is “Winter World,” by A.G. Riddle. This is the chilling story of a wintery apocalypse on earth caused by mysterious happenings in space and the two people tasked with saving humanity from a bitter, frozen end.

When the earth is abruptly thrust into a new ice age, savage pandemonium erupts as survivors endure mass migrations from uninhabitable conditions. Wars break out over the crowding in the world’s warmest locations, furthering the devastation. Scientists desperately seek answers by sending probes into space, hoping to determine the cause of the earth’s sudden descent into an ice age. They soon discover a large, ominous object moving toward the sun from Mars.

Scientist James Sinclair is released from false imprisonment when NASA requires his brilliant expertise to make contact with the mysterious object. Meanwhile, Dr. Emma Matthews is working with a team of scientists on a space station in a struggle against time to save the earth from complete devastation. She finds an anomaly in solar radiation that may be a clue to what’s happening to the earth’s temperature. This leads to the discovery of something unexplained that’s approaching the sun.

Together James and Emma must make contact with the alien object invading the galaxy in the hopes of saving humanity. But will the humans and the fragile earth prevail against an unknown enemy with an unthinkable agenda?

This is one of the best Sci-Fi books to keep a reader turning pages to learn if the earth will experience frozen destruction or salvation.

“Snow Crash” is one of the best Sci-Fi books published back when the world was on the cusp of becoming much more dependent on the digital universe. It predicted some surprisingly accurate trends, making the novel more relevant than ever in today’s world.

In “Snow Crash,” Hiro Protagonist (yes, that’s his name) is living two lives. In reality, he delivers pizza in a future LA where quadrillion dollar bills are the standard denomination due to out-of-control inflation. The United States is now divided into sections controlled by private corporations after the government has given up virtually all power.

Hiro might be a pizza delivery boy who practices sword fighting in the physical world, but in the metaverse where most people spend the bulk of their days, he is a warrior prince and an expert hacker.

When Hiro meets a skateboard courier named Yours Truly (YT), who steps in to help him with a botched delivery, the two pair up in both worlds to sell critical information to the CIC. When Hiro obtains a bitmap file labeled “Snow Crash,” he opens the file with a friend only to discover a virus that not only crashes the computer but also causes brain damage to his friend.

Hiro and YT find the intelligence they gather begins to show shocking links from the new virus to the ancient Sumerian language and culture in an ongoing epic world plot that traces all the way back to the Tower of Babel.

This is one of the best Sci-Fi books for riveting, page-turning action that will have you up long into the night discovering both the predictable and unforeseen ramifications of the inevitable collision of two realities—and one brave young man who is a hero in both worlds.

“The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet” is one of the best Sci-Fi books to feature a fascinating menagerie of characters, including alien life forms with full, rich personal histories and memorable personalities.

In “The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet,” Rosemary Harper joins the ragtag crew of the aging ship, Wayfarer, to escape her identity as the daughter of a disgraced Matian businessman who committed treason. She joins the crew as a clerk and begins a journey where she learns new skills and gets to know her fellow crewmates, a group of diverse aliens—all with their own personal reasons for taking positions on the ship. There’s a reptile-like Aandrisk pilot named Sissex, Jenks is the ship’s AI who longs for an illegal body kit, and Ohan is a Sianat navigator who uses plural pronouns to describe a nature that’s known as a pair. Rosemary learns the ship’s crew offers a new kind of family with their interesting natures and backgrounds as she adapts to her new position as the ship’s clerk.

Rosemary’s journey really begins when the Wayfarer accepts a task to punch a wormhole tunnel to link a distant galaxy to the Galactic Commons. The mission doesn’t go as smoothly as expected, and Rosemary worries that she’s put her future at risk in an attempt to evade her past, as the ship experiences an invasion by raiders, a crew member faces kidnapping, a co-worker may be a clone, and Rosemary herself experiences an unexpected attraction to an important figure within the group aboard the Wayfarer.

This debut novel is a page-turningly fun book to read, with lovable characters that will live on in the reader’s memory and a truly unique imagined tale of a future intergalactic world where all lifeforms are of value despite all of their different forms and flaws.

“Prelude to Extinction” is one of the best Sci-Fi books currently exploding into popularity with today’s science fiction fans. In this gripping interstellar adventure, space explorer Captain Harrison pilots a starship over a hundred years into earth’s future. After many years spent voyaging to a distant star system, Jack and his crew land on an Earth-like planet explored by a probe sent ahead of them to scout the area. The probe was mysteriously destroyed on the outer edges of the planet’s orbiting debris, where Jack and his crew soon encounter an immense mysterious object that should not be in the planet’s orbit.

When they arrive on the planet, they learn they are not the first lifeforms to explore this unknown world, and they discover an abandoned settlement under a dome. Signs of an attack are left behind with a litter of bones, and deep blast marks visible around the dome, and little else remaining. The team of exploring scientists soon has to fight for their own survival when they are mysteriously separated from their ship, and they find that an unknown intelligent force is out to destroy all visitors to the star system.

Written by a doctor of physics, this book blends hard science with imaginative science fiction to keep the reader turning pages to enjoy the thrill-ride of interstellar exploration at the same time they encounter interesting scientific theories and esoteric ideas. This winning blend makes for a believable but fun story of human perseverance and survival against unknown malevolent enemy intelligence.

This is one of the best Sci-Fi books for intense action and colorful characters that will open your eyes to the immensity of the universe and all of the possibilities it holds—both good and bad.