1
Foundation (Foundation)
Some softer elements, like FTL and antigrav cars, but otherwise a rational series.
Best Modern Science Fiction Classics
Best SF Between the 40's and 70's That Covers Golden and New Wave Periods
See the rankingWhat makes some SF 'great' and other SF less so? Tough call. Still, despite some disputes that sometimes amount to nitpicking, there's some kind of consensus about the books on this list. Most of them anyway. With others, you might say "Huh? Where did that come from?" Well, not everything 'generally' considered 'great' necessarily is that, and a huge amount of what's not considered 'great' actually is-and in another time and under the diktat of different literary and genre fashions, it might well have been acknowledged as such.
So, here are some 'greats'; those with lots of awards and accolades and those with fewer or even none. In some way all of these stories exhibit one or more of a number of attributes such as: great storytelling (hugely important); exerting significant influence on other literature or even culture; tackling high concepts with excellent follow-through; dealing brilliantly with the core tropes of the genre; successfully breaking or crossing genre boundaries; using SF as a medium to tell parables. These books might also be called science fiction masterworks -- or the great classics that were highly influential on the genre, covering part of the Golden Age and most of the New Wave era's of science fiction.
Note, this is a complement list to our Best Classic Science Fiction lists, which covers the strictly Golden Age period from the 40's to 60's. This list is more broad, covering the 40's to the 70's. Both lists will give you a good overview of the best of the best 'classic' science fiction works you must read.
The order of arrangement in this list is not entirely arbitrary, but by necessity it's based on the choice and personal preferences of the reviewer. Yours might, and indeed probably will, be different. That's fine, too, because we're all different, and look for different things in what we find of value and worthy of spending a portion of our lives on. Note that this Classic period covers the "tail end' of Golden Age of Science Fiction. It also encompasses entire New Wave Period of science fiction.
If you want another list that covers Classics from the Golden Age (40's to 60's), check our Best Classic Science Fiction list.
You can view the crowd-ranked version of this list and vote on the entries at the bottom of this page.
The ranking
2
Dune (Dune Chronicles) Start here
Hugo winner 1966The whole series over time shows the colonization and taming of the wild planet Dune over thousands of years.
3
Big Planet (Big Planet) Start here
by Vance, Jack
A craft crash lands on the Big Planet and the survivors face a 40,000 mile trek across a dangerous landscape.
4
World Of Null-a (Null-a) Start here
Protagonist lives in one body and then dies, and awakens in another.
5
1984
A classic novel that is definitively a dystopia.
6
The New World (The Age Of Discovery)
A startling look at the role of government, including eugenics.
7
Fahrenheit 451
A classic "What if?" story about book banning, happiness, and knowledge.
8
9
10
Babel-17 (1967)
The literary side of this Sci Fi book is high in its experimentation with language and its exploration of language's role in meaning, action, identity, politics, and culture.
11
Ringworld (1971) (Ringworld) Start here
by Niven, Larry
One of the most famous books of the genre, that follows the pros and cons of living on a spinning ring instead of a round planet. The fact that makes this book so famous is that after the author’s ideas were proven impracticable, he wrote a sequel explaining the inadequacies.
12
To Your Scattered Bodies Go
Hugo winner 1972This series can also be considered Science Fiction. Humanity is resurrected (from across all of history) on the banks of a constructed world.
13
The Deep Range
Most of the population is now fed from the sea--whale and plankton farms. Plausible adventures about the mysteries of the sea.
14
Stranger In A Strange Land
Hugo winner 1962A Martian visits Earth and teaches humanity a few things--some believe it to be a guide to social change.
15
16
17
18
19
The Forever War (1976) (The Forever War) Start here
In this novel, time travel is a kind of side effect of space travel at near light speeds.
20
21
Lucifer's Hammer
by Larry Niven And Jerry Pournelle
and Jerry Pournelle. Jerry Pournelle. The villainous asteroid has become a common trope of this sub-genre.
Trending Books in Best Modern Science Fiction Classics
Trending Science Fiction Booklists
Top 25 Underrated Science Fiction Books
Under-appreciated Science Fiction You Should Read
Top 100 Best Science Fiction Books
Top 100 Best Science Fiction Books of All Time
Top 25 Science Fiction Books
The Best 25 Science Fiction Ever Written (Updated January 2016)
Top 25 Post Human Science Fiction Books
Best Post Human Science Fiction Reads
Best Early Science Fiction Books
Influential, Early Science Fiction That Helped Shaped The Genre
Best Sci Fi Books of All Time
The shortlist
Want the next list like this in your inbox? New releases and the lists readers are opening most, by email.