The 10 Greatest Science Fantasy Books of All Time, Ranked
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Speculative fiction is all about escaping reality and exploring fun, imaginative “what if” scenarios, and there are arguably no two genres better suited for entertaining escapism than fantasy and science fiction. As such, it should come as no surprise that it didn’t take authors very long after the appearance of both genres to figure out that some really exciting things could be done when mixing them. Enter science fantasy, one of the most popular speculative fiction genres out there.
Whether it’s a foundational classic like Dune that we’re talking about, or a modern masterpiece built on the shoulders of giants like The Fifth Season, the best science fantasy books of all time are proof of just how irresistibly charming this genre can be when in the hands of a talented-enough writer. Creative, well-written, and remarkably fun, these are books that everyone should read at least once in their lives.
10
‘A Princess of Mars’ (1912)
American pulp fiction writer Edgar Rice Burroughs was a foundational figure in the history of pop culture, one whose contributions to both the fantasy and sci-fi genres helped completely reshape speculative fiction for 20th-century audiences. One such contribution was the beloved Barsoom series, whose inaugural chapter, A Princess of Mars, was originally serialized in the pulp magazine All-Story Magazine and later published in book form.
Recognized by many as the first true major example of a science fantasy book, A Princess of Mars also helped pioneer the planetary romance subgenre. Throughout history, it influenced authors of the caliber of Arthur C. Clarke and Robert A. Heinlein, and it isn’t hard to see why. The prose isn’t the most polished, but the story’s fast pace, non-stop action, and simple yet compelling characters have allowed it to remain timeless.
9
‘Nine Princes in Amber’ (1970)
With three Nebula Awards and six Hugo Awards under his belt, Roger Zelazny was nothing short of a towering name in the realm of speculative fiction, having spearheaded the science fiction New Wave of the ’60s and ’70s. He did that through masterpieces like Nine Princes in Amber, which is arguably one of the best fantasy books of the last 50 years.
Blending a hard-boiled, fast-paced mystery that still feels refreshingly modern 56 years later with a sweeping story that completely revolutionized multiversal sci-fi, Nine Princes in Amber may very well be one of the best speculative fiction books of the ’70s. Less than 200 pages are all it took for Zelazny to deliver a brief-yet-punchy masterpiece that proved that science and magic could get along spectacularly well.
8
‘Lord of Light’ (1967)
If any author could possibly be worthy of being talked about twice when thinking of the greatest science fantasy novels of all time, it would have to be Zelazny, whose Lord of Light is arguably his best science fantasy gem ever. Specifically written by Zelazny to blur the line between science fiction and fantasy, the book earned him the 1968 Hugo Award for Best Novel and a Nebula Award nomination.
The way Zelazny crafts a compelling ancient religious mythology for Lord of Light, and then cleverly blends it with incredibly fun high-tech sci-fi elements, should be more than enough to charm even the most demanding science fantasy lovers. The book reads like a work of epic fantasy heavily modeled around Hindu and Buddhist elements, but is executed with so much uniquely sci-fi creativity that fans of both genres should be equally satisfied.
7
‘Dragonflight’ (1968)
Dragonflight is a fix-up novel, meaning that it was crafted by bringing together two novellas: Weyr Search, which made Anne McCaffrey the first woman ever to win a Hugo Award for fiction, and Dragonrider, which made her the first woman ever to win a Nebula Award. Bring the two together, and you get one of the most foundational and revolutionary works of science fantasy the world has ever seen.
Dragonflight is a cornerstone of the entire genre, disguising a strict science fiction premise of a colonized alien planet that lost its technology over generations with the appearance, tone, and feel of classic medieval fantasy. But this genre concoction never feels like trickery or any sort of bait-and-switch; rather, it makes Dragonflight read like both one of the most unique sci-fi books and most unique fantasy books ever, both of its faces being equally entertaining and equally subversive of old genre tropes.
6
‘The Dark Tower: The Gunslinger’ (1982)
Stephen King is best known for his hugely prolific work in horror, but he has also explored plenty of other layers of speculative fiction throughout his career. His most noteworthy genre-blending masterpiece is the entire Dark Tower series. Even though the first installment in the series, The Gunslinger, is the lowest-rated Dark Tower book on Goodreads, it’s where anyone interested in this game-changing saga needs to start.
Fusing Western elements with horror, sci-fi, and fantasy, The Gunslinger takes influences from all of those genres which seem like they should create a messy cacophony, but he instead makes them feel remarkably cohesive. The book’s science fantasy layers are particularly compelling and well-crafted, offering an instantly addictive opening to a series that many consider King’s magnum opus.
5
‘The Left Hand of Darkness’ (1969)
Ursula K. Le Guin was one of the most important voices in speculative fiction in the history of the English language, helping transform both sci-fi and fantasy with her unprecedentedly deep explorations of themes of philosophy, sociology, gender, and subversive politics. From that groundbreaking career came The Left Hand of Darkness, part of Le Guin’s Hainish Cycle and generally regarded as her magnum opus.
Left Hand of Darkness was one of those sci-fi books that marked the end of an era, distancing science fantasy from old clichés and instead approaching the genre with a softer, much more intellectually-driven approach. The book’s fantastical elements are very understated, making it fall squarely into the soft sci-fi category, but its blend of genres is nonetheless so masterful that anyone who enjoys speculative fiction should read it.
4
‘The Fifth Season’ (2015)
There is only one novel series in the history of the Hugo Awards where every single installment has won the Hugo Award for Best Novel: N. K. Jemisin‘s The Broken Earth trilogy, truly one of the greatest series of speculative fiction books in history. The first book in the series is The Fifth Season, a refreshingly modern take on the dying Earth genre that’s unlike anything else it had seen in years.
Instead of blending science fiction and fantasy, The Fifth Season practically dismantles the barriers between the elements of both genres, showing just how closely magic and scientific disciplines like geology and thermodynamics can be related. It’s a distinctively sci-fi premise wrapped up in apocalyptic fantasy, deconstructing several tropes of both genres to deliver one of the most stunning pieces of speculative fiction the world has seen since the 2010s.
3
‘The Book of the New Sun’ (1980–1987)
Gene Wolfe published The Book of the New Sun in four volumes and a coda between 1980 and 1987, but it’s technically all one huge epic novel unlike anything else that either sci-fi or fantasy has ever seen. Generally regarded as one of the greatest speculative fiction books of the ’80s, it revolutionized science fantasy by proving that futuristic science fiction could be told with the poetic prose and mythical depth of a high-quality high fantasy epic.
For those reasons and many more, Book of the New Sun is one of the most ambitious sci-fi books of all time, a classic that all sci-fi and fantasy fans should check out at least once despite its daunting size. It’s arguably the quintessential dying Earth epic, complete with plenty of subversions of both sci-fi and fantasy tropes, as well as some of the most compelling use of unreliable narration that science fantasy has ever had to offer.
2
‘Hyperion’ (1989)
Dan Simmons‘ Hyperion is the first installment of his acclaimed Hyperion Cantos series, and this is one of those instances where the first book in a series is easily the best of the bunch. In fact, Hyperion is one of the best sci-fi books of the last 50 years, a groundbreaking Hugo-winning gem that borrows the structure of Geoffrey Chaucer‘s The Canterbury Tales. With this structure as his scaffolding, Simmons crafted one of the greatest sci-fi cult classics of the ’80s.
But on top of being a hard sci-fi masterpiece that touches on topics like artificial intelligence and humanity’s hegemony over the universe, Hyperion also functions as a high fantasy quest, even sprinkled with some edgy tinges of cosmic horror. Whereas hard sci-fi can often feel a bit distant from more spiritual concepts, science fantasy specializes in exploring themes like religion and the soul, concepts which often lie at the core of Hyperion‘s sprawling narrative.
1
‘Dune’ (1965)
Whether Frank Herbert‘s Dune does or doesn’t count as science fantasy is up for debate, since its fantasy elements (like the magic of the Bene Gesserit) are mostly quite subtle. But quiet though they may be, those fantasy elements are undeniably present, and that means that Dune is the peak of what science fantasy has to offer. Generally praised as the greatest and most influential cornerstone of the sci-fi genre from the 20th century, it’s essential reading for anyone even slightly interested in the history of modern speculative fiction.
Indeed, it is one of those book series that everyone should read at least once, but it’s also one of those series that’s almost universally agreed to have peaked with its first chapter. With complete mastery over tone, style, prose, plot, and character development, Herbert wrote a masterpiece whose commentary on themes like ecology, technology, and the dangers of messianic leaders has aged like fine wine. It’s one of the most perfect American books ever written, and it’s certainly the most perfect science fantasy book of all time.
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