When it comes to what is the best science fiction books to read there is a wide selection to choose from.  In fact a quick search online and you will soon discover that everyone has differing opinions to just which sci fi books would be considered to be the best. In this article we look at some that seem to be quite popular on most of the best science fiction book lists today.

Dune (Frank Herbert)

Science Fiction doesn’t get much better then this. Dune is every Science Fiction aficionado’s wet dream. Many people claim Dune is Science Fiction’s answer to “Lord of the Rings” and I have to agree: it sure is. There are many good science fiction books, but Dune is indeed a giant among giants. It truly is a pinnacle of Science Fiction literary achievement. If you haven’t read Dune, doesn’t waste any more time. Read it now!

Arthur C Clarke’s 2001 A Space Odyssey

The Stanley Kubrick movie classic was released at the same time as the book. The movie is great, but without Arthur C Clarke’s masterpiece it could never have made the transition into film. For this reason there is no doubt that this stands up as an all time classic and deserves to be so.

Starship Troopers (Robert Heinlein)

War is beautiful according to Robert Heinlein. This is a novel about the glorification of war. The premise: space-marines wearing special armor battle vicious alien insect aliens. This is classic “old school” science fiction at it’s best. It’s a rip-roaring ride through the galaxy that you don’t want to miss.

Ender’s Game (Orson Scott Card)

This is one of the corner stones of science fiction and one novel that you shouldn’t miss. A critique on society, the story of a boy who refuses to give up, a battle to save the fate of mankind – this science fiction book combines them all into one addictive and compelling mix that shouldn’t be missed.

Douglas Adams – The Hitchhikers Guide To The Galaxy

This of all the best science fiction books in this article is one of the more comical among them.  Along with its hapless main character Arthur Dent there are a host of other characters that really bring this book to life.  Their journeys across the galaxies following the destruction of earth are amazing and all in the hope to find what the Question is to the Ultimate Answer.

The beauty of science fiction short stories is that we are able to make a trip to a different world in an hour or so and have the story completed in a single read. Many of the TV shows and movies we watch today find their roots in some classic stories created decades ago.

One of the most notable short stories of the 1950s was “The Minority Report.” While there are obviously some commonalities in the Tom Cruise movie, they are quite different overall. The short story takes us into the mind of a completely different character than the one played by Cruise in the movie. It presents a different approach to the dilemma and a completely different outcome.

“Am I Still There?” was published in 1963 and while only eight pages long, it brings to light some pretty interesting possibilities of our medical futures. Just a few minutes into the short story, we realize the subject of the story is four centuries old! Not only that, but the surgery of which he is preparing for is brain replacement surgery! The title comes from the fact that our hero is about to lose his final, original body part.

Time travel has become a major part of science fiction over the years and “For A Single Yesterday” uses this concept in a very unique way. The subject of this 1970s short story lives through a nuclear holocaust and is stuck in a place where he would rather not be for the rest of his life. To escape, he takes a magical drug that enables him to not just remember past memories, but actually relive them. One has to wonder if this was the inspiration for such TV shows as Quantum Leap.

“Cyberpunk” was ahead of its time and it did not even know it. Bruce Bethke wrote the story just as the computer and Internet world were about to explode in the 1980s. Mr. Bethke may have had a looking glass into the future, as quite a few happenings in this story actually unfolded in real life. He may not have gotten everything 100 percent, but he was not far off. Anyone who enjoys the cyberpunk genre will find this absolutely delightful.

Science fiction short stories have influenced both movies, TV shows, and actual novels. They may be brief, but they pack quite a bit of entertainment into those pages.