The TOP 50 Sci-Fi Books on Goodreads

In this video I go through the 50 most shelved science fiction novels on Goodreads and for each book let you know whether I've read them, and how much I enjoyed them, or how high they are on my TBR list. How many have you read out of 50?
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#ScienceFiction #Books #Challenge

[@WordsinTime]

UPDATE - 40/50 I have since read: - Dune Messiah and really liked it but slightly less than Dune. - Annihilation and liked it but didn't love it. - The Long Way to a Small Angry Planet and it was cozy but it didn’t really click for me. - Starship Troopers and liked parts of it but didn't love it overall. - The Handmaid’s Tale and thought it was excellent.

[@smreason]

I think Dune Messiah is considered the least great. Children much better and God Emperor amazing. To read a hunger games over those would be a travesty.

[@colin1818]

"Long Way" seems to be one of those "either you do or you don't" kind of books. Lots of strong opinions on both sides but not too many in the middle.

[@WordsinTime]

@@colin1818 I guess I’m somewhat in the middle as I have it 3 stars, but I was a little disappointed.

[@emosongsandreadalongs]

I'm late to the party, but I wanted to say that I enjoyed Starship Troopers for its ideas and philosophy. It isn't the action-packed romp that I thought it would be. Stranger in a Strange Land however deeply disappointed me. I thought it was truly awful

[@WordsinTime]

@ I’ve heard mixed reactions to Stranger in a Strange Land.

[@ryanweild5802]

Hello from Canada! Definitely read Starship Troopers next. But if you want more Heinlein, I highly recommend The Moon is a Harsh Mistress!

[@WordsinTime]

Hello! Thanks for the recommendation!

[@nealandrus6666]

I second Moon.. recently read it for the first time and I really enjoyed it. Oddly enough I was prompted to read it because of the recent Black Mirror series

[@lancetschirhart7676]

I believe Sean Carroll said it was his favorite sci if book. It’s definitely favorite Heinlein

[@LucSchots]

Go for “The Moon is a harsh Mistress”, certainly. Or, for a very light read, “Friday” is nice.

[@colin1818]

Let the debate on the veracity of Goodreads ratings commence!

[@WordsinTime]

Haha Goodreads ratings should definitely be taken in context / with a grain of salt. This ranking is based on most shelved rather than score, so it’s more of a “most read” list than a “best” list.

[@williambavington5392]

Yes, I'd like to know that too. I do consult book review sites (as well as KZbinrs like this) but I mainly read the reviews rather than focus on the numbers of stars except to use them to find the ones with high and low ratings so to get a more balanced picture in the reviews themselves. Do you think Goodreads reviews are all genuine or is there some sort of bias or fake review bombing? I have an open mind about it.

[@incog.nyto.]

​@@williambavington5392 there's a few factors that massively influence ratings on goodreads, namely the age of the crowd (younger audiences tend to rate books very high), an existing series' popularity, the author's level of fame, and some other factors like trendy genres and the "classic" status that a book might have (regardless of its quality). These are just based on my observations. It's pretty funny because the other crowd-reviewing app I use, letterboxd, has much more consistent and "objective" ratings of movies. Of course some fanbases tend to overinflate certain numbers, but i can pretty consistently gauge my rating of a movie based on its letterboxd score, as opposed to Goodreads where there's a bigger margin of difference (.5 stars)

[@kevoreilly6557]

About as useful as KZbinr SAF rankings

[@mudcrab3420]

Must... Not... Bite... Too late. Thing with Goodreads (and a lot of other stuff I guess) is that it is non compulsory voting. So the people who vote are the 5 stars who love the book in a sort of creepy and inappropriate way - and boy have I needed some brain bleach after reading some 5 star reviews - and the people who got so pissed off by a book then needed to rant in public. The people who just read the book and, meh, are for the most part are not going to spend time going onto Goodreads to review a book they have already forgotten most part of. If we had compulsory reviewing I think we can agree that most books would get a LOT more 2 and 3 star reviews just saying "yeah, it was okay..." I find Goodreads most useful when I read a book I feel I should like and end up totally hating. So I go and read all the 1 star reviews to see if the things that pissed me off were picked up by other people. I mean it is by no means a definitive method for obtaining a final score, but if people are annoyed about the same thing... If non of the 1 or 2 stars agree with me then I know I have missed something obvious and move into the higher rankings to see what it is.

[@dalejones4322]

Great video Jonathan. Both Stranger in a Strange Land and Starship Troopers are great books. I would definitely love to hear your take on Stranger first. It has some controversial statements in it but a very interesting story. Definitely strange lol. Heinlein is definitely one of my favorite authors.

[@WordsinTime]

Thanks for the info Dale!

[@LarryKnipfing]

And add "The Moon is a Harsh Mistress" to your Heinlein tbr. I loved it!

[@dalejones4322]

@@LarryKnipfing yes, another great book.

[@bernabefernandeztouceda7315]

​@@LarryKnipfingone of his best. Friday is nice, too, but overhated

[@colin1818]

4:53 "I need to read these Hunger Games" Trust me, you don't. The 3rd book, in particular, is one of the most excruciating reading experiences I ever went through. Book 1 was fine and 2 was ok. But 3 is truly terrible.

[@WordsinTime]

Haha that’s kind of how I felt about the movies.

[@Safetysealed]

@@WordsinTime You know how we're almost always saying "the book was better"? In this case it's "the books weren't much better"

[@r4bbl311]

@@Safetysealed books were pretty good

[@Paul_McSeol]

I’d disagree. I thought the books were pretty decent. But it could be that it was a phenom sort of thing where there was just so much energy for them at the time, and now that time has passed. But for a couple of years there everyone was reading them.

[@colin1818]

@@Paul_McSeol - For a couple years everybody was reading Twilight too. And The Da Vinci Code. But neither of those are books really worth remembering. There definitely are cultural waves. Sometimes they're valid (Harry Potter) and sometimes they're Hunger Games or 50 Shades of Gray.

[@luske2]

You're such a cool guy. Thank you for such great content!

[@WordsinTime]

Haha you’re cool for supporting sci-fi! 😎 🚀

[@OverlyAverageBen]

I'll take 15! Science-fiction has always been shadowed by fantasy in my reading, but I do try to read some now and again

[@WordsinTime]

Solid score! I hope some of the others sounded interesting.

[@darthandy6161]

My score is 33. I own Red Rising so hope to get to that soon. Side note-the ebook of Sea of Rust is on sale for $2 today so based on your recommendation I took the plunge.

[@WordsinTime]

Great score! And I hope you enjoy Red Rising and Sea of Rust!

[@Arialrayreads]

Awesome video! I’ve read 18/50 but tried and dnfed a few more on this list. I struggle with sci-fi that’s all about the concepts and very little about character and plot. I’d say my favorites on this list would be Dune, Ender’s Game, Annihilation, Red Rising, Leviathan Wakes, Project Hail Mary, and Old Man’s War. Highest on my TBR are Dune Messiah, Speaker for the Dead, Hyperion, Childhood’s End, and The Forever War.

[@WordsinTime]

@@Arialrayreads Thanks! I hope you enjoy those books on your TBR!

[@DJYoue]

I'm surprised I've read more than you on this list, but perhaps I'm just more mainstream in my reading tastes, saying that, many of the ones I've read I have checked out because of your channel. As of now I'm on 36 1/2 as I'm reading Hyperion at the moment on your repeated advice!

[@WordsinTime]

Great score! I hope you enjoy Hyperion!

[@TheMisterGriswold]

My personal favorite. Hope you like it.

[@pcast01]

10/50. I won't read all the top 50 books but I do have a few on there that I do want to read. Dune being one of them. My top reads on here are Ready Player One(best book I read last year), 3 Body Problem, Hyperion.

[@WordsinTime]

Nice! I hope you enjoy whichever you try next!

[@farlanghn]

Starship Troopers is the one you should read. Very different than the movie and very misunderstood because people always think the book and the movie are the same.

[@WordsinTime]

Thanks for the info!

[@angelopressello8401]

I can confirm that the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy continues to get a little more depressing as the series progresses. Having said that, the fifth and final book - "Mostly Harmless" - is in my opinion the best of the, uh, trilogy. I have read it a couple of times. I have given away the other books, but that last one remains on my shelf. It's worth reading the rest of the series for.

[@WordsinTime]

Thanks for the info! I’m glad you loved it!

[@mudcrab3420]

Agree. I feel Adams was a man with some great ideas... just not a LOT of ideas. The first books are reasonably tight as he wrote the story three times (radio, book, TV) and by the time Ford and Arthur get back to Earth you have a complete and tight story. Everything after felt... awkward I guess...

[@halfogre123]

Fun video as always. Thanks Jonathan!

[@WordsinTime]

Glad you enjoyed! 🫡

[@BookishChas]

Awesome video Jonathan! I’ve read a surprising number of these, and probably because I wouldn’t have thought of some of them as sci-fi lol. The Hunger Games and Divergent books are quite good. Divergent is better in my opinion. “You want the dinosaurs to eat the children…” I laughed so hard lol.

[@WordsinTime]

Haha I was Team Dinosaur! 🦖

[@Cosmic-Industry]

14/50. I’ve been reading consistently sci-fi for a couple of years. Eventually I’ll get there!

[@WordsinTime]

Haha you’re off to a good start!

[@avantgardenovelist]

hello, love your channel. quick question if I may. if 1984 has a 4.19 rating and roughly 4.5 million reviews, and Hunger Games has a 4.34 rating and nearly 9 million reviews, how is the latter later rather than earlier in the list? this is just one example. there must be criteria determining rank other than score and number of reviews?? EDIT: poring over the rankings again, it seems that they are determined by how many books are "shelved as science fiction." what does that mean? tbr? is that a more reliable gauge of quality than score and number of reviews? color me confused...

[@WordsinTime]

Thanks for supporting the channel! I didn’t create the list, it is from Goodreads, but yes, it is ranked by “most shelved” science fiction. I think it used that rather than total ratings because something might have a lot of ratings but only a small amount of people consider it science fiction, so I think it is trying to combine the amount of people that have read these books, but also how many consider them to be part of the science fiction genre.

[@avantgardenovelist]

@@WordsinTime got it, interesting. thanks.

[@theethicalostrich1388]

If I had to choose 4 "must reads" from this list to pass on to my kids, they would be: 1) The Giver 2) Ender's Game 3) Fahrenheit 451 4) 1984 While there are other books that may be just as well written or as entertaining, these 4 also can have a significant effect on how someone views the world, our fundamental freedoms, and our fundamental responsibilities.. True, Ender's Game is a little light on the learning but there is still some and it is one of the most entertaining on the list.

[@WordsinTime]

Great picks. I also think that Ender’s Game is more philosophical than people give it credit for.

[@BooksWithBenghisKahn]

Fun vid! As a mostly fantasy reader for the past 6 years I was surprised by how many of these I’ve read over the years at 29/50. I’ve seen the movie for a bunch more like War of the Worlds, Starship Troopers, Blade Runner, I Robot and the Time Machine. I really need to dive into more PKD, Arthur C Clarke, and Le Guin though!

[@WordsinTime]

Thanks! And that’s a great score! I hope you enjoy PKD and Clarke. I need to read more Le Guin myself!

[@Filthyanimal9]

It is possible to just enjoy both Bladerunner and 2049 - thx for quick rundown of popular sci-fi!

[@Arialrayreads]

@@Filthyanimal9 I was thinking this as well! Though I also love Star Wars and Star Trek evenly as well 😅

[@bigaldoesbooktube1097]

It was fun seeing what the general reading public see as a top 50

[@WordsinTime]

Yes, it is different from my list, but there was still lots of interesting books on it.

[@keithparker1346]

It's a good list but not really the sci fi I read

[@hakonsoreide]

It's not the top 50 rated books, just the books that most users of Goodreads have added to their shelves. Quantity, but not necessarily quality.

[@br8on]

A Wrinkle in Time is awesome and definitely Sci Fi! I would say actually a book that got me into the genre! Super cool concepts on time travel, inter dimensional travel and dystopia, all accessible to kids as well!

[@WordsinTime]

@@br8on That’s great to hear!

[@RedFuryBooks]

I'm shocked! I also read 35! (thought it would've been lower). Heinlein is not an author for me, but of the two, I liked Starship Troopers more.

[@WordsinTime]

@@RedFuryBooks Nice! Although I am now up to 38, I have to stay ahead haha. I might read Starship Troopers later this year.

[@RedFuryBooks]

@@WordsinTime only 2 or 3 more were on the TBR so you'll be perpetually ahead of me!

[@Verlopil]

Cinder is a YA book very loosely based upon Cinderella, but it is very much SF. It's actually pretty good. It's about a young woman who's an engineer specializing in cybernetic reconstruction, and she has partial body replacements. She's also a revolutionary who needs to infiltrate the castle where the rulers are having a ball. It's smart and fun. I don't know that I'd recommend it to an adult guy because it still has that YA tone, but this adult woman liked it. I didn't read the sequels however.

[@WordsinTime]

Sounds kinda cool!

[@paulallison6418]

Hi Jonathan, I scored 41/50 so I have a few to catch up on to complete this list. I do agree with you about Neuromancer (I will mark this to re-read), I liked Dark Matter but it didn't blow me away but All Systems Red this is fantastic I have now read 5 or 6 now of the murderbot series. Clarke and Asimov I would have higher but I am old!

[@madiantin]

I LOVE Murderbot and have read all but the latest (System Collapse?) - which I'm afraid to do as I've heard that it's not as good. Have you read it? What did you think?

[@WordsinTime]

Impressive score! And I’m glad you’re enjoying Murderbot.

[@kenikos744]

I completely agree with you about "Hyperion" by Dan Simmons being a great read. All four books of the Hyperion Cantos are all-time favorites of mine: "Hyperion," The Fall of Hyperion," "Endymion" and "The Fall of Endymion." Simmons also has a great two book set built around the Trojan War and a future "post-human" Earth and Mars with "Ilium" and "Olympos," both of which I found also to be very good reads.

[@WordsinTime]

@@kenikos744 I’m glad you also enjoyed the Hyperion Cantos and the Ilium duology!

[@dustinseth1]

Hitchhiker’s Guide is so funny that it’s one of the only books I read in one sitting. It’s hysterical. Didn’t realize at that a book could legit make me belly laugh.

[@WordsinTime]

@@dustinseth1 I’m glad you enjoyed it so much!

[@mikesnyder1788]

Another enjoyable survey of top fave books in the Science Fiction community. I usually don't post negative comments about my preferences because there is so much negativity out there and I don't want to add to that negative noise. But... because you asked your audience about the two versions of Blade Runner, well, here goes. I enjoyed the Harrison Ford version when it was released many years ago and I think it still has good legs! The new version, sorry to say, I did not finish! And the hype was so out there and I was expecting so much. Yes, this is Old School Guy talking so that is a factor but for some reason the second Blade Runner just did not deliver for me. Regards from N.E. Ohio!

[@WordsinTime]

Haha that’s okay! I love Ryan Gosling, Denis Villeneuve, Roger Deakins, and Hans Zimmer so I think the film was perfectly tailored for me!

[@secretsauceofstorycraft]

Fun!!! Will have to calculate my score- u shoulda said i would need a pencil! 😂

[@WordsinTime]

And an abacus!

[@daxxh]

46/50. I can't believe I haven't read Leviathan's Wake. I have the whole series, so I will be reading them soon. Same with Old Man's War. I have Stranger In a Strange Land, but am not in a hurry to read it. Never heard of Cinder. I will have to look that one up.

[@WordsinTime]

Great score! I hope you like those books. I believe Cinder is a Young Adult book but some commenters seemed to enjoy it.

[@theethicalostrich1388]

HG Wells has a ton of great stories. Look into some of his short story collections.

[@WordsinTime]

@@theethicalostrich1388 Thanks for the recommendation!

[@josh34578]

At about 20. I had a DNF on Stranger in a Strange Land. I think it is interesting to put it in historical context, but the book itself goes off the rails in a way I did not enjoy. I'm looking forward to reading Jeff VanderMeer's Annihilation. He's definitely my current favorite author. I love his type of weird. I didn't see it on the list but I will recommend Embassytown by China Mieville. He's another of my favorite authors. While it's his only science fiction novel, it's wonderfully weird, like his other works. And you can feel the LeGuin influence in this one.

[@WordsinTime]

Thanks for the info! I’m looking forward to Annihilation. I was mixed on The City & the City but would try another Mieville novel.

[@jamesgeckle489]

While in high school in the late 70s I would record every weekend on cassette tape the expanded Star Wars Radio Drama on NPR in the USA. One Sunday in 78 or 79 (I think?) I queued up my tape recorder and heard instead the 1st episode of Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy… and laughed out loud (this was before LOL was an acronym). I couldn’t wait to share it with my SF nerds at school on Monday. We all got hooked!!! I eventually replaced my bootlegs with the official cassette release, an LP, the books of course, then CDs, then DVDs of the BBC TV production, etc. etc. etc. PS I also eventually purchased all the Star Wars Radio Dramas on CD. Do folks even remember them? I wonder. 🤓

[@WordsinTime]

@@jamesgeckle489 Haha that’s great!

[@robertthurman9866]

21, not bad. Much better than I thought. My favorite all time was the Well World series by Jack Chalker. I read all 5 non-stop and was truly pissed off there were no more. Not for everyone and earlier in his career, but a very good series.

[@WordsinTime]

Thanks for the recommendation!

[@daxxh]

I recently discovered that there were two more. I bought them, but haven't read them yet. (The Sea is Full of Stars and Ghost of the Well of Souls)

[@michele.monteleone]

Fun vid! Can you share the link to Goodreads Top50?

[@WordsinTime]

Glad you enjoyed it! For some reason the mobile version stops after 24, so you might be better off viewing the list on a computer. It’s ordered by the number of times Goodreads users have read and shelved these books as science fiction - www.goodreads.com/shelf/show/science-fiction

[@michele.monteleone]

​@@WordsinTime thanks a lot! I am an italian follower and really love your channel!

[@WordsinTime]

@@michele.monteleone 🇦🇺 🇮🇹 🤝

[@michele.monteleone]

@@WordsinTime 🍕🐨🤝

[@jasonhair2457]

If you enjoyed LeGuin's Left Hand of Darkness (which I'm reading now) I recommend The Dispossessed. Another slow read but great ideas.

[@WordsinTime]

I was mixed on it but do plan to read more Le Guin starting with The Lathe of Heaven and then The Dispossessed!

[@colin1818]

33/50 for me. Some of those I'm planning on reading this year. Oh, and "which Heinlein book should I read next?" Starship Troopers. 100%. Do not pass go, do not collect $200.

[@WordsinTime]

Haha duly noted

[@ju-shi-san]

I dnf'd Starship Troopers. It's nothing like the movie, and it's too... conservative? for me.

[@colin1818]

@@ju-shi-san - The Director of the movie never read the book. So no, it's not really like the movie at all.

[@ju-shi-san]

Yeah... I found out later about that. I did really try, but halfway through I just couldn't do it anymore 😔

[@FrankOdonnell-ej3hd]

haven't read the majority on the list but most of the ones you really liked I did too. Pretty sure brave new world is intended to be dystopian though some things in it sound kind of attractive. Also very cool shirt!⚛😀

[@WordsinTime]

Haha thanks! And yes, I think Brave New World is a fake utopia and is in fact dystopian.

[@splifftachyon4420]

I've read 16 of those, but then again, my reading is all over the place and I often read really obscure, unknown sci-fi books that I just come across in the used bookshop.

[@WordsinTime]

That’s a cool way to go about reading!

[@lancetschirhart7676]

Yeah, childhood’s end is such a good one. So have you not read any Heinlein at all? He’s such a cool writer with a folksy tone but brilliant ideas

[@WordsinTime]

@@lancetschirhart7676 I’m glad you also liked Childhood’s End! And I plan to read Starship Troopers soon.

[@NOYFB982]

Murderbot is absolutely GREAT as an AUDIO book.

[@WordsinTime]

I could see it working well on audio!

[@douglasheltibridle1056]

I'm at 43/50 for this list. Though I've just started Red Rising and will be trying to start the Expanse this year.

[@WordsinTime]

Great score! I hope you enjoy those!

[@TheMike28212]

I scored 24. I have several of the others on my shelves. Just need to find the time to get to them.

[@WordsinTime]

Solid score! I hope you enjoy the others!

[@Artoveli]

I got 24/50. Just finished Dune, so that helped! Now I need to see the movies.😜 Cinder is pretty darn good, but you do have to know what it is going in. It’s the first in a series where each book is a sci-fi retelling of a fairy tale, and some of the parallels are extremely clever. It is written for a younger audience, but it’s definitely quality stuff.

[@WordsinTime]

Solid score! Thanks for the description. I might not be the target audience but it sounds interesting.

[@e7engle]

I have read 32. I started but never finished 3 (Foundation, Snowcrash, and I, Robot). I own 3 more of that list, not sure if I will ever read those.

[@WordsinTime]

Solid score!

[@ksciaa0103]

Loved the hell out of Annihiliation. It is a bit of a weird read, but the atmosphere and almost liminal feeling of the story did things for me no other novel I've read has.

[@WordsinTime]

I’m glad you connected with it!

[@jonah_k]

So I robot and Martian chronicles are both on my shelf. Both are by different authors but seem to be similar. Collections of short stories that don’t always gel together. Also golden age and influential sci fi authors, maybe a little old fashioned style compared to new wave? Which to pick if just one? Like both farenheit 451 and foundation. The latter only less tighter because it was a drawn out series rather than a standalone.

[@WordsinTime]

Good question. I gave both I, Robot and The Martian Chronicles an 8/10. I would go with I, Robot if you like classic sci-fi focused on ideas, and The Martian Chronicles if you like more eloquently written prose.

[@gorans.849]

22/50, good enough. Starship Troopers before Stranger... two very different books.

[@WordsinTime]

Solid score! Starship Troopers seems to be the popular recommendation!

[@bernabefernandeztouceda7315]

I don't get it, it doesn't read like a novel. This book should be obscure but it ain't 🤷

[@martinezcolonh]

From Robert A. Heimlein the first book you should read is The Moon is a Harsh Mistress, easiest and best probably. Stranger in a Strange Land is great and so are the Troopers, but the Moon is a Harsh Mistress has lots of intangibles that makes it a great book.

[@WordsinTime]

@@martinezcolonh Nice!

[@cliveomahoney4096]

Love your vids. Invite more guests! Strange you seem averse to D. Adams on an existential level but love K. Vonnegut. I've just read Deadeye Dick after a KV hiatus of many years and found it almost distressingly bleak - So it goes.......

[@WordsinTime]

Haha I see the comparison, I guess there’s something about Vonnegut where I can see beauty through the bleakness.

[@erikliterature8162]

I've read 22/50. Dune, Ender's Game, The Hitchiker's Guide to the Galaxy, Fahrenheit 451, 1984, Hunger Games, Brave New World, Foundation, Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?, Neuromancer, Leviathan Wakes, Hyperion, 2001, Divergent, Stranger in a Strange Land, The Restaurant at the End of the Universe, The Martian Chronicles, Frankenstein, The Giver, Speaker for the Dead, Foundation and Empire, A Wrinkle in Time. I might have read The Time Machine but I can't quite be certain.

[@WordsinTime]

Nice score Erik!

[@PeepersonCreedo]

Of this list what would you say is your favorite? Or top3-5 if you had to? Right now I’m reading Hyperion and it’s my first Sci-Fi novel, sort of the first book I’m reading in quite a while if I’m honest. I’m loving it so far and I can’t wait to get to The Fall of Hyperion!

[@WordsinTime]

@@PeepersonCreedo From this particular list I’d say: Ender’s Game, Hyperion, 1984, Childhood’s End, Project Hail Mary, and Slaughterhouse-Five.

[@PeepersonCreedo]

@@WordsinTime as if my ‘to be read’ collection wasn’t growing more rapidly than I can manage, you’ve gone and added even more to my list. I appreciate your content!

[@WordsinTime]

@@PeepersonCreedo Thanks for the kind words! I’m glad I can help contribute to the never ending battle with the TBR list haha

[@maxturgeon89]

I've scored a paltry 20/50 😬 Cinder is the only one I've never heard of, and I'm not particularly interested in reading the YA novels on the list. But there are some List of Shame worthy books on there that I hope to get to this year.

[@WordsinTime]

Solid score! I hope you enjoy some of the others!

[@douglasdea637]

I scored 18/50. Don't know when I'll read one of these next.

[@WordsinTime]

@@douglasdea637 Hope you enjoy whatever you read when you get to it!

[@couespursuit7350]

Jack Campbell's Lost Fleet Series is tops and I have been reading SCIFI for more than 50 years. Also David Weber's Safehold Series is clever and a solid read.

[@WordsinTime]

I’ve heard good things about Campbell and Weber!

[@thepapertraveler1122]

Being a big fan of lists and checking off lists, I enjoyed watching this. 25/50 with many on the list on my shelf to read. I personally enjoyed Artemis but seem to be alone in those thoughts. Love Ready Player One and just finished my third reread. Hmmm, Jurassic Park kids thoughts😂. I’ve yet to read that one.

[@WordsinTime]

Nice score! Glad you enjoyed Ready Player One. Would be interested to see your reaction to Jurassic Park haha

[@EmpressNoriko]

I’ve read 36/50. All the rest I own and are on TBR. As for your next Heinlein? That’s tough as those are 2 very different books. Stranger is very hippy trippy and deals with personal and societal relations. Starship Troopers, if you like Forever War and Old Man’s War, it’s similar. Role of the military. I did get my Dad, retired Air Force, to read all 3 and he liked them a lot though he professes to hate scifi. I would NEVER suggest he read Stranger in a Strange Land. It makes you question how our society is structured and how we treat each other. Which, now that I type this, is partly a theme of Starship Troopers. The ideas are just approached through 2 very different lenses. I’ve read both Stranger and Starship Troopers several times and both are books that I get more and different things out of as I get older. My husband just read Redliners by David Drake to me last week. I would put it alongside Forever War, Old Man’s War and Starship Troopers. Drake was a Vietnam War vet and the book is a commentary on how we treat returning solders. Brought both me and my husband to tears and he had read it before.

[@WordsinTime]

Great score! And thanks for the info, I’m glad you liked Redliners, I believe Christopher Ruocchio is a fan of that book.

[@LarryKnipfing]

Stranger in a Strange Land is quite thought-provoking and entertaining in its own way. The audiobook of it is very good, too - well worth a listen.

[@jenm8357]

42/50. I doubt that I will bother with the young adult stuff, Stranger in a Strange Land, or the sequels to The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy but I eventually will try The Three Body Problem, Red Rising, and maybe Snow Crash. It's interesting what books are included (Artemis?, Cinder?) and what is missing (Children of Time, Ubik, A Fire Upon the Deep, Wool, Shadow of the Torturer, etc.) The Handmaid's Tale, Dune Messiah, The Hunger Games books, and The War of the Worlds are worth reading. Of them, I like the first two the best. They are all relatively short easy reads. I didn't like Annihilation or the Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet as much, but maybe that's just me. I agree with the commenters below - read Starship Troopers or the Moon is a Harsh Mistress before Stranger in a Strange Land.

[@WordsinTime]

Excellent score! And thanks for the info!

[@LarryKnipfing]

I struggled with the Three Body Problem. I think I felt the translation to be stiff and clunky.

[@kniknayme9865]

28 read. own another 15 tbr

[@WordsinTime]

Nice score! I hope you enjoy the ones on your TBR!

[@stephenmorton8017]

I want to chime in with two non sequiturs. I watched a video last night of an interview at Stony Brook University of Gene Wolfe. He was discussing the book of the new sun, and he mentioned that there are people who will drop the book after 100 pages because the protagonist is a torturer. I got a huge hoot thinking of your comment. He did this on purpose! You might enjoy the interview. Also I'm currently reading " rumors of spring " by Richard Grant. Highly recommended. An obscure one. Cheers!

[@WordsinTime]

Haha yes, it definitely feels like part one of a book, rather than book one of a series so perhaps I will return to the tales of Severian in the future. And thanks for the recommendation!

[@CrAsHBon]

34.5 i'm stuck around half way on Stranger in a Strange Land. Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy only listen to first audiobook but I listen to all radio dramas 7 on my next 12 months TBL

[@WordsinTime]

Great score! I hope you enjoy the others!

[@Rimzaka]

I've read ten of these, and this is how I rank them: Arthur C. Clarke: Childhood's End Isaac Asimov: I, Robot George Orwell: 1984 Mary Shelley: Frankenstein H.G. Wells: The Time Machine Ray Bradbury: Fahrenheit 451 H.G. Wells: The War of the Worlds Kurt Vonnegut: Slaughterhouse-Five Aldous Huxley: Brave New World Margaret Atwood: The Handmaid's Tale

[@WordsinTime]

Nice! I liked Slaughterhouse-Five but all of those books are pretty good!

[@oliverdemille8388]

42/50, I'm feeling pretty good! I'm not to worried about getting to Divergent, Artemis, or Cinder, and I started but DNF'd Neuromancer. Jurassic Park, Slaughterhouse-Five, and Snow Crash are all on my list of shame. I own Old Man's War and intend to get to it sometime this year.

[@WordsinTime]

Excellent score! I hope you enjoy all of those especially Slaughterhouse-Five!

[@ethanakin]

About Heinlein: People forget his teenager series which were even better than his adult stuff. Try Citizen of the Galaxy and The Star-Beast

[@WordsinTime]

@@ethanakin Thanks for the recommendations!

[@StudyButte]

Good stuff, although some of the entries were surprises to me. 25/50. In terms of Artemis, it was good, but a disappointment for me after having read the Martian multiple times. And yes, Project Hail Mary was up there with or above the Martian - that's the one book that i would read during breaks at work, which I haven't done since i was in high school. Probably the next on my TBR that i've purchased after seeing so many recommendations on BookTube is Childhood's End.

[@WordsinTime]

Solid score! I’m glad you enjoyed Andy Weir as well. I hope you like Childhood’s End!

[@davlang3783]

Read 15 and 3 in TBR pile. There's a lot in there I've no intention of reading, so will be lucky if I ever get to 30 of these.

[@WordsinTime]

I hope you enjoy the ones on your TBR!

[@thekeywitness]

I just finished reading Annihilation. It’s more cerebral than the movie, which surprised me a little bit because I assumed the two would be very similar (like Dark Matter).

[@WordsinTime]

Interesting! I’m looking forward to trying it.

[@RenkotheLibrarian]

20/50. I liked 2001 A Space Odyssey, and am looking forward to more Clarke. I wish this list was one book per series because if you haven't read one, then you're screwed out of numbers, lol.

[@WordsinTime]

Solid score! And yes, I lost some points on some sequels haha

[@DocZom]

Old timer, here. IMO Goodreads is not a reliable sample of sci/fi readers; many do not own a Kindle. I know he is no longer in fashion, but Edgar Rice Burroughs was HUGE in the development of sci/fi. A Princess of Mars is an absolute must read for a well rounded sci/fi background, followed closely by At the Earth's Core. The guy did invent Tarzan, so he did have some chops. Stranger is better than Troopers, but IMO Heinlein's Lazarus Long stories are his best. There is no bad work by Heinlein, so whatever you choose you will like. Caves of Steel by Asimov develops his early robot short stories into a most entertaining detective story. Cheers

[@WordsinTime]

@@DocZom Thanks for the info! I recently read The Caves of Steel and enjoyed it. My favourite Asimov book is The End of Eternity.

[@Zozette27]

19 for me. However I read an enormous amount of sci-fi in my late teen years, including plenty of Asimov and Heinlein, but as that was 46 to 50 years ago I am unsure exactly what I read.

[@WordsinTime]

That’s cool, there’s lots of great classic sci-fi!

[@KingCrusoe]

10/50 is better than I was expecting to be honest. I think another 20-25 of these are on my TBR. I'm appalled that your score was anything short of 47/47! (Hunger Games doesn't count; I'm sorry but I would not consider that sci-fi lmao)

[@WordsinTime]

You’re off to a good start. I hope you enjoy the ones on your TBR. And yes, some of the YA books hurt my score haha

[@M_is_for_M]

29. Some of them dnf-ed, some still on tbr.

[@WordsinTime]

Solid score!

[@bartsbookspace]

I think I'm at 29/50, but there aren't too many additional titles on the list that I am eager to read. I'm not interested in any of the YA stuff or Hitchhiker follow-ups. Neuromancer is one I need to read, but I'm not sure if it's in my "wheelhouse" so I keep putting it off. Like you, I have yet to read Dune Messiah. Soon.

[@WordsinTime]

I think Neuromancer is worth reading in order to see how it influenced the cyberpunk genre.

[@madiantin]

38/50. HOW IS MURDERBOT NOT HIGHER ON THE LIST? That book is *stellar*. You can't give Murderbot a hug. You'd be in danger of it breaking your arms. You'd definitely make its performance reliability drop a significant percentage. I'd just like to say for the record that Jurassic Park was one of those very rare things where the film was way better than the book. The book had some dumb dumb stuff in it. T-Rex scratching behind its ear like a dog? SERIOUSLY? And those kids needed to be eaten at the beginning so we didn't have to suffer through their crap. Crichton must seriously hate kids to write a couple of characters like that. Also Frankenstein was SO annoying. The man himself was shockingly narcissistic...I mean he let an innocent woman die because he refused to tell the truth...and it's ok because she was lower class? Like WHAT?? And the monster was a serial killer who just would. Not. Shut. Up. Oh my gosh it droned on and on. The Long Way to a Small Angry Planet is fantastic! I love that book! Of all these books on the list I've only had one DNF, and that was Forever War. It just didn't do it for me. This was fun!

[@WordsinTime]

Impressive score! I had some similar reactions except for Frankenstein. I loved how poetic and philosophical and melodramatic he was haha. Glad you enjoyed the video!

[@madiantin]

@@WordsinTime I love it that you had a completely different reaction to the monologuing. Different strokes! Love that.

[@garygreen1782]

I would go for Stranger in a Strange land. It very much reflects the mad hippie days when it was written.

[@WordsinTime]

At first Starship Troopers was more popular but now Stranger in a Strange Land is getting some votes. I guess I’ll just have to read and find out!

[@garygreen1782]

@@WordsinTime Starship Troopers is more traditional like Hacksaw Ridge that kind of thing and a good read. The one about the old rich man who gets a brain transplant is really out there. Can't remember the title. The Moon is a Harsh Mistress is my favourite.

[@keithparker1346]

Ironic because I don't think you could label Heinlein, who seemed to me a little too in love with the military, as a hippy

[@DaBIONICLEFan]

An awful lot of contemporary stuff on there which I have no interest in reading, but that's to be expected on a platform like Goodreads. The original 'Blade Runner' I enjoyed far more than the Ryan Gosling one (which took me 3 or 4 attempts to finally finish 😆). Also, how different is the novel of 2001 to the film? I've seen the Kubrick flick and if the book is so similar as to be a direct novelisation or screenplay then it's going to remain pretty low on my list of books to read.

[@WordsinTime]

I’m a big fan of Ryan Gosling, Denis Villeneuve, Roger Deakins, and Hans Zimmer so Blade Runner 2049 was basically perfectly tailored for me haha In regard to 2001: A Space Odyssey I would say they are about 80-90% similar. I think they complement each other well and the book gives a couple of extra details. But it’s not extremely different from the film.

[@DaBIONICLEFan]

@@WordsinTime Cheers for the info 👍

[@williambavington5392]

That's kind of interesting. As a matter of historical accident, I have exclusively read non-contemporary (i.e. pre-2000) science fiction. I am pretty old (BabyBoomer) and started reading SF (mainly from public libraries) almost as soon as I could read, then continued into my teens and twenties, so read the nineteenth century classics (Wells, Verne) up to then contemporary stuff (60's and 70's). I read a smattering of 80's and 90's SF as they appeared on my pre-Internet radar but I read a lot less than in my youth. Now I am retired and getting back into reading again, favoring using an eBook reader. I am still catching up with recommended novels from the 80's and 90's (on Hyperion at the moment, for example), particular novelsI missed in part-read series and I want to re-read a few I enjoyed some fifty or more years ago such as Brian Aldiss's Hothouse and Alfred Bester's Tiger! Tiger! (UK name). What puts me off contemporary novels is their length: I did all my reading of lengthy 'serious' novels like War and Peace, Far From The Madding Crowd and Vanity Fair on long train journeys to work in my twenties and not sure I want to go back to doing that. The KZbin reviewers like this one also keep turning up interesting novels from deep in the past anyway. Is there any other issue with contemporary SF that turns you off reading them?

[@DaBIONICLEFan]

@@williambavington5392 Yes, length is an issue for me when it comes to contemporary SF. Another reason is that so many are invariably part of a series which I don't gravitate towards. Even books I've really enjoyed I very rarely continue with its associated series. There's too much out there I want to get to and I prefer self-contained stories, I don't want to be stuck reading what is essentially one story for months on end, especially when the book in question would clearly function as well if not better as a singular. There's also the content in general - tonnes of action/adventure stuff masquerading as SF, as well as lots of space opera which is probably because of how it intersects with epic fantasy, an incredibly popular genre at the moment. These types of stories and sub-genres I just have no interest in.

[@williambavington5392]

@@DaBIONICLEFan It has been the case I've read a novel, enjoyed it as self-contained and complete (as I thought) and was actually disappointed to discover later there were sequels which I thought must be unnecessary to the story proper I had read. Not always though, sometimes a novel seemed to invite a continuation. Worse is when I discover a novel I read was part-way through a series and have to decide if I want to read the prequel(s) or not. That has happened with Gregory Benford's Galactic Center Saga and I wonder when (if?) I will get around to the first novel of that series. I'm not sure what the dividing line is between Space Opera and 'proper' SF as I have found some SF stories with interesting ideas that were set in the context of interstellar war with space battles. Because I used to read a lot of award-winning short novels and short story anthologies (e.g. New Writings in SF), I got used to stories with very efficient world-building encompassing the story itself using the minimum amount of explanation and no filler with one or two overarching new ideas. The opposite of what you sometimes find in long SF (and other) novels. Series of lengthy novels obviously can give the author the opportunity to reprise and reiterate passages of purple prose in the sequels to that in the original novel, bashing you over the head with the world-framing and ideas already presented which you absorbed in the original novel and that can obviously quickly become boring. In summary, I take your point. Maybe I will just noodle around with the SF novels written between thirty to eighty years ago for a while longer.

[@Paul_McSeol]

38/50. And Starship Troopers is amazing. The film takes the same story but somehow manages to perfectly invert the message from one that is very pro military to one that is wary of military extremism. Both are great. Starting the Expanse soon. And 2049 is the better film. You are completely right.

[@WordsinTime]

Great score! And glad you are on Team 2049 haha

[@avsambart]

I've read 19/50 which doesn't sound a lot but I genuinely thought I had barely started reading the genre so I'm happy ☺️ I think Hunger Games holds up well and enjoyable even for adults.

[@WordsinTime]

@@avsambart Solid score! And I’m glad you enjoyed Hunger Games!

[@vilstef6988]

I've read 25/50. There's a few there I need to read.

[@WordsinTime]

Solid score! Hope you enjoy the others!

[@allyn4u]

41 out of 50. The only one not on my radar before this was Cinder by Marissa Meyer. SciFi definitely in my wheelhouse.

[@WordsinTime]

Impressive score! And yes, that might not be the type of book I would normally read, but glad people enjoyed it.

[@karenschmocker8711]

24/50 All old ones. Someone mentioned Chalker...loved them too.

[@WordsinTime]

Solid score!

[@Kim_Miller]

Carsick Colin has to change his name every week? He must find it hard to keep up. 😀 It's always interesting seeing these lists of most popular / most read / most DNF etc. I've started Dune a few times but it always loses me somewhere about the 'put your hand in the box' part. And yet it keeps turning up as top of so many lists. I was starting to think I was not normal until I realised that it is on one of my top lists, the top DNF book for me. However, I'm halfway into Demon in White and loving the series. Considering that so many people draw parallels between Sun Eater and Dune I'm starting to think of myself as an honorary Dune fan. And for something Vonnegut. 'Cyanide and Happiness' is a daily cartoon. Do a websearch on "cyanide and happiness werewolf" for a fun take on Kurt Vonnegut.

[@WordsinTime]

Haha yes, it’s sort of an inside joke as I didn’t want to say Carsick every video so I give him a new name every time instead haha. And yes, I like Dune but it does have slow parts and recognize it’s not going to work the same for everyone. I’m glad you’re enjoying Demon in White, it’s one of my favourites. And thanks for the cartoon recommendation!

[@livriomer]

I think I have read 27/50. I'm reading Leviathans wake and planning to continue reading Foundation. What I don't like about the list, is that it considers more than one book of the same series. I mean, more than one book in a series must be awesome, but, there must other great books out there hehehe. It's like putting in the list all 9 books of the Expanse series just because they are good.

[@WordsinTime]

Solid score! And yes, I understand your point about the sequels, as this is just the “most shelved” sci-fi books on Goodreads.

[@Tokayd13]

32 out of 50. I have Annihilation, The Forever War, Starship Troopers and Frankenstein on my bookshelf TBR. I DNF'd Project Hail Mary (enjoyed The Martian, not in the mood for the tongue in cheekiness of PHM at the time).

[@WordsinTime]

Great score! I hope you enjoy PHM if you try it again!

[@lurchEbean]

21/50, but I own enough of those to get me over the 50% mark. I'll have to work on that.

[@WordsinTime]

Solid score! I hope you enjoy the ones you own!

[@psifiguy]

37/50 few I've read that I didn't enjoy as much as others. As for your Heinlein choice, I'd say starship Troopers. If you enjoyed Forever War for the other side of the fence. Stranger in a Strange Land if you enjoyed the Man that Fell to Earth.

[@WordsinTime]

Great score! I did enjoy The Forever War so I’ll have to check out Starship Troopers.

[@sampenny4586]

My score was pretty similar to yours but the not read ones were different. I'm a huge PKD fan so am interested in your favorite PKD book, I agree that it's not Do Androids.... I have a soft spot for A Maze of Death as that was the first of his books I read. Cinder is not really all that YA and the author's more recent books are clearly adult. I think Marissa Meyer is an excellent author, I've read all her books and her take on Alice in Wonderland is a real mind bender. Cinder is a good starting place. I've tried The Handmaid's Tale three times and given up three times so that one will never get read. You rated Dark Matter an 11, I gave it a big fat 0. It is for me easily the worst popular book I have ever read. I could go on but overall this was an inte aresting video and I enjoyed what you had to say.

[@WordsinTime]

I’ve read 6 PKD books so far and Maze of Death is high on my list to try next. Thanks for the info on Marissa Meyer. Glad you enjoyed the video!

[@rmckinnon]

27/50 for me. A couple of additional ones were DNF. Regarding the Time Machine, I think it does have an appeal albeit different from when it came out. Nowadays it could be seen as Steampunk. As for Neuromancer, I'm with you. I didn't much like it on the first read. On a re-read years later I loved it.

[@WordsinTime]

Solid score! And interesting that we had similar reading experiences.

[@DoakFelix-qr8uw]

If you equate your favorite meal of your lifetime to your favorite book, then the hunger games is like the first meal an infant gets after mashed peas. The infant thinks that chicken nuggets with ketchup is the greatest thing ever, and that nothing could ever top that. Sure, the author, Collins, ends every chapter with a mini cliffhanger, so that it becomes difficult to set the book down. But it’s story and its themes will not leave you to ponder the nature of the universe nor evaluate yourself. I feel fairly confident in saying that anyone who voted for the hunger games books for this list has not read any real science fiction. But then again, we’ve all read books just to be able to say that we’ve read them.… If only to be able to give a proper critique.

[@WordsinTime]

Haha this is quite the analogy

[@km-bo3zx]

Just finished Hyperion, book #1. I’ll have to take a break, before diving into book #2/#3. While it seems to be well written, except for a few parts, it’s VERY SLOW. So much so that I’m sure I lost some of the important aspects of it along the way. I may have to start in on The Murderbot Diaries, before I get back into it. Cheers!

[@colin1818]

Hyperion is really set up as two duologies. So think of books 1 and 2 as one lengthy tome and books 3 and 4 as the sequel.

[@Joe-lb8qn]

I never got the Murderbot hype. I found book 1 meh,a nd the rest are very expensive and short. Theres really nothing too SF about them or at least not the first one, OK the hero is a robot but could equally be any hard boiled cynical character with a heart of gold, think maybe Bogart in Casablanca, or Clint Eastwoods Dirty Harry, both transposed into an SF setting which is just a different planet but still an evil corporation/organisation to fight, people needing rescue that the hard boiled guy doesnt really want to do or so he says, etc..

[@Joe-lb8qn]

Book 2 of hyperion picks up after the first 100 pages or so, LOL.

[@colin1818]

@@Joe-lb8qn - I read Murderbot 1 and had much the same feeling. But I came back a year later and read books 2 and 3. They're much better than the first book. I still wouldn't give it an "endorsement" but they're at least substantially improved. Still not funny though. I don't get that claim at all.

[@WordsinTime]

That’s okay, I’m a Hyperion fan but I wouldn’t say the first book is fast-paced. I hope you enjoy The Fall of Hyperion if you try it. It takes about 100 pages to get going but I love it.

[@BAMCIS2841]

WOW! Most shelved meaning most bought and paid for? If so, Andy Weir has an impossibly high percentage! Good on him.

[@WordsinTime]

I think it means most read and then categorized as science fiction by Goodreads users. Andy Weir deserves to be up there!

[@cindywingetbooks]

My score was 24. So roughly half. I do own some of the others. I am surprised not to see Children of Time or Reynolds. Cinder is part of a YA series and it's a science fiction retelling of Disney classics (Cinder is Cinderella and is a cyborg, then you also have Little Red Riding Hood, Rapunzel, and Snow White. It sounds girly but I made my husband listen to the audiobooks and he actually ended up liking them, so who knows! 😂)

[@WordsinTime]

Solid score! And yes, I thought Children of Time might be there too. Cinder sounds kind of interesting haha

[@MrWeezer55]

32 out of 50. Missed newer stuff I haven't felt an interest in. Every book you said "I haven't read this but I probably should': Yes. You should.

[@WordsinTime]

Great score!

[@2025Mindfulness]

Love the Murderbot series.

[@WordsinTime]

Glad you enjoyed! 🤖

[@Stephan_Kobalt_Nordstern]

Starship trooper is classic and better than stranger .. but stranger.. stilla must read

[@WordsinTime]

Good to know!

[@lisacole6037]

39/50.... not bad. I can't believe Cinder is on that list. It's decent but top 50 science fiction? No way! Then again, my list would be very, very different from the goodreads one. Artemis is the only Weir I've read and it's not great. Consequently, I've zero desire to read The Martian or that other one.

[@WordsinTime]

Great score! You should give The Martian or Project Hail Mary a try, everyone says they are exponentially better than Artemis!

[@TrynePlague]

I still need to read Dune. But I'm just afraid I won't like it.. I don't like religion in my SciFi, I don't like Star Wars (I'm a Star Trek guy), I didn't like any of the Dune movies... I have no issues with long series of books. I love the Foundation trilogy, the Hainish cycle, Lilith's Brood, Remembrance of Earth's past trilogy (The books that made me love and start reading SciFi. Also, horrible Netflix adaptation). I'm more into first contact and Hard SciFi stuff. Should I still try it out?

[@WordsinTime]

@@TrynePlague It’s probably worth a try just because so many people love it and there’s a chance you love it too. However, it sounds like it might not be to your particular tastes. Don’t feel obligated to try it right away, and if/whenever you happen to be in the mood for it then give it a try then.

[@timburbagereads]

18/50 Pretty pleased with that as not a big SF reader.

[@WordsinTime]

Nice score! I hope some of the others sounded interesting too!

[@shobhitkaul8076]

I had same experience on necromancer

[@WordsinTime]

Yeah, it’s a unique experience.

[@ColonelFredPuntridge]

Also agree about FOUNDATION.

[@WordsinTime]

Definitely an interesting and influential work.

[@ColonelFredPuntridge]

@@WordsinTime I just read a wonderful Asimov story: "Pâté de foie gras". It's vintage state-of-the-1955-art analytical biochemistry, investigating an unlikely sample. This is such a great, low-key, engaging bit of writing. I like it better than many of his more famous stories.

[@Siderite]

Crichton got famous for the Jurassic Park movies, but a lot of his other books are a lot better. The Andromeda Strain, Prey, Congo, Sphere, they were all great, and these are just the ones I read :D

[@WordsinTime]

I own Sphere so I will try that next!

[@Siderite]

@@WordsinTime Personally, I liked Sphere the least. Yet it's a good strategy to start with the weaker ones.

[@anotherbibliophilereads]

I wasn’t keeping count too strictly but I’m probably 40 out of 50.

[@WordsinTime]

Great score!