TOP 10 Sci-Fi Book Series

[@WordsinTime]

Honorable Mentions: Foundation by Isaac Asimov The Culture by Iain M. Banks Red Rising by Pierce Brown

[@ilanahalupovich]

Callahan's Crosstime Saloon series by Spider Robinson (story collections are better than novels IMO

[@aleksandrlukin565]

Foundation - supercool! Now on book 3 of the Culture series. Loving it!

[@Safetysealed]

Foundation only getting an honorable metnion makes me sad.

[@titantv4567]

The video was getting to the end and I started getting worried that there is no Sun Eater, and then 18:55 ❤ YEEESS!

[@WordsinTime]

@@titantv4567 Haha 😅 For the Empire! ⚔️

[@Johanna_reads]

Couldn’t be happier with all the Dark Tower gushing! Loved hearing about all your favorite series, Jonathan! ✨

[@WordsinTime]

@@Johanna_reads Haha thanks Johanna! Long days and pleasant nights!

[@RedFuryBooks]

A great list, Jonathan! We share the same #1, and I look forward to seeing where Sun Eater ends up on my list!

[@WordsinTime]

@@RedFuryBooks Hopefully number 2 haha

[@MenilikHenryDyer]

I knew you'd pick the Hyperion at #1. This is making me want to give it another go.

[@WordsinTime]

@@MenilikHenryDyer Haha hope you enjoy it if you do!

[@Yesica1993]

I need to read it again. It still haunts me after all these years!

[@philiparonson8315]

Hyperion did not do it for me at all. The first book was interesting and pulled me into reading the others. However, by the end of the series I couldn’t stand it any more, I just found I didn’t like any of the characters. It fell apart for me

[@dalejones4322]

I credit you with starting my sci-fi journey. I hadn't read 10 books up to the age of 50. I came across a video where you sang the praises of Hyperion so I bought it and read it. I read the whole series back to back and have been chasing that high every since then. Now about 125 books later and friends with Booktubers I've found a hobby that I truly love. A few series I have loved are "The Giants Series" which starts with "Inherit the Stars", "The Lost Fleet ", and I'm two books into "The Sunken Spaceship" series and it is so fun. Thanks Jonathan for getting me started down this road.

[@WordsinTime]

@@dalejones4322 This is such an awesome comment Dale! I’m glad to be a small part of your journey and that you’ve been enjoying so much sci-fi. I’ll have to look up the Giants series!

[@miljanmatovic880]

Must say it is so much more pleasent watching you without you jumping left and right as you used to do before... the content has always been interesting and good

[@WordsinTime]

@@miljanmatovic880 Character growth ✨

[@miljanmatovic880]

@WordsinTime 😂😂😂 Good job!

[@Gf5572rn]

nice, some good new recs i haven't heard of. Thanks.

[@WordsinTime]

@@Gf5572rn Hope you like them!

[@joemama4570]

I plan to read the Hyperion Cantos and Sun Eater this year so I’m excited to see those are your top 2!

[@WordsinTime]

Yay! I hope you enjoy them as much as I did!

[@djraverts]

Great video, Jonathan! As always, you're guilty of making my TBR grow. 😁 I also prefer The Fall of Hyperion over the others. As for Empire of Silence, it didn't convince me; I hope the series improves. Buscar

[@WordsinTime]

@@djraverts Glad to have you on Team Fall! And most people agree Sun Eater improves with the second book. I would try Howling Dark then decide whether to continue.

[@giulyblaziken268]

Another excellent scifi trilogy I never hear anyone mention is West of Eden. It has such a cool concept: humans existing in a world where dinosaurs never went extinct and some of them have evolved, becoming as smart as humans and more scientifically advanced. I love it but it's very obscure🥲

[@WordsinTime]

@@giulyblaziken268 Sounds cool!

[@SamNot-so-wise]

Excellent list indeed! I am always championing The Culture as it is my favourite. I also really love the Commonwealth Saga. Inhibitor Phase is great!

[@WordsinTime]

@SamNot-so-wise I am a fan of the Culture and the Commonwealth Saga, although I haven’t finished all of the Culture books yet.

[@Talking_Story]

Wow! What a list! The ones I have read I totally agree- Dark Tower, Suneater, Hyperion

[@WordsinTime]

@@Talking_Story I think you would like Daemon. It’s set in Los Angeles about 15 years ago and it’s a detective technothriller!

[@Talking_Story]

@ I will check that out!

[@elisabasta]

great video, jonathan, i didn't know many of these. Liu Cixin's stuff, I relate, I remember reading the trilogy in like a week, at the expense of pretty much everything else, from work to eating, and then keep thinking about this or that for weeks, i love when that happens. I have hyperion in my list for this year, enough, i need to read it.

[@WordsinTime]

@@elisabasta I’m glad you enjoyed the Remembrance of Earth’s Past trilogy! Hope you like Hyperion!

[@gabrielepetrocchi1690]

Great video. I agree with you on Fall of Hyperion. One of the best sci-fi books of all time 💯 it is grand, moving, terrifying, adventurous, philosophical...that is how I like my sci-fi. I have the Endymion sequels on my TBR list 👍🏻

[@WordsinTime]

@@gabrielepetrocchi1690 Glad to have you on Team Fall! I hope you enjoy Endymion!

[@TokraRoch]

Great list Jonathan! My #1 is probably The Space Odyssey Series (4 books) by Arthur C. Clarke. Admittedly the last 2 entries are weaker, but for my money 2001 and 2010 are among the best sci-fi stories ever written.

[@WordsinTime]

@@TokraRoch I loved 2001! I guess I’ll have to get around to reading 2010!

[@paolotrenta9138]

Thank you for your video. How would you rate Blindsight duology?

[@WordsinTime]

@@paolotrenta9138 I’ve only read the first one Blindsight, and I gave it a 9/10!

[@fernbedek6302]

Love the Revelation Space trilogy, which recently got a 4th book, putting the total number of books in the series up to 5.

[@WordsinTime]

@@fernbedek6302 I love the series, looking forward to catching up on Inhibitor Phase.

[@keithdixonnovels]

When I was growing up with SF the only lengthy series around was E.E. Doc Smith's Lensman series, which was fun but a bit juvenile in places. They were really well before my time but republished in the 70s. The only other one was, I guess, the Foundation Trilogy. These days it seems to me that publishers are pressurising authors to produce both fat books and long series to capitalise on a captive audience. I don't have the patience or probably the stamina to get stuck into series these days. You could perhaps have mentioned Le Guin's Hain series (which is not really a series) or James Blish's Cities in Flight or After Such Knowledge series. Thanks for the list anyway!

[@WordsinTime]

@@keithdixonnovels I’ve heard good things about the Lensman series and James Blish. And I put Foundation in my honorable mentions!

[@toddblanchard7765]

I have yet to start the Teixcalaan books (but own the first) and the Jean le Flambeur series (but own the first two). So my key take away is, I won't have to go out and buy a bunch of books to catch up with you. I did not go beyond Babylon Ashes - it stopped me in my tracks with that series. May have to go back and slug through that one to get the rest of that series under my belt. Thanks for the post.

[@WordsinTime]

@@toddblanchard7765 If you liked the first 5 Expanse books I think it’s worth continuing because I thought Babylon’s Ashes was the worst and that the last 3 were some of the best.

[@pepe_sasia]

Thank you for this great list. It seems series with larger amount of books pay a price in your list as there is a rather normal degradation in quality in later books. I wonder if you trimmed the series to up to 3 books where would Dune land for example. Loved the Remembrance trilgy and Hyperion, glad to see them at the top. Foundation original trilogy is a must for every SciFi lover as far as I'm concerned, I'm kind of baffled that it doesn't appear in any top SciFi list anywhere in youtube. Oh well.

[@WordsinTime]

@@pepe_sasia I’m glad you also enjoyed those series! I think Dune is the only one that declined in quality as I am a fan of the later books in all the other series. And Foundation is in my honorable mentions!

[@pepe_sasia]

​@@WordsinTime Oh, I now see your honorable mentions. Cool, thanks for providing futher input, keep the good work, your channel has been very useful for new TBRs and has made me go back and take deeper looks at previous reads!

[@cherylmccutchan1282]

We have some similar tastes here! My focus in 2025 is reading series that I've started and really enjoyed book 1 of. I should be finishing up the Teixcilaan duology next week and reading all of the Sun Eater and Remembrance of Earth's Past this year. Considering adding the Expanse to 2025, but I need to finish up Children of Time, Murderbot, and Ada Palmer's Terra Ignota series first.

[@WordsinTime]

The war against the neverending TBR continues! 🚀

[@cherylmccutchan1282]

@@WordsinTime 1000%!

[@SciFiFinds]

I've only read Hyperion so far but absolutely loved it so I should probably continue on. I have read up to Children of Dune and have liked the series so far but I feel like there has been a step change in quality from book 1-3. I definitely want to get to Revelation Space since I recently read that it was one of the key inspirations for the Mass Effect game series. Cheers.

[@WordsinTime]

@@SciFiFinds Nice! Hope you enjoy Revelation Space!

[@masoodvoon8999]

I'm finishing book 3 of suneater and am enjoying the series but not sure it belongs that high (for me). There are some definite strengths in world building and plot development but I feel some of the secondary characters are developed, especially when concerning their story arcs. I do enjoy any series that shows cultural value conflict and trying to decipher those diifferences/history. The series started out as a little bit of a rip off on Pierce Brown with the society structure and Roman/Greek references but the second book started to veer away from that a little to make its own identity.

[@WordsinTime]

@@masoodvoon8999 Glad you’re enjoying it!

[@FrankOdonnell-ej3hd]

Haven’t read most the series you talked about though I’m aware of them. I was thinking of starting on the Expanse series until I found out it was eight long books. Anyway I have read some other older series like the Mars trilogy by Robinson and the Galactic Center one by Gregory Benford. My opinion of the latter remains very high but the former not so. Interested to hear you say in Suneater how planets with billions of aliens were destroyed. The last author to do that was Greg Bear in Anvil of Stars (another duology) and I can still remember how much fun it was! Be well.⚛️

[@WordsinTime]

@@FrankOdonnell-ej3hd I’ve read two Greg Bear books and liked them so I might have to try Anvil of Stars!

[@ryanhiatt23]

Def most excited about Daemon.

[@WordsinTime]

@@ryanhiatt23 Hope you enjoy it as much as I did!

[@bazoo513]

Some other suggestions for your viewers: - _Culture_ by Iain M. Banks - call it a high brow space opera. Not exactly a series - more of a common universe featuring a not quite perfect utopia run by extremely powerful, benevolent AIs, many "pan-human" characters, plenty of aliens including few bad guys and some even more powerful than our protagonists. (Aha, you did mention it in the comment.) - Vorkosigan Saga by Lois McMaster Bujold - 15-ish novels and four or five novellas with elements of space opera (military and otherwise), study of diverse societies, quite a bit of humor, even a touch of romance. - Somewhat similar _Honorverse_ series by David Weber - large, ongoing military space opera series. - More military SciFi, a bit darker: _Frontline_ by Marko Kloos, _The Forever War_ and sequels by Joe Haldeman, _Old Man's War_ and sequels by John Scalzi - _Wayfarers_ by Becky Chambers - an extremely warm, character-driven series, but still featuring an occasional pirate and plenty of interesting aliens and AIs. A good respite from all that violence above. - _Vatta's War/Peace_ by Elizabeth Moon and _Familias Regnant_ by the same author (a.k.a. _Serrano/Suiza_ saga - a trilogy and two dologies, all connected, so I consider them a single series); both are mostly military SciFi, but with very interesting characters and well developed societies. - Eight or so mammoth series by Peter F. Hamilton, set in several different fictional universes. Quite good worldbuilding. - On a darker side, Lilith's Brood, Patternist and _Earthseed_ series by Octavia E. Butler. - If you are willing to go to a level one notch above pulp, the choice is enormous, as there are many over-prolific authors. Most works are cookie-cutter similar, but an occasional gem is still there to be found.

[@WordsinTime]

@@bazoo513 Thanks for the recommendations! I have read and enjoyed books from Banks, Haldeman, Scalzi, Butler, and Hamilton. I’ve also tried Chambers and Bujold and will give them another chance. I’ll have to try the others!

[@richardbrown8966]

You should check out the Xeelee series of novels and short stories by Stephen Baxter. Hard science fiction in the tradition of Arthur C Clarke, Iain M Banks and Alastair Reynolds, who is actually his good friend. Also, no Peter F Hamilton?

[@WordsinTime]

@@richardbrown8966 I’ve read Ring by Baxter and loved it. And I liked the Commonwealth Saga by Hamilton.

[@Marcus-id5ur]

Interesting list. I hated the Memory book and 3BP, gonna have to check out Daemon. The rest i find good to great. My personal list would have more Peter Hamilton, Richard K Morgan and Stephen Donaldson on it.

[@WordsinTime]

@@Marcus-id5ur I liked the Commonwealth Saga and loved Altered Carbon. I’ll have to try Donaldson.

[@norb6492]

David Zindell’s Neverness series. Very cerebral, and post-post-modern, but not exclusively so. Only two POV, or possibly one. Not for everyone, but I love it deeply. Girl with All the Gifts is great. New take on the post horror zombie genre. Movie is pretty good as well.

[@WordsinTime]

@@norb6492 I own Neverness but haven’t read it yet, but I’m excited to! And I’m looking forward to The Girl With All the Gifts!

[@jamesduncan578]

Hit the Sci-Fi scene in the late 60's and early 70's- Asimov, Heinlein, A.C.Clarke. The Lord of the Rings and Dune came next with the First three books of the Dark Tower in the 80's being my intro to Steven King ( I did finish the series as they came out and recently reread them). Family life and careers put a pause on reading. Since I retired I am resurrecting the path and Daniel Suarez and Cixin Lin have been some of my favorites. I thought the Remembrance of Earth Past was mind blowing. I found the Silo series very entertaining also. I have made a list of your recommendations and will be seeking them out.

[@WordsinTime]

@@jamesduncan578 That’s awesome! I’m glad you also enjoyed those authors!

[@olavirannisto3552]

Silo was otherwise good, but part 2 was pointless and boring.

[@alving4tube]

Great video, Jonathan. I have not read most of these series, but having just finished Empire of Silence (which was pretty meh), I am surprised that Sun Eater is number 2 (beat out only by Hyperion for the top spot!). Should I conclude that the series gets way better as it goes, or that the other series are worse? Also, it's been a minute since I read it, but I really enjoyed The Girl With All The Gifts (book better than movie).

[@WordsinTime]

@@alving4tube Most people seem to agree that Sun Eater improves. I would try Howling Dark and then decide after that one.

[@Marcus-id5ur]

I've only read the first 3 but I saw definite improvement as he progressed. Wasn't a huge fan of the 1st, and some of my issues with the books persisted (I'm really not a fan of Hadrian, and since he is the one telling the story...) but by book 3 it was really hitting it's stride.

[@abdullahisayuti6698]

Small correction, book 7 of the Sun Eater: Shadows Upon Time comes out in November this tears confirmed by the author just last week.

[@WordsinTime]

I saw that Ruocchio is aiming for a November/December release but haven’t seen an official release date confirmed. I can’t wait for it!

[@psifiguy]

It seems you are impactful on the books I've been reading. I've either read or in the process of reading or on the pile of pending books to read. Very much enjoyed Alistair Reynolds books I've read so far, read the first couple of Dune and will continue (I've been getting the Folio Society editions), The Expanse was a great series. I did order A Memory Called Empire/A Descolation Called Peace and the Quantum Theif (see if I like it) and Daemon/Freedom and the 1st couple of books of Sun Eater (given all the comparisons between that and Red Rising I thought it best try it to see if I like it given RR was a HUGE miss for me expecially after reading The Expanse and other hard SF and I found the plotting/tactics were horrible - yes, I read 1-4 hoping RR would improve). I'm also giving some Greg Egan writings a chance. I've read some of the short stories that I found a little hit/miss but will read a couple of his novels a chance. I read the 1st 2 Hyperion novels and Dark Tower series intermingled with SK novels/short stories to get the full vision. Some day I may give 3 body problem a chance. Some other series I really enjoyed: The Lensmen (book 1 is hard to get through), War against the Chtorr (unfortunately it ends with a cliffhanger and I doubt the next book will ever come out), Asimov's Robot series and short stories, Oxford Time Travel by Connie Willis, Old Man's War. All the best to you and your family. Hope all of you are ok after the LA fires - think you mentioned your place was ok.

[@WordsinTime]

@@psifiguy That’s awesome! Hope you enjoy those and thanks for the recommendations!

[@TaylorCantTint]

22:17 I feel this I’m tossing the idea of trying KZbin so I can talk about Spy novels.

[@WordsinTime]

@@TaylorCantTint That’s cool! If you have the time available I would say to give it a go!

[@markphillips3186]

Not a bad list. Admittedly I have only read the first book in Rememberance of Earth’s Past and the Jean le Flambeur Trilogies. Missing, in my opinion are: Brian Aldiss’ trilogy Heliconia (1982-1985), it starts with Hellconia Spring. it is similar in some ways to N.K. Jemison’ Broken Earth Trilogy being about a world that goes through destructive cycles in which the world’s inhabitants fall back into a primitive existence rising back to civilization between destructive cycles; Stephen Baxter’s Xeelee Sequence, nine novels and three anthologies) about a Galactic war between Humanity and the Xeelee, the first book is Raft (1991) but the Xeelee are not mentioned, I would suggest starting with Xeelee: An Omnibus that contains the first four novels. Though there is another way to read it in chronological order starting with Coalescent (2003). But to be honest, I believe starting with the Omnibus works best. Another one that I loved when it was published in the 1980s was S.P. Somtow’s Chronicles of the High Inquest a space opera that was definitely influenced by Cordwainer Smith. Five novels are in the series. I also love Paul J. MacAuley’s The Confluence series (1997-1999). Three novels about an artificial world at the end of time at the edge of the galaxy; and finally Ken McLeod’s Fall Revolution series a series of four novels (1995-1999) about two futures following the Balkanisation of Britain in the near future.

[@WordsinTime]

@@markphillips3186 I have only read one Aldiss book and one Baxter book but I loved them!

[@sgriffin9960]

I'd really like to get to the Sun Eater series.

[@WordsinTime]

@@sgriffin9960 Hope you enjoy it! ⚔️

[@douglasdea637]

Interesting. Haven't even heard of two of these series. Disappointed Foundation is an honorable mention. No Heechee, no Uplift. Bobiverse may be worthy of honorable mention, as is Berserker (Saberhagen I've read a lot of, but I admit he's not great, just good and steady.)

[@WordsinTime]

@@douglasdea637 I’ve read one book each from Heechee, Uplift, and Bobiverse. I liked them but didn’t feel compelled to read the entire series.

[@keithdixonnovels]

Isn't the pronunciation 'Can-toes' rather than Can-toss? Plural of Canto, and an equivalent to Tales in the Canterbury Tales, on which the series is modelled?

[@WordsinTime]

@@keithdixonnovels I think you are correct. I Googled the pronunciation and the UK pronunciation has more of a Z sound and the US has more of an S sound.

[@havocmaverick]

The girl with all the gifts was a good book

[@WordsinTime]

@@havocmaverick That’s good to hear!

[@Kari-qv1wn]

Have you read ilium by dan simmons? I personally like it even better than hyperion.

[@WordsinTime]

@@Kari-qv1wn Yes, I liked it a lot as well!

[@BobbyHall-eu1xv]

If you like the ideas in Dune but find the prose dry (or even if you don't!) then A Requiem For Homo Sapiens cycle by David Zindell is for you, starting with Neverness.

[@WordsinTime]

@@BobbyHall-eu1xv I own Neverness but haven’t read it yet. I’m looking forward to it, thanks!

[@scb0212]

No Hitchhiker’s Guide…? Don’t panic, don’t panic, don’t panic…

[@WordsinTime]

@@scb0212 I’ve read the first two. I loved the first and liked the second.

[@booksnphilosophy]

Does Dune work as a stand-alone, or do you really need to read the series? oh wait NVM you just answered that. How had I missed Hyperion? I'm gonna need to retire so I have more time to read. Oh your February pick - I've seen the film of it, it was AMAZING. Haven't read the book yet.

[@WordsinTime]

@@booksnphilosophy Yes, it doesn’t wrap everything up completely, but I think it works on its own.

[@EricLucero]

Dune is my favorite sci-fi book of all time as a stand alone. You absolutely do not need to continue on. In fact many would argue that you don’t.

[@jcrodr217]

Okay okay okay , booktube , I'll read The Dark Tower 😅

[@WordsinTime]

@@jcrodr217 Haha I wish you “long days and pleasant nights”!

[@gorans.849]

The Book of the New Sun, more science fantasy than science fiction, but it has some science… 🙂

[@WordsinTime]

@@gorans.849 I tried the first book and it didn’t work for me but I know people love it!

[@experi-mentalproductions5358]

I don't know if it counts, as it's more of an Expanded Universe than a series, but Larry Niven's 'Known Space' (of which Ringworld is just one small piece) is one of the best, and the one that I own the most of. And also Arthur C. Clarke's 'Space Odyssey' quadrilogy is one of my favourites too (and I actually prefer '2010: Odyssey Two' to the first book).

[@WordsinTime]

@@experi-mentalproductions5358 I love 2001 but haven’t read 2010 yet!

[@experi-mentalproductions5358]

@@WordsinTime Have you gotten around to reading Ringworld yet?

[@WordsinTime]

@ I plan to read it this month!

[@olavirannisto3552]

Ursula Le Guin: Hainish Cycle. Not the actual series, though.

[@WordsinTime]

@@olavirannisto3552 I’ve read The Left Hand of Darkness and The Lathe of Heaven but Lathe isn’t part of the Hainish Cycle.

[@olavirannisto3552]

@@WordsinTime Yes, the first three of the cycle are: Rocannon's World, Planet of Exile and City of Illusions.

[@NevsBookChannel]

Yikes, I’ve got a lot to read. Of this list, I’ve only read the Dune series. (Hangs head in shame…)

[@WordsinTime]

@@NevsBookChannel Haha that’s okay! I hope some of the others sounded interesting!

[@khomo12]

👍👍👍📚🐲🚀🤖

[@WordsinTime]

@@khomo12 🤝

[@almightygun]

Where's the bobiverse?

[@WordsinTime]

@@almightygun I liked the first book but haven’t continued the series yet.

[@clash5j]

This was a a nice video! I’ve read a few of these and the Teixcalaan books are on my 2025 TBR I don’t know if you’ve begun the John Varley book but I’m very curious to get your thoughts on it and whether it gets a thumbs 👍 or thumbs down 👎🏻

[@WordsinTime]

@@clash5j Thanks! I hope you enjoy Teixcalaan. I plan on making a video that includes Titan by John Varley in the next couple of weeks!

[@Tokayd13]

@@WordsinTime Oh, I'm looking forward to that. I read Titan years ago, the entire trilogy, and I remember it as being pretty trippy. I have my original paperbacks still, so I may go back in.