7 SCI-FI SUBGENRES (With Recommendations)

[@CD287-]

I enjoy this type of content! I want to read all of these and explore more sci-fi! Great job differentiating these genres to this sci-fi newb, thanks! 🌌

[@WordsinTime]

Thanks for the awesome feedback, I’m glad the video was helpful! Let me know if you pick any of these up!

[@Alienapoc]

Great list! The Hyperion Cantos is my my favorite book series. Dan Simmons does a wonderful job crossing most (if not all) of the sub genres on this list. Quite possibly the one series above all to dip your toes into each.

[@WordsinTime]

Thanks Ben! Yes, the Hyperion Cantos is amazing and incorporates a range of sub genres. It’s incredibly ambitious and I think mostly successful!

[@dinocollins720]

I read Hyperion because of your channel and loved it!!!

[@WordsinTime]

That’s great! I’m glad you enjoyed it, I think Hyperion is spectacular!

[@cindyo6298]

They also made a Childhood's End TV mini series, and it was really good.

[@WordsinTime]

That’s awesome to hear Cindy, I will have to check it out!

[@thepapertraveler1122]

Yes, I would love to see more videos like this one! Time travel and dystopian are my favorites in the Sci-fi genre. I read a good one earlier this year called All Our Wrong Todays by Elan Mastai that features time travel and a utopian society.

[@WordsinTime]

Awesome, thanks! I actually picked up All Our Wrong Todays at an airport and enjoyed it. I had some minor issues with the writing but liked the story!

[@theprimealpha4639]

Great to see that I have almost all of your recommendations in my TBR. Currently reading Childhood’s End, very interesting. Great video btw

[@WordsinTime]

Thanks so much! I hope you enjoy them. Let me know what you think of Childhood’s End when you finish!

[@TuftyMcTavish]

I have some alternative suggestions for you to try: 🚀 Hard SF: “Ring” book by Stephen Baxter. 🚀 Military SF: “The Palladium Wars” series by Marko Kloos. 🚀 Space Opera: “Commonwealth Saga” series by Peter F. Hamilton. 🚀 Dystopian SF: “Silo” series by Hugh Howey. 🚀 First Contact: “Semiosis” book by Sue Burke. 🚀 Cyberpunk: Not a huge fan of this sub genre, so nothing to suggest here. 🚀 Time Travel: “Weapons of Choice” book by John Birmingham. Which of these have you read already?

[@WordsinTime]

I haven’t read any of these but the Commonwealth Saga and Silo are on my TBR for this year. Thanks for the recommendations!

[@tedbrasso6831]

Looove Pandora's Star!

[@WordsinTime]

@@tedbrasso6831 It’s on my loose schedule for July!

[@jacobgriesinger4067]

I LOVE the silo series! Sand is also good by Hugh.

[@WordsinTime]

@@jacobgriesinger4067 Wool is on my TBR. I’m looking forward to it!

[@pandittroublejr]

Thank you...❣️❣️ Should do the same video but with lesser known books as example... Like underrated books in each subgenres... Even though I not read any of these books, I already heard of them...🙏🏾🤝🏾📚

[@WordsinTime]

You’re welcome Pandit, I’m glad you enjoyed the video! I will have a think about some underrated books that I can recommend!

[@YourQueerGreatAuntie]

I thought exactly the same... or featuring under-read authors like Octavia Butler, Elizabeth Bear or John Wyndham

[@rachelthompson9324]

I have a new one for you. It's to do with social satire. I use it in most of my sci-fi novels. Its a method I would name after Kurt Vonnegut's techniques. Sci-fi satire maybe? Dug Adams was more like sci-fi slap-stick comedy and deserves yet another category.

[@WordsinTime]

That’s a good sub-category Rachel!

[@neemarafi]

Great list, loved hearing your recommendations for each sub-genre!

[@WordsinTime]

Thanks so much! Let me know if you pick any of them up!

[@Knick42]

Snow Crash was really good!

[@WordsinTime]

Awesome! I just bought it and will be reading it later this year!

[@danielgoldberg5357]

Love this kind of content - saves me a lot of time by zooming in on the books that are actually worth reading!

[@WordsinTime]

I’m glad it’s helpful Daniel! I hope you enjoy them!

[@dinocollins720]

Another fantastic video! Thank you!

[@WordsinTime]

I’m glad you liked it Dino!

[@Scottlp2]

For hard SF: The Martian-pretty sure was so popular he sold the movie rights, before he had book deal (it was free on his web site). Wide general appeal.

[@WordsinTime]

Andy Weir is excellent at making hard sci-fi accessible. Love The Martian and Project Hail Mary!

[@dinocollins720]

You keep adding to my tbr haha. Stop it!!! lol

[@WordsinTime]

The more I read the longer the TBR seems to get!

[@vilstef6988]

Military sci-fi, try Home Fires, which is Gene Wolfe stepping into Joe Haldeman territory with the story leaning into relationships after the hitch ends.

[@WordsinTime]

Interesting, I’ll check it out! Thanks for the recommendation!

[@mohammedarmanulhaq]

My favourite sub-genres are artificial intelligence, time travel & multiverse (if it counts as a sub-genre). Basically, I like to read all sub-genres so that my reading horizon keeps expanding. 😊 Speaking of space opera standalones, I finished reading Providence by Max Barry which I really enjoyed 💯🔥

[@WordsinTime]

Those are 3 of my favourite subgenres as well! I will look up Providence, thanks for the recommendation!

[@AstroMaja22]

great vid! don't know if I would personally put the three body problem into hard sci-fi, but I can see the merit!

[@WordsinTime]

Glad you enjoyed!

[@caseyknolla8419]

Very useful style of video, and well presented. I'd like to request that the book title and author appear as text on screen when mentioned, or in the description for ease of looking them up.

[@WordsinTime]

Thanks Casey, I'm glad it was helpful! Here is the full list for you: Hard Sci-Fi Rendezvous with Rama House of Suns The Three-Body Problem Military Sci-Fi The Forever War Ender’s Game Old Man’s War Space Opera Hyperion Cantos The Expanse Sun Eater Dystopian Fahrenheit 451 Brave New World 1984 First Contact The Mote in God’s Eye The War of the Worlds Childhood’s End Cyberpunk Neuromancer Snow Crash Altered Carbon Time Travel The Time Machine Replay Recursion

[@YourQueerGreatAuntie]

@@WordsinTime I presume someone has pointed out that you said "Replay" in the video when you introduced "Recursion"? I genuinely thought you were making a joke!😄

[@WordsinTime]

@@YourQueerGreatAuntie I should pretend I was joking, but I just made a mistake haha

[@BookishChas]

Great recommendations! I’ve been wanting to read Cixin Liu for a while, and also Sun Eater. I’m reading Leviathan Wakes right now and loving it! I DNFd Neuromancer. 😢

[@WordsinTime]

Thanks Chas! I’m glad you’re enjoying Leviathan Wakes! I love Remembrance of Earth’s Past and Sun Eater! Neuromancer is definitely a tough read. I enjoy reading about it more than I actually enjoyed reading the book itself.

[@Rogue_VI]

Don't feel bad about Neuromancer. I was hugely disappointed with it. It was supposedly genre-defining, but I thought it was mostly boring.

[@dinocollins720]

Speaking of time travel have you watched Dark??? I'd love to see a video on your top adaptations!

[@WordsinTime]

I haven’t watched Dark but I have heard good things! I will have a think about some of my favourite sci-fi adaptations!

[@dinocollins720]

@@WordsinTime Any time travel fan has to watch it! I'm going to make a bold statemen and say it's the best time travel show ever!!! Back to the Future is an all time favorite for me (and I think better overall) but as far as exploring time travel concepts, Dark is the GOAT!!!

[@dinocollins720]

@@WordsinTime you have to use English dubs but they aren't bad

[@WordsinTime]

@@dinocollins720 Woah, that’s high praise indeed!

[@jukkavesanen9632]

I would put Three Body Problem in the first contact category and House of Suns as space opera. Hyperion is more like fantasy setup than space opera in it's purest form.

[@WordsinTime]

That’s fair. They all blend genres, especially Hyperion!

[@jaimeosbourn3616]

For military sf I'd swap out old man's war for Weber's "Honor Harrington" series. And for First Contact Murray Leinster specialized in that genre.

[@WordsinTime]

I recently received the first Honor Harrington book as a gift! I’ll have to check out Murray Leinster, thanks!

[@toddmoore9841]

As a rule, I dislike time travel stories. However, I can recommend two that I really enjoyed. The first is a classic, The End of Eternity by Isaac Asimov. The recent Loki series borrowed several ideas from it. The second is Cowboy Feng's Space Bar and Grill by Steven Brust, which is just a fun read.

[@WordsinTime]

Thanks for the recommendations Todd! The End of Eternity is on my TBR list. I’ll check out Cowboy Feng’s Space Bar and Grill as well!

[@Scottlp2]

@@WordsinTime Brust is great fun. He writes mostly fantasy e.g. Brokedown Palace, and To Reign in Hell (retelling of rebellion of angels vs god) are both excellent but Cowboy's Feng is another wild ride very worth reading.

[@UncleMonk23]

Some of the best books you could mention for each genre you recommended and I highly do to but some other under the radar recommendations and or honorable mentions including Andy Weir for hard SciFi he combined with Alastair Reynolds some of the better modern hard SciFi authors to check out as for first contact I would recommend Blindsight by Peter Watts one of the better more modern first contact books as for military/space opera Vernor Vinge A Fire Upon the Deep and a Deepness in the sky Top 20 all time SciFi for me and also Space Opera legend Peter F Hamilton Commonwealth Saga/Universe, The Reality Dysfunction and the Salvation Sequence and a more contemporary series Red Rising from Pierce Brown as well…These are just a few honorable mentions and slightly lesser known books and authors of these genres readers may want to look into as well…Thanks Jonathan

[@WordsinTime]

Great input Bob, and thanks for the recommendations! I’m looking forward to reading the Commonwealth Saga in a few months and Blindsight is on my TBR as well!

[@TheTeamdom]

Old Man's War is the best military scifi.

[@WordsinTime]

Nice! I’m glad you enjoyed it!

[@spcostner]

I would recommend the Lost Fleet series by Jack Campbell for Military Scifi. Excellent series and there are a bunch of spin off series' if you like the universe and the writer.

[@WordsinTime]

Thanks for the recommendation Stephen! I’ll check out the Lost Fleet!

[@thatfuzzypotato1877]

I loved the lost fleet!

[@JamesI88]

if nobody told you, you accidentally say replay instead if recursion 😊 great video though. more books to buy

[@WordsinTime]

Haha I noticed this while editing and of all the titles to accidentally say again, Replay would coincidentally have to be the best one. I’m glad you enjoyed the video and found some books to add to your TBR!

[@Gabriela-.]

Hi, have you read any Star Wars books? I have never had any contact with this franchise and I intend to buy some books, but I don't know if they are good, do they look like space opera?

[@WordsinTime]

I have watched all the films but I haven’t actually read any of the books. I believe they are considered space opera and I’ve heard good things about The Thrawn Trilogy.

[@Rogue_VI]

The Thrawn Trilogy is really good. Most of the stuff to come out after up to The New Jedi Order was also worth reading. NJO was also really good. But most everything to come out after that arc pretty meh. Except for Karen Traviss' Republic Commando books. I loved those.

[@Gabriela-.]

@@Rogue_VI Thanks for the recommendations😁

[@Rogue_VI]

@@Gabriela-. You're welcome!

[@zrienkersh1475]

I’m here for this green screen.

[@WordsinTime]

Haha I’m glad you liked the backgrounds!

[@Gabriela-.]

I would like to know more books that explore aliens but in terms of horror, horror with aliens, do you know any? By the way, there is a very good trilogy of books that you might like, its name is "Sleeping Giants" by Sylvain Neuvel.

[@WordsinTime]

I don’t read a lot of horror (too scary for me haha). I would say Hyperion is a good sci-fi series with horror elements, although it’s not so much about aliens. Sun Eater also has aliens that are pretty scary called Cielcin and you learn more about them as the series goes on. Thanks for the recommendation of Sleeping Giants!

[@seanmcmurphy4744]

Most of your choices actually fit in the category of “hard” sf, I’d say you are a hard sf fan. Nothing wrong with that. But in my opinion you have omitted the genre of true “soft” sf, as exemplified by Margaret Atwood, James Tiptree Jr., Octavia Butler, Ursula LeGuin, Ted Chiang, and Connie Wills.

[@WordsinTime]

Hi Sean, I have read several of those writers and Connie Willis is on my TBR. I considered including soft sci-fi but it felt a bit broad. Perhaps in the future I will make another video with more subgenres and include soft sci-fi!

[@seanmcmurphy4744]

@@WordsinTime 👍

[@YourQueerGreatAuntie]

I would consider a lot of those authors as social sci-fi? As in, writing about social consequences of certain directions in human development. They often get squished into "dystopia", but there are many gradations within each of these genres!

[@YourQueerGreatAuntie]

This is why I like the term "speculative fiction" (also S-F handily), because it has more scope for this kind of writing, while including genres like fantasy, magico-realism and even some historical fictions (the "what-if" kind)

[@seanmcmurphy4744]

@@YourQueerGreatAuntie All those categories would probably come under the umbrella term "soft science fiction", which is about the social and psychological consequences of future technology, as opposed to "hard science fiction" which is about the physical consequences of future technology - people (usually men) solving technological problems with future science. As your remark shows, there has been an explosion in popularity of soft SF in recent years.

[@BAMCIS2841]

I would have recommended The Culture series/universe by Iain M Banks for Space Opera. Also, for military come on.....come on.....40K.........or is that far future dystopian?

[@WordsinTime]

I have read The Player of Games and Use of Weapons. I’m looking forward to reading more of the Culture series. I haven’t read any 40K but I’m glad to hear you like it!

[@BAMCIS2841]

@@WordsinTime Consider Phlebas and The Algebraist ( "not" set in the Culture universe but it is to me ) are real bangers. 40K is ...ah..well not everyone's cup of tea.

[@WordsinTime]

@@BAMCIS2841 I own Consider Phlebas so I’ll look forward to that one!

[@jeffjones229]

Problems with The Three Body Problem. I finally broke down and read this book. While it was innovative, character driven and told it's story in a way reminiscent of World War Z, I hope had some serious issues with the story. The pseudo science parts broke my suspension of disbelief. The science was far too speculative for the current time. I couldn't be convinced that physics was broken, or that many top scientists would behave this way. Having said that, the storytelling, world building and character development were darned amazing. I haven't decided if I will continue with The Dark Forest. I don't know that I can tolerate the flaws.

[@WordsinTime]

Interesting! Personally, I think the story gets much bigger and better in The Dark Forest and Death’s End. But I think you will still find there to be pseudo science.

[@jeffjones229]

I'm going to divert and think about it. Currently reading A Fire Upon The Deep and then Ancillary Justice. I'll probably circle back with The Dark Forest after 3 body settles in my head.

[@WordsinTime]

@@jeffjones229 There’s lots of interesting ideas in those two!