Escape Reality: Science Fiction Reading Recommendations
Discover top science fiction books to escape reality! Explore our curated list of must-read escape fiction recommendations for thrilling adventures and new worlds.
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A Deepness in the Sky
by Vernor Vinge
After thousands of years searching, humans stand on the verge of first contact with an alien race. Two human groups: the Qeng Ho, a culture of free traders, and the Emergents, a ruthless society based on the technological enslavement of minds. The group that opens trade with the aliens will reap unimaginable riches. But first, both groups must wait at the aliens' very doorstep for their strange star to relight and for their planet to reawaken, as it does every two hundred and fifty years.... Then, following terrible treachery, the Qeng Ho must fight for their freedom and for the lives of the unsuspecting innocents on the planet below, while the aliens themselves play a role unsuspected by the Qeng Ho and Emergents alike. More than just a great science fiction adventure, A Deepness in the Sky is a universal drama of courage, self-discovery, and the redemptive power of love. A Deepness in the Sky is a 1999 Nebula Award Nominee for Best Novel and the winner of the 2000 Hugo Award for Best Novel.
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A Fire Upon The Deep
by Vernor Vinge
A Fire Upon the Deep is the big, breakout book that fulfills the promise of Vinge's career to date: a gripping tale of galactic war told on a cosmic scale. Thousands of years hence, many races inhabit a universe where a mind's potential is determined by its location in space, from superintelligent entities in the Transcend, to the limited minds of the Unthinking Depths, where only simple creatures and technology can function. Nobody knows what strange force partitioned space into these "regions of thought," but when the warring Straumli realm use an ancient Transcendent artifact as a weapon, they unwittingly unleash an awesome power that destroys thousands of worlds and enslaves all natural and artificial intelligence. Fleeing the threat, a family of scientists, including two children, are taken captive by the Tines, an alien race with a harsh medieval culture, and used as pawns in a ruthless power struggle. A rescue mission, not entirely composed of humans, must rescue the children-and a secret that may save the rest of interstellar civilization. A Fire Upon The Deep is the winner of the 1993 Hugo Award for Best Novel.
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The Last Colony
by John Scalzi
Retired from his fighting days, John Perry is now village ombudsman for a human colony on distant Huckleberry. With his wife, former Special Forces warrior Jane Sagan, he farms several acres, adjudicates local disputes, and enjoys watching his adopted daughter grow up. That is, until his and Jane's past reaches out to bring them back into the game â as leaders of a new human colony, to be peopled by settlers from all the major human worlds, for a deep political purpose that will put Perry and Sagan back in the thick of interstellar politics, betrayal, and war. "Scalzi's Hugo finalist, Old Man's War first spawned the equally entertaining Ghost Brigades. And now, a third volume reprises the story of John Perry, former planet-hopping soldier who has now traded his genetically enhanced second body for a commonplace one and a peaceful retirement. Free from the stresses of battle, he's enjoying domestic bliss with his wife and adopted daughter on a remote Colonial Union world. Then a former commanding general drops by with a tempting proposal. Perry and his wife are apparently the perfect candidates to lead a promising new colony populated by citizens from 10 worlds. They accept, but then the CU deceitfully strands them and their charges on an unknown world. Perry discovers they are pawns in a deadly game calculated to destroy an alien coalition whose purposes include blocking further human colonization . . . Scalzi's captivating blend of off-world adventure and political intrigue remains consistently engaging."âCarl Hays, Booklist âFull of whodunit twists and explosive action, Scalzi's third SF novel [is] entertaining storytelling on a very human scale. Several years after the events of The Ghost Brigades (2006), John Perry, the hero of Old Man's War (2005), and Jane Sagan are leading a normal life as administrator and constable on the colonial planet Huckleberry with their adopted daughter, ZoĂ«, when they get conscripted to run a new colony, ominously named Roanoke. When the colonists are dropped onto a different planet than the one they expected, they find themselves caught in a confrontation between the human Colonial Union and the alien confederation called the Conclave. Hugo-finalist Scalzi avoids political allegory, promoting individual compassion and honesty and downplaying patriotic loyaltyâexcept in the case of the inscrutable Obin, hive-mind aliens whose devotion to ZoĂ« will remind fans of the benevolent role Captain Nemo plays in Verne's Mysterious Island.ââPublishers Weekly
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The Ghost Brigades
by John Scalzi
The Ghost Brigades are the Special Forces of the Colonial Defense Forces, elite troops created from the DNA of the dead and turned into the perfect soldiers for the CDF's toughest operations. Theyâre young, theyâre fast and strong, and theyâre totally without normal human qualms. The universe is a dangerous place for humanityâand it's about to become far more dangerous. Three races that humans have clashed with before have allied to halt our expansion into space. Their linchpin: the turncoat military scientist Charles Boutin, who knows the CDFâs biggest military secrets. To prevail, the CDF must find out why Boutin did what he did. Jared Dirac is the only human who can provide answers -- a superhuman hybrid, created from Boutin's DNA, Jaredâs brain should be able to access Boutin's electronic memories. But when the memory transplant appears to fail, Jared is given to the Ghost Brigades. At first, Jared is a perfect soldier, but as Boutinâs memories slowly surface, Jared begins to intuit the reasonâs for Boutinâs betrayal. As Jared desperately hunts for his "father," he must also come to grips with his own choices. Time is running out: The alliance is preparing its offensive, and some of them plan worse things than humanityâs mere military defeat... "A mix of Starship Troopers and Universal Soldier, Ghost Brigades evokes awakening, betrayal, and combat in the best military sci-fi tradition."âEntertainment Weekly "An impressive piece of work."âPhiladelphia Inquirer "Fast and deep . . . I like the galaxy this author's playing in, the characters he limns, the situations he's playing with, and I'm glad there's at least one more volume on the way."âSan Diego Union-Tribune "In Heinleinesque fashion, the book is loaded with scenes of comradeship, isolation, ruthlessness and the protocols, which govern the lives of active-duty soldiers. But this is where Scalzi, famous for his blog âThe Whatever,â surpasses Heinlein. Scalzi weaves in subtle discussions of humanity's growing fear of aging and our simultaneous attraction and repulsion to the Frankenstein-like creatures we are able to create."âSan Antonio Express-News "Scalzi is a natural heir to Heinlein, and his second book in this series is a good old-fashioned space opera, which takes time to question the nature of free will."âSt. Louis Press-Dispatch "The alliance of three alien races against interstellar humanity, the defection of a human military scientist, and the signs of an impending war call for desperate measures from the Colonial Defense Forces. The creation of the superhuman hybrid Jared Dirac from the DNA of the traitor Charles Boutin is intended to provide a window on Boutin's mind and on the reasons for the alien alliance, but the transfer apparently fails, and Dirac is assigned to the Ghost Brigades, Special Forces troops cloned from the DNA of dead men minus any moral qualms. The sequel to Old Man's War combines taut military action with keen insights into the moral issues revolving around developing technologies. Scalzi has a finely tuned sense of balance between personal drama and the âbig pictureâ in this SCI FI Essential Book choice. Highly recommended."âLibrary Journal (starred review) "Scalzi's riveting and original Old Man's War introduced readers to the Colonial Defense Forces (CDF), an Earth-based galactic army composed of senior citizens rejuvenated by high-tech wizardry into youthful warriors. In this equally engaging, battle-driven sequel, the CDF's latest operation entails tracking down renegade scientist Charles Boutin, who is responsible for handing over deadly military secrets to humanity's extraterrestrial enemies. Fortunately, a computer-based replica of Boutin's consciousness is on file and ready for transfer into newly cloned special-forces soldier Jirad Dirac, who shares Boutin's DNA. When the consciousness transfer doesn't quite take, Dirac is handed off to a battalion for routine but closely monitored training. Just when Dirac is getting comfortable with his own identity, however, Boutin's memories kick in, and Dirac and his team are summarily dispatched to an enemy planet to capture Boutin and solve the mystery of his treason before humanity is destroyed. Scalzi skillfully weaves together action, memorable characterizations, and a touch of philosophy in a first-rate military sf outing."âCarl Hays, Booklist "[A] fast-paced interstellar military drama . . . It follows Jared Dirac, a superhuman soldier, from unusual birth to ambiguous death. Dirac is an altered clone of Charles Boutin, a military scientist who betrayed humankind to alien aggressors, and the Colonial Defense Forces' only hope of finding Boutin lies in transplanting his memories into Dirac's brain. When the transplant seems to fail, Dirac is sent to Special Forces, known as the Ghost Brigades for their habit of creating new soldiers from the DNA of the dead. His indoctrination there comes in handy when Boutin's memories begin to surface. Scalzi pays gleeful homage to Ender's Game, The Forever War and Starship Troopers."âPublishers Weekly
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Old Man's War
by John Scalzi
John Perry did two things on his 75th birthday. First he visited his wifeâs grave. Then he joined the army. The good news is that humanity finally made it into interstellar space. The bad news is that planets fit to live on are scarceâand alien races willing to fight us for them are common. So: we fight. To defend Earth, and to stake our own claim to planetary real estate. Far from Earth, the war has been going on for decades: brutal, bloody, unyielding. Earth itself is a backwater. The bulk of humanityâs resources are in the hands of the Colonial Defense Force. Everybody knows that when you reach retirement age, you can join the CDF. They donât want young people; they want people who carry the knowledge and skills of decades of living. Youâll be taken off Earth and never allowed to return. Youâll serve two years at the front. And if you survive, youâll be given a generous homestead stake of your own, on one of our hard-won colony planets. John Perry is taking that deal. He has only the vaguest idea what to expect. Because the actual fight, light-years from home, is far, far harder than he can imagineâand what he will become is far stranger. "Solid . . . [Scalzi] sidesteps most of the clichĂ©s of military science fiction, delivers fast-paced scenes of combat and pays attention to the science underpinning his premise." âSan Francisco Chronicle "Scalzi's imagined interstellar arena is coherently and compellingly delineated . . . His speculative elements are top-notch. His combat scenes are blood-roiling. His dialogue is suitably snappy and profane. And the moral and philosophical issues he raises . . . insert useful ethical burrs under the military saddle of the story." âPaul Di Filippo, The Washington Post "Thought-provoking!" âEntertainment Weekly "Smartly conceived and thoroughly entertaining, Old Manâs War is a splendid novel." âCleveland Plain Dealer "When humanity reaches the stars, it discovers that it must defend its claim to new planets against alien races with similar expansionist tendencies. To ensure the expertise of its soldiers, Earth creates the Colonial Defense Force, an army of men and women otherwise classified as senior citizens, who give up their lives on Earth for an uncertain and perilous future among the stars. Scalzi's first novel presents a new approach to military sf, boasting an unusual cast of senior citizens as heroes. A good choice for most libraries." âLibrary Journal "Though a lot of SF writers are more or less efficiently continuing the tradition of Robert A. Heinlein, Scalziâs astonishingly proficient first novel reads like an original work by the late grand master . . . This virtuoso debut pays tribute to SFâs past while showing that well-worn tropes still can have real zip when theyâre approached with ingenuity." âPublishers Weekly (starred review) "Gripping and surpassingly original. It's Starship Troopers without the lectures. It's The Forever War with better sex. It's funny, it's sad, and it's true." âCory Doctorow "John Scalzi is a fresh and appealing new voice, and Old Man's War is classic SF seen from a modern perspectiveâa fast-paced tour of a daunting, hostile universe." âRobert Charles Wilson "I enjoyed Old Man's War immensely. A space war story with fast action, vivid characters, moral complexity and cool speculative physics, set in a future you almost want to live into, and a universe you sincerely hope you don't live in already." âKen MacLeod
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Neverwhere
by Neil Gaiman
Richard Mayhew is a young man with a good heart and an ordinarylife, which is changed forever when he stops to help a girl he finds bleeding on a London sidewalk. His small act of kindness propels him into a world he never dreamed existed. There are people who fall through the cracks, and Richard has become one of them. And he must learn to survive in this city of shadows and darkness, monsters and saints, murderers and angels, if he is ever to return to the London that he knew.
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American Gods
by Neil Gaiman
Released from prison, Shadow finds his world turned upside down. His wife has been killed; a mysterious stranger offers him a job. But Mr. Wednesday, who knows more about Shadow than is possible, warns that a storm is coming -- a battle for the very soul of America . . . and they are in its direct path. One of the most talked-about books of the new millennium, American Gods is a kaleidoscopic journey deep into myth and across an American landscape at once eerily familiar and utterly alien. It is, quite simply, a contemporary masterpiece.
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The Sandman
by Neil Gaiman
A collection of eight comics that introduce the series' lead character, the Sandman, Lord of Dreams.
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Fragile Things
by Neil Gaiman
A mysterious circus terrifies an audience for one extraordinary performance before disappearing into the night. . . . In a Hugo Awardâwinning story, a great detective must solve a most unsettling royal murder in a strangely altered Victorian England. . . . Two teenage boys crash a party and meet the girls of their dreamsâand nightmares. . . . These marvelous creations and more showcase the unparalleled invention and storytelling brillianceâas well as the terrifyingly dark and entertaining sense of humorâof the incomparable Neil Gaiman. By turns delightful, disturbing, and diverting, Fragile Things is a gift of literary enchantment from one of the most original writers of our time.
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Eternals by Neil Gaiman
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Present a tale that changes the Eternals and the Marvel Universe forever.
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The Sandman: The Doll's House. Originally published in single magazine form as The Sandman 9-16
by Neil Gaiman
An occultist attempting to capture Death to bargain for eternal life traps her younger brother, Dream, instead. After his 70 year imprisonment and eventual escape, Dream, a.k.a. The Sandman, goes on a quest for his lost objects of power. Author Neil Gaiman creates an unforgettable tale of the forces that exist beyond life and death by weaving ancient mythology, folklore and fairy tales with his own distinct narrative vision.
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Smoke and Mirrors
by Neil Gaiman
In the deft hands of Neil Gaiman, magic is no mere illusion . . . and anything is possible. In Smoke and Mirrors, Gaiman's imagination and supreme artistry transform a mundane world into a place of terrible wondersâwhere an old woman can purchase the Holy Grail at a thrift store, where assassins advertise their services in the Yellow Pages under "Pest Control," and where a frightened young boy must barter for his life with a mean-spirited troll living beneath a bridge by the railroad tracks. Explore a new reality, obscured by smoke and darkness yet brilliantly tangible, in this extraordinary collection of short works by a master prestidigitator. It will dazzle your senses, touch your heart, and haunt your dreams.
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The Wolves in the Walls
by Neil Gaiman
Lucy hears sneaking, creeping, crumpling noises coming from inside the walls. She is sure there are wolves living in the walls of her house.
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The Day I Swapped My Dad for Two Goldfish
by Neil Gaiman
"I'll swap you my dad," I said. "Oh-oh," said my little sister. What if you wanted your best friend's two goldfish so much that you'd swap anything for them, even your father? What if your mother came home and found out what you'd done?
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The Tragical Comedy Or Comical Tragedy of Mr. Punch
by Neil Gaiman
A puppet-play about Mr. Punch and his wife Judy.
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The Sandman: Season of mists
by Neil Gaiman
Graphic novel. Morpheus the Sandman travels to hell to rescue Nada, only to be confronted by his enemy Lucifer.
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The Sandman: The wake
by Neil Gaiman
An attempt to summon and imprison Death, results, instead, in the capture of Morpheus, the Sandman, who must regain the tools of his powers.
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The Sandman
by Neil Gaiman
A graphic novel of horror and fantasy revolving around the strange dreams of several roommates.
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Worlds' End
by Neil Gaiman
After being caught in the vortex of a reality storm, a group of travelers find themselves at the Worlds' End inn where they share stories of the places they have visited and the people they have met.
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The Sandman: Brief lives
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An attempt to summon and imprison Death, results, instead, in the capture of Morpheus, the Sandman, who must regain the tools of his powers.
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Death
by Neil Gaiman
A tale of music, mortality, friendship and death is told in a graphic novel designed for mature readers by author Neil Gaiman. Spinning off from the popular Sandman Library, this is the story of Foxglove, a rising star of the music world who must wrestle with revealing her true sexual orientation as her companion, Hazel, is lured into the realm of Death.
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The Sandman
by Neil Gaiman
The Sandman returns to his kingdom as Rose Walker discovers her true identity and serial killers gather.
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Violent Cases
by Neil Gaiman
After dislocating his arm, a young boy is taken to see a old doctor who was once the doctor of legendary gangster Al Capone.
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Sandman
by Neil Gaiman
There is a dark king who rules our dreams from a place of shadows and fantastic things. He is Morpheus, the lord of story. Older than humankind itself, he inhabits -- along with Destiny, Death, Destruction, Desire, Despair, and Delirium, his Endless sisters and brothers -- the realm of human consciousness. His powers are myth and nightmare -- inspirations, pleasures, and punishments manifested beneath the blanketing mist of sleep. Surrender to him now. A stunning collection of visions, wonders, horrors, hallucinations, and revelations from Clive Barker, Barbara Hambly, Tad Williams, Gene Wolfe, Nancy A. Collins, and sixteen other incomparable dreamers -- inspired by the groundbreaking, bestselling graphic novel phenomenon by Neil Gaiman.
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Black Orchid
by Neil Gaiman
Both human and flower, the heroine, Black Orchid, undertakes a hazardous journey to uncover her true origins, providing a moving ecological parable for our times.
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The Forever War
by Joe Haldeman
"Private William Mandella hadn't wanted to go to war against the Taurans ...."--p. [4] of cover.
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Forever Free
by Joe Haldeman
William Mandela is a genetic throwback, one of the small group of humans who fought and survived the Forever War. They returned to find humanity has evolved into a group mind called Man. Surrounded by a society that is too autocratic and intrusive, living a dull existence which cannot compare to the certainties of combat and feeling increasingly alienated, the veterans plan an escape to the future by means of space travel and relativity. But when their ship starts to fail, their journey becomes a search for the Unknown, the elusive entity responsible.
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Orphan's Destiny
by Robert Buettner
At twenty-five, General Jason Wander has fought and won man's only alien conflict. Now, after long years in space, he's coming home...but to what? Earth's desperate nations, impoverished by war damage and military spending, are slashing defense budgets. There's just one problem with this new worldwide policy-the first alien invasion was merely Plan A. Suddenly, the real assault begins: Earth is attacked by a vast armada of city-sized warships. To block their invasion, mankind has only one surviving craft and a single guerrilla strike force...a suicide squad led by Jason Wander.
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Orphanage
by Robert Buettner
Mankind's first alien contact tears into Earth: projectiles launched from Jupiter's moon, Ganymede, vaporize whole cities. Under siege, humanity gambles on one desperate counterstrike. In a spacecraft scavenged from scraps and armed with Vietnam-era weapons, foot soldiers like eighteen-year-old Jason Wander-orphans that no one will miss-must dare man's first interplanetary voyage and invade Ganymede. They have one chance to attack, one ship to attack with. Their failure is our extinction.
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The Lost Fleet: Relentless
by Jack Campbell
Captain John âBlack Jackâ Geary races to save a group of Alliance POWs from certain death in this gripping novel in New York Times bestselling author Jack Campbell's Lost Fleet series. Alliance prisoners of war are being held at a labor camp in the Heradao star system, which also happens to be the location of the majority of the surviving Syndic warships. Determined not to leave any of his people behind, âBlack Jackâ Geary orders the fleet to strike hard and fast to rescue the POWs with minimal Alliance losses. The raid is successful, but victory is short-lived. Geary discovers that the Syndics plan to ambush the fleet with their powerful reserve flotilla in an attempt to annihilate it once and for allâbut he doesnât know where the enemy is located. And as Geary has the fleet jump from one star system to the next, hoping to avoid the inevitable confrontation, saboteurs contribute to the chaos...
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The Lost Fleet: Fearless
by Jack Campbell
Captain John âBlack Jackâ Geary tries a desperate gamble to lead the Alliance Fleet home through enemy-occupied space in this novel in the thrilling Lost Fleet series. Geary is convinced that the Syndics are planning to ambush the fleet and finish it off once and for all. Realizing the fleetâs best (and only) chance is to do the unexpected, Geary takes the offensive and orders the fleet to the Sancere system. There, a multitude of possible routes home give the Alliance fleet a better chance of avoiding their pursuersâand an attack on the Sancere shipbuilding facilities could decimate the Syndic war effort. Weary from endless combat, the officers and crew of the Alliance fleet canât see the sense in charging deeper into enemy territoryâprompting a mutiny that divides them, and leaving Geary with the odds higher against him than ever before...
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The Lost Fleet: Dauntless
by Jack Campbell
The first novel in the New York Times bestselling Lost Fleet series! The Alliance has been fighting the Syndics for a centuryâand losing badly. Now its fleet is crippled and stranded in enemy territory. Their only hope is a man who's emerged from a century-long hibernation to find he has been heroically idealized beyond belief.... Captain John âBlack Jackâ Gearyâs exploits are known to every schoolchild. Revered for his heroic âlast standâ in the early days of the war, he was presumed dead. But a century later, Geary miraculously returns and reluctantly takes command of the Alliance Fleet as it faces annihilation by the Syndics. Appalled by the hero-worship around him, Geary is nevertheless a man who will do his duty. And he knows that bringing the stolen Syndic hypernet key safely home is the Allianceâs one chance to win the war. But to do that, Geary will have to live up to the impossibly heroic âBlack Jackâ legend....
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The Lost Fleet: Valiant
by Jack Campbell
Legendary war hero Captain âBlack Jackâ Geary fights to stay ahead of his enemies in the fourth novel in Jack Campbellâs New York Times bestselling military science fiction series. Deep within Syndicate World space, the Alliance fleet continues its dangerous journey home under the command of Captain John âBlack Jackâ Gearyârevived after a century spent in suspended animation. Gearyâs victories over the enemy have earned both the respectâand the envyâof his fellow officers... Geary has made many risky decisions as commander of the Alliance fleet, but ordering them back to the Lakota Star System where the Syndics nearly destroyed them has his officers questioning his sanity. Itâs a desperate gamble that may buy the fleet just enough time to prepare for the Syndicsâ inevitable return. Even as he struggles to give the fleet a fighting chance at survival, Geary faces dissent from within. An unknown number of officers want a change of command, but Geary knows that the Alliance fleet must stand together, or else the Syndic forces will tear them apart...
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The Lost Fleet: Courageous
by Jack Campbell
The Lost Fleet continues its perilous journey home. Badly damaged and low on supplies, the Alliance Fleet is raiding Syndic mines for raw materials-and Captain "Black Jack" Geary hopes they can continue to remain one step ahead of their enemies. But the Syndics are the least of Geary's worries when he learns of the existence of aliens with the power to annihilate the human race.