The sci-fi genre has as many entries as there are stars in the sky. Its many subgenres range from grounded to awe-inspiring to absurd. Hard sci-fi books read like something that could happen in our own world. On the other end of the spectrum, we can enjoy grand sweeping space operas, freaky futuristic cyberpunk, and hopelessly crushing dystopias.
There is a lot to explore within the realm of sci-fi, and a little bit of something for just about everyone. So with this smorgasbord of variety at our disposal, let's take a look at the five best sci-fi book series to come out in the past five years.
1. Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir (2021)
Now, I realize this is already breaking the rules of our list since it's not a series, but this sci-fi standalone is just too good not to talk about.
Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir is a story about humanity's last ditch effort to stop a parasitic lifeform from absorbing the sun's energy and plunging the world into a permanent ice age. This book is told from the first-person POV of Ryland Grace, a scientist who has volunteered to be a part of the Hail Mary project, a harrowing operation that is essentially a suicide mission. He emerges from a medically induced coma aboard his ship without any recollection as to how he got there. Over the course of the story we get to see via memory sequences how Ryland ended up where he did, bit by bit. And though he may be the lone survivor of his ship, he is not the only explorer searching deep space in the effort to save the sun.
Andy Weir is known for his whip-smart wit. His writing is snappy, conversational, fluid, and a hell of a lot of fun. This book will make you laugh aloud, which is a nice break in between the more serious sections. Weir tends to go pretty deep on the science aspects in his books, but don't let this deter you. He has a great way of dumping a bunch of info on you, but then quickly explaining it in a "science for dummies" sort of way through Ryland's quippy narration. It's a brilliant method to appeal to both the science enthusiasts (which Weir himself has admitted to being) and the mainstream audience that most readers belong to.
Even if you're not big on science in your stories, give this one a shot. It is technical yet accessible, and is far more focused on the emotional side of things than Weir's previous work, such as The Martian.
If you're looking to get into any of Weir's books, start here. Project Hail Mary is truly one of the greatest that the sci-fi genre has to offer.
2. Red Rising by Pierce Brown (2014-present)
Project Hail Mary is firmly grounded in scientific reality. Let's switch gears and talk about Red Rising, which is about as insane as a sci-fi story gets. Red Rising by Pierce Brown is a sci-fi space opera epic that explores themes of oppression, totalitarianism, social segregation, and acceptance all packaged into a non-stop adrenaline-pumping thrillride.
The story is narrated by Darrow. He's a Red, the lowest caste in a Society where people are assigned one of 14 colors. At the very top of the hierarchal pyramid are the decadent Golds who rule over "lessers" as tyrants. Darrow is set on a path toward revenge when the Golds hang his wife, and is soon drafted into a terrorist group known as the Sons of Ares. With their help, Darrow is surgically altered to resemble a Gold himself.
He is sent to the Institute, a prestigious academy that trains the next generations of Gold teenagers to become battle-hardened Peerless Scarred that will lead the Golden fleets across the solar system. Now living among the very kind that has enslaved his people for hundreds of years, Darrow fights for the top spot amongst his Gold peers to earn a sponsorship from one of the major ruling houses. But he soon finds that not all Golds are the monsters he thought them to be, with many being persecuted amongst their own. He even forms bonds with those he has sworn to hate.
This series is incredibly ambitious, with the later books expanding beyond the simple confines of Mars where the first book takes place to encompass the entire solar system. There's political intrigue, ruling royal houses, sword duels, clashing armies, unlikely friendships, a Greco-Roman aesthetic, and massive space battles that play like an IMAX movie in your mind. It is some of the most epic popcorn fun you can have in a book, and it only gets more intense with each entry. The series is ongoing, with the seventh and final novel, Red God, being currently written.
3. Scythe by Neal Shusterman (2016-2022)
What if death was rendered as harmless as the common cold? Pretty crazy concept, right? Well, Neal Shusterman's Scythe takes that idea and expands it into something truly unique and special.
Scythe is a story about a society where death has been cured like a disease of old, relegated to be nothing more than a minor inconvenience here and there. With humans living not only far longer than they naturally are supposed to, but even able to pay large sums of money to physically de-age themselves, humanity has begun to face an overpopulation issue. This has given rise to a group of essential yet grim middlemen known as Scythes: immortal harbingers of death tasked with the grisly job of killing people to cull the population in a process known as "Gleaning." Though they are seen as an integral and necessary part of this deathless world, the Scythes are feared far and wide.
The story follows Rowan and Citra, two young teenagers chosen to apprentice as Scythes, although neither wants any part of it. But once a person is selected to become a Scythe, there is little that can be done. And to reject the responsibility meaning facing death itself.
Despite the subject matter of this book, Scythe is actually a young adult (YA) novel compared to the other selections on this list. This is not a knock on the book by any means, but note that the writing style might not be for everyone. That said, Scythe is one of the most interesting stories you can find in the sci-fi genre, boasting a world that is wonderfully crafted and recklessly imaginative. Don't fear the reaper; check this one out.
The three books in the main Scythe trilogy came out between 2016 and 2019. Gleanings: Stories from the Arc of a Scythe, a collection of stories set in this world, came out in 2022.
4. The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins (2008-2025)
This one comes with a caveat, since the first book in the series came out back in 2008, but I thought it was worth including given the new Hunger Games books coming out more recently.
The Hunger Games series by Suzanne Collins is widely known, whether through the books or the incredibly successful movies. But the series has seen a resurgence recently with the release of Sunrise on the Reaping, a prequel story about series alumnus Haymitch Abernathy during his year fighting in the first annual Quarter Quell. With all of the love Collins' latest entry into the series has been getting, it seems a good time to talk about an old classic that took the sci-fi genre by storm when it was first released.
The Hunger Games is a story set in a dystopian world divided into 12 distinct districts. At the center of it all is the shining beacon known as the Capital, which keeps its boot pressed against the necks of the other districts. Those who live in the more distant districts lead lives of extreme poverty and can expect little more from their existence than to toil until they grow old and die. That is, unless they are drafted into the Hunger Games.
When her sister's name is picked from the bowl at the annual Reaping, Katniss Everdeen volunteers as tribute to spare her sister a gruesome death for the Capitol's entertainment. Alongside her fellow District 12 tribute Peeta Mellark, Katniss is shipped off to the Capitol where she is forced to fight to the death in a competition against 24 other tributes from the different districts.
The Hunger Games series is a classic for a reason. It's nail-bitingly tense, goes full throttle and hardly ever lets up, has a simple premise, and keeps the reader engrossed in the action thanks to its first-person POV narration from Katniss. The series only gets better after the first book. With the success of Collins' first prequel novel The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes as well as the Sunrise on the Reaping (the former already has a movie out and the latter has an adaptation coming in November 2026), we're seeing a bit of a Hunger Games resurgence, and it's wonderful.
If you somehow haven't read this one, what are you waiting for? Happy Hunger Games, and may the odds ever be in your favor.
5. Dungeon Crawler Carl by Matt Dinniman (2020-present)
This book is weird. Very weird. We're talking an alien invasion that forces people to progress through a multi-leveled dungeon for their entertainment and the main character's sidekick is a talking showroom cat weird. Has that piqued your interest? Then perhaps Dungeon Crawler Carl by Matt Dinniman might just be the read you've been looking for.
Even though Dungeon Crawler Carl is commonly labeled as a progression fantasy, it is littered with heavy sci-fi elements that grant it a place on this list. The story follows Carl, a Coast Guard veteran who has found himself the unfortunate survivor of an alien invasion. Why unfortunate, you ask? Because Carl's survival has bought himself a one-way-ticket to compete with the rest of Earth's survivors in a televised gameshow where contestants delve into a dungeon that gets progressively harder the further in they go. Inside of these dungeons are traps, monsters, exploding goblins, boss battles, and most importantly: loot. And to make this whole concept even more bonkers? Carl's sidekick is his ex-girlfriend's cat, Princess Donut, who gains sapient thought and the ability to speak thanks to the otherworldly effects of the dungeon.
Dungeon Crawler Carl is a book that doesn't take itself seriously in the slightest, instead opting for 464 pages of pure, whacky, unadulterated fun. And it's AWESOME.
The dungeon is powered by an dynamic AI. It's an almost video game-like experience. As Carl progresses further, he gains XP, levels up, learns new skills, and acquires better, stronger equipment. For those who are familiar with the niche fantasy subgenre of LitRPG, this is all pretty familiar. But for the majority of readers, this is completely uncharted territory. It may seem jarring at first, but Dungeon Crawler Carl is written in a way that is easy to follow, and despite its constant tongue-in-cheek humor, it has moments where it slows down and actually shows its heart. We're in Carl's first-person POV, and Dinniman is careful not to bog the reader down with too much information at once, as they learn about everything alongside Carl himself.
There are seven Dungeon Crawler Carl books out so far. There's also a TV adaptation in the works.
Sci-fi is still going strong
Sci-fi might have a taken a bit of a backseat compared to fantasy over the last 10 or so years, but there have still been absolutely stellar books to keep fans entertained. No matter what happens within the book market, one thing is for certain: sci-fi isn't going anywhere.
Are you going to add any of these to your TBR? Or have you already read the books on our list?
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