10 Best Science Fiction Books in 2022 (Ursula K. Le Guin, Philip K. Dick, and More)

Humans and technology can be a lethal combination. The themes of AI, robotics, and digital technology recur in many major novels of science fiction. Writers such as Isaac Asimov, William Gibson, and Philip K. Dick have written numerous scenarios that question the humanity of the people that create and use this technology.

In this subgenre, technology uplifts humans above anything they could have imagined, but only to a certain point. It's usually the human flaws of greed, corruption, and lust that eventually stall the progress they were making. These flaws can corrupt their utopias, or even cause their creations to turn on them.

While not all books in the subgenre are bleak, they usually have a certain degree of lamentation. Despite the belief that technology will pull us out of the mud and into the heavens, both literally and figuratively, humans are inevitably the cause of their own downfall.

In the dying earth genre, the protagonist's people or nation are doomed. The place is ravaged by war, climate change, or alien invasion. These books are set in the far future with weariness, the loss of innocence, exhaustion, and glimmers of hope as major themes.

Books like The Sheep Look Up by John Brunner and Earthchild by Doris Piserchia are examples of this subgenre. Ice by Anna Kavan is an unsettling read as our world is consumed by an ever-growing ice shelf.

In dystopian novels, the protagonists live in a nightmare world where an amoral government, robots, or capitalism has seized control and forced people into a bleak existence. Happy lives and happy endings are never guaranteed. George Orwell's 1984 and Margaret Atwood's The Handmaid's Tale are famous novels in this genre.

On the other hand, utopian novels analyze what would be the ideal world, and if it is even possible for such a thing to exist. What would a perfect justice system look like? Can a fair and just society ever come into existence?

The Terra Ignota series by Ada Palmer is an epic quartet of books that explores themes of the unnaturalness of geographic borders, gender, and taboos. In The Seep by Chana Porter, the world is under a blissful existence under the benign control of an alien entity known as the Seep.

On the surface, the worlds in these books may look perfect and idealistic, but there is usually something darker lurking underneath. Utopian books explore the facade of perfection and how fragile it can be.

What lies beneath our feet is another topic that has been wondered about over the centuries. The protagonist usually finds a more feral and brutal world existing without the warmth of the sun. Hidden parts of a person's psychology reveal themselves when veiled from the light. Monsters both physical and mental come out of the shadows and need to be dealt with.

Jules Verne's classic novel Journey to the Center of the Earth and 20.000 Leagues Under the Sea both explore the uncharted territories on our own planet. They dig down into unknown territory to discover new creatures and new aspects of the human psyche.

Jeff Long's 1999 novel The Descent finds an entire sub-planet with a separately evolved ecosystem right beneath the Earth's surface. The Silo series by American writer Hugh Howey details a post-apocalyptic Earth where humanity survives deep underground. These are more modern takes but cover similar themes to those explored by Verne.

Time travel is a fascinating genre as it can take place at literally any point in time! Unlike other books, they aren't limited to a single timeline but can span lifetimes and cross worlds.

There is H.G Wells' classic novel The Time Machine that is set in 1895 and jumps to CE 802,701. Daphne du Maurier's voyeuristic Gothic story The House on the Strand is set in Cornwall 1967 but travels back to 14th century England. Kindred by Octavia Butler is a cornerstone of Black American literature that involves a generational story.

Time travel stories can cover any other genre of literature you like. They can be romance, or horror, comedy, or action. No matter what type of novel you like, there is bound to be a time travel novel for you.

The concept of first contact is both thrilling and frightening. If there are aliens out there, what are they and who are they? Novels in this subgenre grapple with the scale, type, and motivations of the otherworldly visitors. Discovering the true nature of a new species makes these books thrilling.

American scientist Carl Sagan wrote Contact, where a message is received from deep space with instructions to build a mysterious machine. In Micheal Crichton's novel The Andromeda Strain, the aliens are actually microbes, interfering with human physiology.

The novel Solaris by author Stanislaw Lem depicts human aggression towards what they don't understand, leading to the trauma of the crew involved. Childhood's End by Arthur C. Clarke, on the other hand, imagines benign alien overlords that exchange human identity for world peace.

Science fiction writers, much like scientists, have always had a love affair with Mars, our red neighbor. Compared to the rest of the universe it's very close to the Earth, yet we know so little about it. If you want to go to space, but not that far, there are a plethora of stories that involve the red planet.

H.G Wells in 1897 wrote the thrilling tale of an invasion of Earth by Martians due to their own dwindling resources in The War of the Worlds. On the opposite end, Ray Bradbury wrote of the human conquest of the planet in a series of linked stories in The Martian Chronicles.

Fans of hard science fiction loved The Martian by Andy Weir, an uplifting story of human tenacity, ingenuity, and generosity of spirit. It became so popular that it was adapted as a major Hollywood movie!

Ideas about human beings living on other planets, battling aliens, and finding new solar systems are in the imagination of every kid. But these thrilling tales aren't just in the realm of make-believe! Out of Orbit by Chris Jones tells the harrowing true story of three astronauts that were stranded in space in 2003 after the shuttle Columbia disintegrated before the very eyes of the American people.

Back in the realm of fiction, the upbeat and chaotic The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy is a must-read for anyone interested in science fiction. It was originally a radio play for the BBC but was turned into a massive written opus. It's also been adapted as both a TV show and a movie.

The Dispossessed by Ursula K. Le Guin is a fascinating tale of a man that searches for his utopia on other planets. If you're interested in fighting aliens, Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card is a popular novel that was also adapted into a movie. It's also an interesting commentary on war and the effects it has on its soldiers.