15 Sci-Fi Books To Read If You Need A Break From Dystopian Novels
June 2018
Dystopia novels seem to be more popular than ever these days. Between The Handmaid’s Tale and The Hunger Games and the disturbing resurgence of 1984,the dystopia is dominating science fiction on both page and screen (and IRL, kinda.) Dystopian YA novels are widely read enough to inspire parody Twitter accounts.
And let me be clear: I get it.
Dystopias help us sort out our values and our fears. They allow us to express anxieties about where the world is headed right now, and inspire each other to keep on fighting back against forces of oppression. Dystopias are important. That’s why we all need a break from them.
I mean, look, if you want to read devastating literature about fascist futures 24/7, I’m not going to stop you. But sometimes, it’s OK to read just for fun. It’s OK to read science fiction that doesn’t depict the future as a horrific wasteland full of human rights violations. You might even find that quite a lot of non-dystopian sci-fi can still be politically relevant. Sci-fi can run the gamut from dark and brooding to actually positive and funny. So if you’re looking for aliens and space adventures and science fictional worlds that are not set on Earth in the dismal future, here are a few books to get you started:
‘The Stars Are Legion’
by Kameron Hurley
Far out, on the rim of the universe itself, lies a fleet of decaying world-ships called the Legion. And the Legion is on the move.
Enter Zan, the would-be savior of the stars. She just might have the ability to enter one of the Legion’s dangerous world-ships and save whole galaxies from genocide—the only trouble is that Zan can’t recall who is exactly she is, or which side of this war she’s supposed to be on.
‘Binti’
by Nnedi Okorafor
“Prepare to fall in love with Binti.” — Neil Gaiman
Binti has been offered a place at Oomza University, the greatest learning institution in the galaxy.
But she is also the first of her people ever to attend, and accepting this once in a lifetime offer will mean traveling far from home, away from her family, to live among strangers who may not understand her culture.
That tension, along with constant the threat of alien invasion, is sure to make this an interesting school year.
‘The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet’
by Becky Chambers
Rosemary Harper generally likes to keep to herself.
But when she joins the crew of the patched-up ship Wayfarer, she soon finds herself thrown in with a chaotic bunch of misfits, including a lizard pilot, two chatty engineers, and one very noble captain.
Together, this ragtag band will explore the galaxy and bumble into danger in this funny, feel-good space adventure.
‘The Ship Who Sang’
by Anne McCaffrey
OK, so maybe there’s a touch of the dystopia to this one: as a baby, young Helva is deemed “abnormal,” and destined to live as an effective brain in a jar. That’s… not not dystopian.
But The Ship Who Sang is less about the horrors of this future, and more about one plucky little brain in a jar who’s going to make the best of her lot in life by exploring space, having grand adventures, and falling madly in love, body or no.
‘How to Live Safely in a Science Fictional Universe’
by Charles Yu
Fans of meta-fiction, time travel, and computers with low self-esteem will love How to Live Safely in a Science Fictional Universe.
This oddball novel takes place in Minor Universe 31, where paradoxes abound and failed sci-fi protagonists slum it with lonely sexbots.
Through all of this, Charles Yu, a time travel technician, is determined to find his missing father somewhere in the vast continuum of time and space.
