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The 8 Most Influential Hard Sci-Fi Books of All Time, Ranked
There are multiple kinds of science fiction, just like there are a whole host of different works of horror and different kinds of fantasy. Breaking things down into sub-genres can get exhausting, admittedly, but when it’s a significant sub-genre like hard sci-fi, it feels more reasonable. You might well have some people calling out hard science fiction as the genre at its most sci-fi-y.
That being said, there are some great works of science fiction that don’t count as hard sci-fi, including Dune, which has a little too much by way of mystical elements (not quite outright fantasy, but it gets near there at times) to be “hard” science fiction. Hard science fiction is probably best defined as sci-fi that puts a particular emphasis on the science side of things, and the following works of hard sci-fi are especially influential. Plenty of them are classics generally speaking as well, but they’re being included here mostly because they had some kind of role in shaping this branch of science fiction as it’s currently understood. This also means there’s an emphasis below on older hard sci-fi novels, as it’s harder to know for sure whether more recent ones will prove influential and/or game-changing until enough time’s passed.
8
‘Ringworld’ (1970)
Whether it’s the best of Larry Niven’s novels might be up for debate, but what’s harder to argue is the notion that Ringworld isn’t his most influential for science fiction overall. And including something by Niven if you’re talking hard sci-fi is obligatory, since the science is generally paid attention to quite heavily in all his books (like Lucifer’s Hammer, which sets it apart from other post-apocalyptic epics like The Stand and Swan Song, which lean more into fantasy).
Ringworld is more interesting for its science and world-building than it is narratively. The titular Ringworld is really cool, and then most of the characters and plot beats (including, unfortunately, some of what those characters get up to on the titular constructed world) prove a bit middling. Still, what a world and idea, and that’s enough if you’re considering influence. Post-1970 works of science fiction that take place in deep space and have constructed planet-sized objects all probably owe something to the original Ringworld.
7
‘The Forever War’ (1974)
The Forever War is the first part of a series, but is easily the best of that series, and it takes rather seriously the idea of a war fought against an alien species at first in the not-too-distant future, and then eventually in the genuinely distant future. The war goes on for what feels like forever and all, with the protagonist experiencing it across all that time because of time dilation.
Things here are a bit more outlandish than some of the most grounded works of hard sci-fi, yet there is still a lot by way of actual science (or actual scientific ideas) that play a big part in the narrative. The Forever War is compelling and certainly admirable for how ambitious it is, condensing a story that goes on for more than 1000 years into 200-something pages.
6
‘The Andromeda Strain’ (1969)
Since it came so early within Michael Crichton’s writing career, and it’s also a bit more hard sci-fi than some of his later books, it feels right to mention The Andromeda Strain for present purposes. The premise here involves the outbreak of a disease that has extraterrestrial origins, taking the whole thing very seriously and maybe even downplaying the science fiction stuff, once you get past the extraterrestrial aspect.
It’s about a very deadly disease and all, which is the sort of thing that feels scarily believable or grounded, by sci-fi standards. The Andromeda Strain is realistic, but thankfully without feeling too dry (the same can’t really be said about the movie adaptation, but at least Jurassic Park was great, as an eventual Michael Crichton adaptation that felt like a genuine winner).
5
‘Neuromancer’ (1984)
The least hard of the hard sci-fi novels here is probably Neuromancer, but not enough that it can be called soft science fiction. It’s hard enough, even if the sci-fi genre it mostly easily fits into is cyberpunk. If there’s a bit by way of crossover, though (or if it’s permissible), then here’s Neuromancer. It also wasn’t the very first sci-fi novel to be dystopian, by any means, but is one of the most important.
It’s also a little like Ringworld in that it’s hard to feel super excited by the narrative here, with it being more about the world and the technology explored (here, it’s artificial intelligence and the idea of cyberspace). Neuromancer comments on a whole bunch of things socially and politically, too, but with enough that feels grounded and believable to make it, again, “hard” enough.
This one’s easy to include, largely because it was written by scientist Carl Sagan (whose best-known work probably remains the documentary series Cosmos: A Personal Voyage, which he narrated and co-wrote), but still, Contact is science fiction. There is fiction here, unlike much of the other writing Sagan did, or was involved with, as you can probably guess from the title.
The novel’s easy to recommend for anyone who dug relatively “peaceful” alien contact movies like Arrival (which was based on a novella) or Close Encounters of the Third Kind.
Making contact with extraterrestrial life is what this one’s largely about, tackling the premise in a way that feels grounded and probably close to how it might go down in real life, should legitimate contact ever happen… and assuming it’s not a violent or conquering sort of alien race contacted. Anyway, the novel’s easy to recommend for anyone who dug relatively “peaceful” alien contact movies like Arrival (which was based on a novella) or Close Encounters of the Third Kind. Or Contact (1997), come to think of it, if you happened to get to the movie adaptation before Sagan’s novel.
3
‘Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?’ (1968)
Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? was the inspiration for Blade Runner, or you can probably call Blade Runner an adaptation of Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?, even with that title change and other deviations. The basic premise of a bounty hunter tracking down rogue replicants is here in both versions, though Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? doesn’t take place as far into the future as Blade Runner, and the setting is San Francisco instead of Los Angeles.
Influencing Blade Runner plays a role in Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? feeling as influential as it does, since that film is recognized as being similarly significant to cyberpunk as Neuromancer. And novel and film here feel like decently hard science fiction, being gritty and down-to-earth and all.
2
‘2001: A Space Odyssey’ (1968)
And another instance of novel and film being important, but here, with 2001: A Space Odyssey, it’s fairer to bring up the movie. This is because 2001: A Space Odyssey, as a film, came out a little before 2001: A Space Odyssey, the novel, with both being developed at the same time. This naturally sets it apart from the majority of movies that are based on books, and it’s also a bit different from a movie getting a novelization.
The story here is very grand in scale, and has to be, considering evolution is the main thing explored in 2001: A Space Odyssey, and you can only really recognize such changes over huge spans of time. It’s got a focus on science, like most of the other books here, and tries to envision different stages of the future in as realistic a manner as possible, for speculative/predictive fiction.
1
‘Brave New World’ (1932)
Once more, here’s a science fiction novel with a plot that’s a bit hard to remember and/or describe. Brave New World is about the world. It’s essential dystopian fiction about a world that’s run by people who try to insist it’s a utopia, but it becomes very apparent in time that’s really not the case. And you’re asked to spend time in that increasingly uneasy world. That’s kind of the novel.
It’s similar to Nineteen Eighty-Four, but that one doesn’t tend to get considered hard science fiction, whereas Brave New World does… and it feels close to the original work of hard science fiction, or at least the first great work of hard sci-fi. Nineteen Eighty-Four is more about the social side of things, while Brave New World explores scientific advancements – and how they’ve been detrimental – within the society it depicts.
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