More and more science-fiction books are getting turned into high-profile adaptations, from The Handmaid’s Tale to The Expanse to Dune and Station Eleven. But there are still a ton of novels and series with lower profiles that haven’t reached cultural saturation.
Here are some sci-fi novels that every fan should know about.
The novel is basically a cowboy story with Jim as the swashbuckling loner enforcing order on the frontier. Still, the plot never stops thumping and the pages turn quickly.
The City of Gold and Lead (1967) – John Christopher
Set after the conquest of Earth, two human resisters infiltrate one of the central city of the alien Tripods, pretending to be happy mind-controlled slaves in order to gather information.
David Gerrold is most famous for writing the Star Trek episode “The Trouble With Tribbles.” But The Man Who Folded Himself may be an even greater achievement.
It explores the misery of training, the alienation from the home front, and the myriad ways death can seek you out in the military. War is an experience of impotence, terror, panic and dislocation.