The Next 100 Sci-fi Novels

When I was in my twenties I worked my way through a list of the "top 100 scifi novels" that I'd found somewhere. What were the criteria? Don't worry about it. The list was pretty representative. But now it's only natural to take on the next hundred. This is pulled from the Worlds Without End Top Nominated books list, which contains books nominated for four or more of the awards they track. It doesn't match my list because I've already read a lot of them!

Because I am older and wiser, I will now allow myself to DNF a book if I've read 10% of it and it's not grabbing me.

  1. The Drowning Girl - Caitlin R. Kiernan
  2. Mexican Gothic - Silvia Moreno-Garcia
  3. Perdido Street Station - China Mieville
  4. Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell - Susanna Clarke
  5. Piranesi - Susanna Clarke
  6. The Scar - China Mieville
  7. The Time Ships - Stephen Baxter
  8. Air - Geoff Ryman
  9. The City We Became - N.K. Jemisin
  10. God's War - Kameron Hurley
  11. The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms - N.K. Jemisin
  12. Learning the World - Ken MacLeod
  13. Little, Big - John Crowley
  14. Shigidi and the Brass Head of Obalufon - Wole Talabi
  15. Ash - Mary Gentle
  16. Blue Mars - Kim Stanley Robinson
  17. Bone Dance - Emma Bull
  18. Brittle Innings - Michael Bishop
  19. The Changeling - Victor LaValle
  20. Declare - Tim Powers
  21. The Dervish House - Ian McDonald
  22. Glasshouse - Charles Stross
    23. (I DNFed this one many years ago. I wonder why. I usually really like Stross! I'll try it again.)
  23. The Golem and The Jinni - Helene Wecker
  24. The Many-Colored Land - Julian May
  25. A Master of Djinn - P. Djeli Clark
  26. On Wings of Song - Thomas M. Disch
  27. Only Begotten Daughter - James Morrow
  28. The Only good Indians - Stephen Graham Jones
  29. Passage - Connie Willis
  30. She Who Became the Sun - Shelley Parker-Chan
  31. Tea with the Black Dragon - R.A. MacAvoy
  32. Tender Morsels - Margo Lanagan
  33. Towing Jehovah - James Morrow
  34. ✅ Ammonite - Nicola Griffith
  35. Beyond the Blue Event Horizon - Frederik Pohl
  36. Blind Voices - Tom Reamy
  37. Blindsight - Peter Watts
  38. Bones of the Earth - Michael Swanwick
  39. Borderline - Mishell Baker
  40. Briar Rose - Yolen
  41. Brown Girl in the Ring - Nalo Hopkinson
  42. Carrion Comfort - Dan Simmons
  43. The Cassini Division - Ken MacLeod
  44. Children of Blood and Bone - Tomi Adeyemi
  45. China Mountain Zhang - Maureen F. McHugh
  46. The Chronoliths - Robert Charles Wilson
  47. Count Zero - Gibson
  48. The Difference Engine - William Gibson and Bruce Sterling
  49. Distraction - Bruce Sterling
  50. Don't fear the reaper - Stephen Graham Jones
  51. Europe at Midnight - Dave Hutchinson
  52. Everfair - Nisi Shawl
  53. The Execution Channel - Ken MacLeod
  54. Flow my tears, the Policeman said - Philip K. Dick
  55. Forever Peace - Joe Haldeman
  56. The Fountains of Paradise - Arthur C. Clarke
  57. Friday - Heinlein
  58. The Goblin Emperor - Katherine Addison
  59. Green Eyes - Lucius Shepard
  60. Green Mars - Kim Stanely Robinson
  61. Harpist in the Wind - Patricia A McKilip
  62. Iron Council - China Mieville
  63. Iron Widow - Xiran Jay Zhao
  64. Jade City - Fonda Lee
  65. Kiln People - David Brin
  66. The Last Witchfinder - James Morrow
  67. Lavinia - Ursula K. LeGuin
  68. The Light from uncommon stars - Ryka Aoki
  69. Man plus - Frederik Pohl
  70. Memory of water - Emmi Itaranta
  71. Midnight Robber - Nalo Hopkinson
  72. Mockingbird - Sean Stewart
  73. Mona Lisa Overdrive - William Gibson
  74. Mother of Storms - John Barnes
  75. The Mountain in the Sea - Ray Nayler
  76. Moving Mars - Bear
  77. My heart is a Chainsaw - Stephen Graham Jones
  78. The New Moon's Arms - Nalo Hopkinson
  79. Ninefox Gambit - Yoon Ha Lee
  80. Osama - Lavie Tidhar
  81. Pandemonium - Daryl Gregory
  82. The Peripheral - William Gibson
  83. The Poppy War - R. F. Kuang
  84. Prentice Alvin - Orson Scott Card
  85. The Privilege of the Sword - Ellen Kushner
  86. Railsea - China Mieville
  87. Rainbows End - Vernor Vinge
  88. Red Prophet - Orson Scott Card
  89. The Reformatory - Tananarive Due
  90. Revenant Gun - Yoon Ha Lee
  91. Semiosis - Sue Burke
  92. Seventh Sun - Orson Scott Card
  93. Someplace to be flying - Charles de Lint
  94. The Sparrow - Mary Doria Russell
  95. Spin - Robert Charles Wilson
  96. Stations of the Tide - Michael Swanwick
  97. The Stochastic Man - Robert Silverburg
  98. A stranger in Olondria - Sofia Samatar
  99. Throne of the Crescent Moon - Saladin Ahmed
  100. Tigana - Guy Gavriel Kay
  101. Trail of Lightning - Rebecca Roanhorse
  102. Under Heaven - Guy Gavriel Kay
  103. Waking the Moon - Elizabeth Hand
  104. Where Late the Sweet Birds Sang - Kate Wilhelm
  105. Witch King - Martha Wells
  106. ✅👍 Witchmark - C. L. Polk
  107. The Year of the Quiet Sun - Wilson Tucker
  108. The Years of Rice and Salt - Kim Stanley Robinson

Honorable Mentions (books that show up in the "top listed" list but have less than 4 award nominations. There's probably more fantasy and horror in here than above.)

Quest started: Jan 2026