Hugonauts: The Best Sci-Fi Books of All Time

Ann is also the author of Ancillary Sword, Ancillary Mercy, Translation State, Provenance (all set in her Imperial Radch universe), and the excellent stand-alone fantasy novel The Raven Tower. Join the Hugonauts book club on discord! Or you can watch the episode on YouTube if you prefer video We talked with Ann about:  1:12 Becoming a writer later in life 5:06 The inspiration for the Radch and Anc...

We also each rank our top three first contact books at the end of the episode. This episode is sponsored by The Pythagorean by Alexander Morpheigh, which is available in print or kindle edition here . Join the Hugonauts book club on discord! Or you can watch the episode on YouTube if you prefer video All the books in the episode (with YT links to those we've got full episodes on, or search for the...

The book somehow manages to be optimistic at the same time that it realistically portrays horrific climate catastrophes - the opening chapter will stick with you forever. That said, it also suffers from some of KSR's usual writing quirks: weak characters and a pretty loosely defined plot. We talk about it all, the good, the bad, and the terrifyingly hot! As always, no spoilers until the end when w...

The book is shocking, disturbing, entertaining, and unbelievably thought provoking all at once - no wonder Stanley Kubrick decided to turn the book into a movie (which is a must-watch classic in its own right). It's also an unforgettable masterwork of language, as the narrator, Alex, and his droogs speak in slang that is somehow entirely novel and comprehensible at the same time. As always, no spo...

Neuromancer is an incredible science fiction classic, a page turner full of gripping action sequences, wild futuristic ideas, and a unique, techno-criminal world populated by wildly imaginative characters.  As always, no spoilers until the end when we get into the full plot explanation and discussion.  This episode is sponsored by Mythos: The Origin of Gods by A.A., which is available on print, au...

 As always, no spoilers until the end when we clearly call it out before getting into the full plot explanation and discussion. Join the Hugonauts book club on discord! Or you can watch the episode on YouTube if you prefer video This episode is sponsored by The Song of Immaru: Earth's Door by PJ Dudek, which you can get on print, audiobook, or kindle here . Similar media we recommend: Fallout: New...

This episode is sponsored by The Dawn series by Ray N. Kuili, which you can get on print, audiobook, or kindle here . Join the Hugonauts book club on discord! Or you can watch the episode on YouTube if you prefer video All the books in the episode (with YT links to those we've got full episodes on, or search for them in your podcast app):  The Hunger Games Red Rising Ready Player One The Giver Nev...

The Mercy of Gods follows a team of research scientists trying to survive an alien invasion. The Carryx are ruthless - killing 1/8 of the population immediately as they arrive to encourage the survivors to cooperate. Our team, along with many others, are then abducted and brought to a Carryx planet, where they are set loose in an open-air prison populated by hundreds of other alien races. They’re...

A radio astronomer discovers a signal coming from Alpha Centauri - strange, beautiful alien voices, singing. While the rest of the world is transfixed by the broadcast, a catholic order, the Jesuits, take action and launch a mission to the planet of Rakhat. But from the outset we know the mission is doomed to tragedy, because a second storyline follows Emilio Sandoz after his return to Earth. The...

In the 23rd century Johnny Rico enlists in the Mobile Infantry, the heart of the human military. As he nears completion of an intensely rigorous training program to learn how to fight and use his power armor, war breaks out between humanity and the bugs. The bugs are aliens with a hive mind, who attack and destroy Buenos Aires, and Johnny and his friends must strive to survive and defend humanity...

We rank the nominees for the 2024 Hugo award, plus 6 more from last year! Join the book club on discord and read The Sparrow! https://discord.gg/fHejh3PpR2 Video version of the show on YouTube https://youtube.com/@hugonautspod The books: The Witch King - Martha Wells The Adventures of Amina Al-Sirafi - Shannon Chakraborty Some Desperate Glory - Emily Tesh The Saint of Bright Doors - Vajra Chandras...

Over the years we've built up a pretty big backlog of short novels that we really liked but hadn't had a chance to cover on the show - so today we're bursting that dam. Join the book club on discord (and vote for our next book club book!): https://discord.gg/fHejh3PpR2 Video version of the show on YouTube https://youtube.com/@hugonautspod   The seven books we recommend in this ep: This is how you...

There is only one human settlement on the planet of Arieka. There, in Embassytown, a young woman named Avice grows up in a strange world between worlds, where all that is human and all that is alien collide without ever really coming together. That's not much of a summary, but this is a book that really benefits from going in mostly blind, so we made sure to keep things really clean in the pre-spo...

If you want to see the complete survey results, including all the top books, favorite authors, and short stories come find them on the discord . Video version of this episode available on YouTube .

The 2024 Nebula awards are coming up, so we read  and ranked all the books for ya. And we've got good news, this was a great year for fantasy and sci-fi! Join the book club on discord: https://discord.gg/fHejh3PpR2 Video version of the show on YouTube https://youtube.com/@hugonautspod   The short listed books: Translation State by Ann Leckie Shigidi and the Brass Head of Obalufon by Wole Talabi Th...

The year is 2033. The world has been reduced to rubble. Humanity is nearly extinct. The survivors live in the Moscow Metro - the biggest air-raid shelter ever built. It is humanity's last refuge. Stations have become mini-statelets, their people uniting around ideas, religions, water-filters - or the simple need to repulse an enemy incursion. VDNKh is the northernmost inhabited station on its line...

Six days ago astronaut Mark Watney became one of the first people to walk on Mars. Now, he’s sure he’ll be the first person to die there. After a dust storm forces his crew to evacuate while thinking him dead, Mark finds himself stranded and completely alone. But Mark isn’t ready to give up yet. Drawing on his ingenuity, his engineering skills — and a relentless, dogged refusal to quit — he steadf...

Red Schuhart is a stalker, one of the young rebels who venture illegally into the Zone, one of six areas on Earth that have been profoundly changed by the visitation of aliens to Earth. But when he and his friend Kirill go into the Zone together to pick up a “full empty,” something goes wrong. And despite the danger, the news he gets from his girlfriend upon his return makes it inevitable that he’...

Space ships whip across the solar system, ice haulers burn in from the gas giants, stolen Martian corvettes sneak behind enemy lines, and very human characters tie it all together and make the incredible journey worth the ride. Miraculously all 9 books (plus a collection of short stories) are fun, well-done adventures that will keep you turning the pages and racing to find out what happens next. S...

In the One State of the great Benefactor, there are no individuals, only numbers. Life is an ongoing process of mathematical precision, a perfectly balanced equation. Primitive passions and instincts have been subdued. Even nature has been defeated, banished behind the Green Wall. But one frontier remains: outer space. Now, with the creation of the spaceship Integral, that frontier -- and whatever...

A starship is taking off from Mars, and just before it does one of the crewman arrives with a strange new creature. What will the Wub bring to those on board, and the headstrong captain who can't stop thinking with his stomach? Join the Hugonauts book club on discord! PS We by Yevgeny Zamyatin is still coming soon, but Brent had a family emergency, so Cody stepped up to bring y'all this gem in the...

Rumors are swirling about a species of super-intelligent octopus living off the coast of Vietnam. As corporations and other non-state actors begin to investigate, it becomes clear that we are not alone in the universe - alien life has evolved right here on earth. DIANIMA, a giant tech company known for its machine learning prowess, buys the islands to study the octopuses and try to monopolize thei...

Ranking our top 15 sci fi books of all time: 15 - Three Body Problem by Cixin Liu  14 - The Road by Cormac McCarthy 13 - Barrayar by Lois McMaster Bujold 12 - Ancillary Justice by Ann Leckie 11 - Starship Troopers by Robert Heinlein 10 - The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood 9 - The Forever War by Joe Haldeman 8 - Hyperion by Dan Simmons 7 - A Scanner Darkly by Philip K. Dick  6 - Exhalation by T...

Paul Durham has begun experimenting on his own mind. He uploaded a copy of his neural patterns - everything that makes him who he is - into a computer simulation. The more he experiments, the more the lines between the real person and the virtual person begin to blur. What he discovers there, out at the edge of consciousness and the pattern that defines him, give him an impossible idea. A permutat...

We talked with Peter about: Why he quit science to write fiction The real-world science that inspired Blindsight Why vampires?! Blindsight movie(s) in the works What's coming next (the sequel to Echopraxia!) Or you can watch the episode on YouTube if you prefer video, or join the Hugonauts book club on discord ! And if you haven't listened to our episode about Blindsight, check it out here .