The Greatest Books of All Time Set in Space

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This list represents a comprehensive and trusted collection of the greatest books. Developed through a specialized algorithm, it brings together 759 'best of' book lists to form a definitive guide to the world's most acclaimed books. For those interested in how these books are chosen, additional details can be found on the rankings page.

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Rank Book Authors Year Country Language Actions
190 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy Douglas Adams 1979 British English
315 Relativity Albert Einstein 1916 German German
458 Critique of Pure Reason Immanuel Kant 1781 German German
1004 2001 Arthur C. Clarke 1968 British English
1038 Cosmos Carl Sagan 1980 American English
1122 A Brief History of Time Stephen Hawking 1988 British English
1352 The Andromeda Strain Michael Crichton 1969 American English
2148 Aniara Harry Martinson 1956 Swedish Swedish
2238 Ringworld Larry Niven 1970 American English
2366 One Two Three . . . Infinity George Gamow 1947 American English
2466 Non Stop Brian Aldiss 1958 British English
2601 Out Of The Silent Planet C. S. Lewis 1938 British English
3431 The Stories of Ray Bradbury Ray Bradbury 1980 American English
3483 Consider Phlebas Iain Banks 1987 Scottish English
4222 A Pattern Language Christopher Alexander 1977 American English
4581 Antiworlds Andrey Voznesensky 1964 Russian Russian
5375 Packing For Mars Mary Roach 2010 American English
5429 Venus On The Half Shell Philip José Farmer 1975 American English
5477 Inherit The Stars James P. Hogan 1977 American English
5657 Soul Eater K. W. Jeter 1983 American English
5682 The Illustrated Man Ray Bradbury 1951 American English
5734 Time And Space Juan Ramón Jiménez 1988 Spanish Spanish
5906 The First Men In The Moon H. G. Wells 1901 British English
6575 Phenomenology Of Perception Maurice Merleau-Ponty 1945 French French
6616 The Poetics Of Space Gaston Bachelard 1958 French French
6617 Revelation Space Alastair Reynolds 2000 British English
6729 The Mysterious Universe James Jeans 1930 British English
6820 The Calculating Stars Mary Robinette Kowal 2018 American English
6983 Project Hail Mary Andy Weir 2021 American English
7025 The Fabric Of The Cosmos Brian Greene 2004 American English
7043 The Cosmic Connection Carl Sagan 1973 American English
7126 Babel-17 Samuel R. Delany 1966 American English
7152 Gateway Frederik Pohl 1977 American English
7216 Eureka Edgar Allan Poe 1848 American English
7584 Orbital Samantha Harvey 2024 Unknown Unknown
8089 Process And Reality Alfred North Whitehead 1929 British English
8516 Blue Mars Kim Stanley Robinson 1996 American English
8535 Man Plus Frederik Pohl 1976 American English
8989 Falling Free Lois McMaster Bujold 1988 American English
9059 Challenger Adam Higginbotham 2024 British English
9081 Polaris Rising Jessie Mihalik 2019 American English
9371 Leviathan Wakes James S. A. Corey 2011 American English
9895 The Whole Shebang Timothy Ferris 1997 American English
10091 We Have No Idea Daniel Whiteson, Jorge Cham 2017 Unknown English
10139 Sphere A. R. Ammons 1978 American English
10277 Death's End Cixin Liu 2010 Chinese Chinese
10308 Critique Of Everyday Life Henri Lefebvre 1947 French French
10308 Perspective As Symbolic Form Erwin Panofsky 1927 German German
10427 Abaddon's Gate James S. A. Corey 2013 American English
10689 The Possibility Of Life Jaime Green 2023 Unknown English
11112 Seeker Jack McDevitt 2005 American English
11112 2312 Kim Stanley Robinson 2012 American English
11162 The Dark Forest Cixin Liu 2008 Chinese Chinese
11413 Spin Robert Charles Wilson 2005 Canadian English
11926 Nemesis Games James S. A. Corey 2015 American English
12047 Species Of Spaces And Other Pieces Georges Perec 1974 French French
12226 Persepolis Rising James S. A. Corey 2017 American English
12251 Rocket Boys Homer Hickam 1998 American English
12297 The Martians David Baron 2025 Unknown English
12482 Seveneves Neal Stephenson 2015 American English
12999 Gemini Jeffrey Kluger 2025 American English
13239 The Last Emperox John Scalzi 2020 American English
13244 Poussières D'étoiles Hubert Reeves 1984 French French
13321 The Wanderer Fritz Leiber 1964 American English
13321 A Deepness in the Sky Vernor Vinge 1999 American English
13362 The Skylark Of Space Edward Elmer Smith 1928 American English
13362 The Rocket Man Ray Bradbury 1951 American English
13524 The Girl From The Earth Kirill Bulytsev 1960 Russian Russian
13566 Old Man's War John Scalzi 2005 American English
13971 The Fated Sky Mary Robinette Kowal 2018 American English
13971 The Consuming Fire John Scalzi 2018 American English
14198 Nova Samuel R. Delany 1968 American English
14232 Excession Iain Banks 1996 British English
14520 Xkcd Randall Munroe 2010 American English
14680 Thing Explainer Randall Munroe 2015 American English
14755 Physics Aristotle -350 Greek Ancient greek
14788 Two Planets Kurd Laßwitz 1897 German German
14985 Carrying the Fire Michael Collins 1974 American English
14985 Seven Brief Lessons on Physics Carlo Rovelli 2015 Italian Italian
14985 Eon Greg Bear 1985 American English
14985 The Real Story Stephen R. Donaldson 1991 American English
14985 Orbitsville Bob Shaw 1975 British English
14985 The Jonah Kit Ian Watson 1975 British English
14985 Astrophysics For People In A Hurry Neil deGrasse Tyson 2017 American English
14985 The Mercy Of Gods James S. A. Corey 2024 Unknown Unknown
14985 A City On Mars Kelly Weinersmith, Zach Weinersmith 2023 Unknown English
14985 Critical Mass Daniel Suarez 2023 American English
15914 The Expanding Universe Arthur Eddington 1933 British English
15914 Enterprise Stardust K. H. Scheer 1961 German German
16614 Profiles Of The Future Arthur C. Clarke 1962 British English
16776 The Ship Who Sang Anne McCaffrey 1969 American English
16713 Orphans Of The Sky Robert A. Heinlein 1941 American English
17159 The Heavens and the Earth Walter A. McDougall 1985 American English
17159 Titan John Varley 1979 American English
17159 The Integral Trees Larry Niven 1984 American English
17159 Dragon Pearl Yoon Ha Lee 2019 American English
17159 Deep Wheel Orcadia Harry Josephine Giles 2021 Scottish Orcadian
17159 On Basilisk Station David Weber 1993 American English
17159 The Reality Dysfunction Peter F. Hamilton 1996 British English
16863 From The Earth To The Moon Jules Verne 1865 French French
17079 The Man Who Sold The Moon Robert A. Heinlein 1950 American English
17159 The Centauri Device M. John Harrison 1974 British English
17159 The Dreaming Dragons Damien Broderick 1980 Australian English
17159 On A Sunbeam Tillie Walden 2018 American English
17159 A Wind In The Door Madeleine L'Engle 1973 American English
17159 All The Weyrs Of Pern Anne McCaffrey 1991 American English
17159 Commander Perkins H. G. Francis 1978 German German
17159 Shards Of Earth Adrian Tchaikovsky 2021 British English
17159 The Sky Road Ken MacLeod 1999 Scottish English
17159 A Star Wheeled Sky Brad R. Torgersen 2018 American English
17159 Hidden Figures Margot Lee Shetterly 2016 American English
17159 The Planets Dava Sobel 2005 American English
17159 Exoplanets And Alien Solar Systems Tahir Yaqoob 2011 American English
17159 Almost Astronauts Tanya Lee Stone 2009 American English
17159 Hyperspace Michio Kaku 1994 American English
17159 Edge Of The Universe Paul Halpern 2012 American English
17159 Vacuum Diagrams Stephen Baxter 1997 British English
17159 Her Smoke Rose Up Forever James Tiptree Jr. 1990 American English
17159 Moonglow Michael Chabon 2016 American English
17159 Our Final Century Martin Rees 2003 British English