Have you noticed how difficult it is to find a standalone fantasy novel these days?
Everything seems to be a trilogy, a five-book saga or the beginning of a series that may or may not be finished in our lifetime.
I love epic fantasy. Give me a richly imagined world, complicated characters and a few thousand pages to disappear into, and I’m happy.
But where’s the love for epic science fiction?
Science fiction has its own enormous worlds, complex histories, political conflicts and unforgettable characters. And instead of dragons, elves and magical kingdoms, we get alien civilizations, artificial intelligence, interstellar empires and the future of humanity itself.
There’s certainly no shortage of material.
And I’d argue that science fiction has one advantage over fantasy that makes it particularly fascinating.
Fantasy shows us worlds we’ll never inhabit. Science fiction shows us worlds we might someday create.
Science fiction doesn’t just predict the future. It helps create it.
I love fantasy for its ability to take us somewhere completely different.
But we’re not going to encounter elves in the forest or discover that a dragon has taken up residence in the mountains.
Science fiction is different.
Sure, some of its ideas are just as fantastic. Faster-than-light travel, alien civilizations and technologies that defy our current understanding of physics are still speculative.
But science fiction often begins with a simple question.
What if?
What if humanity colonized Mars? What if artificial intelligence became smarter than us? What if we discovered another civilization? What if technology eliminated the need for work?
These aren’t merely entertaining premises. They’re questions about futures we may actually have to confront.
And I’ve long had a theory about science-fiction writers.
They don’t just predict the future. They help create it.
I explored this in another essay, Everything Is Star Trek.
Think about the scientists, engineers and inventors who grew up watching Star Trek or reading authors like Isaac Asimov and Arthur C. Clarke.
They encountered visions of intelligent computers, handheld communicators, artificial assistants and technologies that didn’t yet exist.
Then some of those people went into the world and helped develop technologies that resemble what they’d imagined.
Of course, scientific progress is more complicated than that. Fiction doesn’t deserve sole credit for inventions, and not every science-fiction prediction comes true.
But I wonder how often someone encounters an idea in a story and thinks, Why can’t we actually do that?
Maybe science fiction’s greatest contribution isn’t predicting the future accurately.
Maybe it’s inspiring someone to build a future that previously existed only in an author’s imagination.
That’s an extraordinary power for fiction to have.
And it’s one more reason I love the genre.
So, if you’re looking for another enormous fictional world to get lost in, here are ten epic science-fiction series worth exploring.
Some I’ve read and loved. Others are sitting on my shelves, waiting patiently for their turn.
The purchase links below are Amazon affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.
1. The Expanse by James S. A. Corey
Start with: Leviathan Wakes
What happens when humanity colonizes the solar system but brings all its old problems along for the ride?
That’s the world of The Expanse.
Earth, Mars and the asteroid Belt have developed their own political identities, economic interests and grievances. Technology has advanced enormously, but human nature hasn’t changed much.
We’re still arguing over resources, power, territory and who gets to make the rules.
I really enjoyed this series, particularly how believable its world feels. Space travel is dangerous. Distance matters. Resources are limited. Political decisions have consequences.
And then there’s the discovery of something that threatens to change everything humanity thinks it understands about the universe.
It’s a sprawling nine-novel series, with memorable characters, political intrigue, enormous stakes and a world that feels surprisingly plausible.
Watch it too: The excellent six-season television adaptation, The Expanse, brings much of that world to life. The novels continue beyond where the show ends.
2. Red Rising by Pierce Brown
Start with: Red Rising
If you’re an epic fantasy reader looking for a way into science fiction, this might be my first recommendation.
Red Rising has many of the things that make fantasy epics so addictive.
Competing houses. Elaborate hierarchies. Political conspiracies. Betrayals. Rebellions. Huge battles. Characters you become deeply invested in.
The difference is that these conflicts unfold across a futuristic society built on a brutally enforced caste system.
The first novel starts with a relatively contained story, but the series grows into something much more ambitious.
And once it gets going, it really gets going.
This is science fiction with the energy and scope of an epic fantasy saga.
Coming to the screen: A film adaptation is in development at Paramount, with Francis Lawrence attached to direct. There’s no confirmed release date yet.
3. Silo by Hugh Howey
Start with: Wool
An epic world doesn’t necessarily have to be enormous.
Sometimes all you need is a giant underground structure filled with thousands of people who have no idea what’s happening outside.
That’s the premise behind Hugh Howey’s Silo trilogy, consisting of Wool, Shift and Dust.
Generations of people have lived underground, governed by strict rules and a social order built around what they’re permitted to know.
And naturally, some people begin asking questions.
What makes Silo fascinating is its worldbuilding. It’s an entire civilization with its own customs, politics, history and restrictions.
The mystery is compelling, but so is the question of how much control you can exert over a society simply by controlling information.
Watch it too: Apple TV’s Silo, starring Rebecca Ferguson, is an excellent screen adaptation. Three seasons are available, with a fourth and final season scheduled for 2027.
4. Dune by Frank Herbert
Start with: Dune
If any science-fiction series deserves to stand alongside the great epic fantasies, it’s Dune.
Great houses battling for power. Ancient rivalries. Religious movements. Political intrigue. Prophecy. Betrayal.
Sound familiar?
Replace swords and sorcery with interstellar politics and a desert planet containing the most valuable substance in the universe, and you’ve got one of science fiction’s great achievements.
But Dune is more than an elaborate political drama.
Frank Herbert explores ecology, religion, charismatic leadership and the danger of societies placing their faith in supposedly extraordinary individuals.
It’s an enormous fictional universe with ideas that remain relevant.
Watch it too: Denis Villeneuve’s Dune films are visually spectacular. I think they’re among the best examples of how a filmmaker can translate an ambitious science-fiction world to the screen.
5. Foundation by Isaac Asimov
Start with: Foundation
What if human history could be predicted mathematically?
That’s the central idea behind Asimov’s Foundation series.
Hari Seldon develops psychohistory, a fictional mathematical science capable of predicting the broad behaviour of enormous populations.
He foresees the collapse of a vast galactic empire and attempts to shorten the dark age that will follow.
What I find fascinating about Foundation is its scale.
Instead of following one hero through a conventional adventure, the story moves through generations, political systems and historical crises.
Individual characters come and go. Civilizations rise and fall.
It’s a different kind of epic.
And Asimov’s ideas about technology, power, social change and the relationship between individuals and history are still worth thinking about.
I’ve written more about my relationship with Asimov, Dune and science fiction in How I Fell in Love with Science Fiction.
Watch it too: Apple TV’s Foundation is visually impressive and worth experiencing on its own terms. Just don’t expect a faithful recreation of the novels. The show makes substantial changes to the characters and story.
6. The Three-Body Problem by Liu Cixin
Start with: The Three-Body Problem
Here’s one I have mixed feelings about.
Liu Cixin’s Remembrance of Earth’s Past trilogy begins with one of the most fascinating science-fiction premises I’ve encountered.
What happens when humanity discovers that an alien civilization exists, and that contact may not be a particularly good thing?
The scope grows enormously across the three novels, exploring physics, civilization, survival and humanity’s place in a universe that may be far more dangerous than we imagine.
The ideas are extraordinary.
But I didn’t enjoy the reading experience quite as much as I did with some of the other series on this list.
I occasionally found the language awkward or unnatural, particularly in the translated prose. I can’t say whether that was a result of the translation, the original writing style or simply my own preferences.
Whatever the reason, I sometimes struggled to connect with the storytelling.
Still, the sheer ambition deserves recognition.
If you’re interested in big scientific concepts and genuinely unsettling possibilities about the universe, there’s plenty here to think about.
Watch it too: Netflix’s 3 Body Problem offers another way into the story, with significant changes to its characters and presentation.
7. The Space Odyssey Series by Arthur C. Clarke
Start with: 2001: A Space Odyssey
Clarke’s Space Odyssey series takes a different approach to epic science fiction.
It’s less concerned with galactic politics and sprawling casts than with humanity’s evolution and our place in the cosmos.
Beginning with 2001: A Space Odyssey and continuing through 2010, 2061 and 3001, Clarke explores artificial intelligence, mysterious extraterrestrial intelligence and the possibility that humanity is only one small step in a much larger evolutionary process.
There’s a sense of wonder in these stories that I find particularly appealing.
What if the universe contains intelligences so far beyond us that we can barely comprehend their intentions?
And what might humanity become if we ever encounter them?
These are the kinds of questions that make science fiction so much more than stories about spaceships.
Watch it too: Stanley Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey is a landmark of science-fiction cinema. 2010: The Year We Make Contact is also worth discovering.
Three universes still waiting on my bookshelf
One of the things I love about reading is knowing that some of my future favourite books might already be sitting in my house.
I haven’t entered these next three worlds yet. I’ve bought the books, I’ve read enough about them to be intrigued, and they’re waiting patiently on my shelf.
I can’t personally recommend their execution because I haven’t read them. But their premises make them compelling candidates for anyone interested in epic science fiction.
8. The Culture Series by Iain M. Banks
Possible starting point: The Player of Games or Consider Phlebas
This is one I’ve been meaning to read for a while.
The Culture is a highly advanced civilization where scarcity has largely been eliminated and extraordinarily powerful artificial intelligences help manage society.
What happens to human ambition, politics and personal freedom when technology can provide almost anything?
And what happens when such an advanced civilization encounters others that don’t share its values?
The series has attracted some notable admirers, including Elon Musk, who has recommended Banks’s books. SpaceX even named drone ships after spacecraft from the Culture universe.
That’s an interesting connection to my theory about science fiction helping create the future. Here we have someone working on real spacecraft drawing inspiration from fictional ones.
Unlike a traditional fantasy saga, the Culture novels are largely independent stories set in the same universe, rather than one continuous plot.
I’m particularly interested in seeing how Banks handles a future shaped by superintelligent AI.
That feels increasingly relevant.
9. Children of Time by Adrian Tchaikovsky
Start with: Children of Time
What if intelligence evolved along an entirely different path?
Children of Time explores the development of a civilization that isn’t human, alongside the struggles of humanity’s descendants.
That’s the premise that caught my attention.
So much science fiction imagines alien civilizations that are basically human societies with different appearances.
I’m interested in stories that challenge our assumptions about intelligence itself.
How would another species develop language, culture, technology or social structures?
Would it think anything like us?
The series promises an enormous exploration of evolution, consciousness and civilization.
It’s sitting on my shelf, and I’m looking forward to finding out whether it delivers.
10. The Commonwealth Saga by Peter F. Hamilton
Start with: Pandora’s Star
If you’re looking for a science-fiction equivalent of an enormous fantasy epic, Peter F. Hamilton seems like an obvious candidate.
The Commonwealth is a sprawling interstellar civilization connected by advanced technology, with a vast cast of characters, complicated politics and mysteries that threaten entire worlds.
Pandora’s Star and Judas Unchained form the central two-book Commonwealth Saga, with further novels exploring the broader universe.
These are substantial books.
The kind that require a commitment.
But that’s part of what attracts me to them.
Sometimes I don’t want a clever standalone novel that I can finish over a weekend.
I want a world I can inhabit for weeks. Maybe months.
Something with enough depth that finishing the final page feels like leaving a place I’ve actually visited.
This is another universe waiting on my bookshelf.
Sometimes the best worlds are the ones we haven’t entered yet
There’s a reason epic fantasy is so popular.
Readers love disappearing into imaginary worlds. We love learning their histories, understanding their rules and becoming attached to people who don’t actually exist.
Science fiction can provide exactly the same experience.
But it can also give us something more.
It can make us think about what our own world might become.
The political divisions of The Expanse. The technology-driven societies of The Culture. The artificial intelligence of 2001. The rise and fall of civilizations in Foundation.
They’re fictional ideas, but they ask questions that increasingly belong to our own reality.
And while I’m writing this, I can’t help thinking about those books waiting patiently on my shelf.
Entire civilizations are sitting in my house.
Histories I haven’t learned. Characters I haven’t met. Worlds I haven’t explored.
Some of them might become my favourite stories.
I just haven’t opened them yet.
That’s one of the wonderful things about being a reader.
There’s always another world waiting.
And if you’re looking for one, maybe it’s time to trade the dragons for the stars.
Books mentioned
This article contains Amazon affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.
- Leviathan Wakes by James S. A. Corey
- Red Rising by Pierce Brown
- Wool by Hugh Howey
- Dune by Frank Herbert
- Foundation by Isaac Asimov
- The Three-Body Problem by Liu Cixin
- 2001: A Space Odyssey by Arthur C. Clarke
- The Player of Games by Iain M. Banks
- Children of Time by Adrian Tchaikovsky
- Pandora’s Star by Peter F. Hamilton
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