Science fiction, collections & anthologies book series in reading order

Ray Bradbury

132 books• 13 series

Fahrenheit 451 (1953) is the novel Ray Bradbury is best known for, alongside the short-story collections The Martian Chronicles (1950), The Illustrated Man (1951) and The October Country (1955). Bradbury (22 August 1920 – 5 June 2012) was an American author and screenwriter whose work covered fantasy, science fiction, horror, mystery and realistic fiction. Dandelion Wine (1957) is a coming-of-age novel, Something Wicked This Way Comes (1962) a dark fantasy, and Green Shadows, White Whale (1992) a fictionalized memoir. The catalogue reaches back to Kaleidoscope (1940) and Dark Carnival (1947), and Green Town and Crumley Mysteries are among the series.

Isaac Asimov

553 books• 31 series

Isaac Asimov (c. January 2, 1920 – April 6, 1992) was an American writer who also taught biochemistry at Boston University. Hard science fiction is the core of Asimov's reputation, and the Foundation series about a fallen space empire is the most famous work; Asimov ranked with Robert A. Heinlein and Arthur C. Clarke as one of the "Big Three" of the genre. The output also covers mysteries, fantasy and popular science, with non-fiction lines such as How Did We Find Out and the Library of the Universe. Asimov wrote or edited more than 500 books. This catalogue opens with the story Marooned Off Vesta (1939) and names Asimov on 400 of the listed books.

Robert Silverberg

240 books• 17 series

Robert Silverberg, born January 15, 1935, is an American science fiction author and editor with multiple Hugo and Nebula Awards, a place in the Science Fiction and Fantasy Hall of Fame, and Grand Master status since 2004. Nightwings (1969), a novella, and the novels Downward to the Earth (1970), The World Inside (1971), Dying Inside (1972) and Lord Valentine's Castle (1980) are among the most noted Silverberg works, and Lord Valentine's Castle was the first Majipoor book. By 2015 Silverberg had attended every Hugo Award ceremony since the first in 1953. The catalogue lists 240 books from Revolt on Alpha C (1955) to Beast Hunt: Volume 1 (2024), with The Shrouded Planet (1957) and Collision Course (1958) among the early ones. Series include Majipoor: Lord Valentine, Majipoor: Lord Prestimion, New Springtime, Time Gate and New Dimensions.

George R.R. Martin

90 books• 19 series

George R.R. Martin, born George Raymond Martin on September 20, 1948 and known by the initials GRRM, is an American author, screenwriter and television producer. A Song of Ice and Fire, the epic fantasy series adapted by HBO as Game of Thrones (2011–2019) and the prequel House of the Dragon, is Martin's best-known work; the related Tales of Dunk and Egg novellas became A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms. The catalogue begins in 1976 with A Song for Lya, Starlady and Fast-Friend and The Lonely Songs of Laren Dorr, followed by Dying of the Light (1977), Sandkings and Windhaven (1981), and Fevre Dream (1982). Science fiction, fantasy and short stories appear among the subjects.

Brian Aldiss

100 books• 4 series

Brian Aldiss (18 August 1925 to 19 August 2017) was an English author, artist and anthology editor whose reputation rests chiefly on science fiction, both novels and short stories. The Science Fiction Writers of America named Aldiss a Grand Master in 1999, and the Science Fiction Hall of Fame inducted Aldiss in 2004; awards include two Hugos and one Nebula. Aldiss was a vice-president of the H. G. Wells Society. The catalogue lists 100 titles from Starswarm (1954) onward, including Non-Stop, Hothouse and the Helliconia, Squire Quartet and Horatio Stubbs series.

Ursula K. Le Guin

121 books• 18 series

Ursula K. Le Guin (born Ursula Kroeber, 21 October 1929 to 22 January 2018) was an American writer of speculative fiction, including science fiction set in the Hainish universe and the Earthsea fantasy series. First published in 1959, Le Guin wrote for nearly sixty years, producing more than twenty novels and over a hundred short stories alongside poetry, criticism, translations and children's books. Catalogued titles include April in Paris (1962), Rocannon's World (1966), A Wizard of Earthsea (1968) and The Left Hand of Darkness (1969). Le Guin series include Hainish Cycle, Catwings, Orsinia and Annals of the Western Shore.

Fritz Leiber

88 books• 4 series

Fritz Leiber was an American writer of fantasy, horror and science fiction, and a Hugo Award winner. Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser is the signature creation, a fantasy adventure pairing with a graphic novel line of its own. Ninety-four titles are catalogued from 1943 to 2024, opening with Conjure Wife (1943) and Gather, Darkness! (1943), and taking in the Change War stories and several short fiction collections.

More Than Human (1953), a science fiction novel by Theodore Sturgeon, won the 1954 International Fantasy Award for best novel. Sturgeon (1918–1985), born Edward Hamilton Waldo, was an American writer of fantasy, science fiction and horror and a critic, with roughly 400 reviews, more than 120 short stories, 11 novels and two Star Trek: The Original Series scripts. The Science Fiction Writers of America ranked Baby Is Three fifth among the greatest novellas to 1964. The catalogue lists 54 books from Without Sorcery (1948), plus the Complete Stories of Theodore Sturgeon.

Henry H. Beam Piper's catalogue subjects list science fiction, collections and anthologies, private investigators and mystery. Paratime Police and Terro-Human Future History are the two series credited to Piper. Titles include Time and Time Again (1947), He Walked Around the Horses (1948), Police Operation (1948), Last Enemy (1950), Temple Trouble (1951) and Ullr Uprising (1952), and The Cosmic Computer appears among the 40 listed books.

H.G. Wells

152 books• 8 series

H.G. Wells, born Herbert George Wells (21 September 1866 – 13 August 1946), was an English writer of more than forty novels and dozens of short stories. Science fiction novels are the work Wells is most known for today, and Wells shares the title of father of science fiction with Jules Verne and Hugo Gernsback. The non-fiction covers social commentary, politics, history, popular science, satire, biography and autobiography. The catalogue opens with The Chronic Argonauts (1888) and includes The Time Machine (1895), The Wonderful Visit (1895) and The Island of Dr. Moreau (1896). Utopias, civilization and philosophy appear among the subjects.

Harlan Ellison

91 books• 6 series

Harlan Ellison (May 27, 1934 – June 28, 2018) was an American writer associated with New Wave speculative fiction and known for an outspoken, combative personality. Ellison's output ran past 1,700 pieces, spanning short stories, novellas, screenplays, comic-book scripts, teleplays and essays, plus criticism of literature, film, television and print. The catalogue lists 91 titles from The Deadly Streets (1958) to Greatest Hits (2024), including Web of the City (1958), Gentleman Junkie (1961) and Ellison Wonderland (1962). Subjects span science fiction, fantasy, horror and short stories, and the series listed are Brain Movies, Dream Corridor and Vic and Blood.

Paul Di Filippo

47 books• 5 series

Paul Di Filippo, born October 29, 1954, is an American science fiction writer and a regular reviewer. Review work has appeared in Asimov's Science Fiction, The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, Science Fiction Eye, The New York Review of Science Fiction, Interzone and Nova Express, online at Science Fiction Weekly, and since 2013 in Locus. Di Filippo belongs to the Turkey City Writer's Workshop, and the novella A Year in the Linear City earned a Hugo nomination for Best Novella. The catalogue lists 47 books from Ribofunk (1996) to Vangie's Ghosts (2024).

Connie Willis

59 books• 8 series

Connie Willis, born Constance Elaine Trimmer on December 31, 1945, is an American science fiction and fantasy writer with eleven Hugo Awards and seven Nebula Awards. Blackout/All Clear (2010) won both the Hugo and the Nebula for Best Novel. Several Willis novels send Oxford history students back in time, and that group forms the Oxford Time Travel series. Willis entered the Science Fiction Hall of Fame in 2009 and was named the 28th SFWA Grand Master in 2011. The Road to Roswell (2023) is the latest novel in the catalogue, and The Spanner in the Works is listed for 2027.

Alastair Reynolds

46 books• 7 series

Alastair Preston Reynolds, born 13 March 1966, is a Welsh science fiction author who specialises in hard science fiction and space opera. Forty-nine books sit in the catalogue, from A Spy in Europa (1997) to Halcyon Years (2026). Revelation Space (2000), Chasm City (2001), Redemption Ark (2002) and Absolution Gap (2003) come early in the run. Revelation Space, Revenger, Poseidon's Children, Medusa Chronicles and the Inspector Dreyfus books are the series credited to Reynolds. Subjects on record include life on other planets, space colonies, space warfare, time travel and human-alien encounters.

Philip K. Dick

86 books• 4 series

Philip K. Dick (December 16, 1928 to March 2, 1982) was an American science fiction novelist and short story writer. Dick wrote 45 novels and roughly 121 short stories, most of them first published in science fiction magazines. The fiction asks what is real and probes perception, identity and human nature. Characters in Dick's work contend with alternate realities, illusory worlds, monopoly corporations, drug abuse, authoritarian states and altered consciousness. Dick ranks among the most important figures in 20th-century science fiction. Catalogued titles include Beyond Lies the Wub (1951), Paycheck (1953) and Adjustment Team (1954), and the VALIS Trilogy appears as a series. Androids and life on other planets feature in the subject tags.

Clifford D. Simak

76 books• 2 series

Clifford D. Simak (1904–1988) was an American science fiction writer who also worked as a journalist. Simak won three Hugo Awards and one Nebula Award, became the third SFWA Grand Master, and was among the first three recipients of the Horror Writers Association's Bram Stoker Award for Lifetime Achievement. The catalogue records 76 books, from Empire (1932) through City (1952) to the collection The Thing in the Stone: And Other Stories (2024). Subjects include robots, telepathy, time travel and space travel, and the pastoral science fiction subgenre is linked to Simak's name.

Keith Laumer, born John Keith Laumer, was an American science fiction author who lived from June 9, 1925, to January 23, 1993. Before writing full time, Laumer served as a United States Air Force officer and as a diplomat in the United States Foreign Service. March Laumer, an older brother, wrote adult reinterpretations of the Land of Oz, and Frank Laumer, the youngest brother, is a historian and writer. The catalogue lists 98 books, among them Worlds of the Imperium (1961) and Plague of Demons (1964), with the Retief, Bolo and Lafayette O'Leary series. Subjects include human-alien encounters, space opera and short stories.

Carlton Mellick III

68 books• 1 series

Carlton Mellick III is an American author, born 2 July 1977 and based in Portland, Oregon. Mellick is one of the leading writers of Bizarro fiction, an underground movement that sets schlock science fiction and horror next to postmodern literary art. The novels build surreal versions of earth, in the present and in imagined futures, and aim at social absurdity and satire. The catalogue holds 68 books, from Sunset With A Beard (2000) through Satan Burger (2001) to Scorpion Ranch (2025).

Harry Turtledove

141 books• 28 series

Harry Turtledove, born June 14, 1949, is an American historian and novelist of alternate history, historical fiction, fantasy, science fiction and mystery, based in Southern California. The catalogue counts 142 books, starting with Wereblood and Werenight (1979), published as Eric G. Iverson, and listing The Succulent Succubus for 2027. Other pen names are H. N. Turteltaub, Dan Chernenko and Mark Gordian. The Videssos Cycle, Southern Victory / Timeline-191, Worldwar, Colonization, Crosstime Traffic, The War That Came Early and Gerin the Fox are among the series. World War II and the American Civil War are frequent subjects.

Timothy Zahn

98 books• 26 series

Timothy Zahn, born September 1, 1951, is an American writer of science fiction and fantasy who grew up in Lombard, Illinois. The Star Wars books, above all the Thrawn trilogy, are the core of Zahn's reputation, and those novels are credited with reviving interest in the franchise. Original series include Cobra, Blackcollar, Dragonback, Quadrail, Conquerors Saga, Icarus and Sibyl's War. The catalogue lists 99 books by Zahn, starting with The Blackcollar (1983); Trap Line appeared in 2025 and A Call to Deception is due in 2027.

L. Ron Hubbard

110 books• 5 series

L. Ron Hubbard (Lafayette Ronald Hubbard, March 13, 1911 to January 24, 1986) was an American writer and the founder of Scientology. The early career produced a large body of pulp science fiction and fantasy. The catalogue holds 110 books, starting in 1934 with Sea Fangs, Dead Men Kill, Hurtling Wings and Twenty Fathoms Down. Series include Mission Earth, Slaves of Sleep and collections of western and science fiction short stories. Hubbard wrote Dianetics: The Modern Science of Mental Health in 1950, a book described as pseudoscientific, created Scientology in 1952 and led the Church of Scientology until 1986. Subjects include air pilots, sea stories, westerns and crime.

Kim Stanley Robinson

43 books• 11 series

Kim Stanley Robinson, born March 23, 1952, is an American science fiction writer best known for the Mars trilogy. Robinson's novels and stories frequently carry ecological, cultural and political themes and make scientists the heroes. Robinson has won the Hugo and Nebula awards for Best Novel and the World Fantasy Award. The Atlantic described the work as the gold standard of realistic, highly literary science fiction. Catalogued titles include Icehenge and The Wild Shore (both 1984), The Memory of Whiteness (1985) and The Best Journey in the World (2026), plus The Novels of Philip K. Dick (1984). Series include Mars Trilogy, Three Californias Triptych and Capital Code/Science In The Capital.

Roger Zelazny (1937–1995) was an American science fiction and fantasy writer whose novels and short stories draw on mythology and religion. The Chronicles of Amber, set in the imaginary realm of Amber and featuring Corwin, is the best known sequence. Zelazny won the Nebula Award three times and the Hugo six, two of those for novels: ...And Call Me Conrad, republished as This Immortal, and Lord of Light (1967). Seventy-nine books are catalogued from Four for Tomorrow (1965) onward, taking in the Dilvish stories, the Changeling Saga and the Francis Sandow books.

Poul Anderson

160 books• 18 series

Poul Anderson (25 November 1926 to 31 July 2001) was an American author of science fiction and fantasy who also wrote historical novels. Anderson won the Hugo Award seven times and the Nebula Award three times. The catalogue lists 160 titles, from Duel on Syrtis (1951) to Swordsmen from the Stars (2020), with series including Flandry, the Polesotechnic League, the Psychotechnic League, Time Patrol, Hoka, Maurai, King of Ys and Harvest of Stars. Subjects on file include space opera, time travel, space warfare and epic fantasy.