10 great speculative fiction books

Are you looking for your next great read?

Are you new to speculative fiction, or looking for a book that matches up with one of your favorites?

Here are ten of the best-known books in the speculative fiction genre, along with ten similar recommendations that have been published over the past ten years.

Every book on this list is excellent, so you can’t go wrong.

Note: This blog post is part of my shameless SEO-driven book-marketing strategy.

Ten great speculative fiction books

In no particular order, here are 10 great speculative fiction titles that are similar to some classics you may already know and love.

1. Liked The Handmaid's Tale and Testaments? Then check out The Power by Naomi Alderman: In this dystopian novel, women develop the ability to wield deadly electricity with their fingertips, leading to a gender revolution that overturns the power dynamic between men and women.

2. Liked The Hunger Games? Then check out The Water Cure by Sophie Mackintosh: In this dystopian novel, three sisters are raised in isolation on a remote island by their parents, who believe that the outside world is toxic and that only their strict regimen of physical and emotional control can protect them.

3. Liked The Shining? Then check out The Cabin at the End of the World by Paul Tremblay: This horror novel follows a family who is vacationing in a remote cabin when they are visited by four strangers who claim that the end of the world is coming.

4. Liked The Giver? Then check out The Silent Patient by Alex Michaelides: This psychological thriller follows a forensic psychotherapist as he tries to uncover the truth behind a famous artist's mysterious silence after she murders her husband.

5. Liked The Children of Men? Then check out The Overstory by Richard Powers: This epic novel follows the lives of several characters whose stories intersect and are ultimately woven together by the trees that surround them. It's a moving exploration of the natural world and our place in it.

6. Liked The Windup Girl? Then check out Annihilation by Jeff Vandermeer: In this science fiction novel, a team of scientists journey into an environmental disaster zone known as Area X, only to discover that the rules of the world they know no longer apply.

7. Liked 1984? Then check out The Circle by Dave Eggers: This a dystopian novel follows a young woman who lands a job at a powerful tech company called the Circle. As she becomes more immersed in the company's culture and technology, she begins to realize the disturbing extent to which the Circle is manipulating and surveilling people's lives.

8. Liked House Made of Dawn? Then check out The Only Good Indians by Stephen Graham Jones: This horror novel follows four Native American men who are hunted by a vengeful spirit after they break a tribal hunting taboo. It's a powerful exploration of Native American culture and identity.

9. Liked Brave New World? Then check out The Mercies by Kiran Millwood Hargrave: This historical fiction novel is set in 1617 in a small Norwegian village where all the men have been wiped out by a storm. It's a feminist retelling of the story of the witches of Salem.

10. Liked The Butterfly Effect? Then check out Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell: This novel follows six interconnected stories that span centuries and genres, from the 1800s to a post-apocalyptic future. It's a thought-provoking exploration of how our actions can have unintended consequences that ripple through time and space.

I hope this list has given you some ideas for your next great read. 

Enjoy!