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Top 10 YA Science Fiction Books
Readers of young adult science fiction are used to the world ending. In the wake of The Hunger Games (and, to a somewhat lesser extent, The Giver), dystopian worlds have dominated the genre. The sky may be the limit, but not many characters are going there yet.
Our hunt for the best YA sci-fi books on Goodreads reflects this partiality to the post-apocalypse. We set the bar high, only including books with at least a 4.0 average rating. The result? A sometimes grim, always thrilling peek into the future—where young women and men have the power to change their fates.
How long will dystopia continue its YA reign? Already the tides are shifting, as Veronica Roth ditches the end of the world for space travel with her Carve the Mark series and Marie Lu seeks to put a cyberpunk twist on The Hunger Games with her upcoming Warcross.
Check out readers' top 10 YA sci-fi books and let us know how many you've read in the comments!
by Suzanne Collins
What to look forward to in the future: distasteful reality television!
To save her sister, Katniss willingly enters the Hunger Games, an annual televised event where 24 children must fight to the death.
by Veronica Roth
What to look forward to in the future: a life-changing personality test!
Welcome to the Chicago of the future, a city where everyone is divided into five factions based on one aptitude test they take as teens.
by Lois Lowry
What to look forward to in the future: the absence of color!
Jonas' world shifts from utopian bliss to dystopian dread when he becomes his society's Receiver of Memory.
by James Dashner
What to look forward to in the future: puzzles that can kill you!
In the center of a towering, ever-shifting stone maze, a group of children must figure out how to escape—and how to survive.
by Marissa Meyer
What to look forward to in the future: cyborg heroines!
A sixteen-year-old cyborg tries to save her stepsister in this futuristic update on the classic Cinderella tale.
by Marie Lu
What to look forward to in the future: perpetual war!
After a brutal murder, a military prodigy and the country's most wanted criminal form an uneasy alliance to uncover the truth.
by Rick Yancey
What to look forward to in the future: waves of misery!
As one of Earth's last survivors, Cassie knows she must stay alone to survive…until a mysterious boy shows her a different way.
by Tahereh Mafi
What to look forward to in the future: a literal kiss of death!
Accused of murder because of her fatal touch, Juliette struggles to understand if she possesses a gift or a curse.
by Neal Shusterman
What to look forward to in the future: forced organ donation!
Risa, Lev, and Connor band together to avoid "unwounding," a legal process where all of a person's organs are transplanted into different donors.
by Alexandra Bracken
What to look forward to in the future: a disease with super side effects!
After Ruby escapes a government rehabilitation camp, she discovers a safe haven for other kids with frightening abilities.
What's your favorite YA sci-fi read? Share it with us in the comments.
See the complete coverage of Sci-Fi & Fantasy Week including:
Top 50 Science Fiction Books on Goodreads
Top 10 YA Fantasy Books
The Martian's Andy Weir Picks Space Colonization Sci-Fi
Comments Showing 1-50 of 92 (92 new)
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Vikas
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Jul 29, 2017 12:55PM
Almost all of these series either I have read or they are on my TBR rack. Nice list.
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I've read 9 of them. The Hunger Games was the book that made me fall in love with dystopia <3333 and don't let me get started on Legend!!!
Only read two but I already had two more on my wishlist.
I've read 5 of these, but my choice would be "Uglies".
Read or to be read on this shelf, hoping for more suggestions
4 out of 10. "The Giver" is my favorite.
Read 6 of these! Can't believe I still haven't read the Giver :( Also, I loved Alexandra Bracken's Brightly Woven, should try The Darkest Minds, too!
I've only read 3 out of these. I guess I'm a flop lol
6/10 I have read and loved Alexandra Bracken's other books should try The Darkest Mind shortly
I've read 4.( Hunger Games, Divergent, Maze Runner and Legend) Legend or Divergent are probably my top 2 dystopian books out of these options. Although Legend was the one book that started my MASSIVE love for dystopian books. ;D
Kelly wrote: "I've read 5 of these, but my choice would be "Uglies"."Uglies is definitely in my top ten
9/10 and the missing one has enough 1 star reviews in its first page for me to be sure to avoid it.The Hunger Games is my favorite but Unwind's idea is really unsettling.
I've read 4 of 10. One of them is The 5th Wave which I really disliked, and the others did not impress me. I guess YA Sci-Fi is not for me.
9/10Read all of them except Unwind, didnt finish 2.
Cinder and Legend and the Hunger Games!! The 5th Wave was good too.
9/10 Didn't read Unwind! Props to Cinder and The Hunger Games, my two favs on this list ;)
EDIT: 10/10 :D New fav: Unwind!
I'm almost done with the Divergent series and I also thought Virals was a pretty good Scifi Thriller mystery YA series by Kathy Reichs too.
Kelly wrote: "I've read 5 of these, but my choice would be "Uglies"."Mine to <3<3
I've read the top 5. I haven't heard anything about Unwind, but I hope to read the rest of these.
I've read 6/10.. I'll have to add the others to my list of must-reads!
ive read half of these and just added 3 of the others on to my to read list!
Would that there were fewer dystopias, and more optimistic SF, YA and adult. Spider Robinson: "Over and over again I find in my short stories that I am, by policy, optimistic. Looking back on it and thinking it over after 25 years, I'm real proud of that. If that's a defect, it's a defect I'm sinfully proud of and I hope I can manage to maintain that excessively optimistic attitude for another 25 years. "
I have read six of these books. Of them, there are three I did not enjoy: "Divergent", "The Giver", and "The 5th Wave." The rest of the series of "The Giver" is phenomenal, though.
Finally unwind makes it to a favourite list, it doesn't get enough credit. Highly recommend!
Great list. I just read 5 of them, but I wish to read them all, except for The Maze Runner. Should add "Uglies" & "Delirium" to the list.
Divergent and Maze Runner put me off the genre unfortunately. Writers need to have an AT LEAST functional understanding of science to write science fiction stories.
The only book on this list that I would consider Sci-Fi is Cinder. All the rest are dystopian. Just because it happens in a supposed future doesn't make it science fiction.
Gotta say i have most of them read or marked "to-read". I got some new additions just now though. I'm afraid my list "to-read" will never decrease :D
There are more in this genre and sci fi than fantasy that I want to read. Have read the first book of the Hunger Games, and need to read the rest, plus all of the Divergent series and Cinder. Added some to my to read list.
I just read Amid Stars and Darkness by Chani Lynn Feener - it's a great read. I'd highly recommend it to lovers of YA, Romance and Sci-Fi :)
Betsy wrote: "The only book on this list that I would consider Sci-Fi is Cinder. All the rest are dystopian. Just because it happens in a supposed future doesn't make it science fiction."Yeah you're right! But great books nevertheless! ;)
ReeMa wrote: "How did Shatter Me even make it to this list? It's the worst book ever!"Which is your opinion and you are entitled to it.
6/10. I found Unwind (and the rest of the series) to be the most disturbing and most likely to happen.
