Science Fiction and Fantasy Series

Adams, Douglas (1952-2001). The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy is a comic science fiction series that was originally broadcast on the radio in 1978. Over the years it’s been adapted to other formats and gradually became an international multi-media phenomenon. Titles in the main series are: The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy; The Restaurant at the End of the Universe; Life, the Universe and Everything; So Long, and Thanks for All the Fish; Mostly Harmless.  


Asaro, Catherine.  Saga of the Skolian Empire. The Skolian saga is a series of science fiction novels, novelettes and novellas revolving around characters from an interstellar empire known as the Skolian Empire and their power struggle with the rival Eubian Concord. Catherine Asaro has a PhD in chemical physics and an A.M. in physics. Because of the scientific depth of her work, she is known as a hard science fiction writer. The first in the series is Primary Inversion (1995) and Carnelians (2011) is the most recent.


Asimov, Isaac (1920-1992). Foundation Trilogy. The series comprises the books Foundation's Edge (Hugo 1983); Foundation (1951); Foundation and Empire (1952); and Second Foundation (1953). It won the one-time Hugo Award for "Best All-Time Series" in 1966. Robot and Empire are two other series. Foundation series summary: At last, the costly and bitter war between the two Foundations had come to an end.  Someone-or something outside of both Foundations seems to be orchestrating events to suit its own ominous purpose. Soon representatives of both the First and Second Foundations will find themselves racing toward a mysterious world called Gaia and a final shocking destiny at the very end of the universe!  The Robot series is a series of short stories and novels featuring positronic robots.


Bradley, Marion Zimmer (1930-1999). Darkover series. Survivors of a crashed spaceship establish a colony on Darkover. The novels and short stories set in the fictional world of Darkover encompass several historical ages on the planet  while relaying family sagas and personal coming of age stories. People on Darkover may be born with Psychic and psionic abilities that were acquired  through interbreeding with the native Chieri people.

Bradbury, Ray (1920-2012). The Martian Chronicles (1950)  is a collection of science fiction short stories that chronicles the colonization of Mars by humans fleeing from a troubled and eventually atomically devastated Earth, and the conflict between aboriginal Martians and the new colonists. The Martian Chronicles follows a "future history" structure. The stories, complete in themselves, come together as episodes in a larger sequential narrative framework. 


Bujold, Lois McMaster, (1949-). The Vorkosigan Saga is a series of science fiction novels and short stories set in a fictional universe. The series features Miles Vorkosigan, a physically impaired interstellar spy and mercenary admiral from the planet Barrayar, set approximately 1000 years in the future. Works in the series have received numerous awards and nominations, including winning four Hugo awards. The series begins with Miles’ parents in Cordelia's Honor (1999); Captain Vorpatril's Alliance (2012) is the most recent.


Burroughs, Edgar Rice (1875-1950). Mars series. Burroughs wrote popular science fiction and fantasy stories involving Earthly adventurers transported to various planets (Venus series), lost lands, and the interior of the earth (Pellucidar Series), as well as the famous Tarzan series. A Princess of Mars (1917); The Gods of Mars (1918); The Warlord of Mars (1919); Thuvia, Maid of Mars (1920); The Chessmen of Mars (1922).


Card, Orson Scott (1951-). Enders Game. Andrew "Ender" Wiggin trains at the elite Battle School, a space station/military training complex for children. Humankind experiences large-scale confrontations with "buggers" who nearly wipe out humanity. Ender's Game (1991). (Hugo 1986) (Nebula 1985)  Its sequels, Speaker for the Dead (1991), Xenocide (1991), Children of the Mind (1996), and Ender in Exile (2008), follow Ender's subsequent travels to many different worlds in the galaxy.    


Czerneda, Julie (1955-). Species Imperative series. Czerneda, a biologist by education, is a Canadian science fiction and fantasy author. The Species Imperative series is the author’s look at a future where humans and other intelligent species coexist peacefully across a wide area of space, and the consequences of one species’ innate drive on the rest. Set in part on the northern coast of British Columbia. Survival (2004); Migration (2005); Regeneration (2006).     


Herbert, Frank (1920-1986). Dune Series. The Dune series is set in the far future amidst a feudal interstellar society where noble houses control individual planets. The first book, Dune (1965)  won the Hugo Award in 1966, and the inaugural Nebula Award for Best Novel. (There are five sequels: Dune Messiah (1969), Children of Dune (1976), God Emperor of Dune (1981), Heretics of Dune (1984), and Chapterhouse: Dune (1985).  


Jordan, Robert (James Oliver Rigney, Jr. 1948-2007).  Wheel of Time. In the series' mythology, the Creator forged the universe and the Wheel of Time, which spins all lives. The Creator imprisoned its antithesis, the Dark One, at the moment of creation, sealing him away from the Wheel. However, an Aes Sedai experiment inadvertently breached the Dark One's prison, allowing his chaos into the world. Men live with the prophecy that the Dark One will break free and the Dragon will be reborn to face him once more, raining utter destruction. By the 11th novel, it has become clear that the Last Battle is imminent. The Eye of the World (1990). The Great Hunt (1990), The Dragon Reborn (1992), The Shadow Rising (1992), The Fires of Heaven (1993), Lord of Chaos (1994), A Crown of Swords (1996), The Path of Daggers (1998), Winter’s Heart (2000), Crossroads of Twilight (2003), Knife of Dreams (2005), The Gathering Storm (2009). The final two books, completed by Brian Sanderson, are Towers of Midnight (2010) and A Memory of Light (2013).


Martin, George R.R. (1948-). A Song of Ice and Fire is an international bestselling series of epic fantasy. The series has been adapted for HBO, A Game of Thrones, for which he also serves as co-executive producer and sometimes screenwriter and director. A Game of Thrones follows three principal storylines simultaneously – The Seven Kingdoms, On the Wall, In the East. Titles in the series: A Game of Thrones (1996); A Clash of Kings (1998); A Storm of Swords (2000); Feast for Crows (2005); A Dance with Dragons (2011). 


Norton, Andre (Alice Mary Norton,1912-2005). In the first book of the Witch World series, Witch World (1963), Simon Tregarth is transported to a land where magic vies with more mundane swords and bows. In the Time Traders series time agents Ross Murdock and Travis Fox travel through time and space to safeguard Earth. The Time Traders (1958). Norton wrote science fiction and fantasy under the pen names Andre Norton, Andrew North, and Allen Weston. She was the first woman to be Gandalf Grand Master of Fantasy, first to be SFWA Grand Master, and first inducted by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Hall of Fame


Weber, David Mark, 1952.  The Honor Harrington series follows Honor Harrington, military heroine and later, influential politician, during a time of extreme international change and tension. Weber’s lifelong interest in military history is reflected in his fiction.  On Basilisk Station (April 1993) begins the series and Shadow of Freedom (2013) is the latest.

Tolkien, J.R.R. (John Ronald Reuel) (1892-1973). Lord of the Rings series is the best known epic high fantasy series, published in the 1950s and a major influence on the development of modern fantasy. The Lord of the Rings, The Fellowship of the Ring, The Two Towers, and The Return of the King (1954-1955).