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10 Scifi Novels To Give People Who Hate Sci-fi [List]

Jurassic ParkIf you're a voracious sci-fi reader, and your friend or significant other is not, you know the pain. You wish you could share the latest great novel you read, but they just roll their eyes and say, "I don't read science fiction." You've tried introducing them to the greats like Dune or Neuromancer, but they don't get past the first page. This list is for them. Most of these novels are so popular and universal, they put them in the mainstream section of most bookstores. Think of them as appetizers. Once they read these, they may be ready for a deeper novel as the main course.

1. 1984 by George Orwell - Set in a near-future where a fascist government observes and controls every aspect of life, one man struggles to find love and freedom. This novel is the gold standard for dystopian fiction, and made the term "Big Brother" synonymous with oppressive surveillance. In today's world, 1984's themes of privacy and freedom are more relevant than ever.

2. Fatherland by Robert Harris - The idea of an alternate reality where the Nazis won World War II has become a cliche, but I don't think it's ever been done better than Harris did. The novel tells the story of a cop who uncovers the most horrifying (and previously unknown) acts of the Nazi regime. It's so realistic and carefully researched that it won't feel like science fiction.

3. The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood - For women, this novel is more horrifying than any Stephen King novel. Set in a dystopian future where sterility and religious fundamentalism has enslaved American women, the novel chronicles the life of one woman forced to be a breeder for a wealthy couple. Any feminist you know will find it captivating, and the novel will lead to long discussions about the parallels in our daily life.

4. Pattern Recognition by William Gibson - Gibson is known more for his seminal cyberpunk novel Neuromancer, but this was the novel that put him in the mainstream. A young woman with a quirky ability to detect "coolness" finds herself embroiled in a global search to find the source of mysterious footage released on the Internet. Almost nothing is this story is unrealistic (if you accept the idea of an allergy to "coolness"), and is another great novel that your target can read without thinking that it's science fiction.

5. Watchers by Dean Koontz - Is your target a dog lover? Tell your target that this novel is about a cute dog with human-level intelligence that befriends a lonely ex-soldier, and helps him find love. Is your target a horror fan? Tell him or her this novel is about a horrific monster that stalks the dog and the soldier for revenge. Is your target a conspiracy nut? Tell them it's about a government conspiracy to create a super-intelligent dog and a monstrous creature for the battlefield that subsequently escape and run amok. Just don't tell them it's about genetic engineering. They'll like it just fine.

6. Time and Again by Jack Finney - The story of an artist drafted by a secret government project to travel back in time is about time travel, but is also a time machine. Finney's portrayal of New York in 1882 is so rich that you'll feel like you're being taken there, walking the streets of the city yourself. The romance when the artist who falls in love with someone from the past will also capture the heart.

7. Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand - Set in an alternate 1950's, Rand's novel is technically about a powerful industrialist trying to build a train system with a new form of steel. At its heart, the novel is about a government run amok and capitalists who fight against it. It's controversial, bold, and openly preachy. So why is it good for non-geeks? Because most people focus on the politics and not on the sci-fi premise of an alternate reality and the discovery of a super-strong metal. Rand's Objectivist outlook will outrage some, but any student of philosophy will find a lot to think about.

8. Kindred by Octavia Butler - When a contemporary black woman is forced back in time, she finds herself a slave in the deep South to one of her white ancestors. This novel works for non-geeks, because it isn't about time travel. It's about prejudice and the horrors of slavery, and a haunting reminder of how we've come in terms of racial equality, and how far we still have to go.

9. Jurassic Park by Michael Crichton - The original novel about a theme park where genetically engineered dinosaurs run amok spawned a string of blockbuster movies. If your target liked the movie, tell them the original book is better. Because it really is. There are more dinosaur attacks in the first third of the novel than the entire movie trilogy combined. The book also grapples more with the themes of genetic engineering and bioethics than the movie did.

10. The Lathe of Heaven by Ursula LeGuin - A lot of people who say they don't like sci-fi will admit to enjoying the occasional episode of The Twilight Zone. That's why Lathe could work on them; it's like an extended episode of Twilight Zone. It's about a power-hungry psychiatrist who discovers one of his patients can alter reality with his dreams, and uses him to re-shape the world and make it "better." Much like The Monkey's Paw, the psychiatrist discovers that every change he makes has unexpected and terrible side effects.

* Had to delete Harry Potter, because it's fantasy, not science-fiction. Duh.

Do you know someone who doesn't like sci-fi who you gave one of these books? Do you have any recommendations we might have missed? Let us know in the comments.


  1. jacklinfernandisJuly 28, 2011 at 7:54 AM

    I like to read a novels. My favorite genre of novels are sci-fci and thriller. I really like your sci-fi novels list. Thanks for sharing such a nice post with us.

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  2. I like the idea behind this post, but have to disagree. The two books you list on here which I've read I doubt most would consider sci-fi. Atlas Shrugged and Watchers just don't fit the bill for me, I'm afraid. That makes me question the others, too.

  3. Add 1984 to Brave New World and Clockwork Orange using duct tape to make an awesome compilation. I would also recommend Never Let Me Go or The City And The City for that extra slot, and The Time Traveller's Wife might also work although everyone's already read it.

  4. I think your point about getting past the first page is the point. The first page of a Jack Vance novel or a Peter F. Hamilton will be full of fantasy or sci-fi jargon and neologisms instantly identifying it as genre. To a genre reader, working out what the nonsense words mean is part of the fun and the language itself defines the society of the setting, but other readers will assume they're expected to already know the stuff and give up.

  5. As someone who is one-quarter quard myself I have to say frankly this shocking display of ignorance beggars belief.

  6. Very good point. As novel starts with "Noria took the quard through the Pufo sector, along with her junior mennden." A sci-fi reader thinks, "Okay, the author will explain it later." A regular reader will think, "I don't know what a quard is," and put it down.

  7. I know "Atlas" and "Watchers" are usually on the mainstream shelves, and that's kind of the point. To catch non-geeks, you need to have something a little more subtle than "Ender's Game." I think of those as "stealth sci-fi." They both have fantastic elements, but are so popular that publishers have taken them out of the perceived "ghetto" of science fiction. If they had only sold a few thousand copies, they'd be on the sci-fi rack, if only because publishers wouldn't know where else to put them.

  8. Ayn Rand? Give me a break. Terrible choice.

  9. @ April, yeah, I did have Harry Potter on this list, but realized that's fantasy, not scifi. Will be replacing it with another when I get to a computer to edit this post.

    And that's the hard part about this list. Different people will turn down sci-fi for different reasons, and it's hard to please them all. That's why I tried to find books that had minimal scifi elements and broad appeal

  10. Yeah, I've given Harry Potter out, and LOTR and it was a mixed bag. Some took to it and wanted recommendations for similar reads, and others seemed to still hate it. Kids ate it up, though! I've also given out Star Trek and Doctor Who novellas to non-fans and they didn't go over well (though the men liked them better than women). *D'oh!*


Thanks for commenting!.