Hugonauts: The Best Sci-Fi Books of All Time

We had so much fun revisiting Mid-World for this episode – it’s the first series that brought us together as book nerds twenty years ago, and it’s absolutely just as good as the first day we read it. So thankful it helped tie our friendship together, and laid the foundation for meeting all the rest of you Hugonauts all these years later! 

The Dark Tower defies (or bridges) genres, with elements of sci-fi, fantasy, western, horror, and more, all rolled into one legendary package. And Roland Deschain, the Gunslinger, is an incredible main character, and we’ll never forget the rest of the Ka-Tet either. And the ending – we won’t spoil it here, but man do we like thinking about this ending (it’s one of the most polarizing in all of literature). You may be picking up on the fact that we kinda like these books.

As always, no spoilers until the end when we give a heads up before getting into the full plot discussion.

Similar books we recommend: 

This episode is sponsored by The Rising and the Fall of Hell by Sean Miller

If you want to jump around, here are the timestamps for the episode:

We’ve got 15 books and series here, so there should be something to love for almost every reader (although we need some traditional fantasy page turners – send us some recommendations in the comments please)! Plus, at the end of the episode we each rank our personal top 3.

We intentionally excluded YA and military sci-fi books, although those are often also page-turners - look out for episodes about each of those soon!

Brent’s brother, Alex, joined us for this episode, and brought us a whole new batch of books (and frankly a couple new subgenres) to enjoy. LitRPG / progression fantasy just keep getting more popular, and we can see why – the books we’ve picked up have all been so, so fun to read (although it probably helps we’ve been reading Alex’s recommendations so far, the best of the best from the hundreds of LitRPG books he’s read).

No spoilers anywhere in this episode.

This episode is sponsored by Quinto’s Challenge by Peter McChesney

All the books we recommend, plus timestamps:

We've got 18 books and series we highly recommend, so there's something here for all kinds of readers - and at the end of the episode we rank our top 3 to bring you the best of the best. 

What is space opera? Books with big characters and a bigger world - they usually even come with big 'ol wordcounts. Space opera is often multi-pov, with interstellar travel and the fate of the galaxy at stake. 

No spoilers anywhere in this episode.

• Join the Hugonauts book club on discord
• Or you can watch our episodes on YouTube if you prefer video

This episode is sponsored by indie sci-fi publisher Lil' Factory

All the books we recommend, plus timestamps:

• 00:00 Intro 
• 00:36 Sponsor - Lil' Factory 
• 1:24 What is a space opera? 
• 2:58 The Vorkosigan Saga - Lois McMaster Bujold 
• 4:45 The Expanse - James S.A. Corey 
• 6:38 Hyperion - Dan Simmons 
• 9:51 House of Suns - Alistair Reynolds 
• 11:32 Children of Time - Adrian Tchaikovsky 
• 13:11 Fire Upon the Deep - Vernor Vinge 
• 15:04 The Culture - Iain M. Banks 
• 17:17 Peter F. Hamilton's whole discography 
• 20:19 Embassytown - China Mieville 
• 21:45 A Memory Called Empire - Arkady Martine 
• 23:34 Dune - Are you happy now? 
• 24:47 Ancillary Justice - Ann Leckie 
• 26:34 Downbelow Station - C.J. Cherryh 
• 26:05 The Mote in God's Eye - Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle 
• 29:24 Startide Rising - David Brin 
• 31:16 The Long Way to a Small Angry Planet - Becky Chambers 
• 33:01 Foundation - Isaac Asimov 
• 35:22 Rankings: 3rd best Space Opera 
• 37:27 Rankings: 2nd best Space Opera 
• 38:50 Rankings: 1st best Space Opera

This might be the best sci-fi book out there about nanotechnology. But Stephenson has so many good ones that this one isn't his best book - some of the characters lose their way, and it drags in the middle. 

Oh, and one more good recommendation we forgot while we were recording - check out Blood Music by Greg Bear if you want a biological twist on nanotech!

• Join the Hugonauts book club on discord
• Or you can watch our episodes on YouTube if you prefer video

As always, no spoilers until the end when we get into the full plot explanation and discussion.

Similar books we recommend: 

• Snow Crash by Neal Stephenson
• Neuromancer by William Gibson
• Cory Doctorow
• Prey by Michael Crichton

This episode is sponsored by Har Megiddon by Ron Bennett.

If you want to jump around, here are the timestamps for the episode:   

• 00:00 Intro
• 00:47 Book setup
• 1:49 Sponsor - Har Megiddon
• 2:22 Our review 3.25/5
• 3:53 Great sections - and stinkers
• 4:47 Incredible technology
• 7:33 Hard to visualize?
• 9:38 Dances with Wolves
• 10:17 Labor saving devices
• 13:59 Neal's infodumps
• 19:25 Book structure
• 25:47 Sponsor - Har Megiddon
• 26:08 Similar books we recommend
• 28:40 Spoilers section - book summary
• 31:30 Spoilers section - discussion

From Sumeria, to Greece, to India, to the depths of the dark ages we explore the stories that have inspired everything that came later with a professor of mythology and medieval literature. This particular professor also happens to be Cody's mom, so this is also a great episode to explore Cody's psyche, for those brave enough to explore a dark and twisted place. 

• Join the Hugonauts book club on discord
• Or you can watch the episode on YouTube if you prefer video

If you want to do some reading, here are our suggestions on the best translations of these myths (and even a couple great graphic novels): 

• Epic of Gilgamesh, trans. Andrew George, Penguin Classics
• The Odyssey, trans. Robert Fagles
• The Odyssey, Gareth Hinds graphic novel
• The Iliad, Penguin Classics
• The Aeneid, trans. Robert Fagles Penguin Classics
• Age of Bronze Series, Eric Shanower (series of graphic novels on Trojan War)
• Hercules, Fred Van Lente
• Monkey, trans. Arthur Waley
• Beowulf, trans. Seamus Heaney
• The Popul Vuh, trans. Michael Bazzett, Milkweed Editions
• The Nibelungenlied, trans. AT Hatto, Penguin
• Chretien de Troyes, Arthurian Romances, trans. William W. Kibler, Penguin
• Le Morte D’Arthur, Sir Thomas Malory, Penguin Classics
• Tales from the Thousand and One Nights, trans. N.J. Dawood, Penguin Classics
• Sindbad and Other Stories from Arabian Nights, trans Husain Haddowy
• Sinbad the Sailor, Penguin Classics
• The Ramayana, Abridged and Translated by Arshia Sattar, Penguin Classics OR any children’s/YA book to get started. There are hundreds

If you want to jump around, here are the timestamps for all the books we talked about: 

• 0:00 - Intro
• 1:45 - The Epic of Gilgamesh
• 6:35 - The Odyssey
• 10:12 - The Iliad
• 12:09 - The Aeneid
• 14:12 - Hercules
• 15:53 - Monkey (Excerpts from Journey to the West)
• 21:00 - Beowulf
• 25:25 - The Popul Vuh
• 28:23 - The Nibelungenlied
• 33:21 - King Arthur Myths (Malory, De Troyes)
• 36:56 - Tales From the Thousand and One Nights
• 41:40 - Sinbad the Sailor
• 45:10 - The Ramayana
• 49:55 - Our Top 3 favorite myths

Whether you like ripping page turners, incredible characters, books that make you laugh out loud, exploring unforgettable new worlds, or literary books that will make you see the world in a new way, there's a great intro to scifi out there for everyone!

• Join the Hugonauts book club on discord to tell us about your favorite time travel books
• Or you can watch the episode on YouTube if you prefer video

If you want to jump around, here are the timestamps for all the books we talked about: 

• 00:00 Intro 
• 00:38 Incredible Characters - Vorkosigan Saga by Lois McMaster Bujold 
• 3:07 A Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet by Becky Chambers 
• 4:04 Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes 
• 4:52 Unforgettable Worlds - The Expanse by James S.A. Corey 
• 6:58 Hyperion by Dan Simmons 
• 8:24 House of Suns by Alastair Reynolds 
• 9:20 Children of Time by Adrian Tchaikovsky 
• 10:56 The Forever War by Joe Haldeman 
• 12:22 Funny SF - Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams 
• 13:36 Snow Crash by Neal Stephenson 
• 14:50 Old Man's War by John Scalzi 
• 16:01 Page turners - Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir 
• 17:43 Dark Matter or Recursion by Blake Crouch 
• 18:52 All Systems Red by Martha Wells 
• 20:01 Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card 
• 21:35 Ready Player One by Ernest Cline 
• 22:34 Literary SciFi - The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K. LeGuin 
• 24:55 Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro 
• 26:26 The Road by Cormac McCarthy 
• 27:49 Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut 
• 28:40 Starship Troopers by Robert Heinlein

With six interconnected stories (in a narrative style that broke all kinds of new ground), it's hard not to find at least a few characters you love. And even for those you don't personally love, the voices are unforgettable - it's wild that all these characters with such distinct personalities were created by a single person.

• Join the Hugonauts book club on discord
• Or you can watch the episode on YouTube if you prefer video

As always, no spoilers until the end when we get into the full plot explanation and discussion.

Similar books we recommend: 

• Cryptonomicon by Neal Stephenson
• Cloud Cuckoo Land by Anthony Doerr
• Sea of Tranquility by Emily St. John Mandel

This episode is sponsored by #1.1 by Allen Dean Maiora

If you want to jump around, here are the timestamps for the episode:  

• 00:00 Intro
• 01:10 Book setup
• 2:17 Our review 4.5/5
• 3:56 The unique structure
• 7:08 The incredible voices
• 10:44 Power and subjugation
• 12:58 Our favorites of the stories
• 23:17 Sponsor - #1.1 by Allen Dean Maiora
• 23:40 Similar books we recommend
• 26:06 Spoilers section - book summary
• 34:18 Spoilers section - discussion

Really though we just wanted to do something scary for Halloween - put on a skin-tight leotard. Yes, Brent really did read this sitting next to bubbling pumpkins.

There's scientifically plausible time travel, fantasy / sci fi time travel, 'traditional' time travel centered around real history, people trapped in time loops, time travel romance, and we even threw in a couple of great time travel kids books - something here for every reader to love!

As we were editing the episode we realized we forgot an incredible, recent time travel book from the list that we'd meant to include - it's one we've mentioned in a previous episode. Drop us a line on discord if you think you know what we forgot (or if you've got a time travel book you love that you think should have been on the list)!

• Join the Hugonauts book club on discord to tell us about your favorite time travel books
• Or you can watch the episode on YouTube if you prefer video

This episode is sponsored by Maya: Seed Takes Root, which you can get here on kickstarter

If you want to jump around, here are the timestamps for all the books we talked about: 

• 00:00 Intro 
• 1:03 Sponsor - MAYA: Seed Takes Root 
• 1:34 Fantastical / far future time travel 
• 2:04 Night Watch by Terry Pratchett 
• 3:15 The Dark Tower series by Stephen King 
• 4:36 Fall of Hyperion by Dan Simmons 
• 6:10 Scientifically plausible time travel 
• 6:50 Tau Zero by Poul Anderson 
• 9:20 Story of Your Life by Ted Chiang 
• 10:38 The Forever War by Joe Haldeman 
• 12:15 Children of Time by Adrian Tchaikovsky 
• 13:47 Looping time travel stories 
• 14:14 The 7 1/2 Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle by Stuart Turton 
• 14:44 All You Need is Kill by Hiroshi Sakurazaka 
• 17:31 Great Time Travel Kids Books 
• 20:25 Kindred by Octavia Butler 
• 22:09 Lightning by Dean Koontz 
• 23:48 11/22/63 by Stephen King 
• 25:50 The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August by Claire North 
• 29:18 The Rise and Fall of DODO by Neal Stephenson and Nicole Galland 
• 31:40 Time and Again by Jack Finney 
• 35:00 The Life of Chuck by Stephen King 
• 36:30 Slaughterhouse Five by Kurt Vonnegut 
• 40:43 The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger 
• 44:05 Our top 3 favorite time travel books

Seen through the eyes of a main character who can't remember anything from life before the prison, you get to explore this strange, grim world from first principles. Its an alien way to explore an alien place, and the mystery just keeps getting deeper all the way through. The ending makes this a stylistically divisive book - you're gonna love it or you're gonna hate it. 

• Join the Hugonauts book club on discord
• Or you can watch the episode on YouTube if you prefer video

As always, no spoilers until the end when we get into the full plot explanation and discussion.

Similar books we recommend: 

• The Buried Giant by Kazuo Ishiguro
• The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood
• The Book of the Unnamed Midwife by Meg Elison

This episode is sponsored by Mindstock by Richard Yonk, available here. 

If you want to jump around, here are the timestamps for the episode:  

• 00:00 Intro
• 01:00 Book setup
• 01:45 Sponsor - Mindstock by Richard Yonck
• 2:17 Our review 4/5
• 3:50 Must be dystopia, journal time
• 5:00 Environmental storytelling
• 8:21 Hyper rational main character?
• 11:29 Harpman's family in the holocaust
• 17:15 Shadow of the Colossus
• 18:15 The Buried Giant
• 19:02 The Handmaid's Tale
• 19:46 Book of the Unnamed Midwife
• 20:54 Spoilers section - book summary
• 22:44 Spoilers section - discussion