By its very nature, science fiction encompasses a vast and sprawling world of stories, from the galaxy-spanning novels of Iain M. Banks and Ursula K. Le Guin to the dystopias of Margaret Atwood and Kazuo Ishiguro.
Asking our team of dedicated staff here at New Scientist to pick their personal favourite, then, has created an eclectic and wide-ranging list to dig into. To be clear: this isn't a definitive and all-encompassing line-up: it is our personal top picks, and we hope it will send you towards some novels you might not have come across before. So, in no particular order, here they are: New Scientist's favourite science fiction books of all time.
We'd love to hear from readers, too, about your own favourite sci-fi. Join the conversation on our Facebook post here. The Culture books, by UK author Banks, aren't so much a series as a collection of stories – readable in any order – about the exploits of one fascinating, far-future, galaxy spanning civilisation.
With unlimited resources, energy and, effectively, lifespans, its citizens have solved all of life's problems, so it is usually when they collide with more primitive societies – which still have to worry about minor matters like making money or waging war – that the fireworks begin. The plots may be mind-bending, but it is the characters that are unforgettable, especially the super-intelligent, starship-embodying AI minds, whose attitudes to humans run the gamut from benevolent to downright Machiavellian. Nevert.
