From Dune to The Handmaid's Tale: 24 classic sci-fi novels to celebrate National Read A Book Day

A selection of science fiction novels on a colorful background. — (Image credit: Ace, Books & Coffee, Harper Perennial Modern Classics / Edited with Gemini)

Sunday September 6 is this year's National Read A Book Day! If you're looking for something new and brilliant to read, why not take a look at our hand-picked list of the best science fiction novels.

If you only know sci-fi from TV or the movies then you've just scratched the surface of one of the most exciting, mind-expanding, and thought-provoking genres in all of literature. It's not just about space adventures — though those are great — but about the entirety of the human condition. Plus robots and aliens.

For this list I've picked out 24 of the greatest science fiction novels of all time. There are canonical classics here like Frankenstein, Dune and 1984, as well as more recent titles like Annihilation and Station Eleven.

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Will Salmon is Tom's Guide's Collections Editor, curating advice on the best products to spend your money on. Will has been writing about tech and entertainment for almost 20 years, including stints as GamesRadar+'s Streaming Editor, editing comics website Newsarama, and writing for lots and lots of magazines. You can read his work in SFX magazine, GamesRadar+, and right here on Tom's Guide.