The Grip of Science Fiction
Science fiction books offer a unique and exciting glimpse of space travel using the principles of both real and fictional science. When these books are coupled with the vast, cold expanses of space, they create intricate and compelling stories of what it means to travel away from our blue marble called Earth.
Science fiction authors have long been dreaming of the frontier that is our universe, and they use their literary prowess to paint pictures of what might be out there and how humankind's aspirations of space travel might affect the rest of our potential galactic neighbors.
The following authors can take you through space on fantastic journeys both large and small.
The Martian Chronicles by Ray Bradbury
Bradbury's Mars is a place of hope, dreams and metaphor—of crystal pillars and fossil seas—where a fine dust settles on the great, empty cities of a silently destroyed civilization. It is here the invaders have come to despoil and commercialize, to grow and to learn: first a trickle, then a torrent, rushing from a world with no future toward a promise of tomorrow.
The Science of Interstellar by Kip S. Thorne
Interstellar, from acclaimed filmmaker Christopher Nolan, takes us on a fantastic voyage far beyond our solar system. In The Science of Interstellar, Thorne, the physicist who assisted Nolan on the scientific aspects of Interstellar, shows us that the movie's jaw-dropping events and stunning, never-before-attempted visuals are grounded in real science.
Starship Troopers by Robert A. Heinlein
With Earth embroiled in a vast interplanetary war with the Bugs, a young recruit in the Federal Reserves relates his experiences training in boot camp and as a junior officer in the Terran Mobile Infantry.
The Year's Best Science Fiction: Thirty-Second Annual Collection (2015) edited by Gardner Dozois
In this anthology, the very best science fiction authors explore ideas of a new world. This venerable collection brings together award-winning authors and masters of the field such as Robert Reed, Alastair Reynolds, Ken Liu, Elizabeth Bear, Paul Amnuel and Nancy Kress.
The MartianStranded on Mars by a dust storm that compromised his space suit and forced his crew to leave him behind, astronaut Watney struggles to survive in spite of minimal supplies and harsh environmental challenges that test his ingenuity in unique ways.
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