Let’s talk about space, baby. Let’s talk about you and me. Let’s talk about all the good things and the bad things that may be. Let’s talk about space. *clears throat* Ehem. I’m here again, epically recommending a bunch of books to you all. The theme this time is space, in case you didn’t get that from my beautiful solo just then.
I’m a bit of a science nerd, so science fiction is my jam. My lady jam. (Two Pitch Perfect references in one post? What is the world coming to?!) But as fascinating as I find space, it does scare me a little bit. It’s so big, and we have no idea what’s out there. It’s kind of creepy! But I love reading about space adventures, so here are a bunch of books for you. If you have any other recommendations or would like to mention anything, feel free to leave a comment!
I would recommend
The Martian is a recent read of mine and it RUINED MY LIFE FOREVER. It’s about an astronaut who gets stuck on Mars and has to fight to survive, and about the crew back on Earth who have to find a way to get him home. But, ultimately, it’s about humanity, and it destroyed me.
Across the Universe by Beth Revis
This book is set completely on a spaceship. The main character, Amy, is woken up from a slumber that lasted several centuries, and she, along with Elder, has to figure out who did it. It’s an intriguing mix of science fiction and mystery, and while I didn’t like the characters, I did like the setting!
Glow is also set on a spaceship (surprise!), and it about a guy and a girl who are betrothed but then separated. They both have to fight to keep things in order and to save their people, and they both have very different ways of going about it. There’s also a really creepy villain, which is always welcome!
The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams
This is the ultimate space novel, no? It’s light-hearted, humorous, and a quick read. In The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, the main character is picked up by a space traveller just as the Earth is about to be destroyed to make way for a space motorway. Yeah.
Alienated isn’t really set in space, but it’s about aliens who come down to Earth and try to make peace with the humans. Stuff happens, and things are revealed, and then there are a couple of scenes set in space, which makes me think that the sequels are going to heavily feature planets that aren’t Earth.
These Broken Stars by Amie Kaufman and Meagan Spooner
Aside from the disappointing ending, These Broken Stars is a thrilling novel that I loved reading from start to (almost) finish. The main characters’ space ship dies, and they are thrown into an abandoned planet and they have to fight to survive.
Saga by Brian K. Vaughan and Fiona Staples
Saga is a graphic novel series about two people from two warring planets. The two characters get married and have a baby, which means their respective governments are after them because that’s definitely not allowed. It’s very dark, and a bit gruesome, and there’s a lot of nudity, so if you’re not into that then you should probably stay away.
TEEN MERCENARIES. A TEEN SPACE PIRATE CREW. GUYS. GUYS.
This is the sequel to Cinder and Scarlet, but it’s the first book in the series to feature space so prominently. Cress, the main character, is stuck in orbit around the Earth, and is looking down on it at the command of the Lunar crew.
The Knife of Never Letting Go by Patrick Ness
While this isn’t really set in space, I had to mention it because it is set on another planet. Patrick Ness handles it in a really subtle way, making the planet the least important part of the book for the most part, and then progressively making the colonisation more and more important as the series progresses.
I want to read
- The Pearl Wars by Nick James
- Old Man’s War by John Scalzi
- The Star Thief by Jamie Grey
- Starglass by Phoebe North
- Unbreathable by Hafsah Laziaf
- Academy 7 by Anne Osterlund
- Zodiac by Romina Russell
movies and tv
The 100 – You haven’t lived until you’ve seen this show, you guys. I know that a lot of people are shouting about The 100 right now, but in my opinion the screaming and fangirling is totally justified. Here we have a show with an incredibly diverse cast, that places mostly women in power, and that asks you the difficult questions about morals and right and wrong. It’s absolutely phenomenal. Season one takes place half in space and half on Earth, which means I’m not just including this show because it’s my favourite once currently airing. I would definitely recommend catching up before season three starts!
Battlestar Galactica – Tatum can tell you more about this than I can, because I’m only on the first season because some people left me behind. This is basically about a space war and robots disguised as people.
Firefly – I’ve only seen the first episode of this, but I do want to continue at some point. I think it’s meant to get better after the first episode, which seemed like a giant info-dump. It’s basically a space western that follows the renegade crew of a spaceship. And that’s all I know. People seem to love it, though.
Star Wars – In case you HAVEN’T seen this incredible trilogy (I’m ignoring the newer movies because no. No.), I will tell you exactly why you should. It’s a freakin’ masterpiece. Sure, it’s not perfect, but it’s pretty incredible and there are reasons why it has such a huge fandom and expanded universe. It’s about a guy called Luke Skywalker who leaves his little planet to save the galaxy using the Force. JEDIS REPRESENT.
Guardians of the Galaxy – And in case you need a lighthearted science fiction movie, here is one for you. I think everyone’s seen it by now but I thought I would mention it because GROOT.
I’ve only read The Knife of Never Letting Go, These Broken Stars, and Avalon from your guide and FOR SHAME- But I’ve watched The 100 so I win at life. Kind of.
I love this guide because I absolutely want to watch most of the TV shows and movies you mentioned as well as get around to reading Saga and Cress. Killing it, Amber!
So, you should read Ancillary Justice. That is some great sci-fi. For some older but great stuff, I also recommend: Anne McCaffrey, Octavia Butler, David Brin, and Andre Norton. 🙂
I liked your post. (well, except Revis, but that is a story for another day. haha)
SAGA. I freaking love Saga. I’m reading volume 3 right now and I love it. Surprisingly enough it takes me longer to read graphic novels than books. (I’m just lazy. Oops.) Other than Saga I’ve only read These Broken Stars and Cress *hides* I adore Marissa Meyer’s Lunar Chronicles books though. So, so good.
THE 100. HOW DID I KNOW YOU’D BRING IT BACK TO THAT. I still haven’t watched it I’M SORRY.
I’m with you! I love space and The Old Man’s War is SO GOOD! Go, read it! I’ve not heard of a few of these so I need to add them to my TBR wish-list. And I’m one of the only 3 people out of the blogger folks that hasn’t seen The 100 yet. I’m so ashamed that I had no idea it was sci-fi :-/ I’m way more interested now.
So many great books about space! I was feeling torn about The Martian because I heard there was a lot of science in it and I wasn’t sure if that part would be dry or not. I am really excited to read the other books in the Lunar Chronicles series. I FINALLY read Cinder last week and LOVED it. Worth. The. Hype.
oh my god I’m here to comment CAN YOU BELIEVE IT
anyway, I looooove this post. I love scifi a lot even though I haven’t read/seen that much of it, so I need to be better. I still need to read/watch most of these things (especially Star Wars before Dee kills me and The Martian before Tatum kills me) I also really want to watch Firefly and see what all the fuss is about, same with Battlestar Galactica.
THE 100 IS THE BEST EVER EVERYONE NEEDS TO WATCH IT OBVIOUSLY