The Top 10 Historical Sci-Fi Books Of All Time!

"The purpose of history is to explain the present--to say why the world around us is the way it is. History tells us what is important in our world, and how it came to be". — Michael Crichton, Timeline 

Whether they take us back in time to 2000 B.C, to 14th century France, or to the USA on the brink of WWI; whether they really make us think, or are just pure fun, we can all agree that there is something for every reader on this list, and there is no doubt that which ever you pick up, you'll emerge from the pages understanding the present just a little better. But only one of these truly outstanding books could come out on top. Any guesses as to which one it was?

Without further ado, based on the combined nominations and votes here on the Discover Sci-Fi blog and the Facebook group, here are your top choices for the best historical sci-fi books of all time!  

10. Kindred by Octavia E. Butler

Many of us were surprised to learn that it was only just this month that Octavia E. Butler first made the New York Times Best Seller list for her book The Parable of the Sower. This achievement was one of her life goals, and while we celebrate her success, we’re sorry she never got to see this particular goal come to fruition. 

Butler's book Kindred, the 10th on our list, has yet to make the NYT Best Seller list, but remains a relevant, powerful, and compelling time travel narrative that is notable in the way it explores slavery of the antebellum south. Like The Parable of the Sower, Kindred is an absolute must read so if you haven’t yet, make sure you pick it up!

Dana, a modern black woman, is celebrating her twenty-sixth birthday with her new husband when she is snatched abruptly from her home in California and transported to the antebellum South. Rufus, the white son of a plantation owner, is drowning, and Dana has been summoned to save him. Dana is drawn back repeatedly through time to the slave quarters, and each time the stay grows longer, more arduous, and more dangerous until it is uncertain whether or not Dana's life will end, long before it has a chance to begin.

Read Kindred here on Amazon

9. The Destroyermen series by Taylor Anderson

I committed an unforgivable sin in college. I wrote a paper on the Battle of Shiloh—and proceeded to speculate about what might have happened had A. S. Johnson noticed he was bleeding rather badly from a relatively superficial wound. I proposed that the simple application of a tourniquet at the proper time might have altered the course of the battle, possibly the war—ALL OF HISTORY! My professor was horrified, and gave me a “C.” At the same time, however, I got bitten by the “what if” bug. —Taylor Anderson

This June, 12 years after publishing Into the Storm, the first book his epic Destroyermen series, Taylor Anderson's series came to a close with the publication of the 15th and final book, Winds of Wrath. Anderson’s career as a history professor, his expertise in gun making, and experience as a forensic ballistic archaeologist provide a great background for his writing in this sub-genre in which he transports the crew of the USS Walker (among others) back in time and to an alternate earth.

Pressed into service when World War II breaks out in the Pacific, the US Walker—a Great War-era destroyer—finds itself retreating from pursuing Japanese battleships. Its captain, Lieutenant Commander Matthew Patrick Reddy, desperately leads the Walker into a squall, hoping it will give them cover—only to emerge into an alternate world. A world where two species have evolved: the cat-like Lemurians and the reptilian Griks, and they are at war.

With its power and weaponry, the Walker's very existence could alter the balance of power. And for Reddy and his crew, who have the means to turn a primitive war into a genocidal Armageddon, one thing becomes clear. They must determine whose side they're on. Because whichever species they choose is the winner.

Read Into the Storm here on Amazon.

8. Time's Eye by Arthur C. Clarke and Stephen Baxter

"Quick: you're a writer, and you want to do a story in which Alexander the Great and Genghis Khan meet up in Babylon to go head to head in the mother of all battles. How do you pull it off? How about by shattering time itself? —Thomas M. Wagner, SFReviews

Next up, the legendary Arthur C. Clarke and Stephen Baxter shatter time in their brilliant collaboration, Time’s Eye. Time’s Eye is the first book in the three book series, A Time Odyssey, and while fans have often speculated the duo had intended to write more, it would be hard to imagine Baxter continuing the series further without Clarke, who died in 2008. 

In an instant, Earth is carved up in time and reassembled like a huge jigsaw puzzle. Suddenly the world becomes a patchwork of eras, from prehistory to 2037, each with its own indigenous inhabitants. The explanation for this cataclysmic event may lie in the ancient city of Babylon, where two groups of refugees from 2037—three cosmonauts and three U.N. peacekeepers—have detected strange radio signals. The peacekeepers find allies in nineteenth century British troops and in the armies of Alexander the Great. The cosmonauts join forces with the Mongol horde led by Genghis Khan. Both sides set out for Babylon, vowing to win the race for knowledge—as a powerful and mysterious entity watches, waiting.

Get your copy of Time's Eye  here on Amazon.

7. Doomsday Book by Connie Willis

"Doomsday Book is a heartbreaking, beautiful, and thoroughly-researched science fiction book about pandemics by Connie Willis. When it was first published almost thirty years ago, it won both the Hugo and the Nebula awards. It’s aged well, and it’s remarkably relevant to today’s real-life pandemic; I’ve found it both cathartic and comforting for me as I shelter in place in my San Francisco home.For Kivrin, preparing an on-site study of one of the deadliest eras in humanity's history was as simple as receiving inoculations against the diseases of the fourteenth century and inventing an alibi for a woman traveling alone. For her instructors in the twenty-first century, it meant painstaking calculations and careful monitoring of the rendezvous location where Kivrin would be received." —Lydia Laurenson, TOR

Were you among the readers who picked up Connie Willis's stunning Doomsday Book  a few months ago when many of us were looking for pandemic literature to help us make sense of this new, collective experience? If you didn't, or if you happened to miss this multi award-winner all together, now might be the time to give it a read. 

But a crisis strangely linking past and future strands Kivrin in a bygone age as her fellows try desperately to rescue her. In a time of superstition and fear, Kivrin—barely of age herself—finds she has become an unlikely angel of hope during one of history's darkest hours.

Read Doomsday Book here on Amazon.

6. The Guns of the South by Harry Turtledove

“The Guns of the South chronicles the redemption of the New South: the novel’s villains are so clearly evil that they allow a slew of controversial Southerners, including Nathan Bedford Forrest, to achieve atonement in opposing them. We can be suspicious of this, so long as we understand the novel’s trade-off: the first Grand Wizard of the KKK appears as kind of an antihero, but in imagining the Confederacy into existence, The Guns of the South ends up discrediting and discarding it more effectively than real history ever did.”  —Renee de Groot, LARB

Then, Andries Rhoodie, a strange man with an unplaceable accent, approaches Lee with an extraordinary offer. Rhoodie demonstrates an amazing rifle: Its rate of fire is incredible, its lethal efficiency breathtaking--and Rhoodie guarantees unlimited quantities to the Confederates.

The name of the weapon is the AK-47….

Grab Guns of the South here on Amazon.

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5. The Time Traders by Andre Norton

The Time Traders, a must-read classic by beloved author Andre Norton, was originally written in 1958 and updated in 2000 to “account for real world changes.” Regardless of which publication date we choose to go by, the book—the first in the Time Traders Series—easily qualifies, taking us back as far as 2000 B.C! Note that while the books in the series can be read in any order, the first book is a great place to start! 

The never-ending tension between Russia and the United States has been escalated by a stunning new variable: time travel. While the Americans can roughly utilize the technology, the Russians have learned the secret of space travel—and that makes the US vulnerable. What they need is someone expendable to send through time to obtain the same secret.

Ross Murdock doesn’t consider himself expendable. He’s just a smart guy who made some bad choices that led him to a life of crime. But when he’s given a choice between medical “rehabilitation” and joining the mysterious Operation Retrograde, he decides to go along with the military option and hope for a chance to get away.

And he is going to get away—farther away than he ever imagined . . .

Get your copy of The Time Traders  here on Amazon.

4. 1632 by Eric Flint

In fourth place we have Eric Flint's book 1632! In transporting an entire city back in time and to a different place entirely, writer and historian Eric Flint has added an intriguing element to the classic time travel narrative. While not the first time an author has transported all the inhabitants of a given area to another time or place, the concept remains novel, feels fresh and makes for a fun read! 

It’s worth noting that 1632 is the first in a series of many books, many of which are written in collaboration with other authors. So if you are new to this book and happen to read and love it, know that there are many more to look forward to!

"The Ultimate Y2K Glitch....

1632 In the year 1632 in northern Germany a reasonable person might conclude that things couldn't get much worse. There was no food. Disease was rampant. For over a decade religious war had ravaged the land and the people. Catholic and Protestant armies marched and countermarched across the northern plains, laying waste the cities and slaughtering everywhere. In many rural areas population plummeted toward zero. Only the aristocrats remained relatively unscathed; for the peasants, death was a mercy.

2000 Things are going OK in Grantville, West Virginia. The mines are working, the buck are plentiful (it's deer season) and everybody attending the wedding of Mike Stearn's sister (including the entire membership of the local chapter of the United Mine Workers of America, which Mike leads) is having a good time.

THEN, EVERYTHING CHANGED….

Dive into1632  here on Amazon.

3. Timeline by Michael Crichton

“But in Timeline, I wanted to write a time travel story that took its premise seriously. And I wanted to write a story that dealt with the reality behind our cliched images of knights and courtly love. I wanted to talk about what knighthood was really like.” —Michael Crichton

Wanting to make it as historically accurate as possible, Micheal Crichton conducted an incredible amount research when writing his historical sci-fi thriller Timeline. The result is a historically tight novel that, like many of Crichton's books, is also an incredibly fun read. 

In an Arizona desert, a man wanders in a daze, speaking words that make no sense. Within twenty-four hours he is dead, his body swiftly cremated by his only known associates. Halfway around the world, archaeologists make a shocking discovery at a medieval site. Suddenly they are swept off to the headquarters of a secretive multinational corporation that has developed an astounding technology. Now this group is about to get a chance not to study the past but to enter it. And with history opened up to the present, the dead awakened to the living, these men and women will soon find themselves fighting for their very survival—six hundred years ago.

Get your copy of Timeline  here on Amazon.

2. A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court by Mark Twain

A man before his time, Mark Twain was writing alternate histories with sci-fi flare before the rest of the authors on this list were born. And, as evidenced by this poll, his work is still considered among the greatest of the sub-genre. Our first runner up is Twain's book A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthurs's Court . This book has enjoyed considerable reach; as a result, pop culture is filled with references to it, and once you read it, you will see them everywhere!

When Hank Morgan, a practical, no-nonsense Yankee who works in an ammunition factory as a head superintendent gets into a fight with an aggressive employee, little does he know what's in store for him. The bully lays Morgan low with a skull-crushing blow delivered with a crowbar and knocks him out. When Morgan regains consciousness, he finds himself transported back in time, to the sixth century. From here on, the story describes the travails of a hard-boiled, true blue American with strong democratic values who has to deal with medieval feudalism and ancient customs!

Start reading A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court here on Amazon.

1. Time Enough for Love by Robert A. Heinlein

“TL:DR – Lazarus Long plays Scheherazade, gets his groove back and seduces his mother.” —Chris Nuttall

In the top spot, we have Time Enough for Love by the inimitable Robert A. Heinlein! Like many of Heinlein’s books, Time Enough for Love is a work of philosophy as much as it is a work of science fiction, and at least some of those philosophical musings are made possible thanks to the juxtaposition between the various settings of the novel; the historical one we know versus the imagined future in which Heinlein places Long.

Time Enough for Love follows Lazarus Long through a vast and magnificent timescape of centuries and worlds. Heinlein's longest and most ambitious work, it is the story of a man so in love with Life that he refused to stop living it; and so in love with Time that he became his own ancestor.

Grab Time Enough for Love  here on Amazon.

What do you think of our top 10? How many of these brilliant books have you read? Which one will you read next? We'd love to hear from you! Weigh in on the comments here on the blog, or visit us  here in our Facebook group to chime in on the debate, and make sure to check out our most recent poll while you're there!

*All book-related copy in this post was pulled from Amazon, Goodreads & Wikipedia, unless otherwise credited.