The Top 10 Most Re-Read Sci-Fi Books!

"Any book 40 people will read more than once deserves a spot on your TBR list." —Jed Lilly, DSF Reader

We couldn't agree more, Jed! There are countless worthy sci-fi books published every year, more than we could possibly hope to read, so a book has to be pretty damn special for it to compete with the sense of possibility that comes with a shiny new read. We wanted to know: what books are so special they deserve to be read over and over?

We asked, and as always, you delivered. Of the hundreds of books nominated in the first round of voting, these were the ones the members of the Discover Sci-Fi Community reread the most. But which one of these ten was THE most re-read?

Without further ado, based on the combined nominations and votes here on the Discover Sci-Fi blog and the Facebook group, here are the 10 most re-read sci-fi books of all-time! 

10. Ringworld by Larry Niven

“The original Ringworld novel is one of the most enjoyable and influential science fiction books ever written. The book is like those little Russian nesting dolls, with each mystery unfolding only to reveal another. When folks assemble SF top ten lists, this book is often among those selected—SF fans crave a certain sense of wonder in their reading, and this book delivers that by the truckload.” —Alan Brown, tor.com

Alan Brown's words about Larry Niven's Ringworld are echoed by reviewers the world over, both professional and casual alike. There are books on this list that tug at a reader's sense of nostalgia; those that challenge our thinking and grow with us; and some we return to for the pure wonder of them. The latter is where Ringworld really shines, and readers come back to Niven's carefully crafted world again and again to steep in what is truly a feast for the imagination.  

“Winner of both the Hugo and Nebula Awards for Best Novel, Ringworld remains a favorite among science fiction readers.

Louis Wu, accompanied by a young woman with genes for luck, and a captured kzin – a warlike species resembling 8-foot-tall cats -- are taken on a space ship run by a brilliant 2-headed alien called Nessus. Their destination is the Ringworld, an artificially constructed ring with high walls that hold 3 million times the area of Earth. Its origins are shrouded in mystery.”

Pick up Ringworld here on Amazon

9. Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card

“My copy of this book is tattered. Pieces of the cover are missing. The spine is broken. The pages are yellow. And I won’t trade it for a newer copy until it falls completely to pieces. I just read this book for the 8th time. I read it in elementary and junior high and high school, once every couple of years, just to remind myself that what made me weird could make me strong. I read it in college when I got married younger than most people and wasn’t living on campus, and was viewed as an odd duck by my classmates. I pushed it into the hands of kids I could see myself in when I became a teacher.” —Celeste, Goodreads Review 

Orson Scott Card’s Ender’s Game is the first book in what is, overall, an excellent series. For those who love space battles, there is a ton of action, but the book is thought provoking, too, raising questions about ethics and the military; and then, there are the characters in all their fleshed out, flawed, relatable glory. No matter what it was you fell in love with upon first read, the book gives you plenty to go back and enjoy. When was the last time you gave this one a read? 

“Is Ender the general Earth needs? But Ender is not the only result of the genetic experiments. The war with the Buggers has been raging for a hundred years, and the quest for the perfect general has been underway for almost as long. Ender's two older siblings are every bit as unusual as he is, but in very different ways. Between the three of them lie the abilities to remake a world. If, that is, the world survives.”

Pick up Ender's Game  here on Amazon.

8. Honor Harrington Series by David Weber

"Honor Harrington series is an exciting adventure with well written characters. Every time I reread a book I find a thought, a line, or a character that brings on a new thought for me to ponder. I've reread some of the books a few dozen times and it still happens. Good writers write good books. Bravo! Mr. Weber.”  —Carol DeVoss, DSF Facebook Reader Group

Though On Basilisk Station, the first book in the Honorverse, was published almost 30 years ago, relative to the other authors on this list, David Weber could be considered a newcomer. Still, his books easily hold their own against the classics in a way that DSF reader Carol summed up so perfectly. Weber has tapped into our sense of adventure and given us wonderful characters to boot, things that make the series well worth a reread. 

“Honor Harrington in trouble: Having made him look the fool, she's been exiled to Basilisk Station in disgrace and set up for ruin by a superior who hates her. Her demoralized crew blames her for their ship's humiliating posting to an out-of-the-way picket station. The aborigines of the system's only habitable planet are smoking homicide-inducing hallucinogens. Parliament isn't sure it wants to keep the place; the major local industry is smuggling, the merchant cartels want her head; the star-conquering, so-called "Republic" of Haven is Up to Something; and Honor Harrington has a single, over-age light cruiser with an armament that doesn't work to police the entire star system.”

Get your copy of On Basilisk Station here on Amazon.

7. Stranger in a Strange Land by Robert A. Heinlein

“I was not giving answers. I was trying to shake the reader loose from some preconceptions and induce him to think for himself, along new and fresh lines. In consequence, each reader gets something different out of that book because he himself supplies the answers... It is an invitation to think -- not to believe.” —Robert A. Heinlein

Robert A. Heinlein wrote science fiction that challenged us to question and to reflect, and because of this, it makes perfect sense that his books would find a home on a list of the most reread science fiction: not only does each reader get something different out of the book, but every reader will get something different out of the book at a different time in their life. 

If you’ve read Stranger in a Strange Land, what was your response to it the first time? What about the second? The third? How did your reading of it change through time?

Haven’t read it yet? What are you waiting for?!

“Raised by Martians on Mars, Valentine Michael Smith is a human who has never seen another member of his species. Sent to Earth, he is a stranger who must learn what it is to be a man. But his own beliefs and his powers far exceed the limits of humankind, and as he teaches them about grokking and water-sharing, he also inspires a transformation that will alter Earth’s inhabitants forever…”

Start reading Stranger in a Strange Land here on Amazon.

6. The Moon is a Harsh Mistress by Robert A. Heinlein

“Approaching the book again, with most of a lifetime between these two reading experiences, I was even more appreciative of Heinlein’s accomplishment. While there are naturally some predictions about technology that haven’t come to pass in the intervening years, the setting feels real and lived-in. The characters are still compelling. But the element that really shines is the politics.” —Alan Brown, tor.com

Robert A. Heinlein’s The Moon is a Harsh Mistress, a book which many consider to be the author’s best work, is the second of three titles on this list and because of this, we can’t help but wonder if perhaps Heinlein is the most reread author in all of science fiction. As with the other two selections, reader’s cite, as tor.com's Alan Brown does, the fact that subsequent reads give the reader an entirely different experience, as inevitably we change as readers as we mature. 

“Widely acknowledged as one of Robert A. Heinlein's greatest works, The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress rose from the golden age of science fiction to become an undisputed classic—and a touchstone for the philosophy of personal responsibility and political freedom. A revolution on a lunar penal colony—aided by a self-aware supercomputer—provides the framework for a story of a diverse group of men and women grappling with the ever-changing definitions of humanity, technology, and free will—themes that resonate just as strongly today as they did when the novel was first published.”

Grab The Moon is a Harsh Mistress here on Amazon.

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5. Starship Troopers by Robert A. Heinlein

“…as for re-reads it's hands down Starship Troopers. Heinlein is a master at challenging his readers with ideas outside their comfort zone.” —Mike Smith, DSF Facebook Reader Group

We quoted Heinlein earlier in this post as saying that with his writing, he was inducing the reader to think and reflect. Nothing will do that better than work that, as Mike said, challenges readers. As with other work by Heinlein, and certainly the other two of his titles on this list, the controversial military sci-fi classic Starship Troopers will hit differently at different ages and stages in your life and is definitely worth a read through all of them.

“In Robert A. Heinlein’s controversial Hugo Award-winning bestseller, a recruit of the future goes through the toughest boot camp in the Universe—and into battle against mankind’s most alarming enemy…”

Get your copy of Starship Troopers here on Amazon.

4. The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams

“The chances of finding out what’s really going on in the universe are so remote, the only thing to do is hang the sense of it and keep yourself occupied.” —Douglas Adams, The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy

It might be harder to find someone who has read Douglas Adams’ The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy once than it would be to find a reader who has enjoyed it many times. It’s a book (and series) that just begs to be reread. Hilarious and irreverent, it is excellent medicine and the perfect book to keep yourself occupied when nothing makes sense. If you have never read it before, read it now, and then be prepared to read it again and again. 

“Seconds before Earth is demolished to make way for a galactic freeway, Arthur Dent is plucked off the planet by his friend Ford Prefect, a researcher for the revised edition of The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy who, for the last fifteen years, has been posing as an out-of-work actor.”

Dive into The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy here on Amazon.

3. Foundation Trilogy by Issac Asimov

Over the years, we have heard from many of you that Issac Asimov’s Foundation Trilogy was the first science fiction you read, or if not that, then then the first you fell in love with. Well, they say you never forget your “first", and in the case of books at least, the experience needn’t be relegated to memory alone; this is a “first” you can revisit as often as you please. With Foundation, it seems many of you have done just that. We can’t say that we blame you. 

“A Thousand year epic, a galactic struggle, a monumental work in the annals of science fiction.

FOUNDATION begins a new chapter in the story of man's future. As the Old Empire crumbles into barbarism throughout the million worlds of the galaxy, Hari Seldon and his band of psychologists must create a new entity, the Foundation-dedicated to art, science, and technology-as the beginning of a new empire.”

Get your copy of Foundation here on Amazon.

2. Dragonriders of Pern by Anne McCaffrey

"Dragonriders of Pern, its like comfort food.” —Kelly Dennis, DSF Facebook Reader Group

Many in this community will have first discovered Anne McCaffrey’s glorious Dragonriders of Pern when they were young. Lots of you reported reading the series for the first time at 12 or 13, so for many the pull to reread this one is rooted in nostalgia; but the appeal doesn’t end there of course, because the truth is, no matter your age, McCaffrey’s evocative world, filled with sentient dragons, is just plain cool, you know? If you haven’t visited in a while, perhaps it’s time to return?

“On a beautiful world called Pern, an ancient way of life is about to come under attack. Lessa is an outcast survivor—her parents murdered, her birthright stolen—a strong young woman who has never stopped dreaming of revenge. But when an ancient threat reemerges, Lessa will rise—upon the back of a great dragon with whom she shares a telepathic bond more intimate than any human connection. Together, dragon and rider will fly, and Pern will be changed forever.”

Start Dragonriders of Pern here on Amazon.

1. Dune by Frank Herbert

“I couldn’t actually tell you when I became a fan of Dune—I’m sure it happened at some point in my preteen years, but I can’t remember being introduced to it, or what I thought of it at first blush. (Other than ‘wow that’s weird and I love weird things!’) Safe to say, it’s been part of my internal makeup for a while, and I am constantly shoving it off onto strangers, regardless of what they might think of genre fiction. I find it’s an excellent series for rereading because it slips away from me all too easily, like the sand of Arrakis shifting beneath my feet.” —Emmet Asher-Perrin, tor.com

As with so many books classified as “genre fiction” Frank Herbert Dune is a highly entertaining read, but the book’s appeal doesn’t end with its entertainment value, and the pure entertainment of it might not even be what draws many readers back, over and over.

"Dune" was such a complete societal and religious treatise to me. And no matter what age I've been when I've re-read it, I always get a different lesson each time - Ziggy, DSF Facebook Reader Group

Ziggy put to words what so many of us feel about Dune, that each and every read reveals something new, or rather, that as we age and our perspectives shift (“like the sand of Arrakis”) we relate to the material in a different way. It’s a beautiful thing, really. 

When House Atreides is betrayed, the destruction of Paul’s family will set the boy on a journey toward a destiny greater than he could ever have imagined. And as he evolves into the mysterious man known as Muad’Dib, he will bring to fruition humankind’s most ancient and unattainable dream. 

A stunning blend of adventure and mysticism, environmentalism and politics, Dune won the first Nebula Award, shared the Hugo Award, and formed the basis of what is undoubtedly the grandest epic in science fiction.

Grab Dune here on Amazon.

And there we have it. The top 10 most reread sci-fi books! Did your favorite make the list? Anything you feel was missed?

Thank you to every one of you who contributed nominations and turned out to vote for your favorites in this poll and in and all the others we did over the course of the year as well: We couldn't do it without you! 

Want to let us know your thoughts on the list? Feel free to weigh in on the comments here on the blog, or visit us here in our Facebook group 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.