What Are the Best Historical Sci-Fi Books of All Time?

“History, and science too, help put our small lives in context. But if we want to meet the dead looking alive, we turn to art.” —Hilary Mantel

The fact that science fiction "typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts" might make historical science fiction sound like an oxymoron, and yet science fiction authors have long been using the tools of science fiction to mine our history, and in doing so—like other writers of historical fiction—they have not only kept us engaged and entertained, but have often allowed us to find greater connection to and meaning in our history. In the case of historical science fiction, authors can also explore the question of "what if." What if things had gone differently? 

Goodreads defines historical fiction as being "any science fiction that has a significant portion of the plot set at least a century before the present. This can involve time travel or a setting entirely in the past but must contain at least one element of science fiction." We like this description, but for our purposes will expand and alter the criteria to include books where a significant portion of the plot is set at least fifty years in the past (with respect to the time of publication, please.) 

So, what do you think? Which historical sci-fi books are the very best? As always, this is a democratic process and we are excited to hear your nominations!  Please nominate as many as you'd like here or in our Facebook group and remember that for this opening round, you can vote for as many as you'd like as well! 



What are the Best Historical Sci-Fi Books of All Time?
  • Add your answer

13 replies
    • Mark Joseph
      Mark Joseph says:

      It’s the way people respond to these polls. They don’t even read the article; just list their favorite book, often misspelled, with occasional lunacy (see “Arthur C Clarke” on the list above; all this time, and I had no idea he was historical SCIENCE FICTION!) Put up a poll for best rom-com, and half a dozen Heinleins would be listed. Sure, there’s a couple books on this list I don’t recognize, but of the majority that I do, the only historical SF I see are the Julian May, 1632, Kindred, Doomsday Book, Guns of the South, Connecticut Yankee, and (probably) the Alt.History.

      Books you can be sure will not be listed, even though they belong, will include “The Moon and the Sun” by Vonda McIntyre, “The Baroque Cycle” by Neal Stephenson, “The Time Tapestry” quartet by Stephen Baxter, “The Years of Rice and Salt” by Kim Stanley Robinson, “Evolution” by Stephen Baxter, “Pasquale’s Angel” by Paul J. McAuley, two completely astounding works by Jane Yolen, “The Devil’s Arithmetic” and “Briar Rose”, and about another hundred books by Harry Turtledove. One could even get just the slightest bit snarky, and add Michael Moorcock’s “Behold the Man” to the list!

      The problem is that the subset of science fiction which people read is so very small. And because if there’s a drum to beat, beaten it shall be.

      Another interesting question might be why the original article avoided using the usual term, alternate history.

      Reply
      • Discover Sci-Fi
        Discover Sci-Fi says:

        Excellent observation, Mark. We will absolutely remove any that don’t meet the criteria of the poll when we choose the top 10 most voted on for the next round of voting. Feel free to add all of your excellent choice to the list as well, as this is a reader-led nominations period.

        Reply
    • Discover Sci-Fi
      Discover Sci-Fi says:

      Excellent observation, Sully. We will absolutely remove any that don’t meet the criteria of the poll when we choose the top 10 most voted on for the next round of voting.

      Reply
  1. Scott
    Scott says:

    It doesn’t look like most of the nominations understood the criteria: “ books where a significant portion of the plot is set at least fifty years in the past (with respect to the time of publication, please.) ”
    These should be DQ’d before voting starts.

    Reply
    • Paul
      Paul says:

      Exactly and the criteria being at least a century in the past, Stephen King’s 11/22/63 is out, unless this year lasted alot longer than I realize 🙂 . Dune is an alternate universe if I understand right, having only read the main book the movie was based on. Sorry, I don’t recall the exact title).

      Reply
      • Discover Sci-Fi
        Discover Sci-Fi says:

        Great observation. We remove all nominations that don’t meet the criteria when we put together the next voting round of the top 10 that come out of this nominations period.

        Reply
    • Discover Sci-Fi
      Discover Sci-Fi says:

      Excellent observation, Scott. We will absolutely remove any that don’t meet the criteria of the poll when we choose the top 10 most voted on for the next round of voting.

      Reply
  2. Rick
    Rick says:

    there are so many that meet the criteria unlike most of the above list. Here are a few that come to mind. Planet of the Apes by Pierre Boulet (?), The Land that Time Forgot by E.R. Burroughs, the Pellucidar series by E.R. Burroughs

    Reply
    • Discover Sci-Fi
      Discover Sci-Fi says:

      Excellent choice! This is a democratic poll led by nominations by readers, so please feel free to add all to the list!

      Reply
    • Discover Sci-Fi
      Discover Sci-Fi says:

      Excellent choice! This is a democratic poll led by nominations by readers, so please feel free to add it to the list!

      Reply

Leave a Reply

Want to join the discussion?
Feel free to contribute!

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.