All this week we’re introducing Summer Reading lists for Hypable visitors, as selected by fellow readers and our staff!
Today’s genre is Sci-Fi.
Below are 20 selections including an Editor’s Choice and Mainstream Choice at the end. Yesterday we released our Fantasy list. Check back all this week for new lists, which will be featured here on Hypable throughout the summer.
The following descriptions are from Hypable readers who’ve read the books themselves and/or information found on GoodReads.com.
Have any other Sci-Fi suggestions or comments about these books? Do contribute in the comments!
‘Ready Player One’ by Ernest Cline
Other categories: Fantasy
Amazon summary: “At once wildly original and stuffed with irresistible nostalgia, READY PLAYER ONE is a spectacularly genre-busting, ambitious, and charming debut—part quest novel, part love story, and part virtual space opera set in a universe where spell-slinging mages battle giant Japanese robots, entire planets are inspired by Blade Runner, and flying DeLoreans achieve light speed.”
‘The Maze Runner’ by James Dashner
When Thomas wakes up in the lift, the only thing he can remember is his first name. His memory is blank. But he’s not alone. When the lift’s doors open, Thomas finds himself surrounded by kids who welcome him to the Glade—a large, open expanse surrounded by stone walls.Just like Thomas, the Gladers don’t know why or how they got to the Glade. All they know is that every morning the stone doors to the maze that surrounds them have opened. Every night they’ve closed tight. And every 30 days a new boy has been delivered in the lift.
Thomas was expected. But the next day, a girl is sent up—the first girl to ever arrive in the Glade. And more surprising yet is the message she delivers.
Thomas might be more important than he could ever guess. If only he could unlock the dark secrets buried within his mind.
‘Gone’ by Michael Grant
Hunger, fighting, death. This is what happens when all of the adults in Perdido Beach disappear, leaving teens and toddlers to fend for themselves. As resources are used up and violence spreads, some teens find themselves evolving with new powers that might give them a chance to survive. This is the first book in the bloody “Gone” series by Michael Grant.
‘The Long Walk’ by Stephen King
Set in a dystopian present, every year there is an annual walking contest, where a hundred boys are chosen [after submitting themselves to the lottery] to just simply walk. No one stops walking for any reason and failure to maintain a speed of 4 mph results you being “ticketed” and eliminated from the game. The walk ends when there is only one walker left.
‘I Am Number Four’ by Pittacus Lore
Other category: Fantasy
Four is the fourth of nine aliens from another universe that has been taken over by another rase. They move to Earth in order to help protect it. Four meets a girl, falls in love, and fights many a monster. They are spread across the Earth and are being hunted by the aliens that destroyed their planet. The catch? They can only be killed in order. And Four is next in line.
‘Legend’ by Marie Lu
Other category: Dystopian
Day. Your out-of-the-ordinary one-man rebellion, fighting against the corrupt government, reaking havoc among the Republic. June. Super genius, star of the Republic, merciless criminal detective.They have no reason whatsoever to cross paths…until June’s brother is murdered, and Day is the #1 suspect. June sets off on a mission to find him and kill him. Intense is definitely the right word. This book is physically impossible to put down.
‘Killables’ by Gemma Malley
Everyone accepted that people were different physically. But inside? Inside, they were different too. You just had to know how to tell, what to look for.Evil has been eradicated. The City has been established. And citizens may only enter after having the ‘evil’ part of their brain removed. They are labelled on The System according to how ‘good’ they are. If they show signs of the evil emerging, they are labelled a K, but no one knows quite what that means. Only that they disappear, never to be seen again…
‘What Dreams May Come’ by Richard Matheson
Other category: Philosophy
When Chris arrives in heaven, the only thing missing is his beloved Annie. When he learns that something terrible has befallen Annie’s soul upon death, he risks his own paradise and soul to save her. This novel asks common questions such as: What happens when we die? What is heaven like? Is there a god? While asking these questions, the novel tugs at the reader’s emotions and you long for Chris to find his beloved.
‘Dragonsong’ by Anne McCaffrey
The first book in the Harper Hall Trilogy by Anne McCaffrey, and part of the larger collection of Pern novels, this book centers on young Menolly, the musical prodigy whose parents think that music is a waste of time. When she runs away from home and rediscovers the mythical fire lizards she embarks upon a great adventure that will change Pern forever.
‘Sunshine’ by Robin McKinley
There are places in the world where darkness rules, where it’s unwise to walk. Sunshine knew that. But there hadn’t been any trouble out at the lake in years, and she needed a place to be alone for a while. Unfortunately, she wasn’t alone. She never heard them coming. Of course you don’t when they’re vampires.
‘The Chaos Walking Trilogy’ by Patrick Ness
Other category: Fantasy
Over the course of three books, “The Knife of Never Letting Go,” “The Ask and the Answer,” and “Monsters of Men”, author Patrick Ness expertly invites us into the story of Todd, a boy who has been born into a world where women no longer exist, and thoughts are heard out loud. Todd is sure that he knows everything there is to know about this world; at least, until he and his lovable dog Manchee come across a mysterious patch of silence, thrusting them headlong into a situation they could never have anticipated, and into the path of dangers they could never have imagined. Winner of the 2008 Booktrust Teenage Prize, 2008 Guardian Award, 2008 James Tiptree Jr Award, shortlisted for the 2009 Carnegie Medal, and longlisted for the 2009 Manchester Book Award.
‘Life As We Knew It’ by Susan Beth Pfeffer
The first in a trilogy about a world after a meteor hits the moon, bringing it closer to the earth’s atmosphere. We all know that the moon is responsible for the rising tides, but what happens when the moon’s gravitational pull changes? A series of natural disasters soon cripples the world as Miranda and her family try to stay alive in Northeast Pennsylvania.
‘Starters’ by Lissa Price
In the future, teens rent their bodies to seniors who want to be young again. One girl discovers her renter plans to do more than party–her body will commit murder, if her mind can’t stop it. Sixteen-year-old Callie lost her parents when the genocide spore wiped out everyone except those who were vaccinated first–the very young and very old. With no grandparents to claim Callie and her little brother, they go on the run, living as squatters, and fighting off unclaimed renegades who would kill for a cookie.
Hope comes via Prime Destinations, run by a mysterious figure known only as The Old Man. He hires teens to rent their bodies to seniors, known as enders, who get to be young again. Callie’s neurochip malfunctions and she wakes up in the life of her rich renter, living in her mansion, driving her cars, even dating Blake, the grandson of a senator. It’s a fairy-tale new life . . . until she uncovers the Body Bank’s horrible plan…
‘Mortal Engines’ by Philip Reeve
Mortal Engines launches Philip Reeve’s brilliantly-imagined creation, the world of the Traction Era, where mobile cities fight for survival is a post-apocalyptic future. The first installment introduces young apprentice Tom Natsworthy and the murderous Hester Shaw, flung from the fast-moving city of London and into heart-stopping adventures in the wastelands of the Great Hunting Ground. In a stunning literary debut, Philip Reeve has created a painful, dangerous, and unforgettable adventure story of surprises, set in a dark and utterly original world fueled by Municipal Darwinism.
‘Across the Universe’ by Beth Revis
Across the Universe is a fast-paced thriller, mystery, romance and dystopian set in space. It’s about seventeen year old Amy who embarks as a cryogenically frozen passenger along with her parents on a 300 year journey to a distant planet. But instead of waking up on a new world, she is violently woken 50 years before the planet-landing. She soon discovers that someone tried to murder her, and is trying to kill the other frozen passengers, including her parents. She and Elder, the next leader in training of the ship, must race to discover the killer before it’s too late.
‘Divergent’ by Veronica Roth
Other category: Dystopian
In a futuristic Chicago where everyone is split into five groups (the honest, the brave, the selfless, the peaceful, and the intelligent) Beatrice Prior discovers she is not any of them. She, is Divergent, a special kind of people who the government will do anything to destroy. On the brink of a civil war, and trying to decide who her friends are, she might change everything…but can she?
‘Unwind’ by Neal Shusterman
Other category: Dystopian
Ever since the second civil war that was fought over reproductive rights, by law parents have to bring their children to term but are allowed to have their children “unwound”-where all organs are harvested for later use so life doesn’t technically end- between the ages of 13-18. Connor is a trouble maker, Risa was never good enough to be kept alive, Lev believes it is his fate. All have been sent to be unwound but together they escape and hope to survive till 18.
‘First Light’ by Rebecca Stead
This is an amazing book! Peter and his parents go to Greenland for a month, and while he’s there he discovers Thea, who lives under the ice with her society with superpowers. Once again, I know, super cheesy sounding, but it’s seriously good!
‘Blood Red Road (Dustlands)’ by Moira Young
Saba has spent her whole life in Silverlake, a dried-up wasteland ravaged by constant sandstorms. The Wrecker civilization has long been destroyed, leaving only landfills for Saba and her family to scavenge from. That’s fine by her, as long as her beloved twin brother Lugh is around. But when four cloaked horsemen capture Lugh, Saba’s world is shattered, and she embarks on a quest to get him back.
Suddenly thrown into the lawless, ugly reality of the outside world, Saba discovers she is a fierce fighter, an unbeatable survivor, and a cunning opponent. Teamed up with a handsome daredevil named Jack and a gang of girl revolutionaries called the Free Hawks, Saba’s unrelenting search for Lugh stages a showdown that will change the course of her own civilization.
‘Hourglass’ by Myra McEntire
One hour to rewrite the past . . .
For seventeen-year-old Emerson Cole, life is about seeing what isn’t there: swooning Southern Belles; soldiers long forgotten; a haunting jazz trio that vanishes in an instant. Plagued by phantoms since her parents’ death, she just wants the apparitions to stop so she can be normal. She’s tried everything, but the visions keep coming back.
So when her well-meaning brother brings in a consultant from a secretive organization called the Hourglass, Emerson’s willing to try one last cure. But meeting Michael Weaver may not only change her future, it may change her past.
Who is this dark, mysterious, sympathetic guy, barely older than Emerson herself, who seems to believe every crazy word she says? Why does an electric charge seem to run through the room whenever he’s around? And why is he so insistent that he needs her help to prevent a death that never should have happened?
Editor’s Choice: ‘The Girl in the Steel Corset’ by Kady Cross
When a young lord tries to take advantage of Finley, she fights back. And wins. But no normal Victorian girl has a darker side that makes her capable of knocking out a full-grown man with one punch.Only Griffin King sees the magical darkness inside her that says she’s special, says she’s one of them. The orphaned duke takes her in from the gaslit streets, against the wishes of his band of misfits. And Finley thinks she might finally be a part of something, finally fit in—until a criminal mastermind known as the Machinist threatens to tear the group apart…
Mainstream Choice: ‘Cinder’ by Marissa Meyer
Humans and androids crowd the raucous streets of New Beijing. A deadly plague ravages the population. From space, a ruthless lunar people watch, waiting to make their move. No one knows that Earth’s fate hinges on one girl. . . .
Cinder, a gifted mechanic, is a cyborg. She’s a second-class citizen with a mysterious past, reviled by her stepmother and blamed for her stepsister’s illness. But when her life becomes intertwined with the handsome Prince Kai’s, she suddenly finds herself at the center of an intergalactic struggle, and a forbidden attraction. Caught between duty and freedom, loyalty and betrayal, she must uncover secrets about her past in order to protect her world’s future.
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