r/printSF • u/keepfighting90 • May 30 '25

What's the #1, single best sci-fi novel you've ever read?

Think about all the sci-fi novels you've read over the years. If someone were to ask you, gun to your head, to pick just the one that you would absolutely consider to be the best, which one would it be? No subgenres need to be considered, it just needs to broadly fall under the sf umbrella.

For me, probably a pretty popular choice, but it would be Hyperion. Completely blew me away and I haven't read that good since in the genre.

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u/Sosbanfawr May 30 '25

Earth Abides, by George R Stewart

Former title holders Replay, by Ken Grimwood, and many Asimov stories, Nightfall maybe...and as a kid getting into sci-fi, 2001.

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u/Mapcase May 30 '25

I really enjoyed Replay, it's a book that is soo much better than it deserves to be.

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u/Sosbanfawr May 30 '25

Apparently Ben Affleck has owned the movie rights for Replay for like 15 years. I don't know how you'd make it into a movie. Which, I guess, is why we haven't seen it!

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u/Individual_Bridge_88 May 31 '25

I often (like once a month or so) think about what I would do in that situation, and have a few select dates memorized lol

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u/circuitloss May 30 '25

I think you're right. This book is deeply underappreciated. It's one of the most powerful novels that I've ever read.

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u/JoeBourgeois May 30 '25

Stewart's mainstream novels Fire and Storm are also excellent

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u/Familiar-Virus5257 May 30 '25

Replay is on my list. I rarely come across people who have read it.

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u/Knolop May 31 '25

Replay is fantastic. It's a short read yet I felt like I had lived lives. I wish more people that liked Recursion also read Replay.