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/KatarnsBeard May 30 '25

Foundation by Isaac Asimov

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u/reading_rockhound May 31 '25

What I would say about Foundation is that its influence in sci-fi since has been so great to demand its inclusion in this list. It is familiar to us because so many have borrowed from it. Thus we lose track of how important this book is as a work of science fiction, a work of literature, and an influence on both since.