Spec. fic that functions as literature
Explore a curated list of speculative fiction books that double as literary masterpieces. Discover thought-provoking, beautifully written works blending deep themes with imaginative storytelling.
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China Mountain Zhang
by Maureen F. McHugh
China Mountain Zhang, a Chineselooking New Yorker, travels the world and tackles the demanding discipline of jacked-in Organic Engineering in the 22nd century.
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Air
by Geoff Ryman
What happens when the whole world goes online . . . through the air? A brilliant literary SF novel by the author of 253.
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Palimpsest
by Catherynne Valente
In the Cities of Coin and Spice and In the Night Garden introduced readers to the unique and intoxicating imagination of Catherynne M. Valente. Now …
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Black Ships
by Jo Graham
Counseling the rulers of a world beset by dangerous enemies and natural disasters, oracle Gull is forced to choose between her calling and an effort …
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Lavinia
by Ursula K. Le Guin
In "The Aeneid," Vergil's hero fights to claim the king's daughter, Lavinia, with whom he is destined to found an empire. Le Guin gives Lavinia …
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Seed to Harvest
by Octavia E. Butler
The Patternist novels details a secret history continuing from the Ancient Egyptian period to the far future that involves telepathic mind control and an extraterrestrial …
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Tales of Nevèrÿon
by Samuel R. Delany
This 1979 American Book Award nominee contains five interlocked stories that tell of the slave Gorgik in a long-ago land, and a masked swordswoman narrates …
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Stars in My Pocket Like Grains of Sand
by Samuel R. Delany
The story of a truly galactic civilization with over 6,000 inhabited worlds.
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The Sparrow
by Mary Doria Russell
A visionary work that combines speculative fiction with deep philosophical inquiry, The Sparrow tells the story of a charismatic Jesuit priest and linguist, Emilio Sandoz, …
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Slow River
by Nicola Griffith
She awoke in an alley to the splash of rain. She was naked, a foot-long gash in her back was still bleeding, and her identity …
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The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay
by Michael Chabon
This brilliant epic novel set in New York and Prague introduces us to two misfit young men who make it big by creating comic-book superheroes. …
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The Mists of Avalon
by Marion Zimmer Bradley
Retells the legend of King Arthur as perceived by the women central to the tale, from the zealous Morgaine, sworn to uphold her goddess at …
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Dreams of the Compass Rose
by Vera Nazarian
What is the nature of evil? When a young warrior of a dark race finds himself bound in servitude to a beautiful cruel princess, his …
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ID: 1933500093
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ID: 1933500158
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ID: 1933500182
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More Than Human
by Theodore Sturgeon
In this genre-bending novel—among the first to have launched sci-fi into the arena of literature—one of the great imaginers of the twentieth century tells a …
