7 Science Fiction Books Better Than ‘Ready Player One’, According to Goodreads - The Fantasy Review

7 Science Fiction Books Better Than ‘Ready Player One’, According to Goodreads

Here is a list of 7 Science Fiction Books Better Than ‘Ready Player One’, According to Goodreads.

Ready Player One is the very popular science fiction novel by Ernest Cline. It has a less popular sequel we won’t talk about… But, with over 1 million ratings on Goodreads, it has an average rating of 4.23, which is pretty good, but here are some science fiction books with a higher rating (standalones or first of a series only).

Red Rising by Pierce Brown

 Science Fiction Books Better Than Ready Player One

Goodreads Rating: 4.25

From the blurb:

“I live for the dream that my children will be born free,” she says. “That they will be what they like. That they will own the land their father gave them.”
“I live for you,” I say sadly.
Eo kisses my cheek. “Then you must live for more.”


Darrow is a Red, a member of the lowest caste in the color-coded society of the future. Like his fellow Reds, he works all day, believing that he and his people are making the surface of Mars livable for future generations. Yet he toils willingly, trusting that his blood and sweat will one day result in a better world for his children.

Hyperion by Dan Simmons

 Science Fiction Books Better Than Ready Player One

Goodreads Rating: 4.25

From the blurb:

On the world called Hyperion, beyond the reach of galactic law, waits a creature called the Shrike. There are those who worship it. There are those who fear it. And there are those who have vowed to destroy it. In the Valley of the Time Tombs, where huge, brooding structures move backward through time, the Shrike waits for them all.

On the eve of Armageddon, with the entire galaxy at war, seven pilgrims set forth on a final voyage to Hyperion seeking the answers to the unsolved riddles of their lives. Each carries a desperate hope—and a terrible secret. And one may hold the fate of humanity in his hands.

Ender’s Game by Orson Scott Card

 Science Fiction Books Better Than Ready Player One

Goodreads Rating: 4.31

From the blurb:

In order to develop a secure defense against a hostile alien race’s next attack, government agencies breed child geniuses and train them as soldiers. A brilliant young boy, Andrew “Ender” Wiggin lives with his kind but distant parents, his sadistic brother Peter, and the person he loves more than anyone else, his sister Valentine. Peter and Valentine were candidates for the soldier-training program but didn’t make the cut―young Ender is the Wiggin drafted to the orbiting Battle School for rigorous military training.

Dune by Frank Herbert

Goodreads Rating: 4.31

From the blurb:

The Duke of Atreides has been manoeuvred by his arch-enemy, Baron Harkonnen, into administering the desert planet of Dune. Although it is almost completely without water, Dune is a planet of fabulous wealth, for it is the only source of a drug prized throughout the Galactic Empire. The Duke and his son, Paul, are expecting treachery, and it duly comes – but from a shockingly unexpected place.

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

Goodreads Rating: 4.33

From the blurb:

In the ruins of a place once known as North America lies the nation of Panem, a shining Capitol surrounded by twelve outlying districts. Long ago the districts waged war on the Capitol and were defeated. As part of the surrender terms, each district agreed to send one boy and one girl to appear in an annual televised event called, “The Hunger Games,” a fight to the death on live TV.

Jurassic Park by Michael Crichton

Goodreads Rating: 4.37

From the blurb:

On a remote jungle island, genetic engineers have created a dinosaur game park.

An astonishing technique for recovering and cloning dinosaur DNA has been discovered. Now one of mankind’s most thrilling fantasies has come true and the first dinosaurs that the Earth has seen in the time of man emerge….

Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir

 Science Fiction Books Better Than Ready Player One

Goodreads Rating: 4.50

From the blurb:

Ryland Grace is the sole survivor on a desperate, last-chance mission—and if he fails, humanity and the earth itself will perish.

Except that right now, he doesn’t know that. He can’t even remember his own name, let alone the nature of his assignment or how to complete it….

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