The Future Is Coming, and It’s Unhinged
There are two kinds of futuristic books: the ones where humanity bands together to solve problems… and the ones where everything spirals into stylish chaos. We’re here for both, but mostly the chaos.
This list isn’t full of the same old space operas and AI overlords you’ve seen a dozen times. These are the weird, wild, and criminally underrated sci-fi stories that punch above their popularity featuring rogue algorithms, broken utopias, and the occasional morally gray robot with commitment issues.
Because if we’re headed for a future full of glitches and existential dread, we might as well read something entertaining on the way.
What Even Is a Futuristic Book?
Not every futuristic book has to involve spaceships or laser swords (though, bonus points if it does). What defines the genre isn’t tech, it’s perspective. These books take the rules of our world and ask, what if we broke them? Or upgraded them? Or accidentally fed them into an AI that developed a God complex?
Think near-future societies built on surveillance. Corporate dystopias that hit a little too close to home. Multiverses with emotional damage. Time travel, brain chips, climate collapse, immortality experiments gone very wrong. It’s all fair game.
Basically, if a book makes you go “oh no” while silently side-eyeing your phone, it belongs here.
Subgenres of Futuristic Fiction (a.k.a. Which Flavor of Chaos Do You Crave?)
Futuristic fiction isn’t a monolith. It’s a buffet of “what ifs,” each one weirder—and more brilliant—than the last. Here’s how some of these books break down:
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AI & Algorithmic Nightmares
Autonomous, We Are Satellites, and The Punch Escrow dive into artificial intelligence, automation, and the ways tech can unravel humanity (with or without killer robots). -
Multiverse & Memory Mind-Benders
If you love questioning reality, The Space Between Worlds, Tell Me an Ending, and This Is How You Lose the Time War are here to ruin your sense of self in the best way. -
Social Dystopias That Feel Alarmingly Plausible
Books like Internment, Red Clocks, and A Memory Called Empire aren’t afraid to tap into real-world anxieties about surveillance, bodily autonomy, and imperialism. -
Climate Collapse & End-of-the-World Feels
Prefer your future wet and full of regrets? After the Flood and The Actual Star explore environmental collapse, spiritual reinvention, and survival against the odds. -
Speculative Pop Culture & Fame Fatigue
An Absolutely Remarkable Thing and Rabbits ask what happens when the internet, identity, and the uncanny all get dumped into the same blender.
No matter your flavor of future, there’s something here to match your particular brand of existential dread.
Why These Lesser-Known Futuristic Books Deserve Your Attention
Let’s be honest: the big-name sci-fi hits get all the love (and the Netflix deals). But sometimes the best futuristic stories are the ones that slip under the radar. These books might not top bestseller charts or dominate Reddit threads, but they offer something way more satisfying: originality.
They take creative risks, explore ideas no one else is touching, blend genres, twist tropes, and make you sit with big, messy questions long after the last page. Some are literary, some are just bonkers, but all of them bring something new to the table.
So if you’ve ever thought, “sci-fi just isn’t my thing,” this list is here to change your mind.
