Top Ten Tuesday: Top Ten Books I'd Recommend To Someone Who Doesn't Read Science Fiction

Top Ten Tuesday is an original feature/weekly meme created at The Broke and the Bookish which I am taking part in. 

This week's top ten is for me to list the ten books I would recommend to someone who didn't normally read a specific type or genre of book. I didn't take long to think about what genre to base my top ten on as it had to be Science Fiction. It is the number one love of my reading life and has been since I was a child. It is so varied, wondrous and exciting and these are the pick of the best that I would always recommend to people wanting to try it out.

The Hunger Games - Suzanne Collins

This dystopian thriller is an enjoyable yet easy to read adventure that opens up the less hard aspects of Science Fiction and should appeal to the YA readers out there although I suspect most of them have already read it.

The War of the Worlds - HG Wells

A Classic story that can reveal some of the earlier forms of Science Fiction literature. It is a wonderful tale following one man's journey across a country reeling under the attack of a superior force.

The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy - Douglas Adams
A prime example of how Science Fiction can be superbly funny and witty without resorting to in-jokes or jargon.

The Real Story - Stephen Donaldson

This book was always going to be on this list as it is the first novel in my all time favourite Science Fiction Series. The Gap Cycle series is Space Opera at it's best and the manner in which Donaldson takes a truly despicable, evil and hated character and turns him into someone that you actually want to win is amazing to behold.

Dune - Frank Herbert

Many people have seen the rather disappointing film but nothing compares to the wonderful novel that Frank Herbert created. I am still gutted that Herbert died before finishing the whole series of novels.

The Reality Dysfunction - Peter F. Hamilton

I always love to advertise British Authors and Peter F. Hamilton has to be up there as one my current all time favourite Space Opera authors. This book is clever, enjoyable and left me desperate for more once I completed it as we follow a plague of dead souls taking over the bodies of the living across the great human inter-solar confederacy.

Starship Troopers - Robert A. Heinlein

Action packed and incredibly clever story showing the war against an alien menace from the viewpoint of the infantry soldiers on the front line. Thoroughly enjoyable from start to finish!

Doomsday Book - Connie Willis

A time travel book that really explores and brings out the suffering and danger in medieval Britain. I only read this recently but it really has to be one of my all time favourite time travel stories, probably because it mixes both Science Fiction and Historical Fiction very well.

Red Mars - Kim Stanley Robinson

This book is a rather large tome but it is still a superb story following the journey of mankind to Mars. I loved every one of the varied characters and think it shows some of the more complicated Science Fiction forms at it's best.

Jurassic Park - Michael Crichton

Without doubt, nothing sells Science Fiction as well as Dinosaurs being back and around in modern days! This novel though is fun, exciting and so much more complex than the movie.