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Journey through the golden age, stumble on something, or browse by era and theme.

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✦ A Random Gem Cover of A Honeymoon in Space A Honeymoon in Space George Chetwynd Griffith A newlywed couple tours the solar system in a private spaceship, the grandest honeymoon ever imagined. Surprise me again →
Opening Line of the Day
For a long time, Henry Bemis had had an ambition. To read a book.
, Time Enough at Last, Lyn Venable → More great openings
Where to Start: 1950s SF
Featured Collection

Where to Start: 1950s SF

The genre's golden decade, the perfect front door.

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Fresh from the Archive

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—And Devious the Line of Duty
Cover of —And Devious the Line of Duty by Tom Godwin
—And Devious the Line of Duty
Tom Godwin · 1962
1 hr 2 min read
Social SFSpace Opera
Ægle and the elf, a fantasy
Cover of Ægle and the elf, a fantasy by M. B. M. Toland
Ægle and the elf, a fantasy
M. B. M. Toland · 1887
9 min read
FantasyJuvenile
Zurk
Cover of Zurk by Richard O. Lewis
Zurk
5.0
Richard O. Lewis · 1941
27 min read
Artificial IntelligenceSpace Opera
Zoo mooi als zonneschijn. Het Kaarsemannetje
Cover of Zoo mooi als zonneschijn. Het Kaarsemannetje by Ida Heijermans
Zoo mooi als zonneschijn. Het Kaarsemannetje
Ida Heijermans · 1920
1 hr 9 min read
FantasyJuvenile
Zicci: A Tale, Volume 02
Cover of Zicci: A Tale, Volume 02 by Baron Edward Bulwer Lytton Lytton
Zicci: A Tale, Volume 02
Baron Edward Bulwer Lytton Lytton · 1838
1 hr 7 min read
FantasyHorror
Zicci: A Tale, Volume 01
Cover of Zicci: A Tale, Volume 01 by Baron Edward Bulwer Lytton Lytton
Zicci: A Tale, Volume 01
Baron Edward Bulwer Lytton Lytton · 1838
56 min read
FantasyHorror

By Era

Pre-1800 Voyages to the moon, subterranean worlds, and philosophical utopias, the deep roots of the imaginative tradition, from Kepler and Cyrano to the Enlightenment. 49 titles 1800s The Gothic and the first scientific romances. Frankenstein's shadow lengthens; Poe and Verne begin. 3 titles 1810s Frankenstein's decade. Romantic-era terror and the newborn idea of the man-made monster. 34 titles 1820s Tales of mesmerism, ghosts, and the fantastic voyage flourish in the Romantic imagination. 24 titles 1830s Poe and the German Romantics. The short weird tale finds its form. 19 titles 1840s Mystery, mesmerism, and the proto-scientific tale in the age of Poe and Gautier. 14 titles 1850s Fairy tale and moral fantasy for a mass reading public; the sensation novel stirs. 33 titles 1860s Verne launches the Voyages Extraordinaires. The scientific adventure goes mainstream. 45 titles 1870s Under the sea and around the moon. Verne at his height; utopias and future-war tales multiply. 69 titles 1880s Lost races and dying earths. Haggard, Flatland, and the coming of the scientific romance proper. 109 titles 1890s Wells arrives. The Time Machine, invisibility, and Martian invasion define a genre. 183 titles 1900s The scientific romance. Wells and Verne imagine the shape of things to come. 218 titles 1910s Lost worlds and interplanetary adventure. The pulp imagination takes hold. 253 titles 1920s The pulp era proper. Amazing Stories launches; science fiction gets its name. 231 titles 1930s Space opera soars. Galaxy-spanning adventure and the birth of fandom. 226 titles 1940s The Golden Age begins. Asimov, Heinlein, and Clarke establish the foundations of modern science fiction. 481 titles 1950s Post-war optimism meets Cold War anxiety. The space race inspires grand visions of humanity among the stars. 1592 titles 1960s New Wave revolutionizes the genre. Dick, Le Guin, and Ballard push literary boundaries. 538 titles 1970s Feminist SF emerges. Ecological concerns and social commentary dominate the discourse. 7 titles 1980s Cyberpunk arrives. Gibson and Sterling imagine our networked future. 5 titles 1990s The web age dawns. SF turns to virtual worlds and the near future. 18 titles 2000s Open-culture and post-scarcity visions. A new generation publishes straight to the commons. 16 titles 2010s Creative-commons SF and web-native serials. The public domain meets the present day. 1 title

By Theme

Adventure559 Alternate History37 Artificial Intelligence130 Colonization317 Cyberpunk9 Dystopia256 Fantasy699 First Contact709 Hard SF521 Horror359 Juvenile328 Lost World142 Military SF216 Post-Apocalyptic232 Psychic Powers258 Social SF1393 Space Opera1172 Time Travel166 Utopia83