5 Books On My Sci-Fi TBR #1

(Last Updated On: )

Welcome to the first part of what might be my first ever series on this blog! I love sci-fi and am continuously trying to figure out what stories I love. Moreover, I love making lists and snooping through people’s bookshelves. So for this series, I am combining all of those things to share all the sci-fi books I own! Buckle up and get ready to judge me, here are 5 books that are on my sci-fi TBR right now!

We Could Be Heroes – Mike Chen

add on Goodreads

An extraordinary and emotional adventure about unlikely friends and the power of choosing who you want to be.

Jamie woke up in an empty apartment with no memory and only a few clues to his identity, but with the ability to read and erase other people’s memories—a power he uses to hold up banks to buy coffee, cat food and books.

Zoe is also searching for her past, and using her abilities of speed and strength…to deliver fast food. And she’ll occasionally put on a cool suit and beat up bad guys, if she feels like it.

When the archrivals meet in a memory-loss support group, they realize the only way to reveal their hidden pasts might be through each other. As they uncover an ongoing threat, suddenly much more is at stake than their fragile friendship. With countless people at risk, Zoe and Jamie will have to recognize that sometimes being a hero starts with trusting someone else—and yourself.

Having recently gotten back into the MCU because of the new TV shows (ok, who am I kidding, I never left) when I heard about this book I was hooked. It’s a superhero story! With the central relationship being a friendship! My heart sings just thinking about it. We Could Be Heroes is also probably the lightest and most contemporary sci-fi book on my TBR, but I’m so intrigued to see if it’s as incredible as it sounds. And as we know, genres are kind of hard to define anyway.

To Sleep in a Sea of Stars – Christopher Paolini

Kira Navárez dreamed of life on new worlds. Now she’s awakened a nightmare. During a routine survey mission on an uncolonized planet, Kira finds an alien relic. At first she’s delighted, but elation turns to terror when the ancient dust around her begins to move.

As war erupts among the stars, Kira is launched into a galaxy-spanning odyssey of discovery and transformation. First contact isn’t at all what she imagined, and events push her to the very limits of what it means to be human.

While Kira faces her own horrors, Earth and its colonies stand upon the brink of annihilation. Now, Kira might be humanity’s greatest and final hope…

To Sleep in a Sea of Stars Christopher Paolini Book Cover

add on Goodreads

Talk about a true sci-fi epic, To Sleep in a Sea of Stars is huge! The audiobook is 32 hours long and I’m not gonna lie, it’s kind of intimidating. However, it sounds incredible and worth my time. I’m a bit scared I’ll be disappointed, so I’m trying not to imagine all the things this book could be and go in without reading too many reviews. The only reason I wish I had this as a physical book is the cover, it’s so pretty! But I’ve learned that I enjoy sci-fi stories particularly as audiobooks, for some reason they work so well in audio format.

Axiom’s End – Lindsay Ellis

add on Goodreads

It’s fall 2007. A well-timed leak has revealed that the US government might have engaged in first contact. Cora Sabino is doing everything she can to avoid the whole mess, since the force driving the controversy is her whistleblower father. Even though Cora hasn’t spoken to him in years, his celebrity has caught the attention of the press, the Internet, the paparazzi, and the government—and with him in hiding, that attention is on her. She neither knows nor cares whether her father’s leaks are a hoax, and wants nothing to do with him—until she learns just how deeply entrenched her family is in the cover-up, and that an extraterrestrial presence has been on Earth for decades.

Realizing the extent to which both she and the public have been lied to, she sets out to gather as much information as she can, and finds that the best way for her to uncover the truth is not as a whistleblower, but as an intermediary. The alien presence has been completely uncommunicative until she convinces one of them that she can act as their interpreter, becoming the first and only human vessel of communication. Their otherworldly connection will change everything she thought she knew about being human—and could unleash a force more sinister than she ever imagined.

I’ve been meaning to read this since it came out and I still haven’t done it. Somebody, please scream at me on Twitter occasionally so I don’t let this gather dust too much longer. Axiom’s End seems like a kind of sci-fi that I haven’t read as much of, the closest thing is maybe The Carl’s series by Hank Green? Honestly, I’m not sure that’s even a good comparison! I’ll just have to read and see…

Goldilocks – Laura Lam

Despite increasing restrictions on the freedoms of women on Earth, Valerie Black is spearheading the first all-female mission to a planet in the Goldilocks Zone, where conditions are just right for human habitation.

The team is humanity’s last hope for survival, and Valerie has gathered the best women for the mission: an ace pilot who is one of the only astronauts ever to have gone to Mars; a brilliant engineer tasked with keeping the ship fully operational; and an experienced doctor to keep the crew alive. And then there’s Naomi Lovelace, Valerie’s surrogate daughter and the ship’s botanist, who has been waiting her whole life for an opportunity to step out of Valerie’s shadow and make a difference.

The problem is that they’re not the authorized crew, even if Valerie was the one to fully plan the voyage. When their mission is stolen from them, they steal the ship bound for the new planet.

But when things start going wrong on board, Naomi begins to suspect that someone is concealing a terrible secret — and realizes time for life on Earth may be running out faster than they feared . . .

add on Goodreads

I am a simple woman, you give me badass women and I give you my money and soul. It’s literally that easy to get me interested in a piece of media. And when I read that Goldilocks follows an all-female space crew, I was immediately hooked. Additionally, I am a big sucker for found-family dynamics and any books with a big cast of characters. From the reviews I’ve read, this seems to be a feminist sci-fi story that also tackles the climate crisis. Not necessarily a light read, but I’m excited for space shenanigans nonetheless.

On a Sunbeam – Tillie Walden

add on Goodreads

Throughout the deepest reaches of space, a crew rebuilds beautiful and broken-down structures, painstakingly putting the past together. As new member Mia gets to know her team, the story flashes back to her pivotal year in boarding school, where she fell in love with a mysterious new student. Soon, though, Mia reveals her true purpose for joining their ship—to track down her long-lost love.

An inventive world, a breathtaking love story, and stunning art come together in this new work by award-winning artist Tillie Walden.

This was pitched to me as the queer found-family sci-fi graphic novel I needed in my life. I’ve flicked through it and the art is absolutely gorgeous. I have a feeling this book is going to make me cry more than once, but I am here for the pain. Admittedly, I haven’t read that many graphic novels, but I’m always open for new adventures. Who knows, maybe this is the beginning of a graphic novel collection? Something about On a Sunbeam screams “read this on a warm summer evening” to me, so it’s probably going to be quite some time before I do eventually read it.

Thank you so much for reading! Which books are on your sci-fi TBR? Did any of these spark your interest? Or have you already read them and can tell me which one to start with?

I hope you have a lovely day,