LibGuides: Readers' Advisory: Fantasy & Science Fiction

Lists of Science Fiction Titles to Read

Lists of Fantastical Fiction Titles to Read

Modern Fantasy List - Featured Titles

Akata Witch by Nnedi Okorafor
Sunny Nwazue, an American-born albino child of Nigerian parents, moves with her family back to Nigeria, where she learns that she has latent magical powers which she and three similarly gifted friends use to catch a serial killer.
City of Bones by Cassandra Clare
Suddenly able to see demons and the Darkhunters who are dedicated to returning them to their own dimension, Clary Fray is drawn into this bizzare world when her mother disappears and Clary herself is almost killed by a monster.
The Warrior Heir by Cinda Williams Chima
An Ohio teen discovers he's part of a society of magical people living in hiding among the normal. What's more, he's one of the society's last warriors--and the feuding houses of the society are scouting for players for a magical tournament.
The Demon's Lexicon by Sarah Rees Brennan
Nick and his family have battled magicians and demons for most of his life, but when his brother, Alan, is marked for death, Nick's determination to save Alan leads him to uncover a devastating secret.

Magic of Faerie (YA) List - Featured Titles

The Cruel Prince by Holly Black
Jude was seven years old when her parents were murdered and she and her two sisters were stolen away to live in the treacherous High Court of Faerie. Ten years later, Jude wants to belong there, despite her mortality. But many of the fey despise humans. Especially Prince Cardan, the youngest and wickedest son of the High King. To win a place at the Court, she must defy him--and face the consequences.
Chronicles of Faerie by O. R. Melling
Two teenage cousins, one Irish, the other from the United States, set out to find a magic doorway to the Faraway Country, where humans must bow to the little people.

Bewitching Magic

War Girls by Tochi Onyebuchi
Two sisters are torn apart by war and must fight their way back to each other in a futuristic, Black Panther-inspired Nigeria. The year is 2172. Climate change and nuclear disasters have rendered much of earth unlivable. Only the lucky ones have escaped to space colonies in the sky.
Skin of the Sea by Natasha Bowen
Bowen's debut novel follows Simi, a mami wata who travels across sea and land in search of the Supreme Creator after breaking a law that threatens the existence of all mami wata.
A River of Royal Blood by Amanda Joy
A River of Royal Blood follows Princess Eva who is born with the magick of marrow and blood. Though she hates this magick, she must learn how to use it if she wants to live and ascend to the throne, because Queens of Myre are chosen only through the Rival Heir tradition, a tradition where sisters fight to death.
The Gilded Ones by Namina Forna
'The Gilded Ones', an action-packed new fantasy series from début author Namina Forna, follows the story of a young female named Deka, who lives in the West-African-inspired society of Otera, in which women live to be of service to men, and their roles in everyday life are grounded in misogyny.
A Phoenix First Must Burn by Patrice Caldwell (Editor)
Sixteen tales by bestselling and award-winning authors that explore the Black experience through fantasy, science fiction, and magic. Witches and scientists, sisters and lovers, priestesses and rebels: the heroines of A Phoenix First Must Burn shine brightly. You will never forget them.

Fairy Tales Retold List - Featured Titles

Princess of the Midnight Ball by Jessica Day George
A retelling of the tale of twelve princesses who wear out their shoes dancing every night, and of Galen, a former soldier now working in the king's gardens, who follows them in hopes of breaking the curse.
Mechanica by Betsy Cornwell
A retelling of Cinderella about an indomitable inventor-mechanic who finds her prince but realizes she doesn't want a fairy tale happy ending after all.
Kill Me Softly by Sarah Cross
When sixteen-year-old Mira runs away to discover her secret past, she finds a place where Grimm's fairy tales come to life, and she cannot avoid her accursed fate.
Sea Witch by Sarah Henning
An outcast in town after her friend Anna's death, Evie befriends a newcomer with an uncanny likeness to Anna; when the girls pursue romances with two charming princes, Evie has a chance at happiness until her new friend reveals a secret.

Fantasy Adventures List - Featured Titles

Renegades by Marissa Meyer
Renegades are human with abilities. They established peace and order and remain a symbol of hope to everyone... except the villains they overthrew. Nova hates the Renegades. Adrian is a Renegade boy who believes in justice-- and in Nova..
Tokens and Omens by Jeri Baird
Zander, Adanna, and the other fourteen-year-old children of their village must prepare for their quest, a dangerous rite of passage, by earning tokens through good deeds to combat the deadly omens incurred for wrongdoings.
Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs
Jacob loved his grandfather’s tales and photos of levitating girls and invisible boys. Jacob journeys to the island where his grandfather grew up. There, he finds the children --alive and well.
Numbers by Rachel Ward
Jem knows when she looks at someone the exact date they will die, so she avoids relationships but when she meets a boy named Spider and they plan a day out together, they become more involved than either of them had planned.

Dark Reads List - Featured Titles

Anna Dressed in Blood by Kendare Blake
For three years, Cas Lowood has carried on his father's work of dispatching the murderous dead, traveling with his kitchen-witch mother and their spirit-sniffing cat, but everything changes when he meets Anna, a girl unlike any ghost he has faced before.
The Forest of Hands and Teeth by Carrie Ryan
Through twists and turns of fate, orphaned Mary seeks knowledge of life, love, and especially what lies beyond her walled village and the surrounding forest, where dwell the Unconsecrated, aggressive flesh-eating people who were once dead.
The Girl from the Well by Rin Chupeco
Okiku has wandered for centuries, freeing the innocent ghosts of the murdered-dead and taking the lives of killers with the vengeance they are due, but when she meets Tark she knows the moody teen is not a monster and needs to be freed from the demonic malevolence that clings to him.
The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer by Michelle Hodkin
Mara Dyer doesn't know if she is crazy or haunted ~ all she knows is that everyone around her is dying.

Futuristic Fiction in YA - Featured Titles to Read

The Eye of Minds by James Dashner
Michael is an internet gamer in a world of advanced technology. When a cyber-terrorist begins to threaten players, Michael is called upon to seek him and his secrets out.
Steelheart by Brandon Sanderson
At age eight, David watched as his father was killed by an Epic, a human with superhuman powers, ten years later, he joins the Reckoners--the only people who are trying to kill the Epics and end their tyranny.
Scythe by Neal Shusterman
Disease has been eliminated, the only way to die is to be randomly killed ('gleaned') by professional reapers ('scythes'). Two teens compete to become a scythe--a position neither wants. The one who becomes a scythe must kill the other.
Warcross by Marie Lu
When teenage coder Emika Chen hacks her way into the opening tournament of the Warcross Championships, she glitches herself into the game as well as a sinister plot with major consequences for the entire Warcross empire.

Space Travel in YA List - Featured Titles

The 100 by Kass Morgan
When 100 juvenile delinquents are sent on a mission to recolonize Earth, they get a second chance at freedom, friendship, and love, as they fight to survive in a dangerous new world.
Dove Arising by Karen Bao; Rosemary Wells
Phaet Theta has lived her whole life in a colony on the Moon. She's barely spoken since her father died in an accident nine years ago. She cultivates the plants in Greenhouse 22, lets her best friend talk for her, and stays off the government's radar. Then her mother is arrested.
These Broken Stars by Amie Kaufman; Meagan Spooner
One night on the Icarus, catastrophe strikes: the spaceliner is yanked out of hyperspace and plummets into the nearest planet. Lilac and Tarver survive. And they seem to be alone.
Across the Universe by Beth Revis
Teenaged Amy, a cryogenically frozen passenger on the spaceship Godspeed, wakes up to discover that someone may have tried to murder her.

Popular YA Science Fiction Authors

YA sci-fi explores brilliant “what if” questions in both familiar yet brilliantly altered places and worlds utterly different from our own.

Suzanne Collins – YA science fiction, dystopian author; see author’s website here. Most notable series include The Hunger Games and The Underland Chronicles.

Veronica Roth – YA science fiction, dystopian author; see author’s website here. Most notable series include Divergent and Carve the Mark.

James Dashner – YA science fiction author; see author’s website here. Most notable series include The Maze Runner and The Mortality Doctrine.

Margaret Peterson Haddix – YA science fiction author; see author’s website here. Most notable series include The Missing and Shadow Children.

Marie Lu – YA dystopian, science fiction author; see author’s website here. Most notable series include Warcross and the Legend trilogy.

Marissa Meyer - YA science fiction; see the author's website here. Her debut novel, Cinder, was released on January 3, 2012. It is the first in her series The Lunar Chronicles.

Beth Revis - YA fantasy and science fiction, see the author's website here. She is best known for the Across the Universe trilogy, which consists of the novels Across the Universe, A Million Suns and Shades of Earth.

Veronica Rossi - YA fantasy and science fiction author; see the author's website here. Her debut trilogy, Under the Never Sky, was a New York Times Best Seller and the film rights have been optioned to Warner Bros. Studio.

Popular YA Fantasy Authors

Cassandra Clare – YA fantasy author; see author’s website here. Most notable series include The Shadowhunter Chronicles and The Magisterium Series.

James Patterson – adult thriller and YA fantasy writer; see author’s website here. Most notable YA series include Maximum Ride and the Witch & Wizard.

Philip Pullman – Juvenile and YA fantasy author; see author’s website here. Best known for his YA series His Dark Materials.

Stephenie Meyer – YA vampire-themed romance author; see author’s website here. Best known for the Twilight Saga as well as the novel The Host.

Sarah J. Maas - YA fantasy and coming-of-age author; see author's website here. Best known for the Throne of Glass series and the Court of Thorns and Roses series.

Kiera Cass – YA dystopian, romance author; see author’s website here. Best known for The Selection series as well as the novel The Siren.

Christopher Paolini - is the author of the Inheritance Cycle, which consists of the books Eragon, Eldest, Brisingr, and Inheritance. See the author's website here.

Fantasy & Sci Fi Resources

Unbound Worlds "So You Want to Read"

Unbound Worlds specializes in Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror Fiction. "So You Want to Read" offers detailed recommendation lists meant to introduce readers to specific categories within these genres.

Locus Magazine

Covering the science fiction and fantasy field since 1968. Locus publishes news of the science fiction, fantasy, horror, and young-adult publishing field, with extensive reviews and listings of new books, short fiction, and magazines.

SFF World

One of the oldest genre websites featuring the best in Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror.

Worlds Without End

A non-profit fan-run web site and growing online community, dedicated to identifying, reading and sharing the best Speculative Fiction books the genre has to offer.