Gallery: The 23 Best Sci-Fi Books and Movies to Give to a Noob
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The original [Star Wars trilogy](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00E9PMMX0/) starts with *A New Hope*, and it ends with *Return of The Jedi*. (Unless JJ Abrams has something to say about that, anyway.) Forget the other movies. If you've seen the originals before, get the Blu-ray ($35) for the subtle changes and the "who shot first" debate. If you've never seen them, or know someone who needs to, don't be a scruffy-looking nerf-herder. Get to it.
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There are a hundred ways into the Star Trek universe, but beaming up to the U.S.S Enterprise with the TNG crew is the best place to start. [Start with season one](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00BHWG1AI/) ($16.50), and then point out that the whole show just happens to be streaming for free with Amazon Prime. Just make sure they have a few weeks with nothing to do.
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You could argue forever about which *Blade Runner* version is The Right Version. In fact, that's part of the fun of loving *Blade Runner*, is deciding what the audience really ought to know, see, and understand about Harrison Ford's character. (And what color the movie should be, oddly enough). Buy the [collector's edition](http://www.amazon.com/Runner-Five-Disc-Complete-Collectors-Blu-ray/dp/B000UBMWG4/) ($16.48) containing every cut of the film and let your loved ones decide which version of this dystopian epic is their favorite.
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Neal Stephenson's novel *[Snow Crash](http://www.amazon.com/Snow-Crash-Neal-Stephenson/dp/1491515058)* ($8.48) makes little sense for long periods—reading it is kind of like being on the same drug as the book's main character. It's dense and fast, set in different modes and places you'll have to leap constantly between. But it's fascinatingly bizarre, and basically impossible to put down.
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Truthfully, you could pick almost any Neal Stephenson book and not go wrong. But *[Cryptonomicon](http://www.amazon.com/Cryptonomicon-Neal-Stephenson/dp/0060512806/)* ($5.44) has everything: hackers, Nazis, awesome codenames, time travel. It's like *Captain America*, kind of, only crazier and with more computers.
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There are a lot of options in this guide, but [Frank Herbert's *Dune*](http://www.amazon.com/Dune-Frank-Herbert/dp/0441172717) ($7) might be the surest winner of them all. It's the first and best in a massively popular and influential series of Hebert novels, is often considered the biggest inspiration for Star Wars, and spawned an impossibly long list of books, movies, TV shows, board games, and more. And a half-century after it was published, it still holds up.
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[Paolo Bacigalupi's *The Windup Girl*](http://www.amazon.com/The-Windup-Girl-Paolo-Bacigalupi/dp/1597801585) ($11.43) is set in a world where calories, not oil, is the source of energy. Where everyone's a mutant, pretty much. Where some people are people, and some are New People. It's fascinating, frightening, and more than a little bit too close to home.
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Fine, so every person on Earth has already read the Harry Potter books. And seen the movies. And ridden the amusement park rides. But if you know someone who hasn't, or is just about to hit the right age for Hogwarts enrollment, you can't beat JK Rowling's series for blistering pace and incredible world-building. [The box set of paperbacks](http://www.amazon.com/Harry-Potter-Paperback-Box-Books/dp/0545162076) is $52.
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Lev Grossman's [Magician's Trilogy](http://www.amazon.com/The-Magicians-Trilogy-Boxed-Set/dp/0525427341) ($51.51) is like Narnia, or like the land of Harry Potter, or maybe like Middle Earth. It's about a boy who finds a world far better than the one he knows—but when he gets there, it doesn't turn out quite the way it was supposed to. Not all fairy tales end like fairy tales, apparently.
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The book *[Ready Player One](http://www.amazon.com/Ready-Player-One-A-Novel/dp/0307887448)* ($8.37) takes place almost entirely inside a video game. You'll forget that almost immediately. It's so fast-moving, so littered with '80s references you've probably already forgotten about, that you can't help but keep going. Fair warning: It's going to make you want a VR headset like, right now.
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One reviewer called Ann Leckie's *[Ancillary Justice](http://www.amazon.com/Ancillary-Justice-Imperial-Radch-Leckie/dp/031624662X)* ($8.75) a "sociopolitical space opera," which seems about right. The first in a massively award-winning trilogy, *Ancillary Justice* has a lot of characters, a lot of complicated backstory, and a wild plot you probably won't fully understand your first read. That's fine---just read it again.
1212-X-Files-(manufacturer-photo)
Don't watch *The X-Files* just because it's coming back to TV. Watch it because it's one of the wildest, weirdest, most culturally important shows ever made. Buy the [box set](http://www.amazon.com/X-Files-Complete-Series-Movie-Collection/dp/B00CRVL5ZE) for $195, or just make a promise to walk your loved one through the essential episodes with [WIRED's binge-watching guide](https://www.wired.com/2014/11/binge-guide-x-files/).
1313-Terminator-Sarah-Connor-Chronicles-(manufacturer-photo)
Any Terminator story works, really, as long as it's not Genisys. But the *Sarah Connor Chronicles* ([$9.50 for season one](http://www.amazon.com/Terminator-Sarah-Connor-Chronicles-Season/dp/B000T9OP7G)) is the unsung success of the franchise. There's something riveting about watching a mother raise the savior of the world, and try to protect him from murderous robot substitute teachers.
1414-The-Left-Hand-of-Darkness-(manufacturer-photo)
Forget "male" and "female." No, seriously, forget them. Everyone on the planet Winter has. That's what the Ursula K. Le Guin's Winter series is about—what happens when no one has gender, and what happens when someone new shows up. It's weirder and wilder than you think. Start with [*The Left Hand of Darkness*](http://www.amazon.com/Left-Hand-Darkness-Ursula-Guin/dp/0441478123) for $6.86.
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Ten years after *Dark City* was released in theaters, director Alex Proyas came out with the [director's cut](http://www.amazon.com/Dark-City-Directors-Rufus-Sewell/dp/B0018O4YT0) of his noir-y thriller about an alien race that can mess with people's memories. It has the same effect as a movie like *The Matrix*—you'll finish it and suddenly wonder what's actually real, and what's just a figment of your (or someone else's) imagination. Don't miss Roger Ebert's audio commentary track. $9.16
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Not all science fiction is about wild other worlds, spaceships, and aliens. *Beasts of the Southern Wild* ([$13.39 on Blu-ray](http://www.amazon.com/Beasts-Southern-Blu-ray-Quvenzhan-Wallis/dp/B008220ALC/)) is about a six-year-old trying to survive in an isolated world not too far from New Orleans—and not too far from the way the world looks now.
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Two words: Joss Whedon. Two more, basically synonymous with the other two: cult classic. *[Firefly](http://www.amazon.com/Firefly-Complete-Blu-ray-Nathan-Fillion/dp/B001EN71CW/)* is a masterpiece that too few people knew about, that didn't get nearly enough time on the air when it came out—but it's impossibly bingeable and an awesome way to blow a weekend. $15.06 on Blu-ray.
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*Wool*, the first book in the trilogy everyone likes to call "the next Hunger Games," was self-published by author Hugh Howey. It's a story of revolution, of the mess we create even when we try to do the right thing, of how complicated staircases can be, and of the crazy things that happen when you go outside. [$8.53 in paperback](http://www.amazon.com/Wool-Hugh-Howey/dp/1476733953/).
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Isaac Asimov is one of the OGs of sci-fi. And the Foundation trilogy (which is now more than a trilogy, but you need the core three first) is nearly a century old but is still atop the must-read list for anyone who wants into the world of science fiction. Need more convincing? Elon Musk loves the Foundation books. Start with [*Foundation*](http://www.amazon.com/Foundation-Isaac-Asimov/dp/0553293354) for $5.
2020-The-Golem-and-the-Jinni-(manufacturer-photo)
Unlike your average sci-fi adventure, Helene Wecker's [*The Golem and the Jinni*](http://www.amazon.com/The-Golem-Jinni-Novel-P-S/dp/0062110845) ($10.86) is set in the past. It's a mix of mythology, sociology, and a lot of non-human characters doing pretty human stuff. This isn't the point of the incredible novel, but you'll get to the end totally convinced aliens already live among us. Which is pretty cool.
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There's a whole genre of movies trying to copy *Alien*, from the impossible suspense to the monster itself. Still, there's nothing like [the original](http://www.amazon.com/Alien-Blu-ray/dp/B00MBD5IA6/). Sigourney Weaver as Ripley, the chestburster—you can't understand a whole generation of sci-fi flicks without understanding *Alien*. *Aliens*, the sequel, is solid too, but stop there. There's nothing to see after that. $30 on Blu-ray.
2222-The-Martian-Chronicles-(manufacturer-photo)
Ray Bradbury's [*The Martian Chronicles*](http://www.amazon.com/The-Martian-Chronicles-Ray-Bradbury/dp/1451678193) is a must at $5.87. No, not the Matt Damon movie (though *The Martian* is great too). Set in a futuristic 1999, Bradbury's tale is all about what happens after we colonize Mars—and who, or what, might be waiting there for us. More than that, what they might want from us when we get there.
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He's better known for *Terminator* (and *Predator*, and for being the Govenator, and probably a half-dozen other things), but *Total Recall* is one of the best Arnold Schwarzenegger movies out there. Pure action meets pure fantasy meets flying cars. Don't watch the terrible reboot; watch the original. [The Blu-ray](http://www.amazon.com/Total-Recall-Blu-ray-Arnold-Schwarzenegger/dp/B00QSHWYWQ/) is $10. If they're way into it, it's time to introduce your beneficiary to the stories of Philip K. Dick. We could write a whole gift guide just on PKD...
