Kindle Sci-fi Books To Read In 2020 | Get Your Next Sci-fi Novel Hit Today!

Kindle eBooks are much cheaper than their paperback equivalent. Here are 5 kindle sci fi books you should read in 2020.

 

In this Kindle Sci fi Books blog article, you will find recommendations for the following books:

  • The Testaments, by Margaret Atwood – one of the top selling novels of 2019/20,
  • One Word Kill, by Mark Lawrence – a recommended ‘Time Travel Sci Fi’ read by Amazon,
  • Children Of Time, by Adrian Tchaikovsky – a recommended ‘Hard Sci Fi’ read by Amazon,
  • The Institute, by Stephen King – a recommended ‘Adventure Sci Fi’ read by Amazon,
  • Anna’s Awakening, by Scott Gilmore – a recommended read by myself.
Read the rest of the Kindle Sci Fi Books article to find some new titles to expand your library.

The Misconception Of Science Fiction

As a fiction author who has worked as a teacher for ten-plus years and written for many more, I have always found there is something of a misconception about science fiction. Many young people and even adults hear the genre science fiction or sci-fi and automatically think about ‘little green men’, Star Wars, Star Trek, and Sigourney Weaver in Alien.

When I got feedback from children and teenagers about my fiction books, they didn’t see it as a science fiction novel or view me as a science fiction author. The people I asked saw it as a thriller or an action/adventure novel. This got me to thinking when it came to considering the keywords for categorising my Kindle sci-fi books within the Kindle store. This is an issue I have seen on many creative writing blogs from fellow bloggers.

Anyone who has had to write a book blurb and consider categorisation for their novel will know the pain of what it takes to finalise these words. We know that it can make the difference in search results as well as rankings within specific charts on the Kindle store. Therefore, the need for a definition of science fiction is key when we write Kindle sci-fi books and kindle eBooks in general. With such a hugely competitive marketplace, we need to put our much beloved novel into the right areas to be found by the right readers.

Science Fiction Definition – Source Cambridge Online Dictionary

A type of writing about imagined developments in science and their effect on life esp. in the future

When it comes to explaining to people who ask me what Inside Iris or Anna’s Awakening are about, many of them fail to see how my fiction books are considered Kindle sci-fi books. However, when I share this definition, they always say, ‘Oh, right! I never knew that. I always thought sci-fi was aliens and stuff.’

I wanted to look through the various Kindle sci-fi books charts on Amazon.co.uk to pick a number of well-rated novels that I feel would draw my attention in 2020. Here are four Kindle science fiction books that I will look to read in 2020. The fifth novel is my second instalment of the Iris Trilogy, Anna’s Awakening – due to be published in March 2020.

Read on to see which Kindle science fiction books I hope to read in the coming year.

iris trilogy fiction books

Click on the image to see the fiction books I have released so far. Both Inside Iris and Anna’s Awakening are available for purchase on Kindle and paperback from Amazon.

 

Kindle Sci-fi Books: Margaret Atwood – The Testaments

Considering my novels of inside Iris and Anna’s Awakening are within the dystopian sci-fi genre, I thought I would start there for my five Kindle sci-fi books to read in 2020. I love the idea of the dystopia and my favourite dystopian novel, The Road by Cormac McCarthy, is one that I have read multiple times and will read again at some point this year.

Margaret Atwood is an author with a mammoth name and reputation within the literary world. This Canadian female author has had a lengthy career and has been a well-known name in the world of fiction and poetry for well over 40 years. A friend of mine, Kathleen McCracken, would regularly discuss Margaret’s work when I was an undergraduate. Being a fellow Canadian poet, Kathleen would always tell me how I should read Margaret’s work and I plan to start in 2020.

The sequel to the 1985 novel, The Handmaid’s Tale, The Testaments has been all over literary awards lists as well as social media streams. I have seen nothing but excellent reviews for this novel and I will read The Handmaid’s Tale and The Testaments as soon as possible in 2020. Below is a blurb of the novel from Amazon.

Book Blurb: Source – Amazon.co.ukmargaret atwood the testament kindle sci fi books

Margaret Atwood’s dystopian masterpiece, The Handmaid’s Tale, is a modern classic. Now she brings the iconic story to a dramatic conclusion in this riveting sequel.

More than fifteen years after the events of The Handmaid’s Tale, the theocratic regime of the Republic of Gilead maintains its grip on power, but there are signs it is beginning to rot from within. At this crucial moment, the lives of three radically different women converge, with potentially explosive results.

Two have grown up as part of the first generation to come of age in the new order. The testimonies of these two young women are joined by a third voice: a woman who wields power through the ruthless accumulation and deployment of secrets.

 

Kindle Sci-fi Books: Mark Lawrence – One Word Kill

Within the Time Travel Sci-fi category of Amazon.co.uk is this novel from author Mark Lawrence. When researching this novel, I saw it had multiple top reviews across Goodreads, Waterstones, and Amazon.

This US/British novelist has had a background as a research scientist and has had a career working in the field of artificial intelligence. I love the fact that, like myself, Mark Lawrence has transitioned from one career into writing fiction. I feel that people who live and work in a different career are able to gain life experience as well as skills that can be translated to being an author.

Being a fan of Stranger Things, I saw how this novel was described as Stranger Things meets Ready Player One. Whether or not this is completely accurate, I know I loved the world in Stranger Things and how odd things appear to happen alongside playing their weekly board game.

I think I will definitely be looking into the novels of Mark Lawrence in the new year. When I do, I will start with One Word Kill. Below is a blurb of the novel from Amazon.co.uk.

 

mark lawrence one word kill

Book Blurb: Source – Amazon.co.uk

In January 1986, fifteen-year-old boy-genius Nick Hayes discovers he’s dying. And it isn’t even the strangest thing to happen to him that week.

Nick and his Dungeons & Dragons-playing friends are used to living in their imaginations. But when a new girl, Mia, joins the group and reality becomes weirder than the fantasy world they visit in their weekly games, none of them are prepared for what comes next. A strange—yet curiously familiar—man is following Nick, with abilities that just shouldn’t exist. And this man bears a cryptic message: Mia’s in grave danger, though she doesn’t know it yet. She needs Nick’s help—now.

Kindle Sci-fi Books: Children Of Time – Adrian Tchaikovsky

When scrolling the sub-genres of Kindle science fiction books, I loved that Amazon had a sub-genre called Hard Sci-fi. I had to chuckle and ensure that I included a novel from this area within my blog. It was just too tempting as I could imagine people standing on dark street corners, selling books from cars or from inside the lining of their coats.

His novel, Children Of Time, won the Arthur C Clarke award for best novel in its 30th anniversary year. Again, this novel appears to have a dystopian edge as the human race are left on a dying Earth. There is also the tease that this New Eden has an ominous sound to it with two sides about to clash.

Tchaikovsky’s novel sounds like something that will be going straight in my basket and will soon be purchased as a Kindle science fiction book in the coming months. Below is a synopsis from Amazon.co.uk.

adrian tchaikovsky children of time kindle sci fi books

Book Blurb: Source – Amazon.co.uk

Who will inherit this new Earth? The last remnants of the human race left a dying Earth, desperate to find a new home among the stars. Following in the footsteps of their ancestors, they discover the greatest treasure of the past age – a world terraformed and prepared for human life.

But all is not right in this new Eden. In the long years since the planet was abandoned, the work of its architects has borne disastrous fruit. The planet is not waiting for them, pristine and unoccupied. New masters have turned it from a refuge into mankind’s worst nightmare.

Kindle Sci-fi Books: Stephen King – The Institute

When I clicked on Amazon’s Adventure Sci-fi sub-genre, I was greeted by the name of another literary titan in that of Stephen King. His is a name that regularly stops people scrolling on bookstore websites and social media streams. The man is a legend of the publishing world and one of his novels, Misery, is already a must-read for me and the movie is also a must-watch.

I was drawn to this novel for a number of reasons. Firstly, I loved the cover and then the name pulled me in. I was then instantly reminded of my debut novel, Inside Iris. I then read the synopsis of the book and was blown away by how similar areas of the book are to my own considering Inside Iris was published a year before The Institute. Odd!

I am not for one minute suggesting that Mr King needed to use my debut novel as inspiration, but I just had to laugh as this goes to prove that there are no truly original stories out there. Out of interest, check out the synopsis below and then read the synopsis of Inside Iris and see what you think. As a science fiction author who will take creative writing workshops in 2020, I will point this out to those who attend. Your stories and novels are amazing in their own right, but they are never going to be original.

Again, I love Stephen King‘s stories and their adaptations onto the silver screen. I will look to buy this book and review it in the coming months. Maybe Stephen King will leave me a 5-star review on amazon for Inside Iris. You never know.

stephen king the institute

Book Blurb: Source – Amazon.co.uk

Deep in the woods of Maine, there is a dark state facility where kids, abducted from across the United States, are incarcerated. In the Institute they are subjected to a series of tests and procedures meant to combine their exceptional gifts – telepathy, telekinesis – for concentrated effect.

Luke Ellis is the latest recruit. He’s just a regular 12-year-old, except he’s not just smart, he’s super-smart. And he has another gift which the Institute wants to use…

 

 

Kindle Sci-fi Books: Scott Gilmore – Anna’s Awakening

annas awakening book cover kindle sci fi books

Click on the image to view my Kindle sci-fi books landing page to learn more about me, my upcoming releases, and read some of my latest creative writing blogs.

Obviously, I would have to slip my second novel into the mix alongside the others. Mainly because I have read it already in 2020 and will read it a few more times before I publish it in February 2020.

Anna’s Awakening was initially written in the summer of 2018, straight after Inside Iris. It was then redrafted a number of times and is in the final stages of drafting as I write this. I have loved writing Iris/Anna’s story and learning more about her and the characters around her. Each character has developed and grown beyond what I had initially thought when I wrote them over two years ago, and they will continue to do so in book three.

Book three will be written over the course of 2020 and published in 2021. I cannot wait to see the reaction to this book. I also look forward to hearing how the story is progressing through the eyes and minds of those who bought and read Inside Iris.

Being a UK science fiction author, I hope to continue to sell more novels and share the story that I know is extremely intriguing and current. The Iris Trilogy also has its roots in real-life worries that the World Health Organisation and governments across the world face – the worry that antibiotics and drugs will cease to work.

Below is the blurb of the novel. Please comment below on what you think of the cover and the blurb teaser.

Book Blurb:

Set two years after Iris’ dramatic escape from The Institute, she lives a secretive but peaceful existence in Scotland. Living at Bowmore Estate, with the Benefactor, Raymond, and the Courier, Kyle, Iris’ young life has changed dramatically.

Since the fall of The Resistance, and the dramatic events at the warehouse, Iris goes through therapy in order to lay to rest some of the ghosts that continue to haunt her. By taking this step, she hopes to begin to put her past behind her.

Throughout her counselling sessions with Clara, Raymond’s niece, Iris decides to claim back her real identity of Anna. With the help of Clara and Kyle, Iris pieces together fragments of her past that were nothing more than dark memories.

As Iris becomes Anna, she learns the truth about her time at The Institute. It is this truth that awakens Anna, lighting a fire within her that changes her forever. Could Anna’s awakening finally bring down The Authorities once and for all?

Anna’s Awakening is the second instalment of The Iris Trilogy – a dystopian, sci-fi thriller that is an intense read for adults and teenagers alike. This young adult novel is packed with enough drama and tension that you will not want to put it down.

 

With the five novels listed above, I sincerely hope you would consider giving them a read. They all sound very intriguing and I know Anna’s Awakening has got my Beta readers salivating for book three of the Iris Trilogy.

In 2020, Kindle science fiction books will continue to be a source of entertainment for Kindle eBook fans around the world. I have always believed that science fiction offers such great escapism for those who love the genre. If there are intriguing characters in a world that captures our imagination, we are sold whether it is in a novel or a movie. If the author or screenwriter is also able to weave an element of realism through their use of science, it can elevate Kindle science fiction books to the next level.

inside iris sci fi books covid 19