How long are science fiction novels?
14 famous science fiction books, compared by word count and reading time.
82,296
Median length
90,347
Average length
32,149
Shortest
187,240
Longest
Publishing standards put science fiction novels at 90,000–125,000 words, with a sweet spot around 100,000–115,000 words. The 14 published titles below have a median of 82,296 words — a real-world cross-check on that range.
Range source: SFWA Nebula Award prose category definitions; Writer's Digest genre length guide
Every science fiction book, longest first
| Title | Author | Word count | Reading time |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dune | Frank Herbert | 187,240 | 13 hr 7 min |
| Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea | Jules Verne | 138,138 | 9 hr 40 min |
| Ready Player One | Ernest Cline | 136,505 | 9 hr 34 min |
| The Martian | Andy Weir | 104,588 | 7 hr 19 min |
| Ender's Game | Orson Scott Card | 100,609 | 7 hr 3 min |
| 1984 | George Orwell | 88,942 | 6 hr 14 min |
| The Left Hand of Darkness | Ursula K. Le Guin | 85,592 | 6 hr |
| Neuromancer | William Gibson | 79,000 | 5 hr 32 min |
| Frankenstein | Mary Shelley | 74,861 | 5 hr 15 min |
| Foundation | Isaac Asimov | 67,551 | 4 hr 44 min |
| Brave New World | Aldous Huxley | 63,766 | 4 hr 28 min |
| The War of the Worlds | H.G. Wells | 59,796 | 4 hr 11 min |
| Fahrenheit 451 | Ray Bradbury | 46,118 | 3 hr 14 min |
| The Time Machine | H.G. Wells | 32,149 | 2 hr 15 min |