Science fiction stories made into movies

Here are some science fiction stories and novels made into movies. I already made a list for Philip K. Dick. Here are all the other authors.

I’ll mention the name of the story/novel if it’s different than the movie.

Douglas Adams

I read the book twice — it’s the funniest book ever written.

Brian Aldiss

  • A. I. Artificial Intelligence
    • based on “Supertoys Last All Summer Long”
    • 2001 -> 3.5/5

Isaac Asimov

  • Bicentennial Man
    • 1999 -> 4/5
  • I, Robot
    • 2004 -> 4/5

I read these stories — they’re much better than the movies.

Asimov assisted Gene Roddenberry on Star Trek: The Motion Picture and was listed as “special science consultant” in the credits.

Pierre Boulle

  • Planet of the Apes
    • 1968 -> 5/5
  • Planet of the Apes
    • 2001 -> 2.5/5

I read the book — it’s worth reading.

Here is my page on all the Planet of the Apes movies.

Ray Bradbury

  • Fahrenheit 451
    • 1966 -> 4/5

I read the book — everyone should read it.

David Brin

  • The Postman
    • 1997 -> 2.5/5

I read the book — it’s much better than the movie.

Brin was science advisor on the miniseries Ascension.

Anthony Burgess

  • A Clockwork Orange
    • 1971 -> worth watching once, but it’s very disturbing

Orson Scott Card

I read the book — it’s one of my favourites.

Ted Chiang

  • Arrival
    • based on “Story of Your Life”
    • 2016 -> 5/5

I read the story — it’s brilliant.

Ernest Cline

Michael Crichton

  • Jurassic Park
    • 1993 -> 4.5/5
      • he also worked on the screenplay
  • The Lost World: Jurassic Park
    • 1997 -> 4/5
  •  Sphere
    • 1998 -> 3/5

I read Jurassic Park — it’s pretty similar to the movie. I also read Sphere — it’s much better than the movie.

Here is my page on all the Jurassic movies.

Arthur C. Clarke

  • 2001: A Space Odyssey
    • 1968 -> 5/5
      • Clarke and Stanley Kubrick worked on the screenplay for 2001 together
  • 2010: The Year We Make Contact
    • 1984 -> 4.5/5

I read these books — they’re brilliant.

Harlan Ellison

  • A Boy and His Dog
    • 1975 -> 4/5
  • Love, Death & Robots
    • 2019-present -> 4.5 to 5/5
      • 1 of his stories was produced for this show

Ellison wrote an episode of Star Trek. He wrote 2 episodes of Babylon 5 and also served as conceptual consultant for that show. He also wrote a screenplay for Asimov’s I, Robot but it wasn’t produced.

William Gibson

  • Johnny Mnemonic
    • 1995 -> 2/5
      • Gibson even wrote the screenplay but the movie didn’t turn out so well
  • The Peripheral
    • 2022-present -> 5/5

“Johnny Mnemonic” worked better as a story.

Gibson wrote 2 episodes of The X-Files. He wrote a screenplay for Alien3 that wasn’t produced.

Harry Harrison

  • Soylent Green
    • based on Make Room! Make Room!
    • 1973 -> 4/5

Robert A. Heinlein

  • Starship Troopers
    • 1997 -> 2/5
  • Predestination
    • based on “All You Zombies–“
    • 2014 -> 5/5

Frank Herbert

  • Dune
    • 2000  -> 4/5
  • Children of Dune
    • 2003 -> 4/5

I read the books these miniseries are based on — they’re terrific.

As for the 1984 Dune movie, I saw it so long ago and so much else has happened I have no idea what to rate it.

Aldous Huxley

  • Brave New World
    • 1998 -> 4/5

I read the book — everyone should read it.

Kazuo Ishiguro

P. D. James

  • Children of Men
    • 2006 -> 4.5/5

Stephen King

  • The Running Man
    • 1987 -> 1.5/5
  • 11.22.63
    • 2016 -> 5/5

King wrote the stories that were the basis for the fantasy movies The Dead Zone and The Green Mile and the realistic movies Stand By Me, The Shawshank Redemption, and Hearts in Atlantis. He also wrote an episode of The X-Files.

Stanislaw Lem

  • Solaris
    • 1972 -> 2/5
  • Solaris
    • 2002 -> 3.5/5
  • The Congress
    • based on The Futurological Congress
    • 2013 -> 4/5

I read Solaris — it’s very good, better than either of the movies.

Emily St. John Mandel

I read the book — it’s similarly brilliant.

David Mitchell

William F. Nolan & George Clayton Johnson

  • Logan’s Run
    • 1976 -> 2/5

George Orwell

  • 1984
    • 1984 -> 3.5/5

I read the book — it’s one that everyone should read.

Christopher Priest

Carl Sagan

I read the book — it’s similarly great.

Hiroshi Sakurazaka

Robert J. Sawyer

  • FlashForward
    • 2009-10 -> 4.5/5

I read the book — it’s terrific.

Mary Shelley

  • Frankenstein
    • 1931 -> 3/5

I read the book — it’s worth reading.

Walter Tevis

Jeff Vandermeer

Kurt Vonnegut Jr.

  • Slaughterhouse-Five
    • 1972 -> 4/5

I read this book — it’s worth reading.

H. G. Wells

  • The War of the Worlds
    • 1953 -> 1.5/5
  • The Time Machine
    • 1960 -> 1.5/5
  • The Island of Dr. Moreau
    • 1996 -> 2.5/5
  • The Time Machine
    • 2002 -> 3/5
  • War of the Worlds
    • 2005 -> 3/5

I read War of the Worlds and The Time Machine — they’re both worth reading, better than the movies.

Andy Weir


Special mention

  • Love, Death & Robots
    • based on stories by a bunch of authors including
      • Paolo Bacigalupi
      • J. G. Ballard
      • Peter F. Hamilton
      • Ken Liu
      • Alastair Reynolds
      • John Scalzi
      • Bruce Sterling
      • Michael Swanwick
    • 2019-present -> 4.5 to 5/5

This entry was posted on Wednesday, June 14th, 2023 at 12:53 pm and is filed under My thoughts. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

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