# How long is a science fiction novel?

The typical science fiction novel here has 135,050 words, about 9 h of reading. 34 books, longest first.

| # | Book | words | Pages |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | [Cibola Burn](https://musael.com/books/cibola-burn.md) | 185,000 | 624 |
| 2 | [Persepolis Rising](https://musael.com/books/persepolis-rising.md) | 185,000 | 560 |
| 3 | [Dune](https://musael.com/books/dune.md) | 181,493 | 896 |
| 4 | [Tiamat's Wrath](https://musael.com/books/tiamat-s-wrath.md) | 181,000 | 534 |
| 5 | [Caliban's War](https://musael.com/books/caliban-s-war.md) | 179,000 | 624 |
| 6 | [Leviathan Wakes](https://musael.com/books/leviathan-wakes.md) | 175,000 | 592 |
| 7 | [Babylon's Ashes](https://musael.com/books/babylon-s-ashes.md) | 175,000 | 544 |
| 8 | [Nemesis Games](https://musael.com/books/nemesis-games.md) | 169,000 | 576 |
| 9 | [Abaddon's Gate](https://musael.com/books/abaddon-s-gate.md) | 165,000 | 566 |
| 10 | [Heretics of Dune](https://musael.com/books/heretics-of-dune.md) | 163,522 | 512 |
| 11 | [Leviathan Falls](https://musael.com/books/leviathan-falls.md) | 162,000 | 518 |
| 12 | [Memory's Legion](https://musael.com/books/memory-s-legion.md) | 152,000 | 432 |
| 13 | [Project Hail Mary](https://musael.com/books/project-hail-mary.md) | 150,326 | 496 |
| 14 | [Children of Dune](https://musael.com/books/children-of-dune.md) | 146,792 | 432 |
| 15 | [Foundation and Earth](https://musael.com/books/foundation-and-earth.md) | 141,118 | 512 |
| 16 | [Chapterhouse: Dune](https://musael.com/books/chapterhouse-dune.md) | 141,078 | 448 |
| 17 | [God Emperor of Dune](https://musael.com/books/god-emperor-of-dune.md) | 136,745 | 464 |
| 18 | [Foundation's Edge](https://musael.com/books/foundations-edge.md) | 133,354 | 416 |
| 19 | [Prelude to Foundation](https://musael.com/books/prelude-to-foundation.md) | 129,750 | 402 |
| 20 | [Forward the Foundation](https://musael.com/books/forward-the-foundation.md) | 119,814 | 432 |
| 21 | [The Martian](https://musael.com/books/the-martian.md) | 104,588 | 416 |
| 22 | [Foundation and Empire](https://musael.com/books/foundation-and-empire.md) | 72,606 | 230 |
| 23 | [Dune Messiah](https://musael.com/books/dune-messiah.md) | 72,449 | 192 |
| 24 | [Second Foundation](https://musael.com/books/second-foundation.md) | 70,300 | 192 |
| 25 | [Foundation](https://musael.com/books/foundation.md) | 64,995 | 272 |
| 26 | [Mostly Harmless](https://musael.com/books/mostly-harmless.md) | 64,659 | 288 |
| 27 | [The War of the Worlds](https://musael.com/books/the-war-of-the-worlds.md) | 59,828 | 192 |
| 28 | [The Restaurant at the End of the Universe](https://musael.com/books/the-restaurant-at-the-end-of-the-universe.md) | 52,150 | 250 |
| 29 | [Life, the Universe and Everything](https://musael.com/books/life-the-universe-and-everything.md) | 51,978 | 175 |
| 30 | [Slaughterhouse-Five](https://musael.com/books/slaughterhouse-five.md) | 49,459 | 275 |
| 31 | [The Invisible Man](https://musael.com/books/the-invisible-man.md) | 48,105 | 160 |
| 32 | [The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy](https://musael.com/books/the-hitchhikers-guide-to-the-galaxy.md) | 46,333 | 224 |
| 33 | [So Long, and Thanks for All the Fish](https://musael.com/books/so-long-and-thanks-for-all-the-fish.md) | 42,859 | 214 |
| 34 | [The Time Machine](https://musael.com/books/the-time-machine.md) | 32,059 | 96 |

## Questions

**How many words is a typical science fiction novel?** The median of the 34 science fiction books here is 135,050 words, about 9 h at 250 words a minute.

**What is the longest science fiction book here?** Cibola Burn, with 185,000 words.

Source: https://musael.com/books/genres/science-fiction