Project Hail Mary

The War of the Worlds H.G. Wells

Martian tripods incinerate the English countryside and all of Victorian England's confidence in its own dominance -- a novel that invented the alien invasion.

Old Man's War John Scalzi

On his seventy-fifth birthday, John Perry joins the army -- they give elderly recruits young bodies to fight interstellar wars he doesn't yet understand.

Ender's Game Orson Scott Card

The world's most gifted child soldier is trained in zero-gravity combat simulations for an alien war -- but the final battle may not be a game.

The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy Douglas Adams

Moments before Earth is demolished to make way for a hyperspace bypass, an ordinary man is rescued by his alien best friend.

The Martian Andy Weir

An astronaut accidentally left behind on Mars must survive alone using nothing but science, duct tape, and dark humour.