3 Mind-Blowing YA Sci-Fi Books That Will Hook You From Page One

OCTOBER 14TH, 2026

These sci-fi openings make me care about the characters. I loved the world-building, too, but what made me want to keep reading was how their emotions drove the plot. 

Skyward by Brandon Sanderson, 2018

Skyward is book 1 of a 4-book Skyfall series 

SKYWARD is about a young woman, Spensa, in an almost-extinct world who dreams of becoming a starfighter pilot to defend her people against alien attackers.

The things I love in the opening of Skyward include: 

• Lead Character Spensa

The book starts with a 7-year-old Spensa, and we can see how close she and her dad are. She talks about how her mum says it’s dangerous to go to the surface and how her dad has to do it every day as a pilot. 

When Spensa packed her toy starfighter into her backpack to fight the Krell if they attacked, it showed me how brave and innocent she was.

• Relatable Family

Spensa’s dad would prefer to fight 100 Krell ships rather than face Spensa’s mum if anything happened to Spensa while he was minding her.

• World-Building in the almost extinct sci-fi society

The Krell are dangerous attackers, but we don’t learn anything about them yet, which keeps the intrigue going. 

The language helps build the atmosphere by naming Spensa’s stuffed bear, Bloodletter, and by Spensa describing herself as a good Defiant girl. 

Spensa’s dad activating his lifeline, and the description of how he did so, adds to the technology in this futuristic world.

The opening pages drew me in because they combine a gripping sci-fi world where people are almost extinct with a child’s worldview and her emotions.

Iron Widow by Xiran Jay Zhao, 2021 

Iron Widow is book 1 of a 3-book series (with the final book yet to be published) 

IRON WIDOW is set in a future, patriarchal dystopia based on medieval China and follows a young peasant girl who seeks brutal revenge against the military elite.

The things I love in the opening of Iron Widow include: 

• Lead character Zetian, 

Zetian is a young girl fighting a patriarchal system and her family’s values.

Zetain had to get rid of her unibrow to be considered for a job as a concubine-pilot. I could see how unfair the system is for judging women first on their looks.

Zetain’s sister dies while working as a concubine-pilot. The family cares only about the compensation they receive for her death, but Zetain is determined to find out what happened and take revenge. It makes me respect Zetain and root for her to succeed.

• Worldbuilding. 

In the Prologue, a herd of metal Hunduns is coming to attack, and giant mecha machines called Chrysalises, each piloted by one male and one female, are used to fight aliens. 

A male pilot uses the Chrysalis psychic link to drain the life out of his concubine-pilot. I feel disgusted by his lack of remorse.

This opening effectively sets up the misogynistic and dystopian sci-fi world of Huaxia. I want to follow Zetian as she seeks revenge on the male pilot who killed her sister.

The Darkness Outside Us by Eliot Schrefer, 2021

The Darkness Outside Us is book 1 of a 3-book series (with the final book yet to be published)  

THE DARKNESS OUTSIDE US is set in the future and follows two teenage astronauts sent on a dangerous deep-space rescue mission. It is both a sci-fi survival thriller and a queer love story.

The things I love in the opening of The Darkness Outside Us include: 

• Lead Character Ambrose Cusk. 

Ambrose comes across as very brave and unselfish. He’s on a highly dangerous mission to rescue his sister, Minerva Cusk, the person he loves more than anyone else and is determined to stay alive so he can save her.

• Worldbuilding. 

The remote setting of Ambrose, being on a spaceship, weeks away from Earth, adds to the tension.

He has awoken from a coma and has to learn to use his body again.

The world-building language, like voice skin, Cusk-branded pink sand, family spaceport, pleasure satellites, polycarb tray, Titan distress beacon, all add richness to this world, helping me visualise it. 

I was gripped by the intrigue of what was happening to Ambrose. 

Final Thoughts

These 3 books, Skyward, Iron Widow and The Darkness Outside Us, the characters' emotional problems are central to the story and the sci-fi technology is a tool to magnify these issues.

What YA Sci-Fi books have your favourite openings?

- Chris

Fiction Rebellion Heroine