Many sci-fi books still need an onscreen adaptation, and these seven are perfect choices for Apple TV‘s next project. Every streaming service out there has tried its hand at sci-fi, and some shows have been more successful than others. All the big choices have at least one really epic series worth watching. Hulu has Alien: Earth. Prime has The Expanse. Netflix has The Three-Body Problem. However, by far, the dominating choice for sci-fi is Apple TV because they’ve nailed pretty much every science fiction title they’ve put out.

The streamer is particularly adept at bringing books to life. Silo is pretty fantastic. Foundation might not be a good one-to-one version of Isaac Asimov’s novel, but it is still a really good show inspired by the classic books. They’re currently working on Neuromancer, which is already expected to be a masterpiece. As the streamer looks for its next sci-fi project, these seven titles would be perfect choices. They not only fit in with the existing selections but also offer something new and exciting.

Red Rising By Pierce Brown

The dystopian sci-fi Red Rising Saga desperately needs a TV adaptation, and Apple TV is the perfect streamer to bring the story to life. The novel series follows a color-coded society on the colony of Mars that oppresses the Reds while allowing the Golds to live lavishly as the ruling class. Darrow, a miner in the Red caste, decides to infiltrate the higher ranks to take them down from the inside.

The class divide, systems of oppression, and corruption will feel remarkably similar to viewers, despite the sci-fi setting. This would make a Red Rising Saga TV show extremely timely. What’s more, it’s bound to be popular due to its similarities to Game of Thrones and The Hunger Games.

However, to have a real impact, Red Rising will need the high-quality production values and writing that Apple TV provides for its sci-fi shows. It also needs a streamer that won’t ax it after just one season, making Apple TV a doubly appealing choice.

Inherit The Stars by James P. Hogan

The 1977 hard sci-fi book Inherit the Stars is a fascinating story that, surprisingly, hasn’t been adapted for the screen. In the book, scientists find a 50,000-year-old dead body on the moon, and they’re unsure of who he is, how he got there, or how he died. They try to unravel the mystery of how a human being in a spacesuit ended up on the moon long before that should have been possible.

Hard sci-fi is becoming more popular than ever thanks to movies like The Martian and Project Hail Mary. As such, now is the ideal time to bring Inherit the Stars to the screen. What’s more, Apple TV is the ideal streaming service for adapting it because, in many ways, the book is about ideas rather than plot.

It’s slower-paced and contemplative, much like the streamer’s show Pluribus. The story is just as interested in the mystery of the dead man on the moon as it is in what that means for society. It asks bigger philosophical questions that would feel right at home alongside the 2025 award-winning Apple TV series.

A Long Way To A Small, Angry Planet By Becky Chambers

A Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet is the ultimate cozy sci-fi book that explores themes of found family and acceptance of diversity, making it a great escape from an increasingly hateful world. The story follows Rosemary Harper as she travels aboard Wayfarer, exploring the depths of space and taking on jobs alongside her crew. The Wayfarer series consists of 4 books and won the Hugo Award for Best Series, making it a great choice for an adaptation.

Because multiple alien species are the main characters in Becky Chambers’s book, the adaptation would need a streamer experienced in alien VFX. Netflix has depicted aliens before, but I would not trust them to adapt the whole story. Hulu is a pretty great option, but they don’t have a very robust sci-fi portfolio.

Meanwhile, Apple TV has the experience of bringing aliens and monsters to life. Any streamer that is capable of making Monarch: Legacy of Monsters and Foundation is more than capable of bringing the aliens aboard the Wayfarer to life. Plus, they have made character-driven sci-fi before.

The Hitchhiker’s Guide To The Galaxy By Douglas Adams

Douglas Adams’ Hitchhiker’s Guide is a science fiction treasure that started as a radio drama, then became a book series, then became a low-budget 1981 drama, then became a 2005 movie. The last one is fun to watch in the “it’s so bad it’s entertaining” kind of way. And, I would be lying if I said I didn’t have “So Long and Thanks For All the Fish” on my phone.

However, the movie was not a good adaptation. Things got hopeful when the sci-fi/comedy book series was slated for a Hulu adaptation, but the streamer backed out in 2022. Since then, the source material has been floating in the ether.

For the love of everything good in the world, Apple TV needs to make a high-budget adaptation of The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy. At this point, I am begging them to make it. If The Big Door Prize and Wondla are any indication, Apple TV can do wacky, comedic sci-fi. They just don’t do it very often. The Hitchhiker’s Guide would be a great way for them to branch into comedic sci-fi.

Binti by Nnedi Okorafor

The novella trilogy Binti won the Nebula and Hugo awards, and it has become a fan-favorite over the past 11 years since its release. The Afrofuturist sci-fi space opera follows the titular young woman as she leaves her planet to attend Oomza University, the most prestigious university in the galaxy. However, attending the school means joining a war against the Meduse aliens. Luckily, she has the gifts of her people to help her along the way.

Technically speaking, the Binti trilogy has been picked up for a Hulu adaptation. However, no news has come out about the show since 2020, so it’s crossed the line into development hell. Unless they start taking steps forward, there’s a good chance the rights will go back on the market.

If that happens, the Binti trilogy feels like a prime selection for an Apple TV adaptation because it’s unique like Severance, has a strong main character like Pluribus, and is a space opera like Foundation. They have shown time and time again that they care about quality and will invest money to make a show good. Binti is such a modern classic that it deserves the very best.

The Quantum Thief by Hannu Rajaniemi

The Quantum Thief is part crime heist, part cyberpunk, part space opera, and all things fun. The book has so many moving parts that it’s difficult to describe succinctly. Set far in the future in a post-singularity solar system, the story follows an amnesiac gentleman thief, Jean Le Flambeur, who is trapped in the Dilemma Prison.

He must escape his captivity to commit the heist of a lifetime. However, his journey becomes difficult as he tries to recover his memories and avoid the detective on his tail. There’s so much more to the story, but that’s the bare bones.

Even though it has never been adapted for the screen, The Quantum Thief feels like it was made for television. It’s funny, chaotic, and a little bit confusing in the best way possible. I could easily see Apple TV making the setting visually compelling. If Neuromancer is good, it would also be the ideal streaming service, as it shares many of the same themes.

The Space Between Worlds By Micaiah Johnson

The Space Between Worlds is an exciting addition to the multiverse sci-fi subgenre, and it would feel right at home next to Apple TV’s Dark Matter. The book is set in a multiversal world where people can travel to any other dimension in which their alternate selves are dead.

One woman named Cara is in a unique position where all her doppelgangers keep dying, allowing her to travel to almost any other Earth. When one of her eight remaining alternate selves dies under odd circumstances, she must travel to a new world that could unveil a world-ending secret.

I don’t trust most streamers to pull off a multiversal sci-fi story because it requires extensive world-building and attention to detail. However, Apple TV has proven itself capable of handling such a lofty task. What’s more, they could make Cara’s dystopian world into a visual spectacle.