Sci Fi Christmas List
Stories, machines, and futures we keep returning to
It’s the holiday season, and at 1517, that means we’re going to revisit some of our favorite sci-fi classics. These are films and books that we come back to again and again to further refine our intuition for science, ambition, and what we’d like the future to look like.
These recs are meant to nourish that part of you that deep down doesn’t want to apologize for wanting to build more than incremental enterprise SaaS. If you’re the kind of founder who reads Dune and thinks, “I could do spice,” or watches Blade Runner and wonders about replicant labor laws, then we’re here to discuss.
We’ve broken down our favorites into two categories:
What you can watch with your family without a 10-minute disclaimer
Books that will recalibrate your ambition
Let us know if you’d add other recs to this list!
Fireside sci-fi
10 family friendly movies
A time-travel adventure driven by 80s pop music, curiosity, friendship, and using the past to change the future without losing yourself. Truly iconic.
The ultimate startup movie. The heroes are scientist-founders and one of the main villains is the regulator. And the contrarian scientists save New York! See our 1517 ad inspired by the movie.
A tender story about grief, friendship, and engineering, happening in “San Fransokyo”. One of Danielle’s favorites!
Can the future influence the past? What if teleology is real? A profound film with aliens, geopolitics, a provocative theory of time and language, and how understanding others can reshape reality.
How would aliens contact us? How and what would they communicate? A moving story about what happens when a scientist’s lifelong search for extraterrestrial intelligence yields results.
A celebration of problem-solving starring an interplanetary journey (with Matt Damon as the lead actor!).
A genius inventor setting the tone for modern techno-heroism. Fun fact, one of our founders legally re-named himself Tony Stark, after the main character of the movie!
One of the iconic Marvel, always inspiring to watch and re-watch!
Another mind-bending must-watch, directed by Christopher Nolan. Incredible Hans Zimmer soundtrack too.
It’s never too late to start watching Star Trek with technology in service of exploration, diplomacy, and moral growth. Nick on our team is an absolute nut for it.
Sacred texts
10 sci-fi books to recover from the 2025 burnout and start the new year strong
A sharp, hopeful novel about freedom, competence, and collective action.
A lone astronaut on a mission to save the earth. This book is being adapted into a film and will be out in March 2026, too (with the always hilarious Ryan Gosling).
A meditation on building a civilization. Green Mars is our personal favorite of the trilogy.
A classic about long-term thinking and the power of ideas over individuals.
Diaspora is a hard science-fiction novel that we’re sure will make some of our readers delighted. It’s a demanding book but exhilarating.
Digital copies of humans begin to question whether consciousness needs a physical world. Perfect if you’re into quantum mechanics.
A story of war and trauma in a post-scarcity society.
A quieter novel about grief, art, and consequences after a war.
Another Iain Banks novel that we love – incredibly dense and intellectually stimulating!
Hard to put-down, this novel inspired the Netflix series of the same name.
Bonus: a sci-fi inspired music album
If you are into electronic music, my recommendation is to check out Rone’s Tohu Bohu album. He composed the album by immersing himself into one of French’s most acclaimed sci-fi books, La Horde du Contrevent written by Alain Damasio. A great album to listen to while you’re locked in on building the future.
If you want more recommendations check out our additional lists of biz books, more philosophy of the future books, even more books, movies, and video games.
Merry Christmas & Hanukkah, and happy holidays to all!
The 1517 team
“Arrival” is based on the short story “Story of Your Life” by Ted Chiang, one of my absolute faves. My SFF recommendation list is here: https://open.substack.com/pub/lydialaurenson/p/my-top-science-fiction-and-fantasy
Happy holidays 🫶
Finally, a holiday list that doesn't apologize for wanting to build the future. The replicant labour law comment is spot on—we should be dreaming about the legal frameworks of 2050, not just the KPIs of 2026. Thanks for the inspiration. I’ve been reading a lot of Adam Roberts this year.