1953 in science fiction

Births

• Pat Cadigan
• Brad Ferguson
• Lisa Goldstein
• Jon Courtenay Grimwood
• Annette Curtis Klause
• David Langford
• Ged Maybury
• Alan Moore
• Charles Pellegrino
• Tony Rothman
• J. Neil Schulman (d. 2019)
• John Shirley
• S. M. Stirling
• Walter Jon Williams
• Robert Charles Wilson

Deaths

Serialized novels

• The Duplicated Man by James Blish and Robert Lowndes, Dynamic Science Fiction (August), published in book form in 1959.
• Mission of Gravity by Hal Clement, Astounding Science Fiction (April–July), published in hardcover in 1954.
• The Virgin of Zesh by L. Sprague de Camp, Thrilling Wonder Stories (February), later becoming the fourth book of his Viagens Interplanetarias series.

First editions

• The Abyss of Wonders by Perley Poore Sheehan, follows a diverse group on a spiritual quest to a technologically advanced, lost city in the Gobi Desert.
• Against the Fall of Night by Arthur C. Clarke, explores a future Earth where humans are confined to one city.^{[nb 1]}
• Atta: A Novel of a Most Extraordinary Adventure by Francis Rufus Bellamy, a Robinson Crusoe-like tale of a man who is hit by lightning and wakes up to find himself half an inch tall.
• Bring the Jubilee by Ward Moore, an alternate history where the South won the Civil War.
• Childhood's End by Arthur C. Clarke, a novel about a peaceful alien invasion of Earth.
• The Demolished Man by Alfred Bester, set in a future where telepathy is common, focusing on a murder mystery.
• Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury, a dystopian novel about a society where books are banned.^{[nb 2]}
• Iceworld by Hal Clement, follows an alien narcotics agent on Earth, where he teams up with humans to stop the smuggling of tobacco to Sirius.
• The Kraken Wakes by John Wyndham (published in the US as Out of the Deeps), a novel about Earth's response to underwater aliens.
• Man of Many Minds by E. Everett Evans, the adventures of George Hanlon, a secret service agent who has the ability to read minds.
• More Than Human by Theodore Sturgeon, a novel about individuals with psychic powers forming a new society.
• The Paradox Men by Charles L. Harness, a dystopian future where rebels use time travel to fight tyranny.^{[nb 3]}
• Ring Around the Sun by Clifford D. Simak, explores the discovery of parallel universes and the implications for identity and existence.
• Second Foundation by Isaac Asimov, third book in the Foundation series, a Second Foundation guides the fate of humanity amidst a crumbling Galactic Empire.
• Space Lawyer by Nat Schachner, a fix-up from two short stories, "Old Fireball" and "Jurisdiction", both of which had originally appeared in Astounding.
• The Space Merchants by Frederik Pohl and C. M. Kornbluth, a satirical novel about a future dominated by corporate interests and advertising.
• Star Rangers by Andre Norton, a novel about interstellar exploration and the struggle for survival in a distant, hostile galaxy.
• The Syndic by Cyril M. Kornbluth, in a future North America ruled by rival gangs, a man infiltrates an exiled government to uncover assassination plot secrets.
• The Undying Fire by Fletcher Pratt, an interstellar expedition to steal a neptunium motor, punctuated by various political and romantic complications.^{[nb 4]}
• The Universe Maker by A. E. van Vogt, a man is drawn into a complex future society and discovers his pivotal role in its destiny.^{[nb 5]}

Novellas

• The Conditioned Captain by Fletcher Pratt, also published in book form as The Undying Fire (see above).

Short stories

• "The Defenders" by Philip K. Dick, Galaxy Science Fiction (January).
• "The Imposter" by Philip K. Dick,
• "The Escape" by Poul Anderson, Space Science Fiction (September–November).^{[nb 6]}
• "It's a Good Life" by Jerome Bixby, appeared in the anthology Star Science Fiction Stories No.2.
• "The Nine Billion Names of God" by Arthur C. Clarke, appeared in the anthology Star Science Fiction Stories No.1.

Short story collections

• The Continent Makers and Other Tales of the Viagens by L. Sprague de Camp, the fifth book in his Viagens Interplanetarias series.
• Star Science Fiction Stories No.1 edited by Frederik Pohl, Ballantine Books.
• Star Science Fiction Stories No.2 edited by Frederik Pohl, Ballantine Books.

Juveniles

• Attack from Atlantis by Lester del Rey (juvenile), a scientific expedition encounters conflict with the inhabitants of an underwater city of Atlantis.
• The Lost Planet by Angus MacVicar (juvenile), a teenager joins his uncle's team to explore a near-Earth planet, Hesikos, facing sabotage and a crash landing before being rescued.
• Missing Men of Saturn by Robert S. Richardson (juvenile), a recent Space Academy graduate joins the decrepit Albatross to explore Saturn, where mysterious disappearances fuel crew fears.
• Planet of Light by Raymond F. Jones (juvenile), a sequel to Son of the Stars (1952), the Barron family are taken to a planet in the Andromeda Galaxy to participate an intergalactic United Nations.
• Rocket to Luna by Richard Marsten (juvenile), a Space Academy student confronts an injured graduate on a space station, leading to a confrontation that results in the student joining a Moon expedition.
• Space Platform by Murray Leinster (juvenile), the first novel in the Joe Kenmore series, America builds a Space Platform amid sabotage to secure military supremacy and prevent atomic war.
• Space Tug by Murray Leinster (juvenile), the second novel in the Joe Kenmore series, concerns the problems of the running of a space station.
• Starman Jones by Robert A. Heinlein (juvenile), a young man dreams of space travel and overcomes obstacles to become an astrogator.
• Vandals of the Void by Jack Vance (juvenile), a young cadet confronts space pirates threatening the interplanetary order.