Five Stories About Being Stranded on an Alien Planet

The universe is a pretty big place—in fact, as far as scientists can tell, it seems to be endless—which means that there are countless possibilities for what distant planets in far-flung galaxies might be like. Plenty of sci-fi writers have turned their minds to crafting creative and unusual environments on alien planets. But I particularly love it when a small group of humans are stranded on one of those planets and are actively struggling to survive in a strange, new (to them, at least!) landscape. Here are five such examples.

“The Long Rain” by Ray Bradbury (1950)

“The Long Rain” opens with four military men having just crash-landed on a version of Venus where it’s constantly raining. The heavy precipitation has led to the entire planet being covered in a lush jungle, and humanity’s only respite are purpose-built Sun Domes—buildings that not only provide shelter from the rain, but that are lit by a small artificial sun and which are filled with supplies.

The four men are miserably trekking through the rainforest in search of a Sun Dome; despite efforts to keep their spirits up, each of them is slowly but surely losing their minds due to the never-ending rain. Although not as bizarre as some of the other environments on this list, Bradbury’s prose turns the relentless downpour into something truly terrifying.

Sentenced to Prism by Alan Dean Foster (1985)

Evan Orgell lives on a planet where everyone wears what are essentially spacesuits (but way more customizable and fashionable) to protect themselves from the elements. He works for a company called the Aurora Group, who have discovered a planet where life is mostly silicon-based, rather than carbon-based. As a result, the planet, which is named Prism, is covered in life that is formed of crystal, jewels, and glass. And of course, the Aurora Group want to exploit Prism’s rich resources.

The only snag in the plan is that they’ve lost contact with the survey team. With no idea of what’s gone wrong, they send Evan—an arrogant, but admittedly result-producing, generalist—to investigate, wearing a highly specialized state-of-the-art survival suit.

Sentenced to Prism is pure adventurous fun—for the reader, not so much for Evan. The worldbuilding of Prism takes center stage and the story that is woven through this weird world is tense, propulsive, and even rather poignant at times.

“Evolution” by Paul Crenshaw (2021)

The crew aboard the spaceship Beagle—named after Charles Darwin’s research vessel—have one mission: to explore the universe and catalogue the life forms they find. After following the faint signal of another spaceship, the Albatross, they wind up on the most Earth-like planet yet, but, just like the previous ship, they end up crash-landing.

While the mechanics set about trying to fix the ship, the scientists venture out to explore the new planet. It isn’t long before they find some of the bodies of the Albatross’ crew in a ravaged state. They find a similarly ominous situation within the Albatross itself—the doors were barricaded and spent ammo litters the floor. The Beagle’s crew get a little insight into what must have happened when night falls and a nocturnal creature—which at first doesn’t seem to be that threatening—makes an appearance. “Evolution” is pretty bleak, but it’s also a fascinating take on an alien life form.

Shroud by Adrian Tchaikovsky (2025)

The surface of Shroud—which is a moon, rather than a planet—is an environment that inspires fear as well as wonder. Intense radio activity is being generated by whatever calls Shroud home, but the celestial body also has an atmosphere so thick that no light reaches the surface.

An interstellar research team is currently studying the moon from orbit, tasked with figuring out how to exploit Shroud’s resources. But then a catastrophic event aboard the spaceship sends Juna Ceelander and Mai Ste Etienne down to the dark and mysterious surface in a barely-ready exploratory pod. From there, tension rules the story. The pair do their best to not only survive the inhospitable environment (and hopefully find an escape from it!), but also to understand the strange creatures that thrive in the dense atmosphere.

If you like your aliens to feel truly alien—rather than a twist on life forms from Earth—and stories that explore all of the problems that arise from that, then Shroud is the book for you.

Scavengers Reign created by Joseph Bennett and Charles Huettner (2023)

Moving away from the written word, Scavengers Reign is an animated TV show aimed at an adult audience. The story starts with a handful of survivors being scattered across Vesta—a planet rich with life—after using emergency pods to escape their damaged spaceship, the Demeter 227.

There are three storylines to follow, as the survivors are separated into two pairs and one lonely man on his own. All of the characters have different experiences of this planet’s complex ecosystem, partly because of the way their own personalities and reactions color their encounters with the native flora and fauna. Vesta’s design is breathtakingly creative, with the many life forms being by turns awe-inspiring and terrifying (and sometimes both!). 

Sadly, Scavengers Reign was bafflingly cancelled after just one season, but although the story is unfinished, the 12 episodes that did make it to air are still absolutely worth the watch.

There are, of course, countless more tales of survival on an alien planet out there. Feel free to share your favorites in the comments below—books, movies, TV shows, games, and comics are all welcome!