It’s about the end of the year, and I know there will all sorts of lists of the best books published this year, so this is a different question: regardless of when published, which SF books that you personally read this year did you enjoy the most. I’m also asking which you enjoyed instead of which you thought were the best, so feel free to include fluff without shame.
I’ll go first. Of the 60+ books I read this year, here are the ones I liked most. No significant spoilers, not in any order.
Children of Time, Adrian Tchaikovsky
- A project to uplift monkeys on a terraformed world, at the peak of human civilization, is sabotaged by people who don’t think humans should play god. There follows a human civil war that nearly destroys civilization. A couple thousand years later, an ark ship of human remnants leaving an uninhabitable earth is heading towards that terraformed planet. This is a great book, with lots to say on intelligence, the nature of people, and both the fragility and heartiness of life.
Kiln People, David Brin
- Set a couple hundred years in the future, technology is ubiquitous that lets people make a living clay duplicate of themselves that has their memory and thoughts to the point they were created, lasts about a day, and whose memories can be reintegrated with the real person if desired. The duplicates are property, have no rights, and are used to do almost all work and to take any risks without risking the humans. A private detective and some of his duplicates gets pulled into an increasingly complex plot that could reshape society. This is a thoroughly enjoyable book, with lots of twists, and an interesting narrative as we follow copies who may or may not reintegrate with our detective.
Sleeping Giants, Sylvain Neuvel
- A little girl falls down a deep hole in the woods and lands on a gigantic, glowing, metal hand that’s thousands of years old. This is a wonderful alien artifact story with some interesting twists. I really enjoyed this book. Not exactly hard SF, but checks a lot of the boxes for me, including the wonder of discovery.
The Peripheral, William Gibson
- A computer server links the late 2020s to a time 70 years later, allowing communication and telepresence between the two times. A young woman in the earlier time witnesses a murder in the later time and gets sucked into a battle between powerful people in both times. This is a great book; I think I could have recognized it as Gibson’s writing even if I hadn’t known it in advance. Very interesting premise, engaging characters, and fun without feeling like fluff.
The Left Hand of Darkness, Ursula K. Le Guin
- A coalition of human planets has sent the first envoy to an icy world where the people are gender neutral and sterile most of the time, but once a month become male or female (essentially randomly) and fertile. This is a classic, written in 1969, and my second reading - the first being in the late 80s. Le Guin creates an amazingly rich world, even with its harsh, frozen landscape. The characters grow to understand how gender impacts their cultures, and the biases they didn’t know they had. It’s also aged remarkably well for an SF book written 55 years ago. There’s nothing about it that feels outdated.
A couple notes:
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If I hadn’t stuck to my own “enjoyed” constraint, the list might have looked different. For instance, Perdido Street Station, by Meiville, is a really great book, but there’s so much misery and sadness that it’s hard to say I “enjoyed” it.
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I hesitated to put The Left Hand Of Darkness on the list, simply because Le Guin is so widely recognized as a great master, and the book one of her greatest, that it seemed unfair. In the end, it seemed unfair to exclude it for such an artificial reason.
Leviathan’s Wake
Oh boy, you’re in for a treat if you’re just entering The Expanse for the first time. Enjoy!
Book one of The Expanse series - really good. Had you watched the show?
I watched the first episode, but it didn’t hit like the book. I didn’t really care for it. The book was very good though.
I thought the show was a great companion to the books. I would watch in tandem while reading switching up where i was a bit further ahead in the book. Of course i didnt realize the show was cramming different stories from multiple books all together. It also gave me a better look at the characters and it helped get to know them in a way by comparing tv and book characters. Very good series! Ive read up to book 8 in the past few months.
Ended up binging season 1. It’s good, just a little different.
Thats good to hear! It is a bit different but they are trying to capture the magic of the books. Once you pick up the second book you’ll already be aware of background info you wouldn’t be other wise
Yeah, definitely gonna be starting book 2 soon, then season 2.
Maybe I’ll give it another shot.
Been enjoying the “murderbot” series by Martha Wells. The audiobook versions narrated by Kevin Free are particularly well done. He’s a good narrator.
They’re supposedly making a TV series out of it. Not sure how that’s going to work since a lot of the action takes place inside the bot’s brain. They’ve also cast Alexander Skarsgård which seems like a misstep already.
I’ve only listened to a handful of audiobooks. I have a short work commute, and there’s rarely a time when I want to engage with a story that I can’t just read it, which I prefer. But I looked him up and he sure has done a lot of them, so he’s clearly popular.
Murderbot is a really fun read, I picked the series up a year or two ago and thoroughly enjoyed it
The bobiverse books ended up being what I enjoyed most in 2024. Really looking forward to more of those.
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Yeah, I did all of these twice this year. They’re a lot of fun.
Pretty sure the paper/ebook of 5 should be released early Jan. He always does a thing with Kindle for audiobook only for 6 months so they cover the narrator costs
I’ll give it a try.
Definitely the Bobiverse books. Engineer in the 21st century dies, but paid to have himself cryogenically frozen. 200 years in the future, Christian fundamentalist seized control of the government and made it illegal to revive people like him. The world is on the brink of nuclear apocolypse so they used new technology to upload his consciousness into a spaceship computer to search the galaxy for a habitat planet for humanity. Spaceship has auto-factories onboard that let him replicate more ships and digital clones of himself. It has some serious parts, but it is written in a lighthearted manner with some technical explanation for future technology.
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The audiobook narrator for these is fantastic, too. I’ve listened to them multiple times. I love the exploration of the personality drift and eventual entire society of replicants. Judging by the typical comments I see, I’m in the minority for loving the parts with Archimedes as much as the rest. I get why some people want to get back to the more sci fi stuff though.
That’s where I’m stuck in the audio books. The Archimedes story is fine but drags on too damn long.
So many recommendations that I’ve started reading it already. 20% in. Seems entertaining.
To Sleep In A Sea Of Stars - one of the most action-packed books I’ve read, even with a few lengthy “hibernation” space travel sections. Felt like an entire trilogy happening in a single book. Seems prime for a movie treatment, but would also be next to impossible to do in a single movie without completely butchering.
Well we know what happened the last time someone tried to make a Christopher Paolini book into a movie …
I actually didn’t know about that! This was the first book of his I’ve read. Now I’m curious to experience just how bad Eragon was…
Oh man just read the inheritance series first. It’s an excellent fantasy story that also has lots of travel sections so if you like that in sea of stars you’ll like it here too. Then watch the movie and weep lol
Just grabbed it! Thanks!
I have that on my list and I’m sure it will be read soon.
Murderbot Diaries was my top this year by far. Probably top series since I first read hitchhikers guide to the galaxy. It’s so fun and well paced and the audiobook is well made.
Travis Starnes: Imperium
A six novel long story about a space pilot testing a new drive - and ending up in an alternative version of Rome.
the Culture series by Iain Banks sucked me in completely! it starts with Consider Phlebas for anyone looking to jump in.
They are fantastic books.
I tried so hard to like it but it was such a slog with the most annoying sci-fi trope ending. The next book in the “series” also did nothing for me.
Yes, and it’s a good place to start but it isn’t the strongest book of the series.
hydrogen sonata was my introduction
Oh, that’s the last one, right? Definitively, since he died after writing it? How did you like it?
Dungeon Crawler Carl.
Dear god I love that series.
So good.
Translation State by Ann Leckie, and Fall, or Dodge in Hell, by Neal Stephenson.
I loved them both: the Leckie because the cultures of her characters are so varied and interesting; and Fall despite me not being into computer games at all. It’s fascinating though, having a main character become digital and see how that would play out.
I’ve read both of those and agree they’re both excellent. Really good books. Very different from each other.
That’s what I’ve always loved about sci-fi - the variety, the wild imaginations of the best writers, there’s something for everyone.
@MrsDoyle @AFKBRBChocolate
My book ‘A Suggestion in Space’ https://mybook.to/asuggestioninspace is an interstellar adventure with romance, coming of age, secrets and surprises, tragedy and joy.
Children of Time is probably the only book I’ve read in two or three years, and it was phenomenal. I’d love to read the sequels next, it’s just so hard to get my brain in the right headspace to read!
I loved all the exploration of (arguably) non-human perspectives and cultures and all the friction from the virus. And that ending was pretty wild, I sorta saw some of it coming but not like quite like that
Yeah, I agree, it’s really good. The sequels are both excellent, too.
One of my reading times is before bed, and I find that the routine of it helps me sleep, plus the escapism helps me stop thinking of everything else in my brain, which is a barrier to sleeping for me.
The most memorable reads from this year were:
The Broken Earth trilogy by N. K. Jemisin. While at first, the setting appears to be a fairly standard fantasy, there is a sci-fi depth to the world, its climate, cataclysms, history, and orogeny (“magic power” of the world).
And, if you are a fan of heavy-handed dystopian satire, Venomous Lumpsucker by Ned Beauman. It takes place in a not-too-distant future where a somewhat-apathetic researcher and a corporate scammer are trying to find the last living Venomous Lumpsucker, a highly intelligent fish species. There is climate change, corporate greed, half-baked international agreements, hackers, horrible AI, and, of course, delusional megalomaniac billionaires.
I read the first Jemisin book, but not the others. I did enjoy it though.
Children of Time and its sequels are top notch, especially if you love animals and commentary on societal roles. It’s in my top Sci-Fi.
If you enjoyed Children of Time, definitely check out “A Memory Called Empire” by Arkady Martine. It’s a Sci-Fi political mystery with lots of fun word play. Aside from some really cool tech, the book really tackles what it means to be “Other” and how colonialism effects one’s idea of self. Some really cool ideas in this book. Easily my top Sci-Fi read this year.
I read the Martine book and its sequel last year - I agree, they’re great.
I almost put one of the Children of Time sequels on the list, but wanted to keep it to five and had the others I wanted to mention.
Children of Ruin was my favourite. The slight horror tones of some of the story really got me! And also… 🐙
My problem with Children of Ruin is that aside from the horror vibe, which was really fresh, the rest of the story felt like a rehash of the first book.
Minor spoilers… but it was fun seeing how a contemporary to Kern uplifted a different species, and more deliberately. Which adds to the universe rather than just have it be… Kern is God kind of thing. And seeing a species that was more emotion based was pretty great too. Different types of intelligences… not to mention the completely alien Nodan species.
It’s really fantastic. Would be hard to pick a favorite of the three.
Just working my way through a reread of the expanse since it’s been a few years and the…final? book has been released. I definitely enjoyed the first 4 books more than 5 and 6. But book 7 is back up to snuff!
It’s Fantasy but I need to mention that I’ve been devouring The Stormlight Archive by Brandon Sanderson! These books might just be my all time favorites for fantasy!
I started reading The Expanse series (including the short stories) after watching the series. I got through The Churn, which is the short story after book 3, and haven’t read further. I didn’t decide not to read more, but every time I go to pick the next book from my list, I don’t feel motivated to read the next Expanse book. They’ve all been good - not sure what the issue is for me.
Have you read The Mistborn series and, if so, do you think it or Stormlight Archive is the better starting place for Sanderson?
Just did Mistborn. Dropped out at the 4th book. Just couldn’t care about the characters any longer. Too bad, everyone else loves it.
What did you think of the first book or two? It’s not unusual for the latter books of a series to be weaker or less engaging - I’m happy with any one book that I like.
I read Mistborn and loved it, my partner finished it a week or two later and then we both struggled to get into the second book. Vin, the main character treats a creature that is in her thrall with extreme prejudice. While it certainly fits the character it was such a change of tone that it threw both of us right out of the series. Mix in a whole new world of politics and coalition building and the story plods. I dropped the Mistborn series like 7 or 8 chapters into The Well of Ascension.
I’ll come back to it in audiobook form.
Speaking of audiobooks, I’ve listened to all of The Stormlight Archive. Audiobooks have one major advantage to actually reading the words, it is easier to multitask. If the story is boring I’m less likely to notice while preparing dinner. With Stormlight however I listened to the books 12 hours a day. The voice actors are Kate Reading and Michael Kramer, they only work on books they like. They also did all of Wheel of Time together.
Anyway, what I’m trying to say here is that I frequently sat down and just listened to the story throughout the day because I am so engrossed in the world and the lives of Kaladin, Syl, Shalan, and others. It’s a storytelling medium that lends itself to multitasking and I frequently stopped to just listen.
I think it’s hard to go wrong with a starting point in the Cosmere. The magic system in Mistborn is really interesting and the world is dark and gritty like chewing charcoal; Unpleasant not offensive. The Stormlight Archive is bold and wide ranging with concepts, ideas, and exploration of pain, trauma, and metal health. I recently read Tress and the Emerald Sea, a light-hearted romp about a girl who lives on a desolate rock in the middle of an ocean and wants to stay there.
Just jump in, the worst thing that can happen is you find it’s not to your taste. When that happens it’s all good and I find some other masterpiece to chew on. It happens for me with videogames all the time. Elden Ring is not for me. :)
Interesting, thanks
Stormlight just feels… bland. I say it’s a great read if you’re stuck in an airport. Otherwise there are better, popular series to read. Namely, The Expanse and the Silo series. Patrick Rothfuss is also great, but like George RR Martin, he’ll never finish the last book.
I dropped ASOIAF in the middle of the third book. It probably had something to do with knowing it’d never be finished, but I just felt bored. It was all so high stakes and meaningless, not for me.
The writing in The Expanse is grating, it’s all he said, she said, he said, they said, he said, said said said said said said said said said said said. If I hadn’t been listening to it while at work I’d have bailed in the first book. If you can get past that the series has great world building and I love Avarsarsla.
Rothfuss is indeed great but I can’t recommend it to anyone knowing we’re only getting two nights of the three promised.
Silo is actually on my list.
I’ve also been rereading the Honorverse by David Weber. I love it still but it gets to be a slog and the story is feels like it’s the same everytime. I want to get past book 6 or 7 but never have.
I can’t say enough good things about the Stormlight Archive.
But then again I also enjoyed the hell out of Brent Weeks’ Lightbringer series which seemed to be mostly disliked on the whole. I read it before the 4th and 5th books were released so I’m not sure where it goes and need to get back to it some day.
Speaking of Weeks, the Night Angel Trilogy is bomb. It’s no literary masterpiece but it’s a dark and gritty world that sets your expectations and fulfills them over and over again. The story is cliche and I like it. The characters are fun to follow as they navigate the plot points I can see coming from books away.
The Expanse definitely has a bad start. They’re terrible at introducing characters, despite their attempts to do so. But everything after that is great.
I’d recommend starting with Mistborn, it’s a bit less all at once in your face and a great read regardless. Plus all his Cosmere books are interconnected to a degree, with Stormlight being the most by far, and I’d say you’ll get a bit more out of it having read some of the other Cosmere stuff.
All that to say though, Stormlight’s fantastic and if you just want to yolo in you’ll get it fine!
Okay, thanks for the recommendation
Expanse books are great. I’m still pissed Amazon hasn’t made the final books into series seasons.
Sadly, I wasn’t impressed with the current SA Corey novel that starts a new non-Expanse series. It was extremely dull.
Honestly I’m sure I’ll find it similar but it’s the last book, I’ve just got to try! I’ve set the series down for a break and a change of pace whole I read the latest Stormlight book, Wind and Truth. It’s a good break.
I’ve tried to start the stormlight archives like 5 times lmao
Don’t force it! I think if you read books solely because other people say it’s good then you’re doing it wrong! :)
If you were interested in the Cosmere but wanted something light…much lighter. Then try Tress and the Emerald Sea. The narrator breaks the 4th wall a bit and speaks directly to you but if that isn’t an immediate deal breaker the story is light-hearted and adventurous. It follows a girl, Tress, as she leaves home to save her beau.
I loved the Mistborn trilogy And was told that I would probably like SA it’s just super long/a big commitment. I don’t know I just kept finding my eyes glazing over even though I found the initial concept kind of interesting.
