Popular Fiction Highlights of Spring 2024

Despite the death of the novel being long forecast, the fiction market remains buoyant—thanks at least in part to a continuing boom in escapist fiction in the wake of the pandemic. So-called ‘romantasy’ has been the biggest trend of the last year, but cosy mysteries, romantic comedies, and speculative fiction of all kinds still seem to be serving as self-soothing mechanisms among an unsettled reading public. Here are some of the notable new releases in popular fiction: superior genre novels that offer new variations on old themes, immersive storytelling set in times past, nail-biting suspense, and spectacular visions of technological futures.

Science Fiction

We’re big fans of Aliya Whiteley’s writing here at Five Books. She’s been twice shortlisted for the Arthur C. Clarke Award, which we cover every year, and recently spoke to us about the best sci-fi horror books. Her new book Three Eight One is a fun literary experiment in which every short segment is exactly 381 words long. It’s a fantasy adventure set three centuries in the future, as a young woman—the curator of an internet archive—is drawn into a mysterious quest. Constraints breed creativity.

There’s a new book from the very prolific (and Clarke Award-winning) author Adrian Tchaikovsky. In Alien Clay, a researcher is exiled to an alien planet where he is brought into close contact (too close, he would say) with an extraterrestrial ecosystem. Tchaikovsky presents an Orwellian nightmare and a speculative biologist’s dream. Plus don’t miss Natasha Pulley’s new novel The Mars House, a genre-bending queer romance set in a dystopian Mars colony. Pulley’s books are always imaginative and highly evocative.

Sci fi fans will also be pleased to hear that Hao Jingfang, the Hugo Award-winning writer, has a new book out too. Jumpnauts, translated from the original Chinese by previous Five Books interviewee Ken Liu, is a first contact-type novel in which signals from a mysterious alien race forces rival factions to form an uneasy alliance. It’s the action-packed opening title in a six-book sequence.

More science fiction recommendations on Five Books

Historical Fiction

Flora Carr’s debut novel The Tower is a retelling of the 1567 imprisonment of Mary, Queen of Scots, in Lochleven Castle following the murder of her first husband and an uprising among her courtiers. The Tower focuses on Mary’s relationship with her ladies in waiting as they weather this bleak incarceration and the queen’s forced, humiliating abdication—all the while looking for an escape. If you love stories of courtly intrigue—and especially if you read and loved Denise Mina’s Rizzio, a fictionalised account of the events that immediately precede those of The Tower—then this will be the perfect next book for you.

If you have enjoyed the recent flush of retellings of Greek myths, look out for Rosie Hewlett’s Medea—a “feminist” reworking of the story of Classical mythology’s most notorious heroine. It’s a follow-up to Hewlett’s bestselling debut Medusa. Needless to say, it won’t end well.

And how historic does historical fiction have to be? I feel I should highlight Kristin Hannah’s epic coming-of-age tale The Women on the basis that it very nearly qualifies under the definition used by the Walter Scott Prize: that the book should be set at least sixty years before publication. The Women follows a young American debutante after she enlists as a nurse during the Vietnam War, and in so doing presents a fresh view of the conflict as seen through female eyes. In it, Frances ‘Frankie’ McGrath is catapulted from her comfortable upbringing in Southern California into traumatic wartime scenes that will leave her psychologically scarred. The Women tacks a tempestuous path through tragedy and romance; it’s a blockbuster read that will wring you dry, emotionally.

More new historical fiction on Five Books

Romance

The queen of the contemporary rom-com Emily Henry is back with Funny Story, surely one of the most anticipated books of the season. Henry specialises in sharp, funny storytelling that ticks all the boxes of a beloved genre novel while simultaneously teasing at or subverting the form’s most recognisable tropes. Funny Story is a take on the familiar ‘fake dating’ scenario, but the well-worn plot device is elevated by Henry’s trademark wit and warmth. An unmissable new release for all romance fans.

I’ve also seen a lot of buzz around Paige Toon’s latest novel, Seven Summers—a love triangle set on the stunning Cornish coast—and Kennedy Ryan’s This Could Be Us, a follow-up to BookTok favourite Before I Let Go. It’s not summer yet, at least where I am, but these love stories are guaranteed to bring a bit of heat.

Romance on Five Books

Suspense & Mystery

Stuart Turton’s creative takes on the murder mystery form are always delightful. The Last Murder At The End Of The World is set in a kind of post-apocalyptic utopia, in which a small community ekes out a harmonious existence on an island surrounded by poisonous fog. But when a scientist is found brutally murdered, they have only 92 hours to solve the crime before the security system suffocates them all. Oh, and they’re all amnesiac! Good luck! Turton’s books remind me of role-playing games, in the best way: daft, immersive, and very very fun.

The ultra-bestselling (and rather intriguing) suspense novelist A.J. Finn is to publish End of Story, in which a reclusive author invites a longtime correspondent to his mansion to write his life story—but there are unsolved mysteries lurking in his past that she can’t help but investigate. The grand setting and wide cast of eccentric characters should appeal to those who loved Knives Out. 

And don’t miss crime mastermind Tana French’s latest offering, The Hunter, a quality thriller set in rural Ireland. Retired Chicago detective Cal Hooper returns in this sequel to her 2020 hit The Searcher. Slower paced than your average suspense novel, but beautifully constructed.

The best mysteries of 2023

Fantasy

Detective fiction is given a magical twist in Robert Jackson Bennett’s The Tainted Cup. The Edgar-winning author combines intricate world-building with a Sherlockian murder investigation to create a fantastical, richly imagined story, the first in a planned trilogy. The Washington Post called it “utterly addictive.”

Ali Hazelwood—author of popular STEM romances including Love Theoretically and The Love Hypothesis—has made her first foray into fantasy with Bride, a paranormal romance featuring a “dangerous alliance” between a vampire and a werewolf. Plus Danielle L. Jensen offers up A Fate Inked in Blood, the first in a new Norse-inspired fantasy series, which should delight her hordes of fans on both sides of the Atlantic.

The best fantasy on Five Books

I hope one or more of these reading suggestions has caught your eye. We always love to hear what you’re looking forward to—let us know on social media if we’ve missed off your most anticipated new releases of the season.