The Best Fiction Books

Life in an academic institution can be a curiously intense experience. As a result, the hot-house atmosphere of a university campus or boarding school presents a fitting backdrop for novels exploring ambition, power dynamics, crushes, and sexual crises. Here, we've pulled together a list of campus novels that have been recommended on Five Books over the years, via our interviews with literary scholars, bestselling authors and book prize judges.

By telling alternative histories, we can run thought experiments that shed new light on our own timeline. ‘Master of alternate history’ Harry Turtledove talks us through his five favourites - and considers why alternate history pre-dates conventional sci fi, why some historical changes make for better drama than others, and how the micro-histories of our own lives are radically shaped by chance.

Joining a book discussion group is a great way to meet fellow book-lovers—but one of the trickiest things can be deciding which books you should tackle together. Here are our suggestions: recently published books that should appeal to a broad range of readers—and which will offer your book club plenty to discuss over a glass of wine.

Some of the best novels ever written are also available in beautiful editions. Here we've selected five of our favourites, from the Jane Austen novel that many critics consider her best work to the novel of small-town provincial life that is highly rated by many philosophers.

Realistic fiction depicts situations that could happen in real life, with authentic characters who react in a believable way.

The story of America is not one of a manageable unified nation, says novelist and critic David Hering. It may, however, be the story of America's dream — which is why many of the best American novels have a distinctly dreamlike quality. He picks out five of the best American novels of the 20th century, from 1905 through to 1987.

They're among the finest novels ever written, often vast in their scope and ambitious in their subject matter. Some are long, others can be read in an afternoon. They're also one of the best ways of understanding Russian history. Historian Orlando Figes, author of The Story of Russia and Natasha's Dance, recommends his favourite Russian novels, from the 19th century to today.

Comics are a great way to read all sorts of stories, whether fiction, nonfiction, or a compelling blend of the two. Ivanka Hahnenberger, translator of more than 70 graphic novels, talks us through some of her favourites, from the history of the atomic bomb to the heartbreaking story of Olympic athlete Samia Yusuf Oman, from the 'Rumble in the Jungle' to contemporary Iran and Paris.

Science fiction has a rich tradition of examining not only space-age technology but political ideology. Arkady Martine, author of the Hugo-award winning A Memory Called Empire, introduces us to political science fiction books that explore systems of government, power hierarchies, and the geopolitics of other planets.

Each summer, the judges for the Women's Prize for Fiction highlight the best new fiction books by female writers published over the previous twelve months. We asked Monica Ali, the acclaimed novelist and chair of this year's jury, to talk us through the six novels that made the 2024 shortlist. See all our best novels of 2024 recommendations