Science Fiction Books

Fans vote every year for the best of sci fi and fantasy, in both the Hugo Awards and the Nebula Awards, and the Best Novel spot in each is always one to watch. Our fantasy and sci fi editor Sylvia Bishop introduces the sci fi winners of the last decade: from titles that are now classics of the genre, to the newest writers making waves.

Hard science fiction books build fantastical worlds underpinned by rigorous science. This constraint actually provokes originality, explains multi-award winning author Adrian Tchaikovsky. He talks us through his five favourites, and shows how every sci-fi story exploring science must also explore politics, philosophy and humanity.

Award-winning sci fi books this year have ranged from deep-sea dives to space operas to goats. Our fantasy and sci fi editor Sylvia Bishop talks us through the winning titles.

A series gives a sci fi writer time to develop powerfully layered worlds, says award-winning author and historian Ada Palmer. She talks us through five series that make the most of this complexity, and envision worlds ranging from lunar anarchist settlements to a real-life Plato’s Republic.

Every year, the judges for the Arthur C. Clarke Award highlight the best of the latest batch of science fiction books. In 2024, the six-strong shortlist includes an exploration of octopus intelligence, a queer space opera, and a dystopian novel hailed as the new Hunger Games. Andrew M. Butler, academic and chair of the judges, talks us through the finalists for the title of sci fi novel of the year.  See all our best science fiction books and  best novels of 2024 recommendations

Space opera—a popular subgenre of science fiction—features louder-than-life characters, hair-raising action sequences, and spacefaring civilisations. Kate Elliott, a prolific author of sci fi and fantasy novels, recommends five space opera books that will grab you by the collar and drag you off on an intergalactic adventure.

Ursula Le Guin's most groundbreaking books are considered landmark texts in speculative fiction, exploring themes of colonisation, gender, nationalism and environmentalism through allegorical means. Here, the science fiction scholar Sherryl Vint selects five of the best books by Ursula Le Guin and examines her legacy as one of the great American writers.

For many readers of science fiction, world building is the most important feature of their favourite books. Tom Huddleston, author of The Worlds of Dune, explains how the best fictional worlds are original and immersive—and, above all, mind-expanding. Here he introduces us to his top five sci fi worlds, and to the extraordinary thinkers who created them.

If you're looking for audiobooks that help books jump off the page, AudioFile magazine's best of 2024 lists are a great place to start. Here's their list of best audiobooks for 2024 in the science fiction and fantasy genres—from dark academia to a novel set in World War I.

Philip K. Dick was a prolific sci fi writer, publishing 44 novels and over a hundred short stories. Once hooked, you'll devour them all, says David Hyde, the publisher and festival organiser better known as 'Lord Running Clam' within the lively fan community. Here, he introduces us to his top five books by Philip K. Dick: novels featuring alternate realities, ambiguous endings and philosophical questions that are puzzling new generations of fans.