• The Best Science Fiction of 2022: The Arthur C. Clarke Award Shortlist - Deep Wheel Orcadia: A Novel by Harry Josephine Giles
  • The Best Science Fiction of 2022: The Arthur C. Clarke Award Shortlist - Klara and the Sun: A Novel by Kazuo Ishiguro
  • The Best Science Fiction of 2022: The Arthur C. Clarke Award Shortlist - A Desolation Called Peace by Arkady Martine
  • The Best Science Fiction of 2022: The Arthur C. Clarke Award Shortlist - A River Called Time by Courttia Newland
  • The Best Science Fiction of 2022: The Arthur C. Clarke Award Shortlist - Wergen: The Alien Love War by Mercurio D Rivera
  • The Best Science Fiction of 2022: The Arthur C. Clarke Award Shortlist - Skyward Inn by Aliya Whiteley

The Best Science Fiction of 2022: The Arthur C. Clarke Award Shortlist, recommended by Andrew M. Butler

Every year, the judges for the Arthur C. Clarke Award select the best of the latest batch of new scifi books. In 2022, the science fiction award’s shortlist includes new work from Nobel Prize winner Kazuo Ishiguro, a novel-in-verse from the Scottish writer Harry Josephine Giles, and a new title in Arkady Martine’s beloved Teixcalaan series. Andrew M. Butler, academic and chair of the judges, talks us through the finalists.

  • The Best Science Fiction Books About Aliens - Star Maker by Olaf Stapledon
  • The Best Science Fiction Books About Aliens - Solaris by Stanisław Lem
  • The Best Science Fiction Books About Aliens - Semiosis by Sue Burke
  • The Best Science Fiction Books About Aliens - The Sparrow by Maria Doria Russell
  • The Best Science Fiction Books About Aliens - Embassytown by China Miéville

The Best Science Fiction Books About Aliens, recommended by Jaime Green

Science fiction helps us work through not only the possibilities of the cosmos but also the nature of humanity itself, argues Jaime Green—science writer and author of a new book on the search for alien biology, The Possibility of Life. Here she highlights five classic works of sci-fi that explore ideas of consciousness and communication in the setting of outer space.

  • The Best Books for an Introduction to Octavia Butler - Kindred by Octavia Butler
  • The Best Books for an Introduction to Octavia Butler - Wild Seed by Octavia Butler
  • The Best Books for an Introduction to Octavia Butler - 'Bloodchild' and Other Stories by Octavia Butler
  • The Best Books for an Introduction to Octavia Butler - Parable of the Sower by Octavia Butler
  • The Best Books for an Introduction to Octavia Butler - Fledgling by Octavia Butler

The Best Books for an Introduction to Octavia Butler, selected by Nisi Shawl

In 1995, Octavia Butler became the first science fiction and fantasy author to be awarded a Macarthur ‘genius’ grant. Her writing often dealt with the moral complexities of survival, and foregrounded African American characters at a time where Black protagonists were few. Nisi Shawl, a personal friend and editor of Butler’s collected works, selects five of the best books to read for an introduction to Octavia Butler’s writing.

  • The Best Apocalyptic Fiction - The King James Bible
  • The Best Apocalyptic Fiction - Ender’s Game by Orson Scott Card
  • The Best Apocalyptic Fiction - The Road by Cormac McCarthy
  • The Best Apocalyptic Fiction - Station Eleven by Emily St John Mandel
  • The Best Apocalyptic Fiction - The Butter Battle Book by Dr Seuss

The Best Apocalyptic Fiction, recommended by Elliot Ackerman

“Imagination is a national security imperative,” according to acclaimed novelist, journalist and decorated US Marine Elliot Ackerman. He’s written a novel with retired Admiral Jim Stavridis, about what would happen if the US went to war with China. Here, he talks us through his favourite books of apocalyptic fiction—and the truths they reveal about war, humanity, and literature.

  • The Best Sci Fi Books on Space Settlement - Parable of the Talents by Octavia E. Butler
  • The Best Sci Fi Books on Space Settlement - The Calculating Stars by Mary Robinette Kowal
  • The Best Sci Fi Books on Space Settlement - Cibola Burn by James S. A. Corey
  • The Best Sci Fi Books on Space Settlement - Red Mars by Kim Stanley Robinson
  • The Best Sci Fi Books on Space Settlement - The Word for World is Forest by Ursula Le Guin

The Best Sci Fi Books on Space Settlement, recommended by Erika Nesvold

We look to the stars and imagine a new home for humanity, an escape from the troubles that plague us here on Earth, but as astrophysicist Erika Nesvold points out, many of our problems will join us on our voyage. Here, she selects five science fiction books that illuminate the challenges and possible conflicts we’ll face if we head for this new frontier.   

  • The Best Science Fiction of 2021: The Arthur C Clarke Award Shortlist - The Infinite by Patience Agbabi
  • The Best Science Fiction of 2021: The Arthur C Clarke Award Shortlist - Edge of Heaven by R B Kelly
  • The Best Science Fiction of 2021: The Arthur C Clarke Award Shortlist - Chilling Effect by Valerie Valdes
  • The Best Science Fiction of 2021: The Arthur C Clarke Award Shortlist - The Animals in That Country by Laura Jean McKay
  • The Best Science Fiction of 2021: The Arthur C Clarke Award Shortlist - The Vanished Birds by Simon Jimenez
  • The Best Science Fiction of 2021: The Arthur C Clarke Award Shortlist - Vagabonds by Hao Jingfang, translated by Ken Liu

The Best Science Fiction of 2021: The Arthur C Clarke Award Shortlist, recommended by Tom Hunter

Every year, the director of the Arthur C Clarke Award talks us through their six book shortlist. The 2021 crop of the best science fiction books features a “deliciously pulpy” space opera, a time travel story for young adults, and a cacophonous tale of talking animals. What they all have in common is that they are by debut authors, says Tom Hunter: they represent a new generation of sci fi writing.

  • Space Travel and Science Fiction Books - The Martian by Andy Weir
  • Space Travel and Science Fiction Books - Seveneves by Neal Stephenson
  • Space Travel and Science Fiction Books - Foundation Trilogy by Isaac Asimov
  • Space Travel and Science Fiction Books - The Metaphysics of Morals by Immanuel Kant
  • Space Travel and Science Fiction Books - The Moon is a Harsh Mistress by Robert A Heinlein

Space Travel and Science Fiction Books, recommended by Christopher Mason

Space travel may be the stuff of science fiction but some of it is getting closer and closer to becoming reality. What’s more, we have a duty to pursue it, says Christopher Mason, Professor of Genomics, Physiology, and Biophysics at Weill Cornell Medicine and author of The Next 500 Years, a blueprint of how to set about leaving our solar system. Here, he recommends his favourite science fiction about space travel, and an essential philosophy book.

  • The best books on Existential Risks - The Last Children by Gudrun Pausewang
  • The best books on Existential Risks - A Canticle for Leibowitz by Walter M. Miller Jr.
  • The best books on Existential Risks - Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell
  • The best books on Existential Risks - Climate Shock: The Economic Consequences of a Hotter Planet by Gernot Wagner & Martin L. Weitzman
  • The best books on Existential Risks - The Dark Forest by Cixin Liu

The best books on Existential Risks, recommended by The Centre for the Study of Existential Risk

In the rapidly-emerging field of existential risks, researchers study the mitigation of threats that could lead to human extinction or civilisational collapse. We met with four researchers from The Centre for the Study of Existential Risk at the University of Cambridge, to discuss their recommendations of the best books to get a grasp of this dense subject.