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.
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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.
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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?
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
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
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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.
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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… 🐙
It’s really fantastic. Would be hard to pick a favorite of the three.
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.
Children of Time was an amazing read!
This year I am reading Revelation Space by Alastair Reynolds. Really good book so far!
Both great series. Revelation Space was my intro into hard sci-fi. What a freaking ride that story is.
I dont know that Reynolds has a bad book, and everything that touches the Revelation Space universe is in my opinion gold. Even his short stories Diamond Dogs Turquoise Days is a great and intense read.
Some of his standalone novels are also awesome like House of Suns, and Pushing Ice.
I loved revelation space! unfortunately, most of Alastair Reynolds audio books are narrated by by a voice actor who’s narration I personally find off-putting. I find him very affected and self absorbed, so much so that it distracts from the characters and story. it’s nice to actually stop and read though, just harder to find the time.
Revelation Space sounds interesting. Let us know how you liked it after you finish.
Revelation Space is great! It’s interstellar sci-fi with no faster-than-light travel which leads to some really interesting timelines. Also, the only description I’ve ever read of a space battle as ships are travelling at relativistic speeds. Very cool books. Diamond Dogs is a short-ish story that gives you the feel of the universe. It’s a bit nasty at times but I feel like it doesn’t go into unnecessarily gruesome detail
Tess of the Emerald Sea (Brandon Sanderson) was very fun. It’s a very cool take on how piracy would work in a world without any seas
The laundry files.
It’s crazy they are not more famous (it’s a series). I bet they’ll make films from them as soon as someone who likes miney sees the potential.
Looks fun. I’ve read a lot of Charles Stross, he’s pretty reliable.
I discovered and absolutely devoured The Expanse this year (books first, then series). So that was awesome.
I honestly think I would have enjoyed both more if I had read the books first. The series was so faithful to the books that reading them afterwards doesn’t bring much new to the experience. And the casting of the series was absolutely perfect. I couldn’t imagine Amos being done better.
I’ve been working my way through Alastair Reynolds works.
Finished up the newest books in the Revelation Space series, (big recommendation, very cool universe).
Done with that, I went through the Revenger trilogy. Smaller in scope than Revelation Space, but a very fun read.
Set in a far-flung future where humanity has disassembled most planetary bodies in order to construct thousands of space-borne habitats. Planetoids with singularities to generate gravity. Ringworlds. etc.
And then even further into future, where several consecutive ages of civilization have sparked and died within these habitats.
It’s the only series I’ve come across that depicts fairly accurate solar sailing as a mode of space travel, too.
I love the Revelation Space world. Just the right mix of plausible-yet-not-handwaved for me. Some factions but no grand Empire or militaries. No FTL travel, so you are never coming back to the same world you left. Technological nano-catastrophe (and horrors related to that). Semi-intelligent algae that rewires the brain (Turquoise Days is a great short story about it). Galactic-scale projects and space anomalies.
Thank you for telling me about Revenger, I haven’t read those yet.
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The first ten books of Lois McMaster Bujold’s Vorkosigan Saga
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Vajra Chandrasekera’s Rakesfall (mix of SF and fantasy)
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N.K. Jemisin’s The Fifth Season (re-read)
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Sue Burke’s Usurpation (end of the Semiosis trilogy)
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Ted Chiang’s Exhalation: Stories (short stories)
Of those, the only one I read was The Fifth Season, which I liked. I read The Saint of Bright Doors by Chandrasekera this year and thought that was great (very much fantasy). Maybe I’ll give Rakesfall a try.
Rakesfall is quite a bit different from TSoBD—it’s a bunch of loosely-connected stories spanning from a mythic post-glacial past to the far-future end of humanity, where many of the narratives are metafictional stories embedded inside each other. So don’t go in expecting a linear narrative, or even a definite answer to what’s real and what isn’t.
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I read some of foundation and enjoyed it!
I’ve been thinking about rereading those. I read them all in the late 80s and really enjoyed them. I’ve read so much since then, I wonder what I’d think now.
That and Dune would be fun rereads
the Culture series by Iain Banks sucked me in completely! it starts with Consider Phlebas for anyone looking to jump in.
Yes, and it’s a good place to start but it isn’t the strongest book of the series.
I immediately remember these and have enjoyed them very much:
- The Monk and Robot series by Becky Chambers
- Murderbot Diaries by Martha Wells
I loved The Monk and Robot series, and I also enjoyed the others books written by Becky Chambers
The only Becky Chambers book I’ve read is The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet. I enjoyed it, but the explanation for why all the aliens were humanoid variants of earth animals seemed really thin to the point of distraction.
Multiple people mentioning Murderbot, which is great. So much fun.
The Peripheral, William Gibson
Seconded.
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.
I read The Left Hand of Darkness this year as my first foray into Ursula K Le Guin and I loved it! I had to read The Dispossessed right after and loved that even more.
Lots of people consider The Dispossessed to be the better of the two. I read them both this year and, though they’re both top notch, I like Left Hand more.
Both are brilliant!
