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Hit Speculative Fiction of 2022 (So Far)
Judging by early reviews and general pop-culture impact, Emily St. John Mandel (Station Eleven) has hit a home run with her latest novel, Sea of Tranquility, which has already been optioned for TV series adaptation. In fact, it’s being adapted by the same team that brought us HBO’s excellent Station Eleven, and that is unequivocal Good News.
Sea of Tranquility is the year’s biggest hit in speculative fiction so far, but it’s not the only title making waves in this most generous of genres. Below we’ve collected the most popular books, according to Goodreads members, in speculative fiction and its various included and adjacent tags, including science fiction and fantasy.
Wow, there’s a lot of good stuff here. It’s like a tour through the unhinged imagination of our species. Parental anxiety goes full dystopian in Jessamine Chan’s The School for Good Mothers. Classical Indian mythology gets a feminist update in Vaishnavi Patel’s Kaikeyi. And climate change worries percolate just beneath the surface in John Scalzi’s creature feature The Kaiju Preservation Society.
Scroll over the book covers to learn more about each title, and add the ones that pique your interest to your Want to Read shelf.
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What have your favorite sci-fi and fantasy reads of 2022 been so far?
Check out more recent articles:
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Goodreads Employees Share Their Summer Reading Plans
Check out more recent articles:
Exciting New Fantasy and Sci-Fi Reads for Summer
Guaranteed, Reader-Approved Summer Page-Turners by Genre
Goodreads Employees Share Their Summer Reading Plans
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Terrific list, obviously gutted my book didn't make the cut, but I guess the excuse that these books are more successful and better than mine holds some water. :) I shall be adding these to my already mountainous reading list.
About to start the second book in Rebecca Roanhorse’s series. Loved the first, Black Sun, so much!
A wonderful work of science based fiction called "The Virgo Paradox" by RH Johson has been flying under the radar. It blends international politics with thought provoking science that will have you thinking about the ending for weeks to come. This book needs to be discovered!
Am I the only one who didn't enjoy Station Eleven? I believe speculative fiction is my perfect genre, but the constant reference to Station Eleven as the sort of quintessential speculative fiction book is keeping me from exploring the genre further. Disclaimer, I listened to the audiobook of Station Eleven, so I wonder if that hurt my enjoyment of the book.
Vicky wrote: "Am I the only one who didn't enjoy Station Eleven? I believe speculative fiction is my perfect genre, but the constant reference to Station Eleven as the sort of quintessential speculative fiction ..."No I didn't think it was great either. Don't give up on Spec. Fic..
Go to the Locus website and you will find many excellent recommendations.
Vicky wrote: "Am I the only one who didn't enjoy Station Eleven? I believe speculative fiction is my perfect genre, but the constant reference to Station Eleven as the sort of quintessential speculative fiction ..."Nope, I didn't like it either.
Is it just me or does GR recycle the same 20 or so books for each of their lists? I would really like to see something different.
I absolutely loved How High We Go in the Dark and the School for Good Mothers!
Vicky wrote: "Am I the only one who didn't enjoy Station Eleven? I believe speculative fiction is my perfect genre, but the constant reference to Station Eleven as the sort of quintessential speculative fiction ..."I've yet to read Station Eleven but I read the same author's Sea of Tranquility and absolutely loved it!
Having just finished the Cartographers I can recommend that one... great for people that are into (geographical) academia but set in spring/summer. This has the elements you would find in a Donna Tartt book, but the lighter, more predictable, semi-fantastical version. 4.5/5
Vicky wrote: "Am I the only one who didn't enjoy Station Eleven? I believe speculative fiction is my perfect genre, but the constant reference to Station Eleven as the sort of quintessential specul..."I personally wouldn't define Station Eleven as quintessential of any genre. The author has a fairly unique style - I haven't really read other books like hers.
The category 'speculative fiction' is used in a number of different ways, so it's hard to make recommendations, but if I were you, I'd definitely read descriptions and reviews of other books and give a few more a try if they intrigue you.
So far in 2022 I haven't read any sci-fi/fantasy, only mystery and horror as of yet… but I might start with The Cartographers soon, which is also on this List.