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Our Speculative Fiction Mood Ring: Find Your Next Read!
Kerine Wint (she/her) is a freelance writer, editor, and reviewer of speculative fiction for publications including FIYAH literary magazine, Goodreads, and Publishers Weekly. Through her own fiction and creative nonfiction, she explores global media (books, shows, podcasts) focused on speculative fiction, along with explorations of gender identity and expression.
If her eyes aren't glued to a book, they are glued to her screen as she writes essays and columns while practicing graphic and publication design.
If her eyes aren't glued to a book, they are glued to her screen as she writes essays and columns while practicing graphic and publication design.
Keep wanting to get lost in the pages of a great speculative fiction novel but find yourself struggling to find a read that matches your mood and keeps you riveted? Or perhaps reading is new on your list of hobbies and you need a good starting point. Or maybe you're a newcomer to the fantasy and sci-fi genres and don't know where to begin. Whatever the case, we're here to help with a list of great speculative fiction that will get the pages turning.
We've included a little bit of everything, from SFF romance and horror to epic space operas and novellas you can read in one sitting. And to help you narrow down this selection even further, we've sorted these picks into some very specific moods and situations you might find yourself in. Time to make selecting your next read a lot easier!
Be sure to add whatever catches your eye to your Want to Read shelf, and feel free to share more SFF recommendations in the comments below!
If you suspect your professor and/or classmates have occult powers…
If your favorite niche sci-fi TV drama series just got canceled and you need a binge read to fill the void…
If you've got a rainy afternoon to lose yourself in a beautiful story…
If you want to yell "KISS KISS KISS KISS"…
If you love a good time travel yarn…
If you're trying to ease your book club members into reading SFF…
If your "paranormal phase" never ended...
If you've got commitment issues (and don't want to start a whole series of books)…
If you're able to squeeze a short story in before bedtime…
If you're a low-key doomsday prepper…
If you just want to test the waters with a novella…
If you're in the mood to be scared…
Now it's your turn! Do you have any additional recommendations for these reading moods? Let's talk books in the comments below!
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Rebecca
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Mar 07, 2023 03:58AM
Fun lists, thank you! I saw two that are perfect for me, and another I might explore.
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Some of these books will shock the uninitiated 😂 Particularly Tender is the Flesh and The Only Good Indians — prepare to be scared!
This is wonderful! I love the time travel mood--how about being in the mood for just travel? Travel guides, travel memoirs, fiction and nonfiction books that take readers to places beloved by travelers (national parks, iconic destinations, little-known gem kinds of places to visit, etc.)
Animal mood--stories featuring pets or wild animals.
This particular set of recommendations are specifically fantasy/sci-fi and horror. So you wouldn’t find non-fiction, memoirs or books about animals on it. But if you search the news and interview page you may find something that has non-fiction recs.
Got it! I should read the info at the top of the page, right? 🤓
The idea of a cult/secret society at a university is technically something up my alley but I'm never interested in books about it for some reason...
If you're in a mood for fantasy like D&D would be great for me. One good suggestion for that is The Rising of the Shield Hero.
If you're in a mood for FNaF books would be good to.
I'd recommend Kristine Kathryn Rusch's Diving series - wonderful space opera SF.
"If your favorite niche sci-fi TV drama series just got canceled and you need a binge read to fill the void…"Oh, this hits a little too close to home. The OA? 1899? I want all the weird.
Loved this post..always wanted a post like tis...Also if you are in mood for some Gothic horror do check out Mexican Gothic, I can guarantee that you won't be disappointed :)
If my favorite niche sci-fi TV drama series just got canceled and I need a binge read to fill the void I would read "The Three-Body Problem".
Love they made this list!! I never new what to call this "category" in my head i always just call them "books that make me think" but its not quite right:P recs from me that fits here: The End of Men, The Measure, Blindness, The One, The Passengers, The Marriage Act theese last three are all by the same author set in the same universe. oh i have sooo many more! this is my favorite type of books to read!!!
If only I could read ‘tender is the flesh’ for the first time again… pro tip: try to avoid reading ANYTHING about it and just drive right in. It’ll take your breath away
Ann wrote: "Loved this post..always wanted a post like tis...Also if you are in mood for some Gothic horror do check out Mexican Gothic, I can guarantee that you won't be disappointed :)"
Any other gothic recs like Mexican Gothic?
Coleman wrote: "Some of these books will shock the uninitiated 😂 Particularly Tender is the Flesh and The Only Good Indians — prepare to be scared!"One of my friends requests all the books I blog about and she got this a few weeks later assuming from the title that it was about residential schools and then was like....whoa.
Sophi wrote: "Ann wrote: "Loved this post..always wanted a post like tis...Also if you are in mood for some Gothic horror do check out Mexican Gothic, I can guarantee that you won't be disappointed :)"
Any oth..."
Maybe The Girl from Rawblood by Catriona Ward?
Anna wrote: "
Immortality: This Is Probably a Novel
Speculative fiction - for sure!
"“The two most important days in your life are the..."
Anna wrote: "
Immortality: This Is Probably a Novel
Speculative fiction - for sure!
"“The two most important days in your life are the..."
Thanks, this looks really cool!
Love these lists! I am actually trying to ease my book group into reading SFF at the moment so that section is perfect :)
Kassie wrote: "If you're in a mood for fantasy like D&D would be great for me. One good suggestion for that is The Rising of the Shield Hero."Kings of the Wyld and Bloody Rose by Nicholas Eames definitely have D&D atmosphere (along with D&D/Forgotten Realms related easter eggs)
Ann wrote: "Loved this post..always wanted a post like tis...Also if you are in mood for some Gothic horror do check out Mexican Gothic, I can guarantee that you won't be disappointed :)"
For anyone who hasn't read the classics of gothic horror yet, definitely Shirley Jackson's Haunting of Hill House (and We Have Always Lived in the Castle for something more subtle), Dorothy Macardle's The Uninvited, Le Fanu's Carmilla (one of the inspirations behind Dracula), Susan Hill's Woman In Black, and for a fun modern one A Turn of the Key (inspired by Henry James's A Turn of the Screw which would make sense to read beforehand to pick up on the connections imo).
The instant I saw the cover of This is How You Lose the Time War, I clicked on this! So many great recommendations that I've had my eye on!
If you’re interested in the category “If you suspect your professor and/or classmates have occult powers…” I would highly recommend the Legendborn series!!!(Legendborn and Bloodmarked)
