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The Top New Sci-Fi Books of the Past Three Years
Science fiction, as a genre, has been on a roll since 1818, when Mary Shelley published her famous book Frankenstein, generally considered the first sci-fi novel. (Some scholars dispute this; feel free to hash it out in the comments section.) The genre has been consistently popular ever since, as entire generations of readers fall in love with sci-fi.
We thought it might be interesting to peek in on the current state of the genre and see which books have been attracting the most readers in recent years. We’ve collected below the most popular sci-fi novels of the past three calendar years on Goodreads, as determined by average star ratings and readers’ Read and Want to Read shelves. We’ve pulled out 72 novels in total, ranked in order of overall popularity.
Andy Weir’s old-school hard sci-fi novel Project Hail Mary occupies the top spot, but you’ll find a wide range of styles and subgenres here. Jessamine Chan’s The School for Good Mothers, for instance, continues the rich tradition of soft sci-fi that explores aspects of society and psychology, rather than hardware and technology.
In and around these two broad designations, you’ll find endless riffs and variations: the near-future techno-thrillers of Blake Crouch (Upgrade), the cozy sci-fi of Becky Chambers (A Psalm for the Wild-Built), the ferocious social critique of Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah (Chain Gang All-Stars).
Click through the book cover images for more information on each title, and feel free to add to your Want to Read shelf.
Readers' Best Recent Science Fiction Novels
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Have a new sci-fi book that you loved? Share it with your fellow readers in the comments below!
Check out more recent fantasy and science fiction articles:
Comments Showing 1-40 of 40 (40 new)
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by
Raymond
(new)
Jul 18, 2023 01:10PM
I have read a few of these. six or seven. Those that I have read have been good. I enjoyed them. Many lacked the pure imagination of Arthur C Clarke, none that I read could compare with "Rendezvous with Rama" Or any Iain M Banks, "Culture" novel. A few that mixed fantasy with sci-fi worked for me lol and I normally love that, but none were outstanding. LOL- and calling Andy Weir "Hard" Sci-fi (and I like Andy Weir) is like calling the "The Twilight saga" gothic horror.
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A sort-of science fiction novel that I think is under-rated and under-marketed: The Coral Bones by E.J. Swift
I haven't read any of them but they do look interesting, but have you seen the Aurora Cycle by Jay Kristoff and Amie Kaufman; the first book is good.
A bit sad that the best hard SF nowadays is Project Hail Mary. Don't get me wrong, Project Hail Mary is pretty good, but it pales in comparison to great hard SFs in the past such as Seveneves.
Law wrote: "I haven't read any of them but they do look interesting, but have you seen the Aurora Cycle by Jay Kristoff and Amie Kaufman; the first book is good."I‘ve read the whole trilogy and I think it‘s awesome. The storyline is just extraordinary and while I read the books I‘ve gotten more and more attached to the characters. The books quickly became a part of my favorite ones and if You enjoyed the first one, You should totally read the other two as well.
The Ferryman is not only great sci-fi but a great novel. Original, beautiful language, thought-provoking.
How high we go in the dark is very bad please don't waste your time and read something else
Thanks for adding The Coral Bones. It looks really good. The authors of the Aurora Cycle have another series too. It’s called The Illumane Files.
Could someone please recommend something akin to “old school” science fiction - space travel, extraterrestrial life, other galaxies, space battles, etc?
I've read 10 out of 50, surprised it's that many, my tastes don't always line up with what's "tops", but I'd read Andy Weir and liked ir, so maybe I'm more mainstream than I thought.
This list appears to be auto generated, as several entries are no where near the first book in the series. And while Heavens River and Network Effect are amazing, I don't think I would recommend them to someone as "great new sci fi", without having read at least book 1 of each series
It's time we emphasized that pure science fiction is a category upon itself. Not Fantasy, Not something different, Not Horror (rare exceptions i.e.Aliens), Not offbeat stories. Can you please call it as it was intended, a category on It's own.
Martha Wells has created a brilliant series on sentient robots. I read the first but unfortunately I cannot afford any of her other works. Some were written many years ago and they are never on sale. I understand that Price = Quality = Demand and rightly so. However, Kindle books have experienced major price increases. Usually, short reads or novellas are always priced accordingly. Still, I wish her well.
Very surprised Light Bringer, the new Red Rising novel from Pierce Brown isn’t mentioned in the list.
Andre de Blois wrote: "Martha Wells has created a brilliant series on sentient robots. I read the first but unfortunately I cannot afford any of her other works. Some were written many years ago and they are never on sal..."Try your local public library. If they don't have a book you want, request it. My library has both hard copies and ebooks, and they will get almost anything I request.
Why "Artifact Space" is not among these recommendations is beyond me. One of the best SiFi reads.the ever. Space travel, great world building, space battles, aliens. What more can you ask.
How is Eversion not on this list? it has more ratings and a higher rating than many of the books on this list.
I have read 18 of these and enjoyed them all, so this is, in my opinion a good list for Sci-Fi lovers.
I’ve devoured Marlo Kloos’ Frontlines series, military sci-fi that doesn’t get bogged down with jargon and descriptions
Hello guys,Do you know which one of these books cover cyberpunk subgenre?
il molto accorto Experience: elmo lucente gazed. wrote: "Hello guys,Do you know which one of these books cover cyberpunk subgenre?"
Agency by William Gibson, but its a sequel of The Peripheral. You need to first read that. Peripheral now has an adaptation in prime video. Its quite good
I'm currently reading Snow Crash by Neal Stephenson. It's really good!! I'd recommend it!
Dhritiman wrote: Agency by William Gibson, but its a sequel of The Peripheral. Yo..."I had that thought about Gibson's book. I have only read Neuromancer, but I plan to finish his Sprawl trilogy.
Thank you.
Carolyn wrote: "I'm currently reading Snow Crash by Neal Stephenson. It's really good!! I'd recommend it!"
Yes, I already knew about this book. My question was related to this list . Thank you :)
A wrote: "Could someone please recommend something akin to “old school” science fiction - space travel, extraterrestrial life, other galaxies, space battles, etc?"Try Lois McMaster Bujold. Her Vorkosigan series has all you requested. She has other works as well to try out.
Suelibevg wrote: "A wrote: "Could someone please recommend something akin to “old school” science fiction - space travel, extraterrestrial life, other galaxies, space battles, etc?"Try Lois McMaster Bujold. Her Vo..."
Martin Caidin
Tanith Lee
Sharon Green
DAW books published a huge amount of great scifi books by many authors
Stephen wrote: "I’ve devoured Marlo Kloos’ Frontlines series, military sci-fi that doesn’t get bogged down with jargon and descriptions"I've also been enjoying his new series ... The Palladium Wars
Andre de Blois wrote: "Martha Wells has created a brilliant series on sentient robots. I read the first but unfortunately I cannot afford any of her other works. Some were written many years ago and they are never on sale..."This is what libraries are for! Even if you don't read physical books, most libraries nowadays have digital collections as well, through apps like Libby, Axis 360, or SimplyE. Some states you don't even need to live in the same city as the library. Houston, TX for example, all Texas residents can get a Houston Public Library card and have access to their entire digital catalog for free.
Law wrote: "I haven't read any of them but they do look interesting, but have you seen the Aurora Cycle by Jay Kristoff and Amie Kaufman; the first book is good."Both fantastic sci-fi authors and I loved this series as well.
Totally agree with the top spot. Project Hail Mary is a wonderful story. It's not only an adventurous book but also narrates about a touching friendship...
If you haven’t come across Sara King’s “Zero” series of “Outer Bounds” series, I would highly recommend them. And if you are looking for a good laugh in space, the “Space Team” series by Barry Hutchinson will have you waking up the person next to you all night with them asking why your laughing.
Andre de Blois wrote: "It's time we emphasized that pure science fiction is a category upon itself. Not Fantasy, Not something different, Not Horror (rare exceptions i.e.Aliens), Not offbeat stories. Can you please call ..."AGREE - Sci-Fi should be on its own and not mixed with Fantasy and mystery/horror.
Some of those novels have too few ratings to be included at the "top" of any list and more than half have ratings below 3.7. Either something's wrong with this list or the Sci-Fi genre is on the rough patch.
A wrote: "Could someone please recommend something akin to “old school” science fiction - space travel, extraterrestrial life, other galaxies, space battles, etc?"Probably not. They wouldn't know "old school" sci-fi if it was a cobra rearing up to sink fangs into their collective face.
Lori wrote: "Suelibevg wrote: "A wrote: "Could someone please recommend something akin to “old school” science fiction - space travel, extraterrestrial life, other galaxies, space battles, etc?"Try Lois McMas..."
I thought Tanith Lee was a horror writer?
Veronika wrote: "Some of those novels have too few ratings to be included at the "top" of any list and more than half have ratings below 3.7. Either something's wrong with this list or the Sci-Fi genre is on the ro..."Probably all of the above.
Can’t believe nonAdrian Tchaikovsky. He is closer to the old schoolSciFi, and the bringer of the new evolutionary SF and so much more. Children of Time is amazing.
Raymond wrote: "I have read a few of these. six or seven. Those that I have read have been good. I enjoyed them. Many lacked the pure imagination of Arthur C Clarke, none that I read could compare with "Rendezvous..."Oh look! A gatekeeper I’m ”shocked” XD also Andy Weir is definitely hard science fiction. The definition from wikipedia ” Hard science fiction is a category of science fiction characterized by concern for scientific accuracy and logic.” Something Andy Weirs is notable famous for.
