I've read about half a dozen of the ones on this list. The murderbot diaries were ok, nothing to write home about. The Handmaid's tale was absolute garbage, and I didn't see anything on here that I'd consider a five star book, but I'm a bit harsh on books on average, a book gets a 3 star rating if it's an average book. (spoiler), most books are average. For what it's worth, The Currents of Space was the very first scifi book I read, and I thought it was pretty good, even though it's not one of Asimov's most popular books, I found it interesting enough that it launched me on a lifetime love of reading scifi, (even met him twice, which was really cool). I have to add a +1 to the suggestion of On Basilisk Station since it's the first in an entire series that draws in several story lines. And, if someone is a fan of fantasy/scifi combo stories, you can't go wrong with Deathstalker by Simon R. Green, and of course, one of the books I actually did give a five star rating to, which I can easily recommend to any scifi fan is Grand Central Arena the book that starts the entire series, which (unfortunately) isn't done yet, but I did participate in the last kickstarter to get one of the books published. I'm not really sure why Baen gave up on these books, but the author is still publishing the books, and there's still more to come in the series, so if you enjoy lots of aliens, an absolutely fantastic universe, and some rather original concepts, you won't want to miss this one.
For what it's worth (again), the deathstalker audio versions performed by graphic audio are awesome. Audible no longer has that version for some reason, but you can still get them at graphicaudio.net not to mention the several other series they have there as well.

Thanks for this list. I would like recommendations for books about very interesting alien cultures, which make us think about the different ways that sentient life can/could exist and how to find ways to interact with it.

Law wrote: "Fourth Wing and Divine Rivals were overhyped. I've only read two on this list. Babel, Annie Bot, Legendborn and Chain-Gang All-Stars look good. I plan to read Red Rising and Dune in the future, but..."

Red rising is amazing! You'll definitely enjoy it if you like dystopian worlds.

The Book of Doors is and Addie are two of my favorites ever

Law wrote: "Fourth Wing and Divine Rivals were overhyped. I've only read two on this list. Babel, Annie Bot, Legendborn and Chain-Gang All-Stars look good. I plan to read Red Rising and Dune in the future, but..."
Chain-gang All-stars is amazing and I would've never read it if it ween't among the choices of my bookclub. give it a shot!

I've read The Priory of the Orange Tree, Dune, The Fifth Season, A Memory Called Empire, All Systems Red, Red Rising, Tress and the Emerald Sea, The Will of the Many, Gideon the Ninth, and Bookshops & Bonedust.

I REALLY recommend The Fifth Season. Reading in second person might be a bit jarring but I quickly got used to it, that book was amazing. I'm also obsessed with the Murderbot Diaries and The Locked Tomb series. The Will of the Many was a great first book and I can't wait to read the rest of that series.

Red Rising was alright, I enjoyed books 2 and 3 way more. I would give the second book a chance if you weren't really feeling the first, and if you don't vibe with that one either maybe drop it.

There's quite a bit of books on here from my TBR as well. I'm most excited to get to The Tainted Cup. I'm debating whether or not to give Babel another chance. I loved the setting and the magic system (?) seemed interesting. I just didn't care about the characters at all, so I ended up reading something else.

Currently in the Red Rising series and also going to read fourth wing.

Red rising (the first book) was very good, I would recommend it if you like the hunger games.

Dibs wrote: "Wait. Someone tell me why The Locked Tomb doesn't feature on this list?"

It does lol. Gideon the Ninth is on here and that's the first book in the series.

The “Red Rising” series by Pierce Brown is superb. If you only read one of these, read that book.

I wanna know who wrote these headings. too good LOL

Who's read Dune? It's on my TBR list, but so are like 26 other books, and I'm really excited to read it.

Funny and cozy fantasy are my favorites.

Dune is fresh? God I hate this clutter on the homepage

What a great list!

"Fresh Fantasy and Sci-Fi", recommends a book published in 1965.

Are there any (old-school classics) that you would recommend?"

Lois McMaster Bujold's "Shards of Honor" and "Barrayar" in Space Opera (with a strong romance). Be warned before you enter - Bujold is an addiction you won't want to recover from.

P C Hodgell's "God Stalk" for those who like a well-plotted fantasy theif/acrobat/magic user mystery. Those sensitive about religion should steer clear as the setting is "Tai-tastigon, the City of a Thousand Gods", and main character Jaime interacts with quite a few of them.

For those who prefer a lighter fantasy read, anything by Anne McCaffrey (dragons), Holly Lisle (new magic systems), or Mercedes Lackey (telepathic horses and Edwardian magic).

How can the Here be Dragons section not have the Anne McCaffery Dragon books. These combine bits of classic fantasy - dragons with true science fiction, space travel, science technology and more.

To the "uninitiated" be sure to read the original Dragonriders of Pern series. I know it's not first chronologically in the eventual saga but they are the best and where you should start. So go with Dragonflight, Dragonquest, and the White Dragon.

How about Anne McCaffery's Pen series. Enough dragons for everyone. The early books are the best.

Historical fantasy! “Babel”, “The Familiar” and “Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell”.

Great list! How did Project Hail Mary, One Dark Window and Piranesi not make the cut?! Pleased to see SJM did not get a mention, though ;)

It's frustrating how these lists never seem to include Indie/Self-Published books. According to many reviewers, the books in my trilogy, The Antunite Chronicles, perfectly fit the definition of 'Fresh' Fantasy and Sci-Fi novels'. Check them out if you are looking for something unique: Antuna's Story The Rise and Fall of Antocracy Antunites Unite

Some excellent 21st c. scifi/spec fic that need more attention: The End of Mr. Y, Low Town, After the Flare, Flux, Blackfish City, The Lost Book of Adana Moreau, Light Years From Home, The Leech World, We Can Save Us All, Dream London, Unraveling, Venomous Lumpsucker, Orbital,

Some fantasy worth reading (fewer than 10,000 ratings; later than 2000): The Luminous Heart of Jonah S., Princess Bari, Daughters of the New Year, The Great Reclamation, Nothing Good Happens in Wazirabad on Wednesday, Ours, The Elixir of Immortality, Arcadia, The Comet Seekers, The Golden Wolf Saga: The Half-Drowned King; The Sea Queen; The Golden Wolf, The Bird King, The Sisters of the Winter Wood, The Stranger Behind You, The Lost Book of Eleanor Dare, Chlorine, Relentless Melt.

Still a favourite: and

> fresh
Proceeds to showcase Dune, that came out in 1965.
Idk what fresh means to y'all but half a century old books, really ?

Elizabeth (Whimsy & Wonder Books) wrote: "Having categories for extreme weather and complex magic systems and then not including Stormlight or Mistborn is a crime"

I'm so tired of hearing about Sanderson. We knnoooowww already *hard eye roll*

Can't recommend The Fifth Season enough. The trilogy is absolutely stellar.

I like books like harry potter hunger games and lord of the rings

The Will of the Many is a wonderful book. Very interesting characters and world building. Also very suspenseful. Best book I've read in quite a while. Can't wait for the next book!

Love this list! But PLEASE add a category for humorous sci-fi! Bobiverse, Scalzi, Andy Weir as examples.

Naomi Novik! Leigh Bardugo!

Taylor wrote: "A Discovery of Witches is an underrated historical/romantic/paranormal fantasy. If you like dark academia, the enemies to lovers like with Xaden and Violet (albeit less “spicy”, and the historical ..."

Given the "books" subcategory, I was really surprised to not see this book on here!

Read & Fell Crazy in Love with 2 Titles on the List 💝

❣️ Jade City
Finished all 3 Books in the Saga plus a novella. Still looking for the other novella.

❣️ Legendborn.
And planning to pick up Book #2 Bloodmarked soon.

Law wrote: "Fourth Wing and Divine Rivals were overhyped. I've only read two on this list. Babel, Annie Bot, Legendborn and Chain-Gang All-Stars look good. I plan to read Red Rising and Dune in the future, but..."

If it helps I enjoyed Dune and its first two sequels but I did not enjoy the fourth book so I didn't keep reading. Babel is fantastic and one of the best books I've read in a while and Legendborn is a pretty good YA book with a premise I enjoyed.

Maddy wrote: "Chain-Gang All Stars is one of the best and most important books I've ever read. Excited to read Annie Bot and heard great things about Butler's Parable of the Sower and Sanderson's Tress of the Em..."

The one warning I must provide about Tress is that there is context that you need to read other books by Sanderson to understand but I think it works well as a standalone other than that :)

Asger wrote: "List could do with some more old-school classics and less new releases"

I definitely agree. It's good to have a balance!

Elizabeth (Whimsy & Wonder Books) wrote: "Having categories for extreme weather and complex magic systems and then not including Stormlight or Mistborn is a crime"

ikr 😂 they should in my opinion be on every fantasy list

Ketutar wrote: "Law wrote: "G.D. wrote: "> fresh fantasy and sci-fi recommendations
> dune

ok, fam."

What is your point?"

Maybe that a book published in 1965 might not be fairly called "fresh", maybe? What do y..."

Ketutar wrote: "Law wrote: "G.D. wrote: "> fresh fantasy and sci-fi recommendations
> dune

ok, fam."

What is your point?"

Maybe that a book published in 1965 might not be fairly called "fresh", maybe? What do y..."

they probably added it because of the movie

Michaela wrote: "Who's read Dune? It's on my TBR list, but so are like 26 other books, and I'm really excited to read it."

Michaela wrote: "Who's read Dune? It's on my TBR list, but so are like 26 other books, and I'm really excited to read it."

It's really good! I really liked it but I stopped the series after book 3 because they were progressively worse

William wrote: "Dune is fresh? God I hate this clutter on the homepage"

William wrote: "Dune is fresh? God I hate this clutter on the homepage"

they probably included it because the movie came out recently

Speculative fiction that takes place in the known world of the not-so-distant future.

Could we PLEASE have a Hard Sci Fi list, Please???

I agree that the Sabriel series is good.
Dune is good, but definitely not fresh.
Neuromancer is also good, though also not that fresh.

John Bierces Mage Errant list definirely needs to be in here - maybe for the unusual magic systems. Crime that it wasn’t anywhere on this list though.

I have the fourth wing can’t wait to read it

Putting “A Master of Djinn” under “dystopia blah blah” is really bizarre. It’s literally set in an Egypt that evades British colonization and is actively supporting other people’s in stopping the colonization of their own homelands —> I cannot imagine a LESS DYSTOPIAN situation. It’s also a murder mystery… so … did the person who made this read it?

Loved Fourth Wing! I couldn’t put it down! It was a five star read for me!

I love this style of recommendation list! Great job!

Max and the Hidden Visitor

I write YA SFF and grew up in the 1980s, and you were definitely looked at as odd for liking it. I loved the works of Robert Heinlein and Isaac Asimov, but even loving books put me in the minority.

How ironic, that all these years later, I’m now writing it like Max and the Hidden Visitor and the soon to be published prequel Max and the Regent Supreme.

Whitney wrote: "Astra wrote: "Law wrote: "Fourth Wing and Divine Rivals were overhyped. I've only read two on this list. Babel, Annie Bot, Legendborn and Chain-Gang All-Stars look good. I plan to read Red Rising a..."

Red Rising was AMAZING, idk what you are talking about. Fourth Wing was good bu not on Red Rising's level. I'm reading The Will of the Many righ tnow and love it.