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Election years are always fascinating for science fiction. The genre uses science and speculation of the future to hold a microscope up to society, making it inherently political. When a big election looms, hope and fear run high through everyone, including authors of science fiction. These 10 best science fiction books of 2024 demonstrate that and much more.
What can you expect in these 10 great books? Novels and novellas, for sure. Short fiction still plays a large role in science fiction, after all, and overlooking novellas leaves a lot of great work on the sidelines. You’ll find cyberpunk, Martian colonies, robots, galaxy-spanning militaries, space travel, climate fiction, and loads of commentary on the human condition. You’ll find several great debut works here as well as books from established authors in the genre. Science fiction in 2024 made sure there was something for everyone.
No, I haven’t ranked these 10 incredible books. Picking only 10 great books was hard enough; don’t ask me to elevate one about the rest. All of these books are amazing and deserve your attention. I’ve just sorted them alphabetically. Let your mood guide you as you work your way through all 10 of these stories, the best science fiction books of 2024.
The Best Science Fiction Books of 2024
Annie Bot by Sierra Greer
First up is a book that shows just how political science fiction can be with this feminist masterwork. Annie was designed to be the perfect girlfriend for Doug. She keeps the house clean, makes dinner, encourages him, and adjusts her libido to match his. Doug loves it. But the more Annie grows, the more she starts to question Doug and question her role in his life.
The Dragonfly Gambit by A.D. Sui
This military sci-fi novella embodies how two people on the same side of a war can go head-to-head like true enemies. After a career-ending injury, Inez has been breaking every rule to rise to the top of and then destroy the fleet. Ennis, on the other hand, has only six months to live and is doing everything in their power to stop a 20-year war. When these two are stationed together, sparks start to fly.
Exordia by Seth Dickinson
You want big novels with bigger action and universe-spanning stakes? This one has that and big philosophy, too. Anna is a survivor, now living life as a mere office worker. Except one day, she has a close encounter with a many-headed serpent alien named Ssrin. Anna and Ssrin are drawn to each other as a strange broadcast fills the universe with horror.
Lost Ark Dreaming by Suyi Davies Okungbowa
This insightful book is one of the best science fiction books of 2024 because of its Snowpiercer-like commentary. Off the coast of Africa after decades of ocean levels rising, there are towers jutting up out of the Atlantic. In one such tower, those that live at the top have all the power and money, while the dregs of society live far below. When an ancient power awakens the long-dead sacrificed as enslaved people, everyone in the tower is in peril.
The Mars House by Natasha Pulley
Natasha Pulley is no stranger to the science fiction scene, and her most recent novel might be her best yet. Once a principal in London’s Royal Ballet, January now lives in a colony on Mars. As a former Earther, he’s seen as an outsider and second-class citizen. Through a strange turn of events, January agrees to an arranged marriage with Gale, a xenophobic politician. Except behind closed doors, Gale is much harder to hate. As their romance starts to take root, the political situation grows more and more challenging.
The Practice, the Horizon, and the Chain by Sofia Samatar
This novella is another that uses space travel to look at the problems of fascism and classism. It focuses on a boy and a professor. The boy is one of the “chained,” the lower class who work in the bowels of a mining ship. But one day, when the boy is taken “upstairs” to attend university, he meets a professor descended from the chained. Together, maybe they can break the metaphorical chains that oppress so many on their ship.
The Siege of Burning Grass by Premee Mohamed
How do science fiction books examine war and nationalism? By telling stories set in worlds that resemble but are not our own. This book does just that. Alefret founded a passive resistance against his warmongering government and was imprisoned and tortured for his efforts. Now, he’s given a chance at freedom if he can only coax his former allies to violence. Torn between freedom and his beliefs, how can Alefret possibly navigate the world outside his prison cell?
These Fragile Graces, This Fugitive Heart by Izzy Wasserstein
This noir technothriller is a fun ride and one full of diverse representation. In a near-future Kansas City, Dora is heading back to her old commune after her ex-girlfriend is murdered. There’s so much more going on, though. A new drug is circulating, a war is about to break out between rival corporations, and more and more people are disappearing or dying. Only Dora can figure out how it’s all connected.
The Wings Upon Her Back by Samantha Mills
Mills has won multiple awards already on the back of her short fiction, and her debut novel is an unsurprising hit. Zenya always wanted to be a modified warrior, eventually earning her mechanical wings. After more than two decades of service, however, she’s become disillusioned as the government she serves has descended into fascism. When she shows uncharacteristic mercy, everything is taken from her, and she has to fight her way to the life she wants.
Womb City by Tlotlo Tsamaase
Last up, this dark cyberpunk novel takes a hard look at African society and feminism. Nelah lives in a body she wasn’t born in and is married to a man who peruses her memories each day, looking for infractions. Desperate to have a child and hiding an affair, a drug-fueled evening ends in horrible tragedy. After Nelah buries the body, a ghost appears to her, determined to hunt down her loved ones. Can Nelah save herself, along with the people she loves, and unravel the mystery behind it all?
You might also be interested in The Most Influential Sci-Fi Books of All Time and 20 of the Most Thought-Provoking, Philosophical Science Fiction Books.
