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The Read Harder Halfway Check-In Survey generated a ton of useful information, but the best part has been looking through your favorite books you’ve read for the challenge so far this year.
One of the tasks that was the most successful in terms of inspiring your favorite reads of the year was task #5: Read a sci-fi novella. Eight of you read your favorite book of the year based on that task — including two people who answered with the Murderbot series by Martha Wells, so that’s the clear winner!
In fact, there were so many people who named favorite sci-fi novellas that I decided to give them their own round-up. Some of these are ones I recommended, and I feel all warm and fuzzy about those successful recommendations. Others, though, are sci-fi novellas you discovered for yourself.
If you’re still looking for a book to complete this task with — or you’re a new fan of sci-fi novellas in general — I’ve also included a handful of new upcoming sci-fi novellas, like Navigational Entanglements by Aliette de Bodard, to add to your TBR.
The Tusks of Extinction by Ray Nayler
This one was not on the original list, but it’s on my TBR now! It’s a sci-fi thriller about mammoths, which have been brought back from extinction. Their new matriarch is Dr. Damira Khismatullina, an elephant behaviorist who died while trying to protect the last remaining elephants from ivory poachers. Now, her digitized consciousness has been uploaded into a mammoth’s brain, but can she protect her herd from poachers? And what is the real reason Moscow has brought mammoths back from extinction?
And What Can We Offer You Tonight by Premee Mohamed
This 80-page Nebula award-winning novella takes place in a dystopian future, where Jewel works as a courtesan. When her friend is murdered by a client — and then somehow comes back to life — she’s determined to get revenge. This was published by Neon Hemlock Press, which puts out a ton of great queer speculative fiction.
What’s your favorite sci-fi novella? Let’s chat in the comments!
