Space to read: the best science fiction novels of the year
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So: what were the best works of science fiction published this year? I will start with two new books that aren’t actually new, but have only just been published in English.
First up is Ice by Jacek Dukaj, originally published to great acclaim in Poland all the way back in 2007. It is an alternative history set in Europe in the early 1920s. A terrible winter grips the land, and the cause of it may be something very alien. Our hero must set out on the Trans-Siberian Express to find out what’s going on.
The vibe of the book is a little bit like Philip Pullman’s His Dark Materials, if you can imagine Pullman’s trilogy rewritten as a piece of early Russian literature, and also rendered dark and adult, with many of its sentences extended until they are three pages long.
I prefer my sentences short. However, if you are interested in an important and wildly inventive work of sci-fi and unafraid of a long and challenging read, this might be for you.
Second is Beasts of the Sea by Iida Turpeinen, a sensation when it was published in Finland in 2023. It is a novel about science rather than a work of science fiction, but it is beautifully written, and an almost ludicrously easy read compared with Ice. It is a story about the natural world and environmental destruction, told through the fate of the now-extinct Steller’s sea cow. It would make a wonderful seasonal gift for someone who likes books (fiction or non-fiction) about sea voyages in the 1700s and the early days of scientific discovery.
Now I come to the books that have stayed with me from earlier in the year, which I would press eagerly into the hands of any sci-fi reader.
My stand-out new sci-fi of the year is Slow Gods, the first work of science fiction from the acclaimed author Claire North.
New sci-fi these days is often compared to the work of the late Iain M. Banks, for the simple reason that publishers know there are a lot of Banks fans out there. Normally the comparison is a stretch, but Slow Gods has the range and pluck to deserve it.
Sticking with books in the classic sci-fi mould, I would also recommend Here and Beyond by Hal LaCroix for anyone who is a sucker for a generation ark ship story, as I am.
What We Can Know by Ian McEwan is far from classic sci-fi, but it is set in the future in a drowned version of England, so it counts as speculative, environmental and dystopian fiction, I suppose, and as such lies firmly within my purview. Even if you don’t think of yourself as a McEwan fan, I think this is well worth reading; so many aspects of it have stayed with me.
Another (very different) new work that can also be described as speculative, environmental and dystopian is Briefly Very Beautiful, a terrific debut from Roz Dineen in which the UK is now very hot.
If you like short stories and essays about reading, writing and sci-fi, I thoroughly recommend A View from the Stars by Cixin Liu, the blockbuster author of The Three-Body Problem. This collection of fiction and non-fiction underlines what an amazing writer and thinker Liu is.
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New sci-fi is often compared to the work of Iain M. Banks. Slow Gods has the range and pluck to deserve it
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On the future-tech front, I loved Somebody Like Me by Lucy Lapinska (which explores robot rights) and Every Version of You by Grace Chan (a fresh take on humanity diving into an all-digital future).
Finally, I read three old classics this year that more than stood up to the test of time, if you want some gift ideas for fledgling sci-fi fans: The Prestige by Christopher Priest (a mind-bending puzzle), Neuromancer by William Gibson (it launched the cyberpunk movement, but it is still entirely relevant and unbeaten) and The Draco Tavern by Larry Niven (interlinked short stories dripping with astounding ideas).
Happy reading to you all!
Emily H. Wilson is the author of The Sumerians trilogy, historical fantasy novels set in Sumer. She is currently working on her first sci-fi novel
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