• The Best Science Fiction: The 2024 Arthur C. Clarke Award Shortlist - Chain Gang All Stars: A Novel by Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah
  • The Best Science Fiction: The 2024 Arthur C. Clarke Award Shortlist - The Ten Percent Thief by Lavanya Lakshminarayan
  • The Best Science Fiction: The 2024 Arthur C. Clarke Award Shortlist - In Ascension by Martin MacInnes
  • The Best Science Fiction: The 2024 Arthur C. Clarke Award Shortlist - The Mountain in the Sea by Ray Nayler
  • The Best Science Fiction: The 2024 Arthur C. Clarke Award Shortlist - Some Desperate Glory by Emily Tesh
  • The Best Science Fiction: The 2024 Arthur C. Clarke Award Shortlist - Corey Fah Does Social Mobility: A Novel by Isabel Waidner

The Best Science Fiction: The 2024 Arthur C. Clarke Award Shortlist, recommended by Andrew M. Butler

Every year, the judges for the Arthur C. Clarke Award highlight the best of the latest batch of science fiction books. In 2024, the six-strong shortlist includes an exploration of octopus intelligence, a queer space opera, and a dystopian novel hailed as the new Hunger Games. Andrew M. Butler, academic and chair of the judges, talks us through the finalists for the title of sci fi novel of the year.  See all our science fiction and  best novels of 2024 recommendations

  • The Best Sci-Fi & Fantasy Novels - Translation State by Ann Leckie
  • The Best Sci-Fi & Fantasy Novels - Witch King by Martha Wells
  • The Best Sci-Fi & Fantasy Novels - The Saint of Bright Doors by Vajra Chandrasekera
  • The Best Sci-Fi & Fantasy Novels - The Adventures of Amina al-Sirafi: A Novel by Shannon Chakraborty
  • The Best Sci-Fi & Fantasy Novels - Starter Villain by John Scalzi
  • The Best Sci-Fi & Fantasy Novels - Some Desperate Glory by Emily Tesh

The Best Sci-Fi & Fantasy Novels, as Chosen by Fans: the 2024 Hugo Award, recommended by Sylvia Bishop

Every year, members of the World Science Fiction Society nominate writers for the Hugo Award, then vote for the winner. All speculative fiction is eligible – fantasy as well as sci-fi – and the shortlist is one of the most prestigious for both genres. Here, Sylvia Bishop introduces us to the nominees for the title of the best speculative novel of 2024 – and the page-turning champion.

  • The Best Sci Fi Books on Space Settlement - Parable of the Talents by Octavia E. Butler
  • The Best Sci Fi Books on Space Settlement - The Calculating Stars by Mary Robinette Kowal
  • The Best Sci Fi Books on Space Settlement - Cibola Burn by James S. A. Corey
  • The Best Sci Fi Books on Space Settlement - Red Mars by Kim Stanley Robinson
  • The Best Sci Fi Books on Space Settlement - The Word for World is Forest by Ursula Le Guin

The Best Sci Fi Books on Space Settlement, recommended by Erika Nesvold

We look to the stars and imagine a new home for humanity, an escape from the troubles that plague us here on Earth, but as astrophysicist Erika Nesvold points out, many of our problems will join us on our voyage. Here, she selects five science fiction books that illuminate the challenges and possible conflicts we’ll face if we head for this new frontier.   

  • The Best Science Fiction Books About Aliens - Star Maker by Olaf Stapledon
  • The Best Science Fiction Books About Aliens - Solaris by Stanisław Lem
  • The Best Science Fiction Books About Aliens - Semiosis by Sue Burke
  • The Best Science Fiction Books About Aliens - The Sparrow by Maria Doria Russell
  • The Best Science Fiction Books About Aliens - Embassytown by China Miéville

The Best Science Fiction Books About Aliens, recommended by Jaime Green

Science fiction helps us work through not only the possibilities of the cosmos but also the nature of humanity itself, argues Jaime Green—science writer and author of a new book on the search for alien biology, The Possibility of Life. Here she highlights five classic works of sci-fi that explore ideas of consciousness and communication in the setting of outer space.

  • The Best Philip K. Dick Books - Solar Lottery by Philip K Dick
  • The Best Philip K. Dick Books - The Man in the High Castle by Philip K Dick
  • The Best Philip K. Dick Books - The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch by Philip K Dick
  • The Best Philip K. Dick Books - Ubik by Philip K Dick
  • The Best Philip K. Dick Books - A Scanner Darkly by Philip K Dick

The Best Philip K. Dick Books, recommended by David Hyde

Philip K. Dick was a prolific sci fi writer, publishing 44 novels and over a hundred short stories. Once hooked, you’ll devour them all, says David Hyde, the publisher and festival organiser better known as ‘Lord Running Clam’ within the lively fan community. Here, he introduces us to his top five books by Philip K. Dick: novels featuring alternate realities, ambiguous endings and philosophical questions that are puzzling new generations of fans.

  • The Best Science Fiction of 2023: The Arthur C. Clarke Award Shortlist - Venomous Lumpsucker: A Novel by Ned Beauman
  • The Best Science Fiction of 2023: The Arthur C. Clarke Award Shortlist - The Red Scholar's Wake by Aliette de Bodard
  • The Best Science Fiction of 2023: The Arthur C. Clarke Award Shortlist - Plutoshine by Lucy Kissick
  • The Best Science Fiction of 2023: The Arthur C. Clarke Award Shortlist - The Anomaly by Hervé le Tellier, translated by Adriana Hunter
  • The Best Science Fiction of 2023: The Arthur C. Clarke Award Shortlist - The Coral Bones by E.J. Swift
  • The Best Science Fiction of 2023: The Arthur C. Clarke Award Shortlist - Metronome by Tom Watson

The Best Science Fiction of 2023: The Arthur C. Clarke Award Shortlist, recommended by Tom Hunter

Every year, the judges of the Arthur C Clarke Award select the best sci-fi novels of the previous twelve months. We asked prize director Tom Hunter to talk us through the six science fiction books that made the 2023 shortlist—including a space opera romance and a high-concept action thriller that has already won the most prestigious award in Francophone literature.