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This selection of highly-reviewed science fiction novels was published in 2023, 2024, and 2025. It includes award winners and critically acclaimed titles spanning different subgenres. Hard sci-fi and space opera Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir (2021): The sole survivor of a mission to save Earth awakens with amnesia. He must piece together his identity and task with help from an unlikely alien companion. This is a standalone adventure. The Kaiju Preservation Society by John Scalzi (2022): In this fast-paced story, a man escaping his mundane life gets a new job with an organization that protects giant, dinosaur-like monsters on an alternate Earth. Starter Villain by John Scalzi (2023): A divorced, disgruntled man inherits his uncle's business, only to discover his relative was a supervillain and he's now in charge of the empire. Translation State by Ann Leckie (2023): A standalone novel set in the same universe as Leckie's Hugo and Nebula Award-winning Imperial Radch series. A young scholar is tasked with finding a lost species of alien diplomats. The Mercy of Gods by James S. A. Corey (2024): The first book in The Captive's War series is a space opera about an alien-human war, featuring the intricate world-building of The Expanse series authors. Extremophile by Ian Green (2025): The survivors of a commercial space mission get marooned on an inhospitable alien moon and must fight for survival. Dystopian and post-apocalyptic The Ministry for the Future by Kim Stanley Robinson (2020): This novel chronicles the near-future effects of climate change through fictional eyewitness accounts. The story revolves around an international organization formed to protect future generations. The School for Good Mothers by Jessamine Chan (2022): In a dystopian society, mothers deemed unfit by the state are sent to a government reform program to fight for their children. Upgrade by Blake Crouch (2022): A man discovers that his genes have been edited, giving him superhuman abilities, and must uncover a wider conspiracy that threatens humanity. Chain-Gang All-Stars by Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah (2023): In this biting social satire, two female prisoners compete for their freedom by participating in a televised fight to the death. Cozy and introspective sci-fi A Psalm for the Wild-Built by Becky Chambers (2021): The first book in the Monk & Robot series follows a nonbinary tea monk whose life is upended by the arrival of a robot looking to understand humanity. Klara and the Sun by Kazuo Ishiguro (2021): This novel is narrated by Klara, an Artificial Friend who is purchased by a family to be a companion for their young daughter. Klara observes human behavior and ponders the nature of love. Sea of Tranquility by Emily St. John Mandel (2022): A story weaving through time and space, from a colony on the moon to Vancouver Island in the 1900s, explores art, time travel, and plague. Short stories and novellas Stories of Your Life and Others by Ted Chiang (republished 2023): A collection of acclaimed short fiction, including the story that inspired the movie Arrival. This new edition includes bonus material and a new introduction. Rose/House by Arkady Martine (2024): A novella about a house that is also an AI. The AI communicates only with a former protégé of its dead architect, until a murder forces an investigation. The Saint of Bright Doors by Vajra Chandrasekera (2023): A Hugo Award-nominated novel involving a man seeking his estranged cult-leader father in a strange, magical city.