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I'll search for the best recent science fiction novels with strong reviews to give you current recommendations.Based on recent reviews and awards, here are some excellent science fiction novels to recommend to your friend: ## Top Award Winners & Critical Favorites **System Collapse** by Martha Wells won the 2024 Locus Award for Best Sci Fi Novel, continuing the beloved Murderbot Diaries series. The series follows "Murderbot," a self-styled nickname for a former security unit robot that has slipped its control program and acts as an independent agent. **In Ascension** by Martin MacInnes won the 2024 Arthur C Clarke Award and was nominated for the Booker Prize. This literary work balances family relationships and personal experience with scientific exploration, using hard science for meditation on the wonder and strangeness of biological life. **Witch King** by Martha Wells ranked among the all-time greats, offering another strong work from the acclaimed author. ## Other Highly-Reviewed 2024 Releases **In Ascension** (published 2024) was praised as "glorious," with MacInnes writing that "The original science-fiction story—the impossible adventure full of wonder and awe—was merely the existence of the species". **Lake of Souls and Spirits** by Andrea Hairston was described as "an absolute joy of a novel—a reminder that even if the world as we know it ends, people will find each other, make art, remember, and move forward". Ann Leckie's complete short fiction collection was called "unmissable," with stories ranging from flash fiction to creation myths from her Imperial Radch universe. These books offer diverse approaches to science fiction—from robot protagonists to deep-sea exploration to philosophical meditations on humanity—so there should be something that matches your friend's interests!