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Some of the most highly-reviewed and recently published science fiction novels from 2024 and 2025 span thrilling space operas, thought-provoking dystopias, and deep explorations of human nature. Notable titles include the winner of the 2024 Arthur C. Clarke Award and several others that have been featured on best-of lists by major publications and reader communities like Goodreads. Critically-acclaimed novels from 2025 The Ministry of Time by Kaliane Bradley: This novel follows a civil servant who is tasked with assisting people scooped out of the past and brought to the present. When she is assigned Commander Graham Gore from the Arctic, the two navigate a powerful—and sometimes paradoxical—love story. The book has been lauded for its captivating character development and unique twist on time travel. Annie Bot by Sierra Greer: A nominee for the 2025 Arthur C. Clarke Award, this novel explores AI ethics from the perspective of an android companion. After years of being a manufactured housewife, Annie starts to question her purpose and her increasingly cruel husband, in a story that readers compare to a modern, more isolated version of The Stepford Wives. Every Version of You by Grace Chan: Set in a late 21st-century Australia ravaged by climate change, this novel explores a society where most people live in a virtual reality known as "Gaia". When new technology offers a permanent upload to the digital world, the main character must decide if she and her partner should leave reality behind forever. It is described as a brilliant and moving novel that lingers with the reader. Service Model by Adrian Tchaikovsky: In this story, an android designed to serve humans is faced with an impossible situation: his purpose has become obsolete. To find a new existence, he must deal with the humans who created him and who now want him destroyed. It was a nominee for the 2025 Arthur C. Clarke Award. Extremophile by Ian Green: This novel is set in a near-future world dealing with climate catastrophe. The story follows a deep-sea biologist on an epic journey, which one critic compared to the vast scale of the movie Dune. Thirteen Ways to Kill Lulabelle Rock by Maud Woolf: A nominee for the 2025 Arthur C. Clarke Award, this narrative-bending novel explores identity and storytelling through the story of a rock star. Highly-reviewed novels from 2024 The Mountain in the Sea by Ray Nayler: Blending a speculative thriller with an environmental theme, this novel focuses on a research team making first contact with a sentient species of octopus. It explores the nature of consciousness and what it means to be human from a profoundly alien perspective. Some Desperate Glory by Emily Tesh: Praised as a "queer space opera," this novel follows a young warrior raised in a militaristic society designed to avenge humanity. The story deals with finding one's own truth amid a legacy of violence and a thirst for revenge. Chain Gang All-Stars by Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah: This dystopian novel, a finalist for the 2024 Arthur C. Clarke Award, takes place in a world where incarcerated individuals fight to the death on live television. It is a powerful and harrowing critique of the justice system and racial inequality in America. Juice by Tim Winton: This acclaimed novel asks what it means to be human when a character's body has been remade by nanite technology, rendering them immortal. The story delves into themes of love, loss, and the nature of humanity, and was named one of the best sci-fi books of 2024 by The Guardian. Three Eight One by Aliya Whiteley: A sci-fi story that explores themes of transformation and identity, with one reviewer noting how the author masterfully explores the nature of language and being human.