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I'll help you find some excellent recent science fiction novels for your friend! Here are some highly-reviewed sci-fi books from the past few years that have garnered critical acclaim and reader enthusiasm: Starter Packs by Recent Years: From 2023-2024: Translation State by Ann Leckie - A standalone novel set in her Imperial Radch universe, exploring identity and what it means to be human through alien perspectives The Saint of Bright Doors by Vajra Chandrasekera - A genre-bending debut that mixes fantasy and sci-fi elements with South Asian influences Some Desperate Glory by Emily Tesh - A space opera that deconstructs military sci-fi tropes with a compelling unreliable narrator Starter Villain by John Scalzi - A fun, accessible novel about inheriting a supervillain business (great for newcomers to sci-fi) From 2021-2022: The Kaiju Preservation Society by John Scalzi - A lighthearted adventure about interdimensional monsters Sea of Tranquility by Emily St. John Mandel - Time travel and pandemics across centuries, from the author of Station Eleven Nona the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir - Part of the beloved Locked Tomb series (though they'd need to start with Gideon the Ninth) For Different Tastes: If they like philosophical/literary sci-fi: Klara and the Sun by Kazuo Ishiguro (2021) If they enjoy space opera: Light From Uncommon Stars by Ryka Aoki (2021) - combines sci-fi with fantasy elements and features a trans protagonist If they want climate fiction: The Ministry for the Future by Kim Stanley Robinson (2020) - still highly relevant and discussed The books by Scalzi are particularly good entry points if your friend is newer to the genre, while the Leckie and Tesh novels offer more complexity for experienced readers. Would any particular subgenre or theme especially appeal to your friend?