Answer Details

I'll search for the best recently published science fiction novels that have received strong reviews.Let me search for more information about 2025 releases as well.Based on my search, here are some excellent highly-reviewed science fiction novels from 2024 and 2025 that would make great recommendations: ## Recent Award Winners & Critical Favorites (2024) **"In Ascension" by Martin MacInnes** - Winner of the Arthur C Clarke Award and also nominated for the Booker Prize, this literary science fiction novel follows a deep-sea dive researcher on a journey of scientific exploration that meditates on the wonder and strangeness of biological life **"System Collapse" by Martha Wells** - The seventh Murderbot Diaries book won the Locus Award for Best Sci-Fi Novel, continuing the beloved series about a self-aware security robot **"Witch King" by Martha Wells** - An intimate, character-driven fantasy that slots in at #62 on the all-time greats ranking ## Strong 2024 Releases **"The Daughters' War" by Christopher Buehlman** - Features massive sentient war ravens and a compelling protagonist in an epic war story with a feminist lens **"Redwood and Wildfire" by Andrea Hairston** - A joyful novel about festival organizer Cinnamon Jones and her Circus-Bots in a future where community and technology intersect ## Exciting 2025 Releases **"Death of the Author" by Nnedi Okorafor** - Described as arguably her best work, this meta-fictional novel follows a Nigerian author whose sci-fi debut about an AI apocalypse brings unexpected fame when life imitates art **"The Fourth Consort" by Edward Ashton** - From the author of Mickey7, featuring dry, dark humor as a human representative navigates complicated politics between alien civilizations **"Sunrise on the Reaping" by Suzanne Collins** - The highly anticipated Hunger Games prequel following Haymitch Abernathy's victory in the second quarter quell These books span different subgenres—from literary sci-fi to space opera to character-driven adventures—so you could pick based on what your friend typically enjoys!