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I'll search for highly-reviewed science fiction novels published recently to give you the best current recommendations.Based on the search results, here are some excellent recently published science fiction novels to recommend to your friend: ## Award Winners & Highly Acclaimed **Witch King by Martha Wells** - This novel ranked #62 on an all-time greats list comparing award-winning science fiction novels across decades, making it one of the top novels of 2024. **System Collapse by Martha Wells** - The seventh book in the Murderbot Diaries series won the 2024 Locus Award for Best Sci Fi Novel. The series has earned numerous Hugo and Nebula awards, with the first novella being a great starting point. **In Ascension by Martin MacInnes** - This literary science fiction novel won the Arthur C Clarke Award for Best Novel and was also nominated for the Booker Prize. It balances family relationships and personal experience with scientific exploration, meditating on the wonder and strangeness of biological life. ## Other Standout 2024 Releases **The Jaguar by Natasha Pulley** - Described as featuring Snowpiercer-like social commentary, this novel is set in towers off the coast of Africa after rising ocean levels, where those at the top hold power while society's dregs live below. **Redwood and Wildfire by Andrea Hairston** - This joyful novel reminds readers that even if the world ends, people will find each other, make art, and move forward, featuring a festival organizer with AI creations trained on ancestral memories. **Yours for the Taking by Gabrielle Korn** - A feminist masterwork about Annie, designed to be the perfect girlfriend for Doug, who begins questioning her role as she develops. These span different subgenres from space opera to climate fiction to philosophical explorations, so you should be able to find something that matches your friend's specific tastes!