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Here are **five** highly-reviewed **recent** science fiction novels (published in 2024–2025) that would make excellent suggestions for your friend: --- ### 1. Annie Bot by Sierra Greer (2024) A tightly-wound, thought-provoking novel told from the perspective of a robot engineered to be a human partner. The book explores themes of autonomy, identity and abuse through speculative technology. ([What Is Quinn Reading?][1]) **Why it stands out:** The novel won the prestigious Arthur C. Clarke Award for best science fiction in the UK in 2025. ([The Guardian][2]) **Good to know:** While it has strong ideas, some readers found the ending less satisfying. ([Reddit][3]) --- ### 2. The Ministry of Time by Kaliane Bradley (2024) A genre-blending debut: part time-travel thriller, part romance, part workplace drama. The story centres on a British Cambodian civil servant working in a secret department that handles “expats” from the past who’ve been brought to the present. ([The Guardian][4]) **Why it stands out:** It’s been described by critics as “seriously fun sci-fi rom-com” and was widely anticipated. ([The Guardian][4]) **Good to know:** Some reviews point out that the sci-fi mechanics feel secondary and the tone oscillates between genres. ([Tar Vol on][5]) --- ### 3. Extremophile by Ian Green (2024) A gritty, fast-paced near-future London story set amidst climate collapse, biohacking, corporate dystopia and punk culture. ([No Rerolls][6]) **Why it stands out:** Reviewers call it immersive, punchy, and vibrant in style. ([fanfiaddict.com][7]) **Good to know:** It is stylistically bold, and that means it may require a comfortable tolerance for gritty themes, fast plotting, and less hand-holding. --- ### 4. Alien Clay by Adrian Tchaikovsky (2024) An ambitious and deeply speculative novel: a biologist is exiled to an alien labour camp on a planet where life forms hybridise and evolve in weird ways. It’s part prison-camp narrative, part first-contact/alien-biology speculation. ([Wikipedia][8]) **Why it stands out:** The novel has been highly praised for its originality and thought-provoking themes of authoritarianism, biology, and resistance. ([Wikipedia][8]) **Good to know:** It’s quite concept-heavy, and the demands on the reader (in terms of world-building and speculative biology) are higher than a light read. --- ### 5. Dissolution by Nicholas Binge (2025) A time-loop / memory-erasure thriller: A man realises his Alzheimer’s is a cover for something more sinister, and a “Dissolution Engine” loops short moments in time. ([Wikipedia][9]) **Why it stands out:** The novel has been called “mind-blowing” and compared to the work of Philip K. Dick. ([Wikipedia][9]) **Good to know:** The themes are heavy (memory, time, reality, identity) and the book doesn’t offer a neat, comforting ending. --- If you like, I can **pull a longer list** (say 10-15 titles) with a variety of sub-genres (space opera, cyberpunk, climate-SF, etc.), with links and mini-reviews. Would you like that? [1]: https://www.whatisquinnreading.com/reviews/annie-bot-book-review?utm_source=chatgpt.com "Sci-Fi Book Review: 'Annie Bot' by Sierra Greer" [2]: https://www.theguardian.com/books/2025/jun/25/arthur-c-clarke-science-fiction-award-annie-bot-sierra-greer?utm_source=chatgpt.com "'Intense' novel about robot abused by her boyfriend/owner wins Arthur C Clarke science fiction award" [3]: https://www.reddit.com/r/bookofthemonthclub/comments/1bq0eb8/thoughts_on_annie_bot/?utm_source=chatgpt.com "Thoughts on Annie Bot? : r/bookofthemonthclub" [4]: https://www.theguardian.com/books/2024/may/03/the-ministry-of-time-by-kaliane-bradley-review-a-seriously-fun-sci-fi-romcom?utm_source=chatgpt.com "The Ministry of Time by Kaliane Bradley review" [5]: https://www.tarvolon.com/2024/12/19/sci-fi-novel-review-the-ministry-of-time-by-kaliane-bradley/?utm_source=chatgpt.com "Sci-fi Novel Review: The Ministry of Time by Kaliane Bradley" [6]: https://norerolls.co.uk/2024/07/27/book-review-extremophile-by-ian-green/?utm_source=chatgpt.com "Book Review: Extremophile by Ian Green" [7]: https://fanfiaddict.com/review-extremophile-by-ian-green/?utm_source=chatgpt.com "Review: Extremophile by Ian Green" [8]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alien_Clay?utm_source=chatgpt.com "Alien Clay" [9]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dissolution_%28Binge_novel%29?utm_source=chatgpt.com "Dissolution (Binge novel)"