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This selection of highly-reviewed, recently published science fiction novels includes recent award winners and critically acclaimed hits from 2023, 2024, and 2025. Award-winning and most-recommended hits Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir (2021): In this best-selling novel from the author of The Martian, a sole survivor wakes up from a coma with no memory and must piece together the mission he was on to save humanity. The Murderbot Diaries series by Martha Wells (series ongoing, recent additions from 2023 and 2025): This fan-favorite and multiple award-winning series follows a socially awkward, self-hacking security android who calls itself "Murderbot" and just wants to be left alone to watch its media. Children of Time by Adrian Tchaikovsky (2015, sequel Children of Ruin published in 2019): This acclaimed novel follows humanity's last survivors in search of a new home, only to find a world where uplifted spiders have built their own civilization. A Memory Called Empire by Arkady Martine (2019): The first book in the Teixcalaan series follows a newly appointed ambassador who must investigate her predecessor's death in a galactic empire. It won the Hugo Award for Best Novel in 2020. The Space Between Worlds by Micaiah Johnson (2020): This multiverse-hopping novel follows Cara, who can travel to other worlds where her alternate selves have died, until one of her remaining doubles dies under mysterious circumstances. The Mountain in the Sea by Ray Nayler (2022): An AI expert must communicate with a newly discovered species of intelligent octopuses, navigating both philosophical and technological challenges. Critically praised releases from 2024 and 2025 The Ministry of Time by Kaliane Bradley (2024): This time-travel novel follows a civil servant tasked with integrating "expats" from the past into modern-day London, including a Victorian polar explorer. Annie Bot by Sierra Greer (2024): A story told from the perspective of an android companion, this novel explores themes of humanity, connection, and what it means to be alive. Absolution by Jeff VanderMeer (2025): The surprise fourth volume in the Southern Reach series returns to the mysterious Area X, a coastal region that has been blocked off from human contact for decades. Service Model by Adrian Tchaikovsky (2025): Another inventive standalone from Tchaikovsky, this novel examines the nature of intelligence in a post-human world. Popular series to consider The Expanse series by James S.A. Corey: A sprawling, multi-volume space opera that has been adapted into a television series. Start with Leviathan Wakes (2011). The Locked Tomb series by Tamsyn Muir (series ongoing, recent additions from 2022): A unique blend of sci-fi and fantasy, this series features necromancers in space with a dark and witty tone.