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I'll search for highly-reviewed recent science fiction novels to give you current recommendations.Based on the recent reviews and awards, here are some excellent science fiction novels from 2024 that would make great recommendations: **Top Picks:** **Witch King** by Martha Wells - This ranked highly among 2024's releases and comes from the author of the beloved Murderbot Diaries series. Wells' Murderbot series has won multiple Hugo, Nebula, and Locus awards, so her work is consistently excellent. **In Ascension** by Martin MacInnes - Winner of the Arthur C Clarke Award and nominated for the Booker Prize, this literary science fiction novel combines hard science with deep character exploration and family relationships, focusing on the wonder of biological life and scientific exploration. **Master Mage** by Malka Older - The book opens with "There are other ways to live," exploring different possibilities for how humans might thrive and fits into this year's theme of examining alternative futures. **The Archive Undying** by Emma Mieko Candon - Features big action with universe-spanning stakes and philosophical depth, following Anna's encounter with a many-headed alien serpent named Ssrin as a strange broadcast fills the universe. **The Brill-Boy Book of Martyrs** by Andrea Hairston - A joyful novel featuring former coder Cinnamon Jones running the Next World Festival with help from Circus-Bots (AI trained on her ancestors' memories), border collies, and a Ghost Mall full of community leaders. These books have all received strong critical acclaim and represent the diverse range of science fiction published in 2024—from space opera to climate fiction to literary sci-fi. Which themes interest your friend most?