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If you’re looking for recent science-fiction novels with strong reviews to send your friend, here are five excellent picks — all published in the last couple of years and widely praised. 1. In Ascension by Martin MacInnes 6 Why it stands out Covers a sweeping journey from deep-sea exploration to space travel, anchored by a marine biologist protagonist who investigates life’s origins. Leading Authors of Today Magazine +1 Praised as both “intellectually rich” and emotionally grounded. Kirkus Reviews Winner of the Arthur C. Clarke Award and long-listed for the Booker Prize, marking it as highly regarded. Goodreads +1 Fit for your friend if they like literary SF, big ideas, science-driven plots and thoughtful character arcs. 2. Alien Clay by Adrian Tchaikovsky 6 Why it stands out A 2024 release set on a brutal alien planet (Kiln) where human dissidents are exiled. The biologist protagonist’s research uncovers weird alien life and oppressive regimes. Wikipedia +2 Fantasy-Hive +2 Reviewers highlight its vivid alien world-building and its engagement with themes of resistance and authoritarianism. Fantasy Literature Fit for your friend if they like darker, high-concept SF with speculative biology, harsh settings and moral complexity. 3. Some Desperate Glory by Emily Tesh 6 Why it stands out Published in 2023, this is a standout space-opera debut from Emily Tesh. It won the Hugo Award for Best Novel. Wikipedia It features a richly imagined alien empire, human survivors post-war, and a blend of interspecies politics and personal stakes. Fit for your friend if they enjoy immersive space operas with novel ideas, strong world-building and award recognition. 4. The Splinter in the Sky by Kemi Ashing‑Giwa 6 Why it stands out A debut novel (2023) that blends space opera with anti-colonial themes. Kirkus Reviews +1 Features a protagonist who is a scribe/tea-expert turned spy, navigating a colonised moon and empire politics. Lightspeed Magazine Fit for your friend if they like fresh voices, strong thematic work around empire and identity, and relatively shorter standalone reads. 5. Chain‑Gang All‑Stars by Nana Kwame Adjei‑Brenyah 6 Why it stands out Published 2023; a dystopian SF novel about incarcerated individuals forced into televised death-matches in an imagined America. Wikipedia Critically acclaimed (finalist for the National Book Award) and packs social critique into speculative fiction. Fit for your friend if they lean toward provocative, edgy speculative fiction that intersects with social justice and dystopian themes. If you like, I can pull together 10 more suggestions (with a broader range of styles: hard sci-fi, space opera, climate fiction, debut authors) and include links/significant recent releases specifically from 2024-25. Would you like that?