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I'll search for the best recent science fiction novels to give you current, highly-reviewed recommendations.Based on recent reviews and awards, here are some excellent science fiction novels to recommend to your friend: ## Top Recent Releases: **The Ministry of Time by Kaliane Bradley** (2024) This debut novel is a playful twist on time-travel romance with elements of workplace comedy, roommate drama, espionage, and temporal physics. Critics have called it edgy, playful, provocative, and the most thought-provoking romance novel of the summer. **The Tainted Cup by Robert Jackson Bennett** (2024) This novel offers Snowpiercer-like social commentary, set in towers jutting from the Atlantic where the wealthy live at the top while society's dregs live below, and an ancient power awakens the long-dead enslaved. **In Ascension by Martin MacInnes** (2024) A glorious novel that explores big questions with universe-spanning stakes and philosophy, following Anna, a survivor turned office worker who has a close encounter with a multi-headed serpent alien. **Translation State by Ann Leckie** (2024) The complete collection of Leckie's short fiction features all work from the author of the critically adored Imperial Radch series, plus the brand new novelette "Lake of Souls". **Absolution by Jeff VanderMeer** (2024) The surprise fourth volume in one of the most popular sci-fi series plunges readers back into the Southern Reach universe, with three expeditions providing long-awaited answers and new surprises. These books span different subgenres—time travel, climate fiction, space opera, and mysterious alien encounters—so there's something for various tastes!