Answer Details

I'll search for highly-reviewed recent science fiction novels to give you the best current recommendations.Based on the recent reviews and awards, here are some excellent science fiction novels to recommend to your friend: **Top Recent Picks:** **The Ministry of Time by Kaliane Bradley** (2024) - A playful debut novel that blends time-travel romance with workplace comedy, roommate drama, espionage, and temporal physics. This was a Goodreads Choice Awards favorite. **Translation State by Ann Leckie** (2024) - A Nebula Award nominee from the Hugo Award-winning author, known for how seemingly minor details have extraordinary significance on larger scales. Her complete short fiction collection is also highly praised. **The Water Outlaws by S.L. Huang** - A Hugo Award winner that's described as a boisterous martial-arts epic and intricate heist story, with breathless pacing written by someone who's also a Hollywood stunt performer. **In Ascension by Martin MacInnes** (2024) - Described as glorious, exploring big philosophical questions about humanity's existence and who we might become. **Absolution by Jeff VanderMeer** (2024) - The surprise fourth volume in the popular Southern Reach series, with three parts taking readers on new expeditions with long-awaited answers. **Redwood and Wildfire by Andrea Hairston** (2024) - A joyful novel about a future festival with Circus-Bots trained on ancestral memories, demonstrating that science fiction is about the technology of living and community. These books cover a great range—from time travel and space opera to climate fiction and philosophical exploration—so there should be something to match your friend's interests!