Answer Details

I'll search for some highly-reviewed recent science fiction novels to give you the best current recommendations.Based on recent reviews and awards, here are some excellent science fiction novels from 2024 that would make great recommendations: **Top Picks:** **"The Ministry of Time" by Kaliane Bradley** - This debut novel is a playful twist on time-travel romance, combining workplace comedy, roommate drama, espionage, and temporal physics. It's been widely praised and was a Goodreads Choice Awards favorite. **"In Ascension" by Martin MacInnes** - Described as a glorious novel that explores humanity's existence as the original science-fiction story full of wonder and awe. This one tackles big philosophical questions alongside compelling storytelling. **Short Fiction Collections:** **"Lake of Souls and Other Stories" by Ann Leckie** - A complete collection of Leckie's short fiction featuring masterfully told stories ranging from flash fiction to creation myths, with standout pieces like "She Commands Me and I Obey". Perfect if your friend enjoys the Imperial Radch series or wants to explore Leckie's work. **More Great Options:** **"Redwood and Wildfire" by Andrea Hairston** - A joyful novel set in a future where a brilliant former coder runs the Next World Festival with help from Circus-Bots (AI trained on her ancestors' memories), demonstrating that science fiction encompasses the technology of living and community. **"The Water Outlaws" by S.L. Huang** - An action-packed martial-arts epic that's also an intricate heist story and timely tale of resistance against tyranny, written with breathless pacing by a Hugo Award winner. These all received critical acclaim and offer different flavors of sci-fi—from time travel to space exploration to near-future societies. What kind of science fiction does your friend typically enjoy?