Standalone Fantasy & Science Fiction Reads for Adults

Updated May 14, 2025
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Babel : or the necessity of violence : an arcane history of the Oxford Translators' Revolution
Kuang, R. F.
Paper Book
Instant #1 New York Times Bestseller from the author of The Poppy War "Absolutely phenomenal. One of the most brilliant, razor-sharp books I've had the pleasure of reading that isn't just an alternative fantastical history, but an interrogative one; one that grabs colonial...
This is how you lose the time war
El-Mohtar, Amal
Paper Book
WINNER OF Hugo Award for Best Novella Nebula Award for Best Novella Reddit Stabby Award for Best Novella British Science Fiction Association Award for Best Novella SHORTLISTED FOR 2020 Theodore Sturgeon...
Project Hail Mary
Weir, Andy
Paper Book
THE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLING NOVEL A BARACK OBAMA READING PICK SOON TO BE A MAJOR MOTION PICTURE STARRING RYAN GOSLING A lone astronaut. An impossible mission. An ally he never imagined. ...
The Raven tower
Leckie, Ann
Paper Book
SHORTLISTED FOR THE 2020 WORLD FANTASY AWARD Gods meddle in the fates of men, men play with the fates of gods, and a pretender must be cast down from the throne in this masterful first fantasy novel from Ann Leckie, New York Times...
Recursion : a novel
Crouch, Blake
Paper Book
'Action-packed, brilliantly unique' - Andy Weir, author of The Martian A compulsive, mind-bending exploration of memory and what it means to be human, Recursion is a breathtaking thriller from the author of Dark Matter, Blake Crouch. At...
Upgrade : a novel
Crouch, Blake
Paper Book
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER * "If Michael Crichton had written a superhero novel, it would look a lot like Upgrade."--The New York Times Book Review "You don't so much sympathize with the main character as live inside his skin."--DIANA GABALDON, #1 New York...
Dark matter : a novel
Crouch, Blake
Paper Book
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER * OVER ONE MILLION COPIES SOLD! * NOW STREAMING ON APPLE TV+ A "mind-blowing" (Entertainment Weekly) speculative thriller about an ordinary man who awakens in a world inexplicably different from the reality he thought he knew--from the...
Uprooted
Novik, Naomi
Paper Book
'Bewitching' - Gregory Maguire, author of Wicked A dark enchantment blights the land in the award-winning Uprooted - a captivating fantasy inspired by fairy tales and steeped in Slavic folklore. From the author of A Deadly Education and His...
The Martian
Weir, Andy
Paper Book
#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER * NOW A MAJOR MOTION PICTURE A mission to Mars. A freak accident. One man's struggle to survive. From the author of Project Hail Mary comes "a hugely entertaining novel that reads like a rocket ship afire" (Chicago Tribune).<...
Starter villain
Scalzi, John
Paper Book
Ink blood sister scribe
Törzs, Emma
Paper Book
Not all books should be opened. 'A book of magic about books of magic . . . a bold, new novel from an extraordinary new voice.' Marlon James, Sunday Times bestselling author of Black Leopard, Red Wolf Joanna Kalotay lives alone in the...
The starless sea
Morgenstern, Erin
Paper Book
NATIONAL BESTSELLER * From the bestselling author of The Night Circus, a timeless love story set in a secret underground world--a place of pirates, painters, lovers, liars, and ships that sail upon a starless sea. "[A] gorgeously written epic love story, filled with magic and...
The starless sea
Morgenstern, Erin
Paper Book
NATIONAL BESTSELLER * From the bestselling author of The Night Circus, a timeless love story set in a secret underground world--a place of pirates, painters, lovers, liars, and ships that sail upon a starless sea. "[A] gorgeously written epic love story, filled with magic and...
The night circus
Morgenstern, Erin
Paper Book
The circus arrives without warning. It is simply there, when yesterday it was not. Against the grey sky the towering tents are striped black and white. A sign hanging upon iron gates reads- Opens at Nightfall Closes at Dawn As dusk...
The book of doors
Brown, Gareth
Paper Book
The spell-binding, mind-bending, heart-pounding fantasy adventure and instant Sunday Times bestseller, perfect for fans of The Binding, The Midnight Library and A Discovery of Witches. **ONE OF GOODREADS' TOP 6 MOST-READ DEBUTS OF 2024** *...
Nettle and bone
Kingfisher, T.
Paper Book
WINNER OF THE HUGO AWARD FOR BEST NOVEL 2023 After years of seeing her sisters suffer at the hands of an abusive prince, Marra--the shy, convent-raised, third-born daughter--has finally realized that no one is coming to their rescue. No one, except for Marra herself. ...
Under the whispering door
Klune, TJ
Paper Book
A NEW YORK TIMES, USA TODAY, AND INDIE BESTSELLER One of Buzzfeed's "Best Books of 2022"! An Indie Next Pick! A Locus Awards Top Ten Finalist for Fantasy Novel A Man Called Ove meets The Good Place in Under the...
The Ministry of Time
Bradley, Kaliane
Paper Book
⭐ The sensational Sunday Times and New York Times bestseller ⭐ ⭐ Longlisted for the Women's Prize for Fiction, shortlisted for the Arthur C. Clarke Award, and a finalist for a Hugo Award ⭐ 'The hit of the year' ...
The invisible life of Addie LaRue
Schwab, Victoria
Paper Book
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER USA TODAY BESTSELLER NATIONAL INDIE BESTSELLER THE WASHINGTON POST BESTSELLER Recommended by Entertainment Weekly, Real Simple, NPR, Slate, and Oprah...
The invisible life of Addie LaRue
Schwab, V. E.
Paper Book
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER USA TODAY BESTSELLER NATIONAL INDIE BESTSELLER THE WASHINGTON POST BESTSELLER Recommended by Entertainment Weekly, Real Simple, NPR, Slate, and Oprah...
The midnight library
Haig, Matt
Paper Book
An instant New York Times bestsellerA GOOD MORNING AMERICA Book Club Pick Between life and death there is a library, and within that library, the shelves go on forever. Every book provides a chance to try another life you could have lived. To see how things would be if you had...
The cartographers
Shepherd, Peng
Paper Book
'Exquisitely written ... Be prepared to be swept away on an incredible journey' Brad Thor, #1 bestselling author of Black Ice 'A story about magical maps that lead to your heart's desire [and] the people who would do anything to find them ... A vastly rich experience...
Piranesi
Clarke, Susanna
Paper Book
Winner of the 2021 Women's Prize for Fiction A SUNDAY TIMES & NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER The spectacular new novel from the bestselling author of JONATHAN STRANGE & MR NORRELL, 'one of our greatest living authors' NEW YORK...

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