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 #1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER FROM THE AUTHOR OF THE MARTIAN * Soon to be a major motion picture starring Ryan Gosling, directed by Phil Lord and Christopher Miller, with a screenplay by Drew Goddard From the author of The Martian, a lone astronaut must...
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
A breathtaking exploration of memory and what it means to be human, Recursion is the follow-up novel to the smash-hit thriller, Dark Matter, by Blake Crouch.'Recursion takes mind-twisting premises and embeds them in a deeply emotional story about time and loss and grief and most of all, the glory of...
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...
Magic for liars
Gailey, Sarah
Paper Book
A 2020 LOCUS AWARD FINALIST FOR BEST FIRST NOVEL Sharp, mainstream fantasy meets compelling thrills of investigative noir in Magic for Liars, a fantasy debut by rising star Sarah Gailey. Ivy Gamble was born without magic and never wanted it....
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 Majesty's...
The Martian
Weir, Andy
Paper Book
#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER * "Brilliant . . . a celebration of human ingenuity [and] the purest example of real-science sci-fi for many years . . . utterly compelling."--The Wall Street Journal The inspiration for the major motion picture ...
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. Zachary Ezra Rawlins is a graduate student in Vermont...
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. Zachary Ezra Rawlins is a graduate student in Vermont...
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
**ONE OF GOODREADS' TOP 6 MOST-READ DEBUTS OF 2024** **THE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLING DEBUT AND ONE OF THE BBC'S BEST DEBUTS OF 2024 ** **A WOMAN & HOME 'Book of the Year'** 'Joyful, exuberant, and crackling with adventure.' STUART TURTON
Nettle and bone
Kingfisher, T.
Paper Book
**Winner, Hugo Awards 2023, Best Novel** **Shortlisted, SFWA Nebula Awards 2022, Best Novel** A dark and compelling fantasy about sisterhood, impossible tasks and the price of power, from award...
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
A 2024 literary highlight in the Sunday Times, BBC, Grazia, Dazed, Sunday Express, GQ, i-D, Stylist, Bookseller and Literary Friction'Outrageously brilliant' ELEANOR CATTON'Make room on your bookshelves for a new...
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 WOMEN'S PRIZE 2021 WINNER OF THE KITSCHIES' 2021 SHORTLISTED FOR THE COSTA NOVEL OF THE YEAR AWARD A SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER A NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER CHOSEN AS A BOOK OF THE YEAR BY THE THE TIMES,...

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