Science Fiction

New and recommended science fiction

Updated September 19, 2025
Rochester Public Library RPL Staff
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Science Fiction

New and recommended science fiction

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Chain-gang all-stars
Adjei-Brenyah, Nana Kwame
Paper Book
A NEW YORK TIMES TOP TEN BOOK OF THE YEAR * FINALIST FOR THE NATIONAL BOOK AWARD IN FICTION * A READ WITH JENNA BOOK CLUB PICK * NATIONAL BESTSELLER * Two top women gladiators fight for their freedom within a depraved private prison system not so far-removed from...
The future : a novel
Alderman, Naomi
Paper Book
The bestselling, award-winning author of The Power delivers a "page-turning" (Los Angeles Times), "propulsive" (The Boston Globe), "thrilling" (BookPage, starred review) tour de force where a handful of friends plot a daring heist to save the world from the tech giants...
Mickey7
Ashton, Edward (Science fiction writer)
Paper Book
Now experience where the hit movie from Academy Award-winning director Bong Joon Ho, starring Robert Pattinson, started in Mickey7 (the inspiration for the film Mickey 17). Dying isn't any fun...but at least it's a living. Mickey Barnes is an...
This great hemisphere : a novel
Askaripour, Mateo
Paper Book
Despite the odds, Candace, a young invisible woman, has done everything right her entire life - school, university, and now a highly sought-after apprenticeship with one of the Northwestern Hemisphere's premier inventors, a non-invisible man belonging to the dominant population who is as eccentric...
Atomic Anna
Barenbaum, Rachel
Paper Book
"Atomic Anna is a dazzling work of ingenuity and imagination."―Téa Obreht,National Book Award finalist and New York Times bestselling author of Inland From the author of A Bend in the Stars, an epic adventure...
Ghost Station
Barnes, S. A.
Paper Book
"Relentlessly creepy and fantastically atmospheric...Ghost Station is space horror at its best."--The New York Times A crew must try to survive on an ancient, abandoned planet in the latest space horror novel from S.A. Barnes, acclaimed author of Dead Silence....
Beautyland
Bertino, Marie-Helene
Audiobook
Bridge
Beukes, Lauren
Paper Book
A grieving daughter's search for her mother becomes a journey across alternate realities in this dazzling new thriller from the author of The Shining Girls that is "sheer thrilling madness with a big, beating heart that reminds us we're all connected" (Grady Hendrix, New...
The ministry of time
Bradley, Kaliane
Paper Book
ONE OF BARACK OBAMA'S FAVORITE BOOKS OF SUMMER 2024 * A NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER * HUGO AWARD FINALIST FOR BEST NOVEL * WINNER OF THE GOODREADS CHOICE AWARD FOR SCIENCE FICTION * A GOOD MORNING AMERICA BOOK CLUB PICK * A BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR: NPR, VANITY FAIR, ESQUIRE<...
Street freaks
Brooks, Terry
Paper Book
It begins with a dire call-right before his father disappears and his skyscraper home's doors explode inward. Street Freaks is the kind of thrilling futuristic story only New York Times bestselling author Terry Brooks can tell. "Go into the Red Zone. Go to Street Freaks." his father...
The scourge between stars
Brown, Ness
Paper Book
Ness Brown's The Scourge Between Stars is a tense, claustrophobic sci-fi/horror blend set aboard a doomed generation ship harboring something terrible within its walls. "A perfect scare to swallow up in one sitting." --Chloe Gong, #1 New York Times...
Sky full of elephants
Campbell, Cebo
Paper Book
"Bold and imaginative." --Tananarive Due "This stunning allegory will spark much discussion." --Publishers Weekly (starred review) "A truly powerful and riveting story." --Booklist In a world without white people,...
Rakesfall
Chandrasekera, Vajra
Audiobook
Singer distance
Chatagnier, Ethan
Paper Book
The odds of the planet next door hosting intelligent life are--that's not luck. That's a miracle. It means something. In December 1960, Crystal Singer, her boyfriend Rick, and three other MIT grad students take a cross-country road trip from Boston to Arizona to paint a message in the...
The mercy of gods
Corey, James S. A.
Paper Book
AN INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES AND USA TODAY BESTSELLER From the New York Times bestselling author of the Expanse comes a spectacular new space opera that sees humanity fighting for its survival in a war as old as the universe itself. ...
The ferryman : a novel
Cronin, Justin
Paper Book
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER * "Next to impossible to put down . . . exciting, mysterious, and totally satisfying."--STEPHEN KING   From the author of The Passage comes a riveting standalone novel about a group of survivors on a hidden island utopia--where...
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...
The light at the end of the world
Deb, Siddhartha
Ebook
Delhi, the near future: Bibi, a low-ranking employee of a global consulting firm, is tasked with finding a man long thought to be dead but who now appears to be the source of a vast collection of documents. The trove purports to reveal the secrets of the Indian government, including ...
The last watch
Dewes, J. S.
Paper Book
The Expanse meets Game of Thrones in J. S. Dewes's fast-paced, sci-fi adventure The Last Watch, the first book in the Divide series, where a handful of soldiers stand between humanity and annihilation. Goodreads Most Popular Sci-Fi Novels of the Past 3 Years...
The candy house : a novel
Egan, Jennifer
Paper Book
A NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER ONE of the TOP 10 BOOKS OF THE YEAR by THE NEW YORK TIMES * ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY * SLATE* THE PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER * Also named one of the BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR by Vanity Fair, Time, NPR, The...
I cheerfully refuse : a novel
Enger, Leif
Paper Book
NATIONAL BESTSELLER * A BARNES & NOBLE BOOK CLUB PICK * A career defining tour-de-force from New York Times bestselling, award-winning and "formidably gifted" (Chicago Tribune) author of Peace Like a River Leif Enger. "A rare, remarkable book to be kept and...
Leech
Ennes, Hiron
Paper Book
"[Leech] is The Thing meets The Alienist . . . beautifully written and so strangely humane . . . I will follow this writer anywhere going forward." --Gillian Flynn, New York Times bestselling author of Gone Girl A surreal and horrifying debut, Hiron...
The peripheral
Gibson, William
Paper Book
William Gibson returns with his first novel since 2010's New York Times-bestselling Zero History. Where Flynne and her brother, Burton, live, jobs outside the drug business are rare. Fortunately, Burton has his veteran's benefits, for neural damage he suffered from implants during his time in the...
Orbital
Harvey, Samantha
Paper Book
WINNER OF THE BOOKER PRIZE 2024 * A NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER **New York Times Book Review Book Club Pick** **Stephen Colbert's The Late Show Book Club Pick** Winner of the 2024 Hawthornden Prize Shortlisted for the 2024...
The other valley : a novel
Howard, Scott Alexander
Paper Book
*Soon to be a TV series* Jimmy Fallon's Book Club Top Four Pick and a PBS Book Club Pick For fans of Kazuo Ishiguro and Emily St. John Mandel, this "mind-bending take on time travel" (The New York Times) is about an isolated town neighbored by its own past and...
Whalefall : a novel
Kraus, Daniel
Paper Book
A USA TODAY BESTSELLER Named a Best Book of 2023 by Book Riot, Shelf Awareness, and NPR The Martian meets 127 Hours in this "astoundingly great" (Gillian Flynn, #1 New York Times bestselling author) and scientifically...
Ancillary justice
Leckie, Ann.
Paper Book
Winner of the Hugo, Nebula, and Arthur C. Clarke Awards: This record-breaking novel follows a warship trapped in a human body on a quest for revenge. A must read for fans of Ursula K. Le Guin and James S. A. Corey.  On a remote, icy planet, the soldier known as...
Persephone Station
Leicht, Stina
Paper Book
Hugo award-nominated author Stina Leicht has created a take on space opera for fans of The Mandalorian and Cowboy Bebop in this high-stakes adventure. Persephone Station, a seemingly backwater planet that has largely been ignored by the United Republic of Worlds...
In the watchful city
Lu, S. Qiouyi.
Audiobook
Prophet
Macdonald, Helen
Ebook
In ascension
MacInnes, Martin
Ebook
The family experiment
Marrs, John (Freelance journalist)
Audiobook
The memory librarian : and other stories of dirty computer
Mona?e, Janelle
Paper Book
New York Times bestseller! In The Memory Librarian: And Other Stories of Dirty Computer, singer-songwriter, actor, fashion icon, futurist, and worldwide superstar Janelle Monáe brings to the written page the Afrofuturistic world of one of her critically acclaimed albums,...
The tusks of extinction
Nayler, Ray
Paper Book
Winner of the Hugo Award for Best Novella When you bring back a long-extinct species, there's more to success than the DNA. Moscow has resurrected the mammoth. But someone must teach them how to be mammoths, or they are doomed to die out again. ...
Sun-daughters, sea-daughters
Ogden, Aimee
Paper Book
A 2021 Nebula Award Nominee! One woman will travel to the stars and beyond to save her beloved in this lyrical space opera that reimagines The Little Mermaid. Gene-edited human clans have scattered throughout the galaxy, adapting themselves to environments...
The mimicking of known successes
Older, Malka
Paper Book
"Every once in a while, a book comes along that is both a comfort read and a rousing, fist-pumping adventure, and The Mimicking of Known Successes absolutely is both of those things. An utter triumph."--Charlie Jane Anders A Hugo Award nominee for Best Novella
The shamshine blind : a novel
Pardo, Paz
Paper Book
A beguiling blend of noir detective story and science fiction perfect for fans of Michael Chabon and Emily St. John Mandel, this unputdownable debut imagines a world where emotions have been weaponized, and a small-town law enforcement agent uncovers a conspiracy to take down what's left of...
Hum
Phillips, Helen
Paper Book
A Most Anticipated Book for The New York Times, The Washington Post, Time, Goodreads, LitHub, and Book Riot A Best Book of the Summer for Esquire, Electric Lit, and Town & Country A People Book of the...
Extinction : a novel
Preston, Douglas J.
Paper Book
With Extinction, #1 New York Times bestselling author Douglas Preston has written a page-turning thriller in the Michael Crichton mode that explores the possible and unintended dangers of the very real efforts to resurrect the woolly mammoth and other long-extinct animals.
The Mars house : a novel
Pulley, Natasha
Paper Book
A compulsively readable queer sci-fi novel about a marriage of convenience between a Mars politician and an Earth refugee. Named a Best Book of 2024 by The Washington Post * Amazon * Book Riot * LitHub * Paste Magazine * HuffPost In the wake of an...
Moon of the crusted snow : a novel
Rice, Waubgeshig
Paper Book
With winter looming, a small northern Anishinaabe community goes dark. Cut off, people become passive and confused. Panic builds as the food supply dwindles. While the council and community members struggle to maintain order, an unexpected visitor arrives, escaping the crumbling society to the south...
Starter villain
Scalzi, John
Paper Book
Now a New York Times bestseller! Inheriting your uncle's supervillain business is more complicated than you might think. Particularly when you discover who's running the place. Charlie's life is going nowhere fast. A divorced substitute teacher...
The rise and fall of D.O.D.O. : a novel
Stephenson, Neal
Paper Book
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER! Goodreads Choice Awards Semifinalist! B&N Editor's Pick - Best Science Fiction and Fantasy of 2017  From bestselling author Neal Stephenson and critically acclaimed novelist Nicole Galland comes a captivating and complex near-future...
This time tomorrow
Straub, Emma
Paper Book
#1 NATIONAL BESTSELLER "The pages brim with tenderness and an appreciation for what we had and who we were. I could not have loved it more."--Ann Patchett "One of the most moving and intelligent time travel novels I have ever read. Nostalgic, wise, funny, and filled with...
Scattered all over the earth
Tawada, Yōko
Paper Book
Welcome to the not-too-distant future: Japan, having vanished from the face of the earth, is now remembered as "the land of sushi." Hiruko, its former citizen and a climate refugee herself, has a job teaching immigrant children in Denmark with her invented language Panska (Pan-Scandinavian):...
Some desperate glory
Tesh, Emily
Paper Book
Instant National Bestseller and International Bestseller! Hugo Award Winner for Best Novel! Arthur C. Clarke Award Finalist! Ursula K. Le Guin Prize for Fiction Finalist! A thrillingly told queer space opera about the...
The last murder at the end of the world : a novel
Turton, Stuart
Paper Book
"A gripping tale that reads like a Sherlock Holmes novel set in a broken future...Turton is an exciting writer with a knack for strange tales that push the envelope, and this strange story of murder, survival, and the importance of memory might be his best work yet." --Gabino Iglesias for NPR ...
Annihilation
VanderMeer, Jeff.
Paper Book
A MAJOR MOTION PICTURE FROM ALEX GARLAND, STARRING NATALIE PORTMAN AND OSCAR ISAAC NOW AVAILBLE IN A SPECIAL NEW TENTH ANNIVERSARY EDITION The Southern Reach Trilogy begins with Annihilation, the Nebula Award-winning novel that "reads as if Verne or...
The genesis of misery
Yang, Neon
Paper Book
A Goodreads Best Science Fiction Choice Award Nominee A New York Public Library Top 10 Book of 2022 An immersive, electrifying space-fantasy, Neon Yang's debut novel The Genesis of Misery is full of high-tech space battles and political machinations, starring a...
Find this list online: https://librarian.syndetics.com/syndeticsunbound/lp/723.1086/list/1858

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