10. Lightbreakers

by Aja Gabel

Emotionally resonant and deeply felt, Lightbreakers plumbs the complex depths of love, loss, and grief through the eyes of three individuals caught in a tide of mourning and the “indestructible fiber” that can bind a family even when one strand is severed.

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9. Slow Gods

by Claire North

From one novel to the next, Claire North effortlessly leaps across genres, crafting unique, engaging, and consistently satisfying stories. Slow Gods is no exception—an imaginative and fresh space opera fronted by a self-deprecating pilot with infinite lives, staring down a universe-spanning cataclysm.

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8. Strange and Perfect Account from the Permafrost

by Donald Niedekker
translated by Jonathan Reeder

Such an odd and fascinating premise gives way to a richly imagined, beautifully translated, and appropriately wry tale. 

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7. Vanishing World

by Sayaka Murata
translated by Ginny Tapley Takemori

An off-kilter and unsettling page-turner, Vanishing World tackles declining birth rates, widespread loneliness, social isolation, and the rise of unhealthy parasocial relationships – issues that feel even more relevant today than when this book was first published in Japan in 2015…This was a tough one to put down and it certainly goes out with a bang.

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6. A Drop of Corruption

by Robert Jackson Bennett
Book #2 – Shadow of the Leviathan

Unshackled by the need for extensive world-building, Robert Jackson Bennett has room in this sequel to craft a more complex and satisfying mystery, centered around his winning duo of lead characters. It succeeds as both a mystery and a fantasy novel, blending the two genres beautifully.

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5. Weepers

by Peter Mendelsund

A melancholy and surreal neo-Western about a band of professional mourners who offer their tear-laden eyes to a desiccated world….The vibes in this book are just off the charts, and I really dug how it all played out. Mendelsund has crafted a unique tale that will surely stick in my craw. It’s sad and mournful and centered around death, yet it pulses with life in Ed’s eyes and through his narration.

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4. The Antidote

by Karen Russell

Russell’s dust-choked world is perfectly rendered with beautiful prose and well-researched detail, the heavy dose of magical realism seamlessly woven into this historical-fiction tale and bringing unexpected life to a barren world…The Antidote has all the makings of a modern American classic, and I know it will stick with me for a good long while.

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3. Cape Fever

by Nadia Davids

Engaging prose and a mysterious, claustrophobic setting create tremendous suspense in this excellent historical thriller by Nadia Davids.

Davids weaves the supernatural seamlessly into a clear-eyed exploration of class and culture, guiding the story toward an expected yet deeply satisfying twist. 

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2. An Oral History of Atlantis

by Ed Park

Hot on the heels of his Pulitzer Prize-finalist masterwork, Same Bed Different Dreams, Ed Park returns with this superb short fiction collection. Twelve of the sixteen stories have been published elsewhere over the past 20+ years, but all were new to me.

Whether it’s the transcription of a DVD commentary on a cult classic science fiction film (“Weird Menace”) or a letter from an exasperated author to his overzealous translator (“A Note to My Translator”), no two stories are alike. Yet each delivers Park’s acerbic wit, sharp sense of irony, and keen eye for riffing on the mundanities of everyday life. With such variety, every reader is sure to find something to love here.

FULL REVIEW and
Our interview with author Ed Park

1. Metallic Realms

by Lincoln Michel

A full panoply of sci-fi delights—perfect for genre fans, the terminally online, or anyone caught up in fan culture, geekdom, or general sci-fi nerdery.

Metallic Realms is absurd, incisive, and a (toxic) love letter to classic science fiction, viewed through a sharply modern lens…as someone who enjoys taking very trivial things extremely seriously, I found this to be an exceedingly enjoyable read that I couldn’t put down. It’s a delightfully meta concept, executed to perfection. Count me in for OrbCon 2025.

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10. In Universes

by Emet North

An absorbing exploration of a kaleidoscopic set of parallel worlds – delving into trauma, grief, and the complexities of healing from our fractures. 

North’s writing is engaging and imaginative in the ways it plumbs the depths of Raffi’s psyche and their search for belonging. As the kaleidoscope turns, each subsequent world spins off its axis. Details change, relationships flip, and roles reverse, but some version of Raffi remains a constant amidst the swirling chaos.

I really enjoyed my time immersed in the pages of In Universes. It’s a compelling and vivid read bound to pull you into its multiversal web.

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9. Sky Full of Elephants

by Cebo Campbell

A bold, high-concept premise brought into sharp focus by Cebo Campbell’s lively and vibrant prose…I really enjoyed Campbell’s writing style. It is lively and flows smoothly from page to page, making it a true pleasure to read. It effortlessly conveys the complexities of the new world and the complicated feelings of the characters that inhabit it.

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8. Playground

by Richard Powers

A love letter to the ocean and its hidden depths. Much like The Overstory, Powers employs astounding reverence for one of our most complex and abundant natural resources.

Speculative fiction can hold up a mirror to our current moment — extrapolating, distorting, and ultimately exploring the ripple effects of what our future could hold. Playground succeeds in doing just that as the plot converges and collides with the dawn of the AI age in surprising ways. On those marks alone, it’s a winner. It’s elegantly crafted and consistently engaging.

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7. King Nyx

by Kirsten Bakis

A tightly woven and haunting gothic mystery that left me supremely satisfied.

A creepy island, a reclusive benefactor, and three young girls vanished into thin air. If those ingredients weren’t enough to hook you, the evolving mystery at the heart of the book does a tremendous job of pulling you deeper and deeper into the abyss as important answers always seem tantalizingly out of reach.

It’s more eerie than it is scary, but Bakis sets the atmospherically rich and period-specific tone incredibly well, as the dialogue and imagery effectively evoke the the haunting quality that brings the plot to life.

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Our interview with author Kirsten Bakis

6. The Repeat Room

by Jesse Ball

A searing and harrowing portrait of the criminal justice system of a dystopian future. Utterly enthralling and thought-provoking.

Ball spends the first act setting the stage before delivering the knockout gut-punch in the second half and never letting you get back up.

Although this left me with more questions than answers, I was utterly enthralled the entire time. I’m excited to hear what others think about this book as the story is certainly not for the faint of heart, but raises interesting questions about the state of our current justice system, capital punishment, and how our singular perspective limits our perception of those around us.

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5. Calypso

by Oliver K. Langmead

A dazzling feat of form and function. 
The care in the structuring is evident. 
The story itself is compelling and well told. 

I loved this – don’t let the verse form scare you away, as it doesn’t take long to adjust to, and it adds to the atmosphere and tone of this mythic tale. Some may bemoan style over substance here, but I found the underlying story to be fascinating in its own right, and I was very invested in the outcome.

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4. Rakesfall

by Vajra Chandrasekera

Surreal, lyrical, beautiful, haunting – featuring a heady mélange of narrative forms and storytelling styles – Rakesfall is an evocative epic poem of a novel. 

It’s impossible to distill Vajra Chandrasekera’s sprawling opus into any short plot synopsis…Chandrasekera has cemented himself as a must-read author and a bold new voice in speculative fiction.

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3. The Other Valley

by Scott Alexander Howard

This is a quiet gem of a novel. Scott Alexander Howard takes a unique premise and executes it beautifully – never relying too heavily on his fantastical plot device to convey young Odile’s heartfelt story…a thought-provoking and wistful tale that I, for one, greatly enjoyed.

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2. Beautyland

by Marie-Helene Bertino

Bertino skillfully dissects the alien nature of growing up and the complexities of human existence with dry wit, deadpan observational comedy, and incisive insights into life’s little absurdities.

This is a rare book where the concept and execution are both pitch perfect. Even if you dropped the fact that the main character is (oh by the way) an alien, this would still be a wonderful coming of age story. The alien angle is just gravy that Bertino plays with to great (tragi)comedic effect. Her writing is heartfelt, deeply funny, and without a whiff of cynicism about it. I loved this and can’t recommend it highly enough. 

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1. Ours

by Phillip B. Williams

An absolute masterclass in storytelling. Ours is a tour de force and one of the best novels I’ve read in ages.

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I cannot say enough good things about Ours, an epic historical fantasy set in an enchanted town named Ours that serves as a safe haven for freed slaves. Told over four decades, Phillip B. Williams charts the plight of Ours and its inhabitants as they experience the challenges and triumphs of being free and safe amidst a still-hostile world. It’s epic in scope, dense and demanding, but it’s extremely rewarding. 

Williams is a poet and that becomes abundantly clear the more time you spend immersed in the book. Each sentence and paragraph is so beautifully crafted and it was a pleasure to luxuriate in his words. Please do not be scared away by the high page count as each and every page is infused with magic, wonder, and heart.

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