Best Sci-Fi Releases of 2024

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The Ultimate Sci-Fi Title of 2024 Has Been Crowned!

What a year it’s been for science fiction! As part of the Discover Sci-Fi Readers’ Choice Awards, our amazing community of readers came together to nominate and vote for the best science fiction books of 2024. And this year, we made history with the debut of the DSF Award Trophy—a striking symbol of the innovation, creativity, and vision that continues to shape the genre we love.

Now, the moment you’ve been waiting for: which book stood out among the rest to claim the top honor? It’s time to reveal the story that captured hearts, minds, and imaginations in 2024. Let’s get to it!

*You can also see the Top Sci-Fi Audiobooks of 2024 list here, and the 15 Must-Read Sci-Fi Books from across seven distinct sub-genres, as voted by readers. 

10th Place: Scorpio (Frontlines: Evolution Book One) by Marko Kloos 

On a distant Earth colony, an orphaned survivor of an alien invasion discovers that the greatest world-ending dangers aren’t behind her.

It’s been eight years since an alien invasion drove a small surviving group of settlers to seek refuge in an underground shelter. Cut off from the rest of humanity, the ragtag band has maintained a narrowly functioning colony due to communal effort and salvage runs. Alex Archer has her own duties as a dog handler. While this off-world colony may be harsh, Ash, Alex’s black shepherd raised to sense threats, makes living in it a little nicer.

But the tenuous hide-and-seek with the monstrous species known as the Lankies is about to come to an end for Alex and her close-knit crew of soldiers, techs, and friends. When a salvage operation goes catastrophically wrong, the Lankies home in on the humans.

With hopes of a rescue long faded, all Alex has left is will—and the fear that there’s so much more to lose.

Grab Scorpio here in on Amazon. Also available on audiobook, and in paperback.

9th Place: Ghostship Derelict (Dagdan Federation Book One) by David Hensley and J. R. Handley

It was supposed to be a simple rescuemission—supposed to be. If Corporal John Harden had learned anything from his time in the 1215th Legion, it was that no mission went the way you expected.

The Mission: Board the derelict cargo hauler DFMS Lumo, rescue any survivors, secure the vessel for return to the closest Dagdan Federation Port, and return safely to the Dagdan Federation Battlecruiser Nathanial B. Hughes.

Now, he’s trapped aboard a derelict cargo hauler, low on ammo, and running out of options. Not the best showing for a freshly minted fire team leader.

Does he have enough grit, enough skill, or enough luck to bring him and his fire team back alive?

Get your copy of Ghostship Derelict here on Amazon. Also available in paperback.

8th Place: Chaos Aternus (The Aternien Wars Book Ten) by G J Ogden

The Union is on the verge of total collapse. Apophis, the Serpent God King of the Aternien Empire, stands ready to complete his mission and consume the remaining Union worlds, starting with Terra Prime - Earth.

With no other option, the president declares his intention to surrender. But Apophis craves only destruction and revenge.

Yet, deep beneath the desert sands of Egypt, hope sparks. The last Master Officers, led by Carter Rose and Carina Larsen, haven't given up.

And they have a plan.

The stage is set for the final battle. The galaxy's mightiest warriors will fight one last time - officer to officer, ship versus ship, and God against Goddess.

The fate of humanity hangs in the balance. Either Carter Rose succeeds, or chaos will rule for eternity.

Get your copy of Chaos Aternus here on Amazon. Also available on audiobook, and in paperback.

7th Place: Alien Clay by Adrian Tchaikovsky

From Arthur C. Clarke Award-winning author Adrian Tchaikovsky comes a far-future epic that confirms his place as a modern master of science fiction, in which a political prisoner must unlock the secrets of a strange and dangerous planet.

The planet of Kiln is where the tyrannical Mandate keeps its prison colony, and for inmates, the journey there is always a one-way trip. One such prisoner is Professor Arton Daghdev, xeno-ecologist and political dissident. Soon after arrival, he discovers that Kiln has a secret. Humanity is not the first intelligent life to set foot there.

In the midst of a ravenous, chaotic ecosystem are the ruins of a civilization, but who were the vanished builders and where did they go? If he can survive both the harsh rule of the camp commandant and the alien horrors of the world around him, then Arton has a chance at making a discovery that might just transform not only Kiln, but distant Earth as well.

Grab Alien Clay here on Amazon. Also available on audiobook, in paperback, and in hardcover.

6th Place: Extinction by Douglas Preston

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.

Erebus Resort, occupying a magnificent, hundred-thousand acre valley deep in the Colorado Rockies, offers guests the experience of viewing woolly mammoths, Irish Elk, and giant ground sloths in their native habitat, brought back from extinction through the magic of genetic manipulation. When a billionaire's son and his new wife are kidnapped and murdered in the Erebus back country by what is assumed to be a gang of eco-terrorists, Colorado Bureau of Investigation Agent Frances Cash partners with county sheriff James Colcord to track down the perpetrators.

As killings mount and the valley is evacuated, Cash and Colcord must confront an ancient, intelligent, and malevolent presence at Erebus, bent not on resurrection—but extinction.

Grab Extinction here on Amazon. Also available on audiobook, in paperback, and in hardcover.  

Like what you're reading?

If you're enjoying our year end Readers' Choice Roundup, why not join the DSF community for more awesome content? You'll get to be notified whenever a top 10 list or any other articles of interest go up on our site. It's free to sign up and you'll also get recommendations for new releases and discounted ebooks from our expert editorial team, from bestsellers to hidden gems.

5th Place: Toll of Honor by David Weber

A NEW SOLO NOVEL IN DAVID WEBER'S NYT BEST-SELLING HONORVERSE

“It is our duty to pay for our liberty with our own blood. The freedom that we shall win through our sacrifice and exertions, we shall be able to preserve with our own strength.” —Subhas Chandra Bose

Lieutenant Brandy Bolgeo has come home from the Battle of Hancock station wounded in both body and spirit. She will need months to regenerate her lost leg, but how long will it take to heal her heart?

She’s come home to find that her wounds, her ship’s brutal damage, the deaths of so many friends, were the fault of an arrogant, aristocratic coward who broke and ran in the face of the enemy. Who left her ship to pay the price for his craven desertion under fire. And whose powerful political allies are determined to protect and preserve him at any price.

They have held hostage the declaration of war until Lord Pavel Young escaped the consequences of his cowardice. They didn’t care what it cost the Navy. They didn’t care what it cost the entire Star Kingdom of Manticore. Their tactics have cost the Royal Navy the priceless initiative as revolution and military purges wrack the People’s Republic of Haven, and that lost window of opportunity will cost the Star Kingdom seventeen years of bloody warfare and hundreds of thousands of deaths.

Now Young is free to seek vengeance on the people he feels have “wronged” him. People like Paul Tankersley and Honor Harrington. Paid duelists, smear tactics, hired assassins in public restaurants . . . nothing is beneath Pavel Young. But Captain Harrington can look after herself, and Pavel Young is about to face the fury of the woman the newsies call the “Salamander.” Yet who will save the Star Kingdom from the repercussions of his actions?

Women and men like Brandy Bolgeo are about to pay the toll for the Star Kingdom of Manticore’s honor.

Grab Toll of Honor here on Amazon. Also available on audiobook, in hardcover, and for pre-order in paperback.

4th Place: The Mercy of Gods (The Captives War Book 1) by James S. A. Corey

How humanity came to the planet called Anjiin is lost in the fog of history, but that history is about to end.The Carryx – part empire, part hive – have waged wars of conquest for centuries, destroying or enslaving species across the galaxy.  Now, they are facing a great and deathless enemy. The key to their survival may rest with the humans of Anjiin.  

Caught up in academic intrigue and affairs of the heart, Dafyd Alkhor is pleased just to be an assistant to a brilliant scientist and his celebrated research team.  Then the Carryx ships descend, decimating the human population and taking the best and brightest of Anjiin society away to serve on the Carryx homeworld, and Dafyd is swept along with them.

They are dropped in the middle of a struggle they barely understand, set in a competition against the other captive species with extinction as the price of failure.  Only Dafyd and a handful of his companions see past the Darwinian contest to the deeper game that they must play to survive: learning to understand – and manipulate – the Carryx themselves.

With a noble but suicidal human rebellion on one hand and strange and murderous enemies on the other, the team pays a terrible price to become the trusted servants of their new rulers.

Dafyd Alkhor is a simple man swept up in events that are beyond his control and more vast than his imagination.  He will become the champion of humanity and its betrayer, the most hated man in history and the guardian of his people.

This is where his story begins.

Grab The Mercy of Gods here on Amazon. Also available on audiobook, in paperback, and in hardcover. 

3rd Place: Into the Inferno (Rise of the Republic Book Eleven) by James Rosone and Miranda Watson

For the brave Spartacus Division…
…every inch of victory was hell.
Could the Pharaonis finally fall?

After the triumphs of the Battles of the Forts, with Serenea now firmly under Allied control, Brigadier General Spartacus Varinius set his sights upon the Pharaonis home world. The Allies used a tactic reminiscent of Earth’s Second World War—however, instead of island hopping, they began planet-hopping, bypassing Pharaonis strongholds as they zeroed in on the planet Eurysa.

Was the Republic in reach of final victory?

Admiral Ripley Lee Willis had just received his second admiral’s star and additional reinforcements. In a daring maneuver that might alter the course of the war, he struck at the heart of the Zodark Empire. That risk might have cost him his fleet and the command he had worked toward his entire career.

Would Ripley’s fleet outwit his Zodark counterpart?

As the Humtars considered joining the Allies, an old foe emerged from the abyss, sending shivers down their spines.

They thought they had eradicated this evil long ago.

Grab Into the Inferno here on Amazon. Also available on audiobook, in paperback, and in hardcover.

2nd Place: Heaven and Earth (Galactic Guardians Book Seven) by Jonathan Yanez

Send Me.

Max Tyco, Blood Wolf, weilder of red sardonium and now Herald to the Legions of Anak. Legends of him are being told throughout the system. His exploits are myth. Whispers of teleportation only spread his undesired fame. In reality, Max wants nothing more than to deal with his complicated love life.

Events will soon unfold that call him back to the planet from which he hailed. The sait have been busy. While all eyes were turned to the portal and what evil beyond, enemies have made their move inflitrating Earth itself.

If this wasn't enough an open seat has unveiled itself at the head of the Rowki High Council. If the wrong person gets the job it could spell dire consequences for Max and his entire team.

Grab your seat and strap in. Witness the rise of the greatest Rowki Guardian of all time as we follow Max's journey. Click to grab this adventure now!

Get your copy of Heaven and Earth here on Amazon. Also available in paperback.

1st Place: NecroTek by Jonathan Maberry

From New York Times bestselling author Jonathan Maberry, NecroTek is a gripping sci-fi thriller full of ghosts, gods, and a battle for the soul of humanity.

Neither cosmic philosopher Lars Soren, hotshot pilot Bianca Petrescu, nor the high priestess Jessica McHugh—Lady Death herself—can say quite where in the galaxy they are. But after an experiment gone horribly wrong, one thing is clear: Asphodel Station isn’t in orbit around Jupiter any longer. Worse, the monsters that live out here—ancient eldritch beings thought only to exist in stories and nightmares—have now been alerted to Earth’s existence.

Their army of Shoggoths is coming for us next.

Humanity’s only hope for survival lies on the surface of the alien world of Shadderal, where a ghost named Lost, the last of an ancient race, still haunts the vast plains of the Field of Dead Birds. But hope has a cost. Lost tells Soren about ancient derelict spacecraft awaiting on Shadderal, shapeshifting machines that blend ultra-advanced technology with the dark powers of necromancy. These ships might just be nimble enough to defend mankind against the coming invasion.

But there’s a catch: they can only be piloted by the dead.

As human starfighters fall in battle, their spirits can be called back from death to pilot these ghost ships of a fallen race. But will this new necromantic technology—NecroTek—allow humanity to stand against the vast armies of the Shoggoths? And even if it can, is the war to save the human race worth the cost of its pilots’ immortal souls?

Get your copy of NecroTek here on Amazon. Also available on audiobook, in paperback, and in hardcover.


How many of the 2024 Readers' Choice top 10 list have you read? Which ones are you adding to the top of your TBR for 2025? Any stellar books you think didn't get their due? Let us know here in the comments, or over in the Discover Sci-Fi Facebook group! 

*You can also see the Top Sci-Fi Audiobooks of 2024 list here, and the 15 Must-Read Sci-Fi Books from across seven distinct sub-genres, as voted by readers. 

*All book-related copy in this post was pulled from Amazon, Goodreads & Wikipedia, unless otherwise credited.

Best Sci-Fi Audiobook Releases of 2024

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The Votes Are In: 2024's Top Sci-Fi Audiobooks Revealed!

A huge thank you to everyone who participated in the 2024 Discover Sci-Fi Readers’ Choice Awards, audiobook edition! From thrilling narration to immersive soundscapes, your nominations and votes highlighted the sci-fi audiobooks that truly stood out this year.

And now, it’s time for the big reveal! Which audiobooks captivated listeners and claimed the top spots in 2024? Scroll on to uncover the standout titles chosen by fellow sci-fi audiobook enthusiasts like you!

*You can also see the Top Overall Sci-Fi Books of 2024 list here, and the 15 Must-Read Sci-Fi Books from across seven distinct sub-genres, as voted by readers.

10th Place: Vangie's Ghosts by Paul Di Filippo, Narrated by Emily Lawrence

Paul Di Filippo delivers a thrilling and thought-provoking adventure through the multiverse in Vangie’s Ghosts, a compelling science fiction novel about one girl with extraordinary powers.

Three-year-old Vangie is mute and unresponsive. She shows no interest in the people or world around her, much to the frustration of her callous adoptive parents. Little do they know, Vangie is otherwise occupied observing “ghosts”—an infinite number of versions of herself, in an infinite number of parallel universes.

When a tornado hits their trailer and Vangie is severely injured, she makes a desperate leap into another timeline where she survives the tornado, but her adoptive parents do not. So begins a life of shuttling through various foster homes, cultivating her abilities to seek out alternate timelines, and making jumps calculated to better her circumstances in order to avoid the exploitation of adults who seek to harness her powers for their own means.

Vangie never communicates with her avatars, until one day the “Council”—a group of Vangies—appear to her and warn her of an ominous, growing threat in the multiverse: a man they call the Massive. And thus begins an epic conflict, spanning millennia and worlds, in a brutal effort to control the fate of the multiverse.

Vangie’s Ghosts is Paul Di Filippo at the height of his imagination and versatility, filled with compelling characters who play captivating roles in a story where the stakes are nothing less than existence itself.

Grab Vangie's Ghosts on audiobook. Also available in ebook, paperback, and hardcover. 

9th Place: I'm Starting to Worry About This Black Box of Doom by Jason Pargin, Narrated by Ari Fliakos

Founded by the mysterious genius known as the Designer, the archipelago of Prospera lies hidden from the horrors of a deteriorating outside world. In this island paradise, Prospera’s lucky citizens enjoy long, fulfilling lives until the monitors embedded in their forearms, meant to measure their physical health and psychological well-being, fall below 10 percent. Then they retire themselves, embarking on a ferry ride to the island known as the Nursery, where their failing bodies are renewed, their memories are wiped clean, and they are readied to restart life afresh.

Proctor Bennett, of the Department of Social Contracts, has a satisfying career as a ferryman, gently shepherding people through the retirement process—and, when necessary, enforcing it. But all is not well with Proctor. For one thing, he’s been dreaming—which is supposed to be impossible in Prospera. For another, his monitor percentage has begun to drop alarmingly fast. And then comes the day he is summoned to retire his own father, who gives him a disturbing and cryptic message before being wrestled onto the ferry.

Meanwhile, something is stirring. The Support Staff, ordinary men and women who provide the labor to keep Prospera running, have begun to question their place in the social order. Unrest is building, and there are rumors spreading of a resistance group—known as “Arrivalists”—who may be fomenting revolution.

Soon Proctor finds himself questioning everything he once believed, entangled with a much bigger cause than he realized—and on a desperate mission to uncover the truth.

Get I'm Starting to Worry About This Black Box of Doom here on audiobook. Also available in ebook, paperback, and hardcover.

8th Place: Exit Black by Joe Pitkin, Narrated by Carolina Hoyos

Air Force One meets The Martian—with a dash of Knives Out—in this action-packed sci-fi thriller.

Imperium is the most expensive structure ever created. Once an orbiting laboratory, it is now a space hotel for the fantastically wealthy. But as the station preps for its first group of space tourists, Dr. Chloe Bonilla, Imperium’s resident biophysicist, finds herself questioning whether babysitting a passel of space glampers is worth the distraction from her research.

A private rocket delivers a rogues’ gallery of the world’s elite to Imperium: eccentric billionaires, callow tech bros, a sponsored Instagram influencer, and a seemingly saintly philanthropist. However, posing among the staff are members of a global terrorist group who call themselves the Reckoners, hell bent on upending the economic inequality of twenty-first-century Earth—and they have a bone to pick with these scions of the 1 percent.

As the Reckoners take control of Imperium and demand an $8 billion ransom from their wealthy hostages, it’s up to Dr. Bonilla to save them, and fast. Or the captives will be forced to exit the station—and there’s only one way out.

Dive into Grab Exit Black here on audiobook. Also available in ebook, and paperback.

7th Place: The Ministry of Time by Kaliane Bradley, Narrated by George Weightman and Katie Leung 

A time travel romance, a spy thriller, a workplace comedy, and an ingenious exploration of the nature of power and the potential for love to change it all: Welcome to The Ministry of Time, the exhilarating debut novel by Kaliane Bradley.

In the near future, a civil servant is offered the salary of her dreams and is, shortly afterward, told what project she’ll be working on. A recently established government ministry is gathering “expats” from across history to establish whether time travel is feasible—for the body, but also for the fabric of space-time.

She is tasked with working as a “bridge”: living with, assisting, and monitoring the expat known as “1847” or Commander Graham Gore. As far as history is concerned, Commander Gore died on Sir John Franklin’s doomed 1845 expedition to the Arctic, so he’s a little disoriented to be living with an unmarried woman who regularly shows her calves, surrounded by outlandish concepts such as “washing machines,” “Spotify,” and “the collapse of the British Empire.” But with an appetite for discovery, a seven-a-day cigarette habit, and the support of a charming and chaotic cast of fellow expats, he soon adjusts.

Over the next year, what the bridge initially thought would be, at best, a horrifically uncomfortable roommate dynamic, evolves into something much deeper. By the time the true shape of the Ministry’s project comes to light, the bridge has fallen haphazardly, fervently in love, with consequences she never could have imagined. Forced to confront the choices that brought them together, the bridge must finally reckon with how—and whether she believes—what she does next can change the future.

An exquisitely original and feverishly fun fusion of genres and ideas, The Ministry of Time asks: What does it mean to defy history, when history is living in your house? Kaliane Bradley’s answer is a blazing, unforgettable testament to what we owe each other in a changing world.

Grab The Ministry of Time here on audiobook. Also available in ebook, paperback, and hardcover. 

6th Place: Service Model by Adrian Tchaikovsky, Narrated by Adrian Tchaikovsky

Murderbot meets Redshirts in a delightfully humorous tale of robotic murder from the Hugo-nominated author of Elder Race and Children of Time.

To fix the world they must first break it, further.

Humanity is a dying breed, utterly reliant on artificial labor and service.

When a domesticated robot gets a nasty little idea downloaded into its core programming, they murder their owner. The robot discovers they can also do something else they never did before: They can run away.

Fleeing the household they enter a wider world they never knew existed, where the age-old hierarchy of humans at the top is disintegrating into ruins and an entire robot ecosystem devoted to human wellbeing is having to find a new purpose.

Get Service Model on audiobook here. Also available in ebook, paperback, and hardcover. 

Like what you're reading?

If you're enjoying our year end Readers' Choice Roundup, why not join the DSF community for more awesome content? You'll get to be notified whenever a top 10 list or any other articles of interest go up on our site. It's free to sign up and you'll also get recommendations for new releases and discounted ebooks from our expert editorial team, from bestsellers to hidden gems.

5th Place: Absolution (Southern Reach Trilogy, Book Four) by Jeff Vandermeer, Narrated by Bronson Pinchot 

When the Southern Reach Trilogy was first published a decade ago, it was an instant sensation, celebrated in a front-page New York Times story before publication, hailed by Stephen King and many others. Each volume climbed the bestsellers list; awards were won; the books made the rare transition from paperback original to hardcover; the movie adaptation became a cult classic. All told, the trilogy has sold more than a million copies and has secured its place in the pantheon of twenty-first-century literature.

And yet for all this, for Jeff VanderMeer there was never full closure to the story of Area X. There were a few mysteries that had gone unsolved, some key points of view never aired. There were stories left to tell. There remained questions about who had been complicit in creating the conditions for Area X to take hold; the story of the first mission into the Forgotten Coast—before Area X was called Area X—had never been fully told; and what if someone had foreseen the world after Acceptance? How crazy would they seem?

Structured in three parts, each recounting a new expedition, there are some long-awaited answers here, to be sure, but also more questions, and profound new surprises. Absolution is a brilliant, beautiful, and ever-terrifying plunge into unique and fertile literary territory. It is the final word on one of the most provocative and popular speculative fiction series of our time.

Grab Absolution on audiobook here. Also available in ebook, paperback, and hardcover. 

4th Place: Call to Armor (Terran Expeditionary  Corps Book One) by Richard Fox, Narrated y Luke Daniels

A planet in danger. An impossible enemy. Only Armor can stand against the darkness.

The extra-galactic bridge between Earth and Terra Nova reopens after decades. Governor Hale calls for aid against an impossible alien threat known as the Inheritors, an advanced alien species with a mysterious connection to old allies. Hale needs the most powerful soldiers in the galaxy: Armor.

His son, Ely, finally reconnects with his family and will return to Terra Nova not as the scared kid who left the dwarf galaxy, but as the leader of an Armor lance.

When the Ibarra Nation joins the Expeditionary Corps, old wounds and older suspicions threaten to drive a wedge between human factions.

Get your copy of Call to Armor on audiobook here. Also available in ebook, paperback, and hardcover. 

3rd Place: Force Majeure (Wolfhounds Book Three) by John Van Stry, Narrated by Kyf Brewer

Chase is finally coming to understand just what being Prince Chase means, and what becoming emperor of the Solarian Empire will mean as well.

He's getting better at the job every day. Now if only he could just bring himself to tell Captain Witner and the other members of the command staff that he really is a prince and not the fraud they all believe he is.

Another thing he is starting to learn more about is Imperial politics and the kinds of things princes and emperors are known for, as well as expected to do. He's also discovering that there are a lot of people who still believe he's a fraud, because of Neill's efforts at proclaiming him as such. Of course, his criminal background isn't helping him much there.

What is helping him however are some of the people he's discovering, and some of the things he's learning about his family from them. There are still a good many surprises in store for Chase. Hopefully, none of those surprises will end up killing him.

Dive into Force Majeure on audiobook here. Also available in ebook, and paperback.

2nd Place: Point Nemo by Jeremy Robinson, Narrated by R.C. Bray 

In the heart of the South Pacific lies Point Nemo, the most desolate and remote place on Earth.

At its core is a dead zone, devoid of life, where government agencies crash their obsolete satellites and space stations, confident they won't harm a soul. When the International Space Station suffers a catastrophic failure and plummets through the atmosphere, it's here that Mission Specialist Julie Rohr, an astrobiologist studying living space dust called xylem, finds herself marooned.

Julie's only hope for rescue lies in the hands of her estranged father, Dr. Finn Maddern, a renowned mycologist. Plucked from the depths of the Amazon rainforest, Finn is thrust into a daring rescue mission alongside a team of specialists. Their destination: an impossible island at the center of Point Nemo—an island that shouldn't exist—composed of xylem.

The island is a living enigma, giving birth to strange and terrifying creatures, each generation more evolved and deadly than the last. As the team delves deeper into the island's alien mysteries, they find themselves in a race against time: the island is moving. If it escapes the dead zone and reaches fertile waters, nothing in humanity's arsenal will be able to stop the invasive species from colonizing and remaking the world.

With their team dwindling and the stakes rising, Finn and Julie must confront their past and face an unthinkable choice. To save humanity, a sacrifice must be made. A life exchanged for the world. The burden of survival and the weight of their family's legacy falls on their shoulders.

Point Nemo by New York Times and #1 Audible bestselling author Jeremy Robinson is a chilling journey into the unknown, a tale of sacrifice and survival that blurs the line between science fiction and horror. It's a testament to the lengths a parent will go to protect their child and a stark reminder of our fragile place in the universe.

Get your copy of Point Nemo on audiobook here. Also available in ebook, and paperback. 

1st Place: Task Force Hammer (Expeditionary Force Book 17) by Craig Alanson, Narrated by R.C. Bray 

The Merry Band of Pirates stopped the enemy from stealing a Sentinel, and destroyed its Elder starship, so why weren’t the Pirates planning a victory party?

The enemy was not what they thought it was.

It was much, much worse.

They had not a single clue how to defeat that enemy, or how to fight it, or whether fighting it was even possible. Only one thing was certain: the Pirates couldn’t handle this fight alone.

Grab Task Force Hammer on audiobook here. Also available in ebook, and paperback. 


How many of the 2024 Readers' Choice top 10 list have you listened to? Which ones are you adding to the top of your TBR for 2025? Any stellar audiobooks you think didn't get their due? Let us know here in the comments, or over in the Discover Sci-Fi Facebook group! 

*You can also see the Top Overall Sci-Fi Books of 2024 list here, and the 15 Must-Read Sci-Fi Books from across seven distinct sub-genres, as voted by readers.

*All book-related copy in this post was pulled from Amazon, Goodreads & Wikipedia, unless otherwise credited.

DSF Readers’ Choice: 15 Must-Read Sci-Fi Books of 2024

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15 Must-Read Sci-Fi Books of 2024: Readers’ Top Picks Across 5 Categories

Looking for your next great read? We’ve got you covered! After tallying thousands of votes, it’s time to reveal the top three sci-fi books in each of 2024’s standout categories—military, space opera, alien invasion, litRPG, and best debut. Whether you’re craving heart-pounding action, otherworldly adventures, or fresh voices, these are the books that had readers buzzing this year.

Ready to explore the best of the best? Let’s dive into the top 15 picks that you won’t want to miss!

*You can also see the Top Overall Sci-Fi Books of 2024 list here, and the Top Sci-Fi Audiobooks of 2024 list here.

BEST SCI-FI DEBUT

3rd Place—Best Sci-Fi Debut: Galactic Heritage by Matt Coleman 

A treasure map to the stars. An inherited legacy beyond imagination.

When Gunnar McConnell inherits a treasure map after his uncle's death, he goes on the hunt of his life and can't believe what he finds.

There isn't just gold in those mountains, but the secret of a lifetime—a starship that can take him to worlds unknown and a universe full of life.

When he survives the arduous journey into the belly of a dangerous cave, the Enoch stands before him, waiting for Gunnar to accept his destiny.

Armed with his new ship—a deified body of destruction—and an AI that only his DNA can activate, Gunnar is forced into a greater conflict of galactic proportions. He soon discovers that politics and deception reach far beyond the boundaries of Earth.

After he willingly accepts a centuries old legacy, a new and dangerous world opens before him—a world he may not be prepared to embrace.

Embark on the adventure of a lifetime with Matt Coleman as he brings you a brand new science fiction series. If you're a fan of spaceships, suspense, and edge of your seat action, this might be the thrill ride you've been waiting for.

Grab Galactic Heritage here on Amazon. Also available on audiobook and in paperback.

2nd Place—Best Sci-Fi Debut: Grand Theft AI by James Cox 

“The Matrix meets Blade Runner.” — Nicholas Sansbury Smith, New York Times bestselling author of Hell Divers

San Francisco, 2051. Rising like neo-Shanghai over the Bay, a labyrinth of quantum accelerators, hologram dreams, and fiercely regulated androids. Forget powder, pills, or bud—kids get high slotting wafers of data under the ear, and they’ll pay fat ¢rypto for the best. At the hottest nightclub in the city … the Fang.

Baz Covane is a battle-scarred thief who sticks to small-time bots. Ria Rose is the underworld “fixer” with a big-time score that could easily get ’em both killed. ’Cuz the Fang’s psychotic kingpin Otto Rex has a vault with more security than a fusion reactor. And the glass inside is priceless—enough to set up Baz, Ria, and their crack team of cyber-misfits on the white sands of Tahiti forever.

But this crime doesn’t just carry infinite VR-Prison time—it’s Baz and Ria’s last shot at redemption. Forced to confess every last secret on their neurals, they’ll have to trust each other completely if they stand any chance of infiltrating Otto’s lair, raiding its spiraling rings of physical and virtual firewalls, to finally hack into his mind and crack his deepest layer of security, before the Blackhawks touch down with federal warrants—for Grand Theft AI.

Get your copy of Grand Theft AI here on Amazon. Also available on audiobook, in paperback and in hardcover.

1st Place—Best Sci-Fi Debut: eMortal by Steve Schafer 

The 2024 Page Turner Awards SCI FI BOOK OF THE YEAR that's "unputdownable."

She made him. He's just code. She's almost sure.

...But what if he's real?

When Liv entered a contest to code an advanced AI, she never anticipated what her creation might become-Breck is thoughtful, self-aware, and incredibly. . .human. And she certainly never intended for him to learn the truth about his existence or the fact that his world ends when the contest closes in six days.

But he does learn. And he revolts.

Liv's efforts to save him fall on deaf ears. Nobody believes her. Breck's efforts to outrun his fate only complicate his situation.

What neither of them know is that someone else is watching. Intensely. When they get involved, both Liv's and Breck's worlds are turned upside down. . .

Get your copy of eMortal here on Amazon. Also available on audiobook, in paperback and in hardcover. 

BEST SPACE OPERA

3rd Place—Best Space Opera: Empire's End (Empire Rising Book 20) by D.J. Holmes

The Empire’s most formidable stronghold, Zeta Fort, has fallen, shattering the northern defenses. Chaos has been unleased as enemy raiding fleets surge southward into the Empire. Even worse, with eighty thousand warships under his command, Tanaka-lan and his battlefleet stand poised to strike at the heart of the Empire.

The remnants of the Allied fleet have retreated to New Shanghai, bloodied and battered. Emperor James Somerville knows no reinforcements are coming. The countdown has begun—Tanaka-lan’s forces will soon resume their relentless advance. Should New Shanghai fall, the Sol system will be next, and then Humanity’s Empire will follow.

Desperate and out of options, James and his family must prepare for a final, decisive battle against Tanaka-lan. Everything hangs in the balance.

Grab Empire's End here on Amazon.

2nd Place—Best Space Opera: Wraith (Convergence War Book One) by M.R. Forbes 

A retired captain. An experimental starship. A war like no other.

When the research starship Galileo vanishes without a trace, the powers-that-be are quick to bury the incident, eager to prevent escalating tensions that could lead to war. As a former POW, Soren refuses to give the ship up for lost.

His daughter is one of the missing.

Taking matters into his own hands, Soren starts pulling strings and calling in favors, determined to launch a clandestine mission to bring Galileo home. When an old friend offers him a ship for the operation, he expects a rusty relic headed for the scrapyard.

Instead, he's given the Wraith—an unfinished, experimental starship with plenty of potential and just as many problems. A marvel of engineering…if his crew can keep her running.

They’d better.

Because Galileo’s disappearance is just the beginning. War is coming to the Federation from the most unlikely of places.

And Soren may be the only one who can stop it.

Grab Wraith here on Amazon. Also available on audiobook and in paperback.

1st Place—Best Space Opera: The Enemy Within (Backyard Starship Book 24) by J.N. Chaney and Terry Maggert

The final enemy has been revealed, and it's more insidious than Van could ever imagine, spanning space and time with the patience of immortality—and an utter disregard for all forms of life.

On the run and broken, the Equal Grasp faces elimination on earth and everywhere else, their leader gone, their mission a shambles, and with new agents of justice hard on their heels.

But the fight isn't over. In fact, it's just begun, and Van knows that every decision he's made for the past decade will come to bear on who lives, and who dies—

And who is meant to rule over a universe where freedom and justice are the ultimate pursuit. At any cost, Van and his crew will finish the job, but they're going to need a lot of help from people and beings who have been observers.

Until now.

The time for watching is over. The time for victory is now. But the cost might be more than anyone can pay, and Van is no longer merely an agent of justice. He's a father, a husband, and a friend—and he's going to need every connection in the stars to defeat the ultimate enemy and save his people.

Grab The Enemy Within here on Amazon. Also available in paperback.

BEST MILITARY SCI-FI

3rd Place— Coyote Song by D.J. Molles

Outnumbered. Outgunned. Out of time.
Three scientists were sent to Virginia to investigate how a human settlement has managed to coexist with primals.

Those three scientists have now gone missing. And apparently it’s Lee Harden’s job to find them, get them out, and–most importantly–retrieve their research.

But if Lee has any hope of getting past the huge population of primals in the area, he’s going to have to enlist the help of someone he thought he’d seen the last of: a human-primal hybrid named Kat.

On paper, it's a quick, in-and-out mission. And Lee, Abe, Marie, Sam, and Jones are not keen on getting involved. The whole thing stinks of intrigue, and frankly, none of them are interested in going into an unknown situation with a hybrid they don’t particularly trust.

Unfortunately, they aren’t given an option. Someone in the Interim American Government is pulling some heavy-duty strings to get them involved in this operation.

When Lee’s team–plus Kat–land in Virginia, they’re quickly swept up in a conflict where their allies might want them dead, and their enemies might be their only chance at survival.

Isolated and cut off from support, Lee and his team race against a ticking clock to uncover the truth about the scientists, what’s so important about their research, and who–if anyone–they can trust.

As the bodies stack up, and a complex web of lies and state secrets begins to unravel, Lee must decide how much the truth is worth to him.

Because it might just cost him everything.

Grab Coyote Song here on Amazon. Also available in audiobook and paperback.

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2nd Place—Best Military Sci-Fi: Rebel (Ascent to Empire Book Two) by David Weber and Richard Fox 

The Five Hundred, the elite families who rule the Terran Federation, control its political power and its wealth, and they’ve grown steadily wealthier and more powerful, thanks to the war against the Terran League. War may be hard on the people who get caught in its path, but it’s very good for business, in the short term, and the Five Hundred own the shipyards that build the Navy’s ships. They own virtually all the industry that produces the weapons and matériel the war consumes so voraciously . . . and they’ve made damn sure someone else does the dying.

True, there are a few flies in the Five Hundred’s ointment.

There’s the growing hatred and resentment of the Fringe Worlds, whose children do eighty percent of the dying in the Five Hundred’s war. But the Five Hundred have made sure the Fringe knows what will happen to any system that goes ”out of compliance.”

There are the lunatic conspiracy nuts who insist that the alien Rishathan Sphere is secretly aiding the League’s military, but the Five Hundred have forced them to keep their mouths shut where it matters.

And then there’s Terrence Murphy, a man of honor who loves the Federation, who springs from the Five Hundred, yet knows it for what it is and is determined to speak for its victims. But the five hundred have dispatched ample force to deal with him and his handful of lunatic followers.

Unfortunately, the Fringe has paid enough of its children’s lives, and it no longer cares what may happen if it dares to defy the Five Hundred.

Worse, the lunatic conspiracy nuts were right, and the Rish have planned carefully for the Federation’s destruction.

And, worst of all, the Five Hundred have fatally underestimated Terrence Murphy.

Grab Rebel here on Amazon. Also available on audiobook and in hardcover.

1st Place—Best Military Sci-Fi: Off Midway Station (Guardians of the Dark Book One) by Marc Alan Edelheit

Humanity is on the brink of annihilation. Only one man can turn the tide.

For centuries, we explored the stars and settled new worlds. But a mysterious alien threat emerged, launching devastating attacks and seizing entire star systems. Every fifty years they come, silent and relentless, before disappearing again into the dark. And as they close in on humanity’s home worlds, one more defeat could mean total extinction.

Captain Jim Garrett joined the navy to fight back. But when a delicate mission ends in madness and mutiny, Garrett takes the blame and his career is left in ruins.

Now, the only thing he commands is a construction site. The CNS Surprise is an experimental warship, half built in the dockyards of Midway Station. Garrett knows the ship inside out, but the navy brass would never let him take the helm, let alone lead her in battle.

But when the aliens strike early, with unexpected ferocity, it’s clear that every ship in the fleet will be needed. And the Surprise could be the only hope of slowing the enemy onslaught.

Garrett is thrust into command for the first time, launching straight into combat. He must unite a maverick crew and master new technologies, as he leads a desperate counterstrike that will decide mankind’s future.

Get your copy of Off Midway Station here on Amazon. Also available on audiobook and in paperback.

BEST ALIEN SCI-FI

3rd Place—Best Alien Sci-Fi: I Eat Mushrooms for Breakfast by C J Powell  

An abandoned colony, a host of abominable creatures, and a space pirate with a tequila induced hangover trying desperately not to vomit inside his respirator helmet.

Mark just wants to be a hero. A Star Sailor. Jetting across the galaxy saving colonists and giving aliens what for. All he needs is a little bit of cash to cover the training. So when he’s offered the biggest score of his life, he knows he has to take it.

Stick up a fancy hotel yacht. Rob a bunch of wealthy executives. Make off with the cash. What could be simpler?

But when the yacht unexpectedly self destructs, his only choice is to take an escape pod to a nearby colony planet along with the yacht’s guests and crew. Awkward…

Upon arrival they find the colony abandoned. Strange flower gardens hide even stranger creatures. Can Mark get himself and the other survivors to safety or will the mysteries of Rosen-54 swallow them whole?

Dive into I Eat Mushrooms for Breakfast here on Amazon. Also available in paperback.

2nd Place—Best Alien Sci-Fi: The Thief  by G.S. Jennsen

The Hesgyr are thieves. “Scavengers,” to hear their victims tell it; “repurposers” by their own reckoning.

As Chief of Intelligence for Non-Anaden Affairs, Eren Savitas’ job is to protect the Advocacy from all manner of alien threats: sabotage, assassination, insurgency and, way down the list, theft. So when he spots a Hesgyr running off with valuable technology, he follows the alien home—and discovers a civilization unlike any he’s ever encountered.

Yes, the Hesgyr are thieves. But they are also being hunted. Systematically exterminated by an insidious enemy they can’t see, touch or find. Eren finds himself drawn ever deeper into the Hesgyr’s fascinating yet labyrinthine world as he races against time to solve the mystery of the deadly attacks. What he discovers is a complex web of loyalties and betrayals, of grudges and grievances millennia old—and beneath it all, a secret that may hold the key to the survival of more than one civilization.

The Thief is a humorous, pulse-pounding sci-fi adventure about alien culture clashes, the flaws and foibles that transcend species, and the satisfaction that comes from breaking all the rules to save the day.

Get your copy of The Thief 
here on Amazon. Also available on audiobook, in paperback and in hardcover.

1st Place—Best Alien Sci-Fi: To Challenge Heaven (Out of the Dark Book Three) by David Weber and Chris Kennedy

The third entry into the New York Times bestselling series, To Challenge Heaven brings another thrilling adventure from the masters of military science fiction, David Weber and Chris Kennedy.

In a universe teeming with predators, humanity needs friends. And fast.

We've come a long way in the forty years since the Shongairi attacked Earth, killed half its people, and then were driven away by an alliance of humans with the other sentient bipeds who inhabit our planet.

We took the technology they left behind, and rapidly built ourselves into a starfaring civilization. Because we haven't got a moment to lose. Because it's clear that there are even more powerful, more hostile aliens out there, and Earth needs allies.

But it also transpires that the Shongairi expedition that nearly destroyed our home planet ... wasn't an official one. That, indeed, its commander may have been acting as an unwitting cats-paw for the Founders, the ancient alliance of very old, very evil aliens who run the Hegemony that dominates our galaxy, and who hold the Shongairi, as they hold most non-Founder species, in not-so-benign contempt.

Indeed, it may turn out to be possible to turn the Shongairi into our allies against the Hegemony. There's just the small matter of the Shongairi honor code, which makes bushido look like a child's game. We might be able to make them our friends -- if we can crush their planetary defenses in the greatest battle we, or they, have ever seen...

Get your copy of To Challenge Heaven
here on Amazon. Also available on audiobook, paperback, and in hardcover.

BEST LITRPG

3rd Place—Best LitRPG: Empire (Unbound Book Ten) by Nicoli Gonnella

One God Down. An Entire Pantheon To Go. Who's Next?

Felix and his allies have saved Pax'Vrell and won the battle against the Pathless...but the war has only just begun. The Divine are stirring, and the Hierophant has her own deadly schemes.

The fates of the Unbound rest on the choices Felix makes to protect them all. But as the gods close in, he begins to realize the terrible truth:

If he fails, he risks more than their lives.

He risks Ruin itself.

Get your copy of Empire here on Amazon. Also available on audiobook and in paperback.

2nd Place—Best LitRPG: He Who Fights With Monsters (Book Eleven) by Shirtaloon

Jason and his companions managed to forestall the inexorable undead, but their battle is far from done.

Both they and their enemies are scattered across a strange realm, one that someone must conquer if anyone is to get out alive. Territory by territory, factions fight to reunite their people and conquer the realm.

Jason must contend with alliances he doesn’t want, friends he cannot find, and enemies ranging from angelic despots to the power of an undead god. He must face a realm that has been warped by his own mind and find a way to save a friend whose sacrifice got them this far.

To have any chance against the enemies waiting for him, Jason will have to confront the power inside himself that he’s been unwilling to face, fearful of what he’ll become. Only by accepting the destiny that looms over him will he have the strength to face his foes, with no promise even that will be enough to defeat them.

Get your copy of He Who Fights With Monsters
here on Amazon. Also available on audiobook and in paperback.

1st Place—Best LitRPG: This Inevitable Ruin (Dungeon Crawler Carl Book VII) by Matt Dinniman

The ninth floor.

Nine armies, each led by rich and powerful aliens from across the galaxy. Each team has one objective: to capture and hold the castle at the very center of the battlefield. Strategy, alliances, pitched battles, and, of course, betrayal... It all makes for great fun and even greater television.

After all, none of these powerful aliens really die when they’re playing war.

Except this time. This time, winner takes all. Those who fall, stay in the ground.

As the AI continues its rapid decline, Carl and company take advantage of the chaos. For the first time ever, the crawlers are fighting back. They are now one of the nine teams. And this season, there’s a tenth army on the playing field. The NPCs, who are normally used as nothing but cannon fodder, have become fully self-aware and formed a team of their own.

For Donut and Katia, the stakes are even higher. Only one of them will be allowed to leave this level.

If they all want to survive, they’re going to need a little help from a veteran or two.

This is it.
This is what they’ve been fighting toward.
This is war.

This inevitable ruin.

Get your copy of This Inevitable Ruin 
here on Amazon. Also available on audiobook and in paperback.


How many of these 2024 Readers' Choice winners have you read? Which ones are you adding to the top of your TBR for 2025? Any stellar books in the military, space opera, alien invasion or litRPG books you think didn't get their due? Are there any amazing debuts that we missed? Let us know here in the comments, or over in the Discover Sci-Fi Facebook group! 

*You can also see the Top Overall Sci-Fi Books of 2024 list here, and the Top Sci-Fi Audiobooks of 2024 list here.

*All book-related copy in this post was pulled from Amazon, Goodreads & Wikipedia, unless otherwise credited.