Turn the lights down if you dare... Just in time for spooky season, these sci-fi picks are guaranteed to give a scare! 

As the nights grow longer and the shadows deepen, there is no better time to dive into the eerie intersection of horror and science fiction. 

In this chilling sub-genre, the terror doesn’t just lurk in haunted houses or dark forests — it extends into the vast unknowns of space, the hidden dimensions of reality, and the strange creatures born of scientific experiments gone wrong. 

Whether your a fan of classic, slow-building dread, or you prefer edge-of-your-seat, pulse-pounding thrills, this roundup of horror sci-fi books will have something to haunt your dreams!

Scroll down to discover some of the most terrifying tales blending science and suspense. 

P.S. Don’t forget to leave the lights on! 

The Stand by Stephen King

A patient escapes from a biological testing facility, unknowingly carrying a deadly weapon: a mutated strain of super-flu that will wipe out 99 percent of the world’s population within a few weeks. Those who remain are scared, bewildered, and in need of a leader. Two emerge—Mother Abagail, the benevolent 108-year-old woman who urges them to build a peaceful community in Boulder, Colorado; and Randall Flagg, the nefarious “Dark Man,” who delights in chaos and violence. As the dark man and the peaceful woman gather power, the survivors will have to choose between them—and ultimately decide the fate of all humanity.

Read The Stand  here on Amazon. Also available on audiobook

Into the Drowning Deep by Mira Grant 

The ocean is home to many myths,

But some are deadly. . .

Seven years ago the Atargatis set off on a voyage to the Mariana Trench to film a mockumentary bringing to life ancient sea creatures of legend. It was lost at sea with all hands. Some have called it a hoax; others have called it a tragedy.

Now a new crew has been assembled. But this time they're not out to entertain. Some seek to validate their life's work. Some seek the greatest hunt of all. Some seek the truth. But for the ambitious young scientist Victoria Stewart this is a voyage to uncover the fate of the sister she lost.

Whatever the truth may be, it will only be found below the waves.

But the secrets of the deep come with a price.

Read Into the Drowning Deep here on Amazon. Also available on audiobook

Annihilation by Jeff VanderMeer

Area X has been cut off from the rest of the continent for decades. Nature has reclaimed the last vestiges of human civilization. The first expedition returned with reports of a pristine, Edenic landscape; the second expedition ended in mass suicide; the third expedition in a hail of gunfire as its members turned on one another. The members of the eleventh expedition returned as shadows of their former selves, and within weeks, all had died of cancer. In Annihilation, the first volume of Jeff VanderMeer's Southern Reach trilogy, we join the twelfth expedition.

Read Annihilation here on Amazon. Also available on audiobook.

The Luminous Dead by Caitlin Starling

Read The Luminous Dead here on Amazon. Also available on audiobook.

Greatest Hits (Herald Classics) by Harlan Ellison

Featuring these stories and many more: 

• “‘Repent, Harlequin,’ Said the Ticktockman” — Hugo Award winner
• “I Have No Mouth, and I Must Scream” — Bram Stoker Award winner
• “Mefisto in Onyx” — Bram Stoker Award winner
• “Jeffty Is Five” — British Fantasy Award winner
• “Shatterday” — Twilight Zone episode
• “The Whimper of Whipped Dogs” — Edgar Allan Poe Award winner
• “Paladin of the Lost Hour” — Hugo Award winner, Twilight Zone episode

 Grab Greatest Hits here on Amazon. Also available on audiobook.

Cursed Bunny by Bora Chung Translated by Anton Hur 

From an author never before published in the United States, Cursed Bunny is unique and imaginative, blending horror, sci-fi, fairy tales, and speculative fiction into stories that defy categorization. By turns thought-provoking and stomach-turning, here monsters take the shapes of furry woodland creatures and danger lurks in unexpected corners of everyday apartment buildings. But in this unforgettable collection, translated by the acclaimed Anton Hur, Chung’s absurd, haunting universe could be our own.
 
“The Head” follows a woman haunted by her own bodily waste. “The Embodiment” takes us into a dystopian gynecology office where a pregnant woman is told that she must find a father for her baby or face horrific consequences. Another story follows a young monster, forced into underground fight rings without knowing his own power. The titular fable centers on a cursed lamp in the shape of a rabbit, fit for a child’s bedroom but for its sinister capabilities.
 
No two stories are alike, and readers will be torn whether to race through them or savor Chung’s wit and frenetic energy on every page. Cursed Bunny is a book that screams to be read late into the night and passed on to the nearest set of hands the very next day. 

“Like the work of Carmen Maria Machado and Aoko Matsuda, Chung’s stories are so wonderfully, blisteringly strange and powerful that it's almost impossible to put Cursed Bunny down.” ―Kelly Link, bestselling author of Get In Trouble

Get your copy of Cursed Bunny here on Amazon. Also available on audiobook.

Blood Music by Greg Bear

This Hugo and Nebula Award finalist follows present-day events in which the fears concerning the nuclear annihilation of the world subsided after the Cold War and the fear of chemical warfare spilled over into the empty void it left behind. An amazing breakthrough in genetic engineering made by Vergil Ulam is considered too dangerous for further research, but rather than destroy his work, he injects himself with his creation and walks out of his lab, unaware of just how his actions will change the world. Author Greg Bear’s treatment of the traditional tale of scientific hubris is both suspenseful and a compelling portrait of a new intelligence emerging amongst us, irrevocably changing our world. 

Grab Blood Music  here on Amazon. Also available on audiobook.

Blindsight by Peter Watts 

Two months since the stars fell...

Two months of silence, while a world held its breath.

Now some half-derelict space probe, sparking fitfully past Neptune's orbit, hears a whisper from the edge of the solar system: a faint signal sweeping the cosmos like a lighthouse beam. Whatever's out there isn't talking to us. It's talking to some distant star, perhaps. Or perhaps to something closer, something en route.

So who do you send to force introductions with unknown and unknowable alien intellect that doesn't wish to be met?

You send a linguist with multiple personalities, her brain surgically partitioned into separate, sentient processing cores. You send a biologist so radically interfaced with machinery that he sees x-rays and tastes ultrasound. You send a pacifist warrior in the faint hope she won't be needed. You send a monster to command them all, an extinct hominid predator once called vampire, recalled from the grave with the voodoo of recombinant genetics and the blood of sociopaths. And you send a synthesist—an informational topologist with half his mind gone—as an interface between here and there.

Pray they can be trusted with the fate of a world. They may be more alien than the thing they've been sent to find.

Dive into Blindsight here on Amazon. Also available on audiobook.

Frankenstein by Mary Shelley

Nominated as one of America’s best-loved novels by PBS’s The Great American Read
 
The original 1818 text of Frankenstein preserves the hard-hitting and politically-charged aspects of Shelley’s original writing, as well as her unflinching wit and strong female voice. This edition also emphasizes Shelley’s relationship with her mother—trailblazing feminist Mary Wollstonecraft, who penned A Vindication of the Rights of Woman—and demonstrates her commitment to carrying forward her mother’s ideals, placing her in the context of a feminist legacy rather than the sole female in the company of male poets, including Percy Shelley and Lord Byron.
 
This edition includes a new introduction and suggestions for further reading by National Book Critics Circle award-winner and Shelley expert Charlotte Gordon, literary excerpts and reviews selected by Gordon, and a chronology and essay by preeminent Shelley scholar Charles E. Robinson.

Get your copy of Frankenstein here on Amazon. Also available on audiobook.

The Girl With All the Gifts by M.R. Carey

Melanie is a very special girl. Dr Caldwell calls her "our little genius."
Every morning, Melanie waits in her cell to be collected for class. When they come for her, Sergeant keeps his gun pointing at her while two of his people strap her into the wheelchair. She thinks they don't like her. She jokes that she won't bite, but they don't laugh.

The Girl With All the Gifts is a groundbreaking thriller, emotionally charged and gripping from beginning to end.

Start reading The Girl With All the Gifts here on Amazon. Also available on audiobook.

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I Am Legend by Richard Matheson

Winner of the Bram Stoker Lifetime Achievement Award for best vampire novel of the century: the genre-defining classic of horror sci-fi that inspired three films.
 
The population of the entire world has been obliterated by a pandemic of vampire bacteria. Yet somehow, Robert Neville survived. He must now struggle to make sense of what happened and learn to protect himself against the vampires who hunt him nightly.
 
As months of scavenging and hiding turn to years marked by depression and alcoholism, Robert spends his days hunting his tormentors and researching the cause of their affliction. But the more he discovers about the vampires around him, the more he sees the unsettling truth of who is—and who is not—a monster.

Grab I Am Legend here on Amazon. Also available on audiobook.

Thrum by Meg Smitherman

Ami awakes from years in stasis to find she’s at the edges of deep space, and the only surviving member of her crew. Utterly alone and unable to contact Earth, she sends out a distress beacon, not expecting a response. When she gets one from a being who calls himself Dorian, she’s welcomed onto his ship as he offers his assistance in any way he can. But nothing on Dorian’s ship is as it seems. And as Ami tries to navigate the maze of hallways and first contact with this alien being, a deep hum begins to resonate, haunting her, as if the ship itself is whispering to her.

Grab Thrum here on Amazon. 

Exoskeleton by Shane Stadler 

A man is convicted of a horrible crime and submits to a one-year experimental corrections program rather than serve a 25-year prison sentence. He soon learns that he has made a terrible mistake … Just as he is on the verge of losing all hope for survival, something unexpected occurs that transforms him into something that transcends human limitations.

Exoskeleton is equal parts sci-fi, psycho-horror, and supernatural-thriller.

Grab Exoskeleton here on Amazon. 

Carrion Comfort by Dan Simmons 

Embraced by giants such as Stephen King and Dean R. Koontz, Dan Simmons's Carrion Comfort was originally published by Warner Books in 1989, and remains a classic of dark fantasy and horror.

"One of the three greatest horror novels of the 20th century. Simple as that." --Stephen King

THE PAST... Caught behind the lines of Hitler's Final Solution, Saul Laski is one of the multitudes destined to die in the notorious Chelmno extermination camp. Until he rises to meet his fate and finds himself face to face with an evil far older, and far greater, than the Nazi's themselves…

THE PRESENT... Compelled by the encounter to survive at all costs, so begins a journey that for Saul will span decades and cross continents, plunging into the darkest corners of 20th century history to reveal a secret society of beings who may often exist behind the world's most horrible and violent events. Killing from a distance, and by darkly manipulative proxy, they are people with the psychic ability to 'use' humans: read their minds, subjugate them to their wills, experience through their senses, feed off their emotions, force them to acts of unspeakable aggression. Each year, three of the most powerful of this hidden order meet to discuss their ongoing campaign of induced bloodshed and deliberate destruction.

But this reunion, something will go terribly wrong. Saul's quest is about to reach its elusive object, drawing hunter and hunted alike into a struggle that will plumb the depths of mankind's attraction to violence, and determine the future of the world itself…

Get your copy of Carrion Comfort here on Amazon. Also available on audiobook.

Sphere by Michael Crichton

From the author of Jurassic Park, Timeline, and Congo comes a psychological thriller about a group of scientists who investigate a spaceship discovered on the ocean floor.

In the middle of the South Pacific, a thousand feet below the surface, a huge vessel is unearthed. Rushed to the scene is a team of American scientists who descend together into the depths to investigate the astonishing discovery. What they find defies their imaginations and mocks their attempts at logical explanation. It is a spaceship, but apparently it is undamaged by its fall from the sky. And, most startling, it appears to be at least three hundred years old, containing a terrifying and destructive force that must be controlled at all costs.

Grab Sphere here on Amazon. Also available on audiobook.

Which of these horror sci-fi books are you brave enough to tackle next? Are there any spine-chilling reads that we missed in this roundup? Let us know in the comments below or head over to the Discover Sci-Fi Facebook group to share your favorite terrifying tales! 

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

Buckle up, sci-fi fans: 2024 is here, bringing with it a plethora of promising new sci-fi releases!

Among the literary treasures on the horizon are titles from both established and emerging writers, all poised to captivate our hearts, challenge our minds, and transport us to new dimensions.

Whether you're a fan of space opera, technothrillers, or mind-bending speculative fiction, there's something exciting to look forward to in the coming months. So, without further ado, let us introduce you to the most buzz-worthy sci-fi of the season. Read on to check 'em out!  

The Forever World by Ethan Rhodes

Release Date: 9th January

On a routine border patrol, pilot Zane Lucas encounters a mysterious cluster of drones. When he reports it to the Scorpius head office, they quickly sweep it under the intergalactic rug and place him on leave.

That same night, Zane is contacted by an estate lawyer from the distant planet Earth and learns he’s the sole beneficiary of a person he’s never met. Determined to get answers, he finds himself thrust into a dead man’s quest, along with a resourceful colleague, Julia Rossi.

Zane’s mission is tied to an old myth based on The Forever World book.

His father used to read it at bedtime, before he went missing during a bloody war with the Gral twenty years earlier. Their alliance is on the brink of collapse and the revolution is just beginning.

Can Zane find The Forever World, if it in fact exists?

Would this fabled planet help restore the balance?

Time is running out, and the drones are multiplying.

Read The Forever World  here on Amazon. Also available on audiobook

The Tusks of Extinction by Ray Nayler

Release Date: 16th January

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.

Dr. Damira Khismatullina, an expert in elephant behavior, was brutally murdered trying to defend the world's last elephants from the brutal ivory trade. Now, her digitized consciousness has been downloaded into the mind of a mammoth.

As the herd's new matriarch, can Damira help fend off poachers long enough for the species to take hold? Or will her own ghosts, and Moscow's real reason for bringing the mammoth back, doom them to a new extinction?

Read The Tusks of Extinction here on Amazon. Also available in hardcover.

Machine Vendetta by Alastair Reynolds

Release Date: 16th January 

Panoply is a small, efficient police force, dedicated to maintaining the rule of democracy among the ten thousand disparate city-states orbiting the planet Yellowstone.

Ingvar Tench was one of Panoply's most experienced operatives. So why did she walk alone and unarmed into a habitat with a vicious grudge against her organization?

As his colleagues pick up the pieces following her death, Prefect Tom Dreyfus must face his conscience. Four years ago, when an investigation linked to one of his most dangerous adversaries got a little too personal, Dreyfus arranged for Tench to continue the inquiry by proxy. In using her, did Dreyfus also put her in the line of fire? And what does Tench's attack tell him about an enemy he had hoped was dormant?

Read Machine Vendetta here on Amazon. Also available on audiobook.

To Challenge Heaven by David Weber and Chris Kennedy

Read To Challenge Heaven here on Amazon. Also available on audiobook.

Exordia by Seth Dickinson

Release Date: 23rd January

“Anna, I came to Earth tracking a very old story, a story that goes back to the dawn of time. It’s very unlikely that you’ll die right now. It wouldn’t be narratively complete.”

Anna Sinjari—refugee, survivor of genocide, disaffected office worker—has a close encounter that reveals universe-threatening stakes. Enter Ssrin, a many-headed serpent alien who is on the run from her own past. Ssrin and Anna are inexorably, dangerously drawn to each other, and their contact reveals universe-threatening stakes.

While humanity reels from disaster, Anna must join a small team of civilians, soldiers, and scientists to investigate a mysterious broadcast and unknowable horror. If they can manage to face their own demons, they just might save the world.

 Grab Exordia here on Amazon. Also available on audiobook.

Womb City by Tlotlo Tsamaase

Release Date 23rd January 

Nelah seems to have it all: fame, wealth, and a long-awaited daughter growing in a government lab. But, trapped in a loveless marriage to a policeman who uses a microchip to monitor her every move, Nelah’s perfect life is precarious. After a drug-fueled evening culminates in an eerie car accident, Nelah commits a desperate crime and buries the body, daring to hope that she can keep one last secret.

The truth claws its way into Nelah’s life from the grave.

As the ghost of her victim viciously hunts down the people Nelah holds dear, she is thrust into a race against the clock: in order to save any of her remaining loved ones, Nelah must unravel the political conspiracy her victim was on the verge of exposing—or risk losing everyone.

Set in a cruel futuristic surveillance state where bodies are a government-issued resource, this harrowing story is a twisty, nail-biting commentary on power, monstrosity, and bodily autonomy. In sickeningly evocative prose, Womb City interrogates how patriarchy pits women against each other as unwitting collaborators in their own oppression. In this devastatingly timely debut novel, acclaimed short fiction writer Tlotlo Tsamaase brings a searing intelligence and Botswana’s cultural sensibility to the question: just how far must a woman go to bring the whole system crashing down?

Get your copy of Womb City here on Amazon. Also available on audiobook.

Burn Box: Flames, Book 2 by Bobby Adair

Release Date: 31st January

A world on edge. A future in flames. A war like no other.

In a future teetering on the edge of oblivion, mankind faces its darkest hour. A world gripped by engineered diseases, artificial intelligence dominance, and a splintered society in revolt—this is the chilling landscape of the Burn Box trilogy.
As the globe grapples with relentless technological advancements that render masses obsolete, and gene hackers play God by unleashing devastating plagues, trust becomes a rarity and survival the only goal. From the smoke-filled streets terrorized by the ever-looming Burn Boxes to the uprising of the oppressed, the series delves deep into humanity's fight against an invisible enemy and the machines that control them.

But in this bleak horizon, heroes emerge. Ordinary individuals driven to extraordinary measures, fighting not just for their lives, but for the soul of a fractured world. From the very personal revenge-driven journey of Noah Blanks in the first installment, the saga unfolds, revealing deeper conspiracies, heart-wrenching losses, and a glimmer of hope that could either unite the world or shatter it forever.

Prepare to journey through a trilogy that challenges the very essence of humanity, questions the limits of technological control, and offers a beacon of hope through the dense fog of despair. The Burn Box series is an unforgettable odyssey into the future, echoing the fears and hopes of our times.

Grab Burn Box 2, Flames here on Amazon. 

Sons of War 4: Soldiers by Nicholas Sansbury Smith

Release Date: 6th February 

In the conclusion to the sweeping saga of postapocalyptic Los Angeles, Dominic Salvatore leads the Saints, a secret team of elite operatives, in a final push to purge the city of its demons. After sending their families into hiding, the Saints know that the stakes have never been higher—they will succeed decisively or perish.

Broken by the death of his wife, Don Antonio Moretti seeks revenge against her killers. He embarks on a body-strewn campaign to crush his last rivals and secure the crown of Los Angeles. Nephew Vinny Moretti tires of the killings and wonders whether his uncle is going too far.

Every eye is on the prize. And anyone trying to walk the fence between good and evil will have to pick a side. With either choice, hell awaits.

Dive into Sons of War 4: Soldiers here on Amazon. Also available on audiobook.

Echoes From the Moon: The Token Book One by Nathan Hystad

Release Date: 6th February 

The last living astronaut to walk on the Moon has been murdered…

Silas visits his estranged grandfather’s lakehouse, in the aftermath of the deadly home invasion. What he discovers hidden below the floorboards triggers a mystery buried since the final trip to the Moon, over fifty years earlier.

Rory returns to her family home in Vermont to write her second novel, but fate has a different story in mind. Her reunion is shattered when she’s thrust into danger revolving around the same tokens.

Special Agent Waylen Brooks exposes a covert operation linked to the death of a retired astronaut. He soon finds out he’s not the only one searching for answers, and willing to kill for the truth.

The unlikely trio find themselves denying the odds, with no one to trust but each other.

Can they find the tokens before someone else does?

Get your copy of Echoes From the Moon here on Amazon. Also available on audiobook.

Vangie's Ghosts by Paul Di Filippo

Release Date: 20th February

Evangeline, or “Vangie” for short, is under the cruel domination of uncaring step-parents. Suspected of being autistic, Vangie’s lack of affect is actually a result of being able to see deep into the multiverse. She is bewildered by the sensory input from a plethora of alternate timestreams. Soon, she will exhibit a strange power, activated only under extreme shock conditions.

Vangie can project her consciousness, her self or soul, from one timeline to another, fleeing danger for safety. This power will soon be exploited by a number of shady characters, as guardianship of Vangie passes from one set of exploitive adults to another.

But as Vangie ages and lives through numerous trials and adventures, she becomes more and more self-assured and powerful—talents that will eventually bring her head-to-head against a rival of her own kind.

Start reading Vangie's Ghosts here on Amazon. Also available on audiobook.

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Five Novels by Ursula K. Le Guin

Release Date: 20th February

Together for the first time, all 5 standalone novels from the Hugo and Nebula award–winning writer who reinvented science fiction, including one restored to print.

Spans from the 1971 classic The Lathe of Heaven to her career-crowning 2008 masterpiece Lavinia

This 7th volume in the definitive Library of America edition of Ursula K. Le Guin’s works presents 5 remarkable standalone novels that showcase her boundless creativity and literary range.

Grab Five Novels here on Amazon. Also available in hardcover.

The Bezzle by Cory Doctorow

Release Date: 20th February

The year is 2006. Martin Hench is at the top of his game as a self-employed forensic accountant, a veteran of the long guerrilla war between people who want to hide money, and people who want to find it. He spends his downtime on Catalina Island, where scenic, imported bison wander the bluffs and frozen, reheated fast food burgers cost 25$. Wait, what? When Marty disrupts a seemingly innocuous scheme during a vacation on Catalina Island, he has no idea he’s kicked off a chain of events that will overtake the next decade of his life.

Martin has made his most dangerous mistake yet: trespassed into the playgrounds of the ultra-wealthy and spoiled their fun. To them, money is a tool, a game, and a way to keep score, and they’ve found their newest mark—California’s Department of Corrections. Secure in the knowledge that they’re living behind far too many firewalls of shell companies and investors ever to be identified, they are interested not in the lives they ruin, but only in how much money they can extract from the government and the hundreds of thousands of prisoners they have at their mercy.

A seething rebuke of the privatized prison system that delves deeply into the arcane and baroque financial chicanery involved in the 2008 financial crash, The Bezzle is a sizzling follow-up to Red Team Blues.

Grab The Bezzle here on Amazon. Also available in hardcover.

Twice Lived by Joma West

Release Date: 20th February 

Torn between two families and two lives, a troubled teen must come to terms with losing half their world.

Two Worlds. Two Minds. One Life.

There are two Earths. Perfectly ordinary and existing in parallel. There are no doorways between them, no way to cross from one world to another. Unless you’re a shifter.

Canna and Lily are the same person but they refuse to admit it. Their split psyche has forced them to shift randomly between worlds – between lives and between families – for far longer than they should. But one mind can’t bear this much life. It’ll break under the weight of it all. Soon they’ll experience their final shift and settle at last in one world, but how can they prepare both families for the eventuality of them disappearing forever?

Twice Lived is a novel about family and friendships, and about loss and acceptance, and about the ways we learn to deal with the sheer randomness of life.

Grab Twice Lived here on Amazon. Also available on audiobook.

Exit Black by Joe Pitkin

Release Date: 20th February 

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.

Get your copy of Exit Black here on Amazon. Also available on audiobook.

East of Earth: A Prayer For Earthrise Book 3 by Daniel Arenson

Release Date: 29th February

We cannot let Earth fall.

The hydrians, terrible aliens from beyond the galaxy, are here. We must cast them back into the void. Or we will lose our beloved Earth.

Grab East of Earth here on Amazon.

After the Tide by Anthony J. Melchiorri

As danger escalates at every turn, Dom and Kara find themselves entangled in a web of unimaginable horrors. They must navigate the treacherous post-apocalyptic landscape to safeguard the fragile future of America. In this relentless thriller, where every step could be their last, Dom and Kara fight not only for survival but for the very soul of a nation teetering on the brink of extinction.

Grab After the Tide here on Amazon.

Baby X by Kira Peikoff

Release Date: 5th March 

When any biological matter can be used to create life, stolen celebrity DNA sells to the highest bidder–or the craziest stalker–in this propulsive thriller.

With a vivid imagining of the future, Gattaca meets Black Mirror in Kira Peikoff’s Baby X.

In the near-future United States, where advanced technology can create egg or sperm from any person’s cells, celebrities face the alarming potential of meeting biological children they never conceived. Famous singer Trace Thorne is tired of being targeted by the Vault, a black market site devoted to stealing DNA. Sick of paying ransom money for his own cell matter, he hires bio-security guard Ember Ryan to ensure his biological safety.  

Ember will do anything she can to protect her clients. She knows all the Vault’s tricks–discarded tissues, used straws, lipstick tubes–and has prevented countless DNA thefts. Working for Thorne, her focus becomes split when she begins to fall for him, but she knows she hasn’t let anything slip–love or not, his DNA is safe. But then she and Thorne are confronted by a pregnant woman, Quinn, who claims that Thorne is the father of her baby, and all bets are off.  

Brilliantly plotted and terrifyingly prescient, Baby X is an unpredictable and relentless speculative thriller perfect for fans of Blake Crouch and John Marrs.

Grab Baby X here on Amazon.. Also available in hardcover.

Jumpnauts by Hao Jingfang translated by Ken Liu

Release Date: 12th March

From the Hugo Award­–winning author of Folding Beijing comes a gripping science fiction thriller in which three unlikely allies attempt a desperate mission of first contact with a mysterious alien race before more militaristic minds can take matters into their own hands.

In a future where the world is roughly divided into two factions, the Pacific League of Nations and the Atlantic Division of Nations, tensions are high as each side waits for the other to make a move. But neither side is prepared for a powerful third party that has apparently been an influential presence on Earth for thousands of years—and just might be making a reappearance very soon.

With the realization that a highly intelligent alien race has been trying to send them messages, three rising scientists within the Pacific League of Nations form an uneasy alliance. Fueled by a curiosity to have their questions answered and a fear that other factions within their rival Atlantic Division of Nations would opt for a more aggressive and potentially disastrous military response, the three race to secure first contact with this extraterrestrial life they aren’t quite convinced is a threat.

Bolstered by recent evidence of alien visitations in the distant past, the three scientific minds must solve puzzles rooted within human antiquity, face off with their personal demons, and discover truths of the universe.

Grab Jumpnauts here on Amazon. Also available on audiobook.

The State of the Art (Culture) by Iain M. Banks

Release Date: 19th March

From New York Times bestselling and modern master of science fiction, Iain M. Banks, The State of the Art is the acclaimed collection of Banks's short fiction. 

This is a striking addition to the body of Culture lore, and adds definition and scale to the previous works by using the Earth of 1977 as contrast. The stories in the collection range from science fiction to horror, dark-coated fantasy to morality tale. All bear the indefinable stamp of Iain Banks's staggering talent.

Grab The State of the Art here on Amazon. Also available on audiobook. 

The Mars House by Natasha Pulley

Release Date: 19th March 

In the wake of an environmental catastrophe, January, once a principal in London's Royal Ballet, has become a refugee in Tharsis, the terraformed colony on Mars. There, January's life is dictated by his status as an Earthstronger-a person whose body is not adjusted to lower gravity and so poses a danger to those born on, or naturalized to, Mars. January's job choices, housing, and even transportation are dictated by this second-class status, and now a xenophobic politician named Aubrey Gale is running on a platform that would make it all worse: Gale wants all Earthstrongers to naturalize, a process that is always disabling and sometimes deadly.

When Gale chooses January for an on-the-spot press junket interview that goes horribly awry, January's life is thrown into chaos, but Gale's political fortunes are damaged, too. Gale proposes a solution to both their problems: a five year made-for-the-press marriage that would secure January's future without naturalization and ensure Gale's political success. But when January accepts the offer, he discovers that Gale is not at all like they appear in the press. They're kind, compassionate, and much more difficult to hate than January would prefer. As their romantic relationship develops, the political situation worsens, and January discovers Gale has an enemy, someone willing to destroy all of Tharsis to make them pay-and January may be the only person standing in the way.

Un-put-downably immersive and utterly timely, Natasha Pulley's new novel is a gripping story about privilege, strength, and life across class divisions, perfect for readers of Sarah Gailey and Tamsyn Muir.

Grab The Mars House here on Amazon. Also available in hardcover.

Annie Bot by Sierra Greer

Release Date: 19th March 

Annie Bot was created to be the perfect girlfriend for her human owner Doug. Designed to satisfy his emotional and physical needs, she has dinner ready for him every night, wears the pert outfits he orders for her, and adjusts her libido to suit his moods. True, she’s not the greatest at keeping Doug’s place spotless, but she’s trying to please him. She’s trying hard.

She’s learning, too.

Doug says he loves that Annie’s AI makes her seem more like a real woman, so Annie explores human traits such as curiosity, secrecy, and longing. But becoming more human also means becoming less perfect, and as Annie’s relationship with Doug grows more intricate and difficult, she starts to wonder: Does Doug really desire what he says he wants? And in such an impossible paradox, what does Annie owe herself?

Grab Annie Bot here on Amazon.. Also available on audiobook.

How many of these 2024 winter sci-fi releases are on your must read list? Any books coming out in the next few months that you're excited for but that didn't appear here on our list? Give it a shout out in the comments here, or over in the Discover Sci-Fi Facebook group! 

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

Can you feel it? The suggestion of fall in the air? Chiller mornings and earlier sunsets are now upon us as we relish in the leaves transition from green to a spectrum of reds and golds. We may not be entirely ready to kiss the beach and the lazier days of summer goodbye, but we are ready to welcome all the delectable new sci-fi reads that are publishing over the next few months. 

Fall never disappoints when it comes to books, and 2024 is no exception.  This season brings a bounty of incredible sci-fi titles and no matter your specific taste, we are confident there will be several titles on this list that you will want to add to your personal bookshelf — or put on hold at your local library— immediately. 

Ready to peruse the titles we're eager to curl up with this over the next few months. Scroll on to check them out! 

This World is Not Yours by Kemi Ashing-Giwa

Release Date: 10th September

This World is Not Yours by USA Today bestseller Kemi Ashing-Giwa is the perfect blend of S.A. Barnes' space horror and Cassandra Khaw's beautiful but macabre worlds. An action-packed, inventive novella about a toxic polycule consumed by jealousy and their attempts to survive on a hostile planet.

After fleeing her controlling and murderous family with her fiancée Vinh, Amara embarks on a colonization project, New Belaforme, along with her childhood friend, Jesse.

The planet, beautiful and lethal, produces the Gray, a “self-cleaning” mechanism that New Belaforme’s scientists are certain only attacks invasive organisms, consuming them. Humans have been careful to do nothing to call attention to themselves until a rival colony wakes the Gray.

As Amara, Vinh, and Jesse work to carve out a new life together, each is haunted by past betrayals that surface, expounded by the need to survive the rival colony and the planet itself.

There’s more than one way to be eaten alive.

Read This World Is Not Yours  here on Amazon.

Spectral Prey (Sunken Spaceship Book 4) by Anthony J. Melchiorri

Release Date: 10th September

Extinction was just the beginning.

Adrift in the dangerous expanse of Outlaw Space, a ghost ship harbors a sinister secret. Its decks, once teeming with life, now lie eerily silent. All have perished, save for a few supposedly extinct alien creatures known as Zephyrs.

Fin and the intrepid crew of the Black Sheep take on a perilous mission to retrieve these rare creatures. But they soon discover they are not alone in their pursuit of the ghost ship's treasures. As they navigate the derelict vessel's darkened corridors, they encounter terrifying abominations far deadlier than any endangered beast.

The shocking revelation that follows threatens not only the lives of the Black Sheep's valiant crew but the fate of the entire galaxy. Fin must forge an uneasy alliance with an unlikely ally if they’re to survive.

From the verdant jungles of a reclusive billionaire's heavily guarded game reserve to a remote mining facility on a planet ravaged by war, Fin and his companions embark on a wild search for answers. Fin's very humanity hangs in the balance against an implacable foe that cannot be reasoned with, only fought.

Book 4 of this rollicking sci-fi adventure from Anthony J. Melchiorri. It's perfect for fans of JN Chaney, MR Forbes, and Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.

Read Spectral Prey here on Amazon.

Exodus: The Archimedes Engine by Peter F. Hamilton 

Release Date: 17th September

Explore EXODUS, a new sci-fi action-adventure RPG coming soon from Archetype Entertainment featured in this epic novel from legendary author Peter F. Hamilton.

Forty thousand years ago, humanity fled a dying Earth. Traveling in massive arkships, these brave pioneers spread out across the galaxy to find a new home. After traveling thousands of light-years, one fleet of arkships arrived at Centauri, a dense cluster of stars with a vast array of potentially habitable planets. The survivors of Earth signaled to the remaining arkships that humanity had finally found its new home among the stars.

Thousands of years later, the Centauri Cluster has flourished. The original settlers have evolved into advanced beings known as Celestials and divided themselves into powerful Dominions. One of the most influential is that of the Crown Celestials, an alliance of five great houses that controls vast areas of Centauri. As arkships continue to arrive, the remaining humans and their descendants must fight for survival against overwhelming odds or be forced into serving the Crown Dominion.

Among those yearning for a better life is Finn, for whom Earth is not a memory but merely a footnote from humanity’s ancient history. Born on one of the Crown Dominion worlds, Finn has known nothing but the repressive rule of the Celestials, though he dreams of the possibility of boundless space beyond his home.

When another arkship from Earth, previously thought lost, unexpectedly arrives, Finn sees his chance to embrace a greater destiny and become a Traveler—one of a group of brave heroes dedicated to ensuring humanity’s future by journeying into the vast unknown of distant space.

Read Exodus  here on Amazon. Also available on audiobook.

Alien Clay by Adrian Tchaikovsky

Read Alien Clay here on Amazon. Also available on audiobook.

Pilgram Machines by Yudhanjaya Wijeratne

Release Date: 17th September

Humanity has spread to the stars...

For the first time in thousands of years, we have also discovered the Other. The alien. A being so unimaginably complex that it makes us all look like children.

The PCS Blue Cherry Blossom, a long range interstellar freighter, is tasked with the ultimate voyage. What lies at the heart of the galaxy? Who and what is out there? Is it even possible to survive?

Against a backdrop of relentless political and corporate maneuvering, a new crew sets out, prepared to risk their lives and their deaths to set forth into the void and look for answers. To go where no human has ever gone before.

And thus begins a new space odyssey.

Set in the world of the Salvage Crew by award winning writer Yudhanjaya Wijeratne, Pilgrim Machines is perfect for fans of We Are Legion, Battlestar Galactica, Murderbot, Blindsight and Star Maker.

Read Pilgram Machines here on Amazon. Also available on audiobook.

Space Raiders: The Complete Series Box Set by Ken Lozito 

Release Date 17th September 

Nathan Briggs led a life that was anything but ordinary, but when the aliens abducted him, the stakes have never been higher.

They told him he should’ve run away.

Maybe they were right.

Embark on an adventure that begins on present day Earth, where four people are abruptly taken away from a life they’ve known, and travel to other worlds, encounter exotic species, and struggle to stay alive.

Space Raiders - The Complete Series contains all three books in the series. There is a galaxy full of secrets waiting to be explored. If you’re a fan of old school heroes and villains where grit and determination are offset by a little bit of humor, then this might be the series for you.

DISCOUNTED FOR A LIMITED TIME!

Get your copy of Space Raiders here on Amazon. Also available on audiobook.

Darkside by Michael Mammay

Release Date: 24th September

In this thrilling, action-packed fourth installment in the Planetside series from acclaimed science fiction author Michael Mammay, retired Colonel Carl Butler gears up for another military investigation, full of danger, corporate intrigue, and tech people would kill for—perfect for fans of John Scalzi and Craig Alanson. 

Colonel Butler has paid his dues and just wants to enjoy his retirement on a remote planet. But the galaxy has had other plans.  He has been roped into searching for a politician’s missing son and an industry magnate’s missing daughter. He has been kidnapped, violated numerous laws, and caused the destruction of colonial facilities. He’s famous—or infamous, depending on who you ask—praised and reviled in equal measure across the galaxy for his exploits.

And he is determined to never let the government drag him into another investigation.

But when a runaway twelve-year-old girl whose father has gone missing asks him for help, well…it’s a lot harder to say no.

The girl’s father, Jorge Ramiro, was supposed to have been on Taug, a moon orbiting the gas giant Ridia 5, working on a dig with a famous archaeologist. But now there’s no sign of him and no record of him being there. Mining operations on the moon are run by two different consortiums, Caliber and Omicron—both of which have tried to kill Butler in the past. Butler doesn’t believe in coincidence.

Landing on Taug with his right-hand man Mac, computer genius Ganos, and an elite security squad, Butler soon finds that they’ve charged back into the crosshairs—because Ramiro is not the only who has disappeared, and the perpetual darkside of this moon is hiding more than the truth about a missing archeologist…

 Grab Darkside here on Amazon. Also available on audiobook.

Last Dangerous Visions by Harlan Ellison

Release Date: 1st October

An anthology more than half a century in the making, The Last Dangerous Visions is the third and final installment of the legendary science fiction anthology series.

In 1973 celebrated writer and editor Harlan Ellison announced the third and final volume of his unprecedented anthology series, which began with Dangerous Visions and continued with Again, Dangerous Visions. But for reasons undisclosed, The Last Dangerous Visions was never completed.

Now, six years after Ellison’s passing, science fiction’s most famous unpublished book is here. And with it, the heartbreaking true story of the troubled genius behind it.

Provocative and controversial, socially conscious and politically charged, wildly imaginative yet deeply grounded, the thirty-two never-before-published stories, essays, and poems in The Last Dangerous Visions stand as a testament to Ellison’s lifelong pursuit of art, uniting a diverse range of sci-fi writers both famous and newly minted, including: Max Brooks, Edward Bryant, Cecil Castellucci, James S. A. Corey, Howard Fast, Patricia Hodgell, Dan Simmons, Robert Sheckley, Adrian Tchaikovsky, Mildred Downey Broxon, and Cory Doctorow, among others.

The historic publication of The Last Dangerous Visions completes the long-awaited final chapter in an incredible literary legacy.

Dive into Last Dangerous Visions here on Amazon. Also available on audiobook.

1635: The Weavers Code (Ring of Fire Book 37) by Eric Flint and Jody Lynn Nye

Release Date: 1st October

NEW RING OF FIRE SERIES ENTRY FROM THE LATE ERIC FLINT AND BEST-SELLING AUTHOR JODY LYNN NYE

A young gentlewoman, Margaret de Beauchamp, finds her fate twisted into the lives of the up-timers when she meets the Americans imprisoned in the Tower of London. In exchange for her help, Rita Simpson and Harry Lefferts give her a huge sum of money to keep her family’s manor and its woolen trade from falling into the hands of the crown and its unscrupulous minister, Lord Cork. But Margaret’s troubles are not at an end. Her family’s fortunes are in a downward spiral. Her trip to Grantville brings unexpected dangers and a possible up-time solution.

Inspired by books in the Grantville library, Margaret has an idea to restore her family’s fortunes with an innovation never before seen in fabric design. With the help of Aaron Craig, an up-timer programmer using aqualators, water-powered computers, they teach her father’s craftsmen to create a combination machine loom that can produce a new type of woolen cloth. The ornate and perfect patterns quickly trend among the nobility. However, the Master Weavers of the county’s Weaver’s Guild aren’t happy about being overshadowed by the changes to the status quo, and take their grievance to Lord Cork, who is still looking for the people who helped the Americans escape from the Tower.

Cork isn’t interested in squabbles between mere tradesmen, but he is very interested in taking over the new calculating machine that is fueling the upsurge in the de Beauchamp fortunes. He sends agents ordered to stop at nothing to secure it for his own ends. Margaret has to protect her new business, and prevent anyone from discovering that up-timers are in the country to assist her, but she still has to deal with an uprising at home.

Get your copy of 1635: The Weavers Code here on Amazon. 

Dark Space by Rob Hart & Alex Seggura

Release Date: 8th October

Bestselling and acclaimed authors Rob Hart and Alex Segura join forces on Dark Space, a sweeping sci-fi spy thriller that blends the epic scope and character-driven spark of Star Trek with the intrigue of John le Carré’s Smiley novels.

If life were fair, ace pilot Jose Carriles should have ended up a desk jockey like his former friend Corin Timony, back on the lunar colony of New Destiny. Instead, he’s the pilot of the Mosaic—a massive ship taking the Interstellar Union’s first-ever mission to outside our solar system.

Timony should have been the best spy at the Bazaar, the lunar colony’s international intelligence arm. Instead, she’s been demoted to admin duties like monitoring long-range communications. She has no one to blame but herself—and maybe Carriles.

But when the Mosaic experiences a series of strange malfunctions and Carriles is forced to take a wild gamble to save the ship, he begins to suspect the reasons behind the exploratory mission weren’t exactly on the up and up.

At the same time, Timony’s old instincts kick in as she realizes the distress call she received from the Mosaic has been wiped without a trace.

As people start to end up dead and loyalties are tested, Timony and Carriles find themselves entangled in a star-spanning conspiracy that drags them through the darkest corners of their government—and their own personal failures—and face-to-face with a reckoning that could destroy humanity as we know it.

Start reading Dark Space here on Amazon. Also available on audiobook.

Like what you're reading?

Pride and Prejudice in Space by Alexis Lampley

Release Date: 15th October 

"A dazzling addition to the Austen-verse." – Julia Quinn, #1 New York Times bestselling author of the Bridgerton series

Embark on a journey through the stars with Pride and Prejudice in Space, a vibrant and exquisitely illustrated reimagining of a classic of literary fiction.  This fresh take on a beloved story intertwines the elegance of the Jane Austen novel with the adventurous spirit of sci-fi books, creating a unique reading experience for fans of both genres—and perfect for readers of Pride and Prejudice and Zombies

Elizabeth Bennet lives on a small moon in the Londinium lunar system with her parents and four sisters. While she dreams of piloting a starship rather than settling down with an eligible man, her world turns upside down when the handsome Mr. Bingley docks the Netherfield StarCruiser on the neighboring estate. The arrival thrusts the Bennet sisters into the bustling asteroid field of the system’s wider society, and Elizabeth’s aspirations are suddenly in flux. Drawn into the orbit of Mr. Bingley’s friend, the proud Fitzwilliam Darcy, Elizabeth is determined to dislike him despite his ten thousand aurum per year.
Can the Bennet sisters navigate the perils of love and space? Will Elizabeth avoid the collision course she’s on with the formidable Mr. Darcy? This tale of scifi romance for women explores timeless themes of love, pride, and prejudice, set against the backdrop of the infinite cosmos.Pride and Prejudice in Space features stunning, colorful chapter headers and an array of interior art. With over 60 full-color illustrations and designs, readers will be captivated by this new world—from maps and brochures to digital message logs and pages pulled from the Bennet sisters’ journals and sketchbooks.

Join the ranks of the best genre fiction with this exquisite blend of sci-fi fantasy and classic literature timed for the 250th anniversary of Jane Austen’s birth (Dec. 16, 1775), the perfect occasion for re-examining the beloved classic through a new, and hyper-futuristic, lens. Jane Austen Fan Fiction (JAFF) has been around since the 19th century, and Pride and Prejudice in Space continues the tradition of reinvention, heralding a new era with its fresh and feminist vision of the great novel. Whether you're a fan of sci-fi, , Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice, or scifi romance for women, this hardcover adaptation will make a treasured addition to your collection!

Grab Pride and Prejudice in Space here on Amazon.

On the Milky Way Rivers by Daniel Arenson

Release Date: 15th October

The final battle is here. The final showdown between man and monster.

Years ago, the aliens hit us hard. Tentacled aliens. Bloodthirsty aliens. They burned our cities. Devoured our children. Conquered our world.

It ends now.

We lost in space. We lost on land. We lost our world. But a few rebels still fight. A few brave souls still stand tall.

Einav Ben-Ari. Marco Emery. Addy Linden. Names that will echo through the generations. Heroes of Earth. Rebels. They lead a last, desperate assault.

This is our final stand. We must liberate our world.

Or Earth will be lost forever.

A Prayer for Earthrise, the six-book space opera, concludes with On the Milky Way Rivers.

Grab On the Milky Way Rivers here on Amazon.

Run by Blake Crouch

Release Date: 22nd October

A gripping apocalyptic thriller about a man and his family running for their lives in an America gone mad—from the New York Times bestselling author of Dark Matter and Recursion.

No time to think. No time to ask why. Only time to run.

Five days ago, the epidemic of rage began.

Four days ago, the rash of senseless murders swept the nation.

Three days ago, the president addressed the country and begged for peace—even as the murders increased tenfold.

Two days ago, the killers began to mobilize.

One day ago, the power went out.

And tonight, the killers are reading the names of those to be killed over the Emergency Broadcast System.

Jack Colclough is listening over the battery-powered radio on his kitchen table in Albuquerque, and he just heard his name. People are coming to his house to kill him, his wife, his daughter, and his son.

He has no idea what’s happening, or why, but the time for questions is long past.

His only chance is to run.

Following an ordinary family on a desperate race through an America that’s destroying itself, Run is a terrifying, brutally stripped-down thriller from master storyteller Blake Crouch.

Grab Run
here on Amazon. Also Available on audiobook.

Taken (Lost Town Book One) by Nathan Hystad

Release Date: 22nd October 

A small town with a big problem.

Caesar, an undercover operative, enters Carmichael with the briefest of orders from his boss, and a countdown on his phone. What will happen when the clock strikes zero?

Deputy Amelia Miller’s dispatched from a nearby city, and a series of events keeps her around much longer than she’d expected.

In the middle of the night, something shifts, and the whole town disappears off the face of the Earth. Who caused the Shift, and what lies beyond the veil of their settlement? As the citizens grow braver, they begin to explore the mysterious borders while resisting the chaos within.

TAKEN, the thrilling entry into the epic LOST TOWN series is full of suspense, science fiction, and adventure. From the best-selling author of The Other Place, Lost Contact, and First Life comes a genre-bending saga.

Grab Taken here on Amazon. Also available on audiobook.

Absolution (A Southern Reach Novel) by Jeff Vandermeer 

Release Date: 22nd October

The surprise fourth volume in Jeff VanderMeer’s Southern Reach series—and the final word on one of the most provocative and popular speculative fiction series of our time.

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

Grab Absolution here on Amazon. Also available on audiobook.

The Last Lion (Galaxy in Flames III) by Nicholas Sansbury Smith 

Having survived capture on Dari, bounty hunter Rangnar Soki faces a new mission. The former galactic king of Wrath artifacts is tasked with locating alien technology that has killed everyone who went searching for it. If he can manage to survive, he might have a chance of helping defeat the enemy. But it will take more than ancient technology and weapons to destroy the Wrath. All species will have to unite to win this war, and only one warrior can rally them—the last Steward.

Grab The Last Lion here on Amazon.

Usurpation by Sue Burke (Semiosis Book 3) 

Release Date: 29th October 

After her rollicking standalone Dual Memory, Sue Burke returns to her Semiosis series and the world of Pax in Usurpation, which combines the thrill of M. Night Shyamalan’s The Happening with the eco-empowerment of VanderMeer’s Dead Astronauts.

Stevland, the dominant sentient lifeform of Pax, has clandestinely sent some of its progeny to Earth. To explore, to spread, to report back.

Since their germination, Earth has been a powder keg. Human rebellion, robot uprisings, and global pandemics have created chaos, distrust, and deaths.

As more and more conflicts break out across Earth, Stevland's children work in the background, in an attempt to control human behavior and perhaps, bring peace to the planet. Stevland took control of Pax. Earth shouldn’t be too difficult…

Grab Usurpation here on Amazon. Also available on audiobook.

Nether Station Kevin J. Anderson 

Release Date: 29th October 

From New York Times bestselling author Kevin J. Anderson comes Nether Station, a thrilling mix of epic science fiction and Lovecraftian horror.

Space is vast. Space is full of wonders. Space is terrifying.

In the darkest part of the solar system lies a wormhole. Nether.

Astrophysicist Cammie Skoura has joined the first research team traveling to the Nether anomaly, eager to understand the mechanics of the wormhole and to explore its possibilities as a shortcut to Alpha Centauri.

But another race of ancient beings has already been here—an impossibly long time ago—leaving remnants of their vast complexes and gigantic temples built for horrific beings beyond comprehension.

What dangers did those elder races find in the hidden corners of spacetime?

What did they unleash?

And what remains?

Now, Cammie and the crew of Nether Station must find the answers—before the darkest part of the cosmos swallows them up …

Grab Nether Station here on Amazon. Also available on audiobook.

Shadow Lab: A Blackstone Publishing Anthology

Release Date: 5th November

In Shadow Lab, a brilliant roster of speculative fiction writers pull readers into a diverse and genre-bending collection of stories, each as irresistible as the last.

From New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Nicholas Sansbury Smith comes X and Miles, a tale of the lost years, set in the world of the Hell Divers series. In the radioactive wastes of what was once known as Earth, a man and his dog fight nightmarish creatures in order to return to their home in the sky.

In Clouds by Brian Francis Slattery, a happily married couple finds their relationship strained when they end up on opposite sides of a brewing conflict in the aftermath of the arrival of an alien species from outer space.

In Her Eyes by Rebecca Webb tells the story of Addie, a woman who discovers a pair of eyeglasses that offer a portal into the minds of their previous owners. Soon her obsession with a reckless woman named Nima begins to change everything …

These stories and more await the curious reader in Shadow Lab, a brand-new anthology from Blackstone Publishing.

Grab Shadow Lab here on Amazon. Also available on audiobook. 

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds: Asylum by Una McCormack

Release Date: 5th November

A new Star Trek adventure based on the thrilling Paramount+ TV seriesStar Trek: Strange New Worlds!

When Una Chin-Riley and Christopher Pike meet at Starfleet Academy after one of his lectures, they immediately become friends. A stellar student, Una is the “poster girl” of her class, and Pike is determined to become a Starfleet captain with his own ship, rhetorically assembling his dream crew. As their friendship evolves, Pike also suspects Una is involved with the Euxhana, a Chionian cultural minority, who are seeking asylum in Federation space, leading to more questions than answers.

Twenty-five years later, Una and Pike are working together on the USS Enterprise to settle a Chionian trade agreement when a pro-Euxhana saboteur launches a terrorist attack. When the suspect is taken into custody for interrogation and is discovered to have a history with Una, her past associations resurface, threatening to expose a secret she’s been harboring all these years…

Grab Star Trek: Strange New Worlds: Asylum here on Amazon. Also available on audiobook.
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How many of these 2024 fall sci-fi releases are on your must read list? Any books coming out in the next few months that you're excited for but that didn't appear here on our list? Give it a shout out in the comments here, or over in the Discover Sci-Fi Facebook group! 

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

Looking to immerse yourself in an unforgettable journey? As the holidays are fast approaching, there’s no better time to treat the sci-fi lover in your life—or yourself—to a thrilling adventure. Box sets offer the perfect gift: whether you're aiming for a weekend binge or an extended journey through captivating worlds, they’re the ultimate way to dive deep without hitting pause.

Not sure where to start? We’ve got options for every taste, whether you prefer paperback, ebook, or audio. Welcome to the Box Set Bonanza! If you’re craving epic storylines, unforgettable characters, and worlds that push your imagination to the stars, you’re in the right place. Our curated selection of sci-fi box sets is packed with intergalactic battles, mind-bending technology, and dystopian futures—all bundled together to fuel your next great escape. Whether you're a die-hard fan of space operas, time travel tales, or cyberpunk thrillers, this list has something for every type of sci-fi fan. So buckle up, start exploring, and give the gift of adventure this holiday season!

The Ender Quartet Boxed Set by Orson Scott Card

This boxed set contains Orson Scott Card's Ender's Game, Speaker for the Dead, Xenocide, and Children of the Mind. Winner of the Hugo and Nebula Awards.

The Ender Quartet Boxed Set is available on paperback. Also available in e-book format.

Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy Trilogy Collection 5 Books Set by Douglas Adams

The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy:

One Thursday lunchtime the Earth gets unexpectedly demolished to make way for a new hyperspace bypass. For Arthur Dent, who has only just had his house demolished that morning, this seems already to be more than he can cope with. Sadly, however, the weekend has only just begun, and the Galaxy is a very strange and startling place.

Hitchhiker's Gide to the Galaxy Trilogy Collection is available on paperback. Also available in e-book format.

Three-Body Problem Boxed Set by Cixin Liu

The inspiration for the Netflix series 3 Body Problem!

The Three-Body Problem Boxed Set contains all three volumes of the groundbreaking, Hugo Award-winning series―The Three-Body Problem, The Dark Forest, and Death's End―by China's most beloved science fiction author, Cixin Liu.

Three-Body Problem Boxed Set is available on paperback. Also available in e-book format.

The Silo Series Boxed Set by Hugh Howey

For the first time ever, The Silo Saga Omnibus brings together all of the work in Hugh Howey's ground-breaking, best-selling, acclaimed series, including the individual novels Wool, Shift, and Dust, as well as original essays by the author, and a bonus chapbook of short fiction, Silo Stories

The Silo Series Boxed Set is available on paperback. Also available in e-book format.

Dune Saga 6-Book Boxed Set by Frank Herbert

The Survivors (Books 1-12) by Nathan Hystad

Your Summer BLOCKBUSTER has arrived…

The ships came at dawn… The Survivors began 6 years ago, and now you can get the first 12 Novels in the epic, best-selling series together at last. With over 20,000 ratings, you won’t want to miss out.

More than 3000 pages of science fiction action.

Dean Parker’s an accountant, content to spend his days watching baseball, and living for the weekend. Until the ships appear.

The Survivors spans decades of Dean’s life, as he fights the odds time after time, finding friendship, love, and family in the most unexpected ways.

Oh, there are a lot of aliens and robots too.

Join Dean and the rest of the survivors as they secure their place in this great big universe.

Grab The Survivors (Books 1-12) here on Amazon.

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If you're enjoying this Box Set Bonanza of bingeable sci-fi reads, 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.

Alien Horizons (Books 1-9) by Jasper T. Scott

FROM MILLION-COPY BESTSELLING AUTHOR JASPER T. SCOTT…

Comes a collection of nine bestselling novels spanning alien invasions, twisted mysteries, space exploration, high-octane space battles, alien abductions, and sprawling space operas. This collection has it all! For a limited time get all nine books for one low price.

Get your copy of Alien Horizons here on Amazon.

A Prayer for Earthrise: Books 1-3 by Daniel Arenson

They came from another galaxy. They came with one mission. To kill us all...

A Prayer for Earthrise box set: Three complete science fiction novels. From the USA Today bestselling author of Starship Freedom.

Some call them aliens. Others call them gods. Their tentacles grip worlds. Their malice destroys civilizations. They've crushed a million planets. And now they crave Earth.

Marco and Addy, veterans of the Alien Wars, are retired. They fought for many years. They saved Earth many times. Now they're raising their children in a peaceful forest. They've earned this peace. But Earth needs them. More than ever. Because a war is coming. A war that can devour our very galaxy.

The bestselling Earthrise universe spans four series and dozens of novels. Whether you're new to Earthrise or an old fan, grab this box set and delve into a universe of war, courage, and adventures among the stars. For fans of space opera and military science fiction.

Grab A Prayer for Earthrise: Books 1-3 here on Amazon.

Space Raiders: The Complete Series by Ken Lozito

Contains books 1–3 of the Space Raiders series.

Embark on the adventure of a lifetime with bestselling author Ken Lozito in this science fiction series. If you're a fan of old-school heroes and villains in a galaxy full of unknowns, then this is the adventure for you.

Space Raiders: The Complete Series is available on audiobook. Also available in e-book and paperback formats.

The River Saga: The Complete Series by Nathan Hystad

Contains books 1–4 of The River Saga.

First Life, book one:

A dangerous expedition. Extraterrestrial alliances. Unpredictable enemies.

Colton Beck has six months to live. He works for the Angor near Los Angeles, aware that any day could be his last.

The Angor arrived twenty years ago, resolved to help mankind survive, but not everyone believes their motives are honorable.

When the Angor offer humanity a colony world, Colton is determined to see another planet before his final breath. He's been diagnosed with Xeno, a rare disorder that surfaced with the Angor's arrival, but he won't let this stop him.

With the help of his old friend Indie Hart, now the single most powerful human on Earth, he joins the Expedition to Dicore. They access the River, an alien technology that allows nearly instantaneous travel between worlds, and their universe is quickly expanded. What they find on Dicore is far from idyllic, and Colton struggles to navigate their new existence while coping with his impending death.

The River Saga: The Complete Series is available on audiobook. Also available in e-book format.

The Science Fiction Collection (20 Books) by Ray Bradbury, et. al

This Science Fiction Collection brings together 20 iconic works from some of the genre's most influential authors. Featuring Ray Bradbury's atmospheric The Monster Maker and Rocket Summer, Isaac Asimov's thought-provoking Youth, E.M. Forster's dystopian The Machine Stops, and H.G. Wells' timeless masterpiece The Time Machine, the anthology explores a wide range of speculative themes.

From futuristic worlds and artificial intelligence to time travel and human survival, this collection delves into the challenges and possibilities of the future. Each story presents unique visions that question the relationship between humanity and technology, ethics, and the unknown.

This anthology is essential for both long-time fans of science fiction and newcomers to the genre, showcasing the brilliance and imagination of pioneering authors whose ideas continue to shape the landscape of modern science fiction.

The Science Fiction Collection is available on audiobook. Also available in e-book format.

That’s a wrap on our Box Set Bonanza! With these collections at your fingertips, you’ll never run out of thrilling worlds to explore or heroes to cheer on. Perfect for weekend binges, travel reads, or simply diving deep into a universe over a few weeks, each of these box sets promises hours of entertainment and wonder. So pick your next adventure and get ready to blast off! Let us know in the comments below or over in the Discover Sci-Fi Facebook group which universe you'll be exploring first—happy reading!

And that’s a wrap, folks! 

A massive shout-out to everyone who participated in the Discover Sci- Fi 2023 Readers’ Choice Awards. Your nominations and votes were the driving force behind determining the hottest sci-fi reads of the year. 

The suspense is over and we’re thrilled to unveil the ten standout titles that emerged as favourites. Eager to discover which sci-fi gems made the cut according to readers worldwide? Scroll on to dive in! 

*You can also see the top Sci-Fi Audiobooks of 2023 list here, and the top LitRPG of 2023 list here.

10. Omega Force: Dead Reckoning by Joshua Dalzelle

Mercenary life is hard.

No home. No family. Always looking over your shoulder, likely for the rest of your life.

When you find a crew that you can trust, you do anything for them. Jason Burke has a crew like that. He would kill for them… and he would die for them. Right now, they need his help and it will take all of his cunning and skill to bring them home safely. He is alone, without his powerful ship, the Phoenix, and the criminal cartels he’s going up against are some of the most ruthless in the galaxy.

For Captain Burke it’s all or nothing: bring his friends home safe… or die trying.

Grab Dead Reckoning here in on Amazon. Also available in on audiobook.

9. The Ferryman by Justin Cronin 

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 your copy of The Ferryman here on Amazon. Also available on audiobook.

8. Lords of Uncreation by Adrian Tchaikovsky

From the Arthur C. Clarke award-winning author of Children of Time, this third and final novel in an extraordinary space opera trilogy depicts humanity on the brink of extinction—and reveals how one man's discovery will save or destroy us all.

Get your copy of Lords of Uncreation here on Amazon. Also available on audiobook.

7. A Grimm Decision: Grimm's War Book Six by Jeffery H. Haskell

6. Infinity Gate by M. R. Carey

INFINITY IS ONLY THE BEGINNING.

The Pandominion: a political and trading alliance of a million worlds. Except that they’re really just one world, Earth, in many different realities. And when an A.I. threat arises that could destroy everything the Pandominion has built, they’ll eradicate it by whatever means necessary.

Scientist Hadiz Tambuwal is looking for a solution to her own Earth’s environmental collapse when she stumbles across the secret of inter-dimensional travel, a secret that could save everyone on her dying planet. It leads her into the middle of a war on a scale she never dreamed of. And she needs to choose a side before every reality pays the price.

Grab Infinity Gate here on Amazon. Also available on audiobook.

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.

5. Theft of Fire: Orbital Space #1 by Devon Eriksen 

At the frozen edge of the solar system lies a hidden treasure which could spell their fortune or their destruction—but only if they survive each other first.

Marcus Warnoc has a little problem. His asteroid mining ship—his inheritance, his livelihood, and his home—has been hijacked by a pint-sized corporate heiress with enough blackmail material to sink him for good, a secret mission she won’t tell him about, and enough courage to get them both killed. She may have him dead to rights, but if he doesn’t turn the tables on this spoiled Martian snob, he’ll be dead, period. He’s not giving up without a fight.

He has a plan.

Miranda Foxgrove has the opportunity of a lifetime almost within her grasp if she can reach it. Her stolen spacecraft came with a stubborn, resourceful captain who refuses to cooperate—but he’s one of the few men alive who can snatch an unimaginable treasure from beneath the muzzles of countless railguns. And if this foulmouthed Belter thug doesn’t want to cooperate, she’ll find a way to force him. She’s come too far to give up now.

She has a plan.

They’re about to find out that a plan is a list of things that won’t happen.

Get your copy of Theft of Fire here on Amazon. 

4. Hell Divers XI: Renegades by Nicholas Sansbury Smith

The secret location of the Vanguard Islands is no longer a secret . . .

Tired from years of fighting, Xavier passes the crown to a younger Hell Diver, Kade Long, and then sets off on the Sea Wolf with Magnolia to find Michael and his family. But the journey will push them both to their limit.

On the damaged airship Vanguard, Michael and crew are running out of water and must dive to a new location before attempting the perilous voyage across the Atlantic to a new home.

Back at the Vanguard Islands, King Kade hurries to prepare the rigs’ defenses against the Forerunner and his Knights of the Coral Castle. Fearing that X won’t return with the airship in time, Kade sends the elite Barracudas on a mission to find an aircraft that will give the Islands a fighting chance against the knights.

Grab Hell Divers XI: Renegades here on Amazon. Also available on audiobook.

3. Aeon Burn by Matthew Mather with Dale M. Nelson

A week ago, the supernova Aeon detonated in the skies over Antarctica. Mass migrations of humanity and animal life began northward. Secondary bursts of ionizing radiation knocked out worldwide power grids. Global temperatures spiked. Oceans rose as seawater expanded and glaciers melted. Massive storms and acid rain scour the planet.

The southern continent is literally melting under the feet of Dr. Xin Rhou as she is trapped at the South Pole, and she is perhaps the only person in the world with a full accounting of the data recorded when Aeon exploded.

Thousands of miles away in the Amazon, Max Carver struggles to stay alive while attempting to stop his old friend and brother Ben Belloc escaping from the Colony. But the only thing Max really wants is to get north of the equator and find his pregnant wife Talisha as she is about to give birth.

Talisha, meanwhile, has joined millions of Aeon refugees on the roads of America. Most cars have been rendered inoperable by the supernova burst, and all communications and power grids are down. But for Tal, on the verge of giving birth in a suddenly very unforgiving world, all of this is even less important than the revelation she has just learned...

Dive into Aeon Burn here on Amazon. Also available on audiobook.

2. Nemesis by Jeremy Robinson

From the ashes of a devastated Boston, a harrowing legend emerges. Thirteen years prior, the colossal kaiju, Nemesis, ravaged the city in her relentless pursuit of retribution. Today, mankind's survival teeters on the sacrificial offerings atop a chilling monolith known as The Altar, where the condemned pay the ultimate price to prevent Nemesis's wrath from consuming humanity.

Agent Graham, a grizzled operative on the brink of retirement, finds himself tethered to the fiery, untested Agent Tilly. Together, they are the unlikeliest of partners within the Nemesis Special Operations group, the government's first line of defense against the looming shadow of the massive Goddess of Vengeance. Their mission? To hunt down the enigmatic cult, Divine Retribution, before they can harness the devastating power of Nemesis to reshape the world to their warped sense of righteousness.

As Graham and Tilly plunge into Boston's darkest underbelly, they face more than just the echoes of their city's past. They must outwit cunning cultists, battle impossible monsters on the windswept beaches of Martha's Vineyard, and forge an unexpected alliance with the motley and formidable all-female biker gang inspired by the Queen of Monsters, the ‘Nemesisters.’ Every step drives them closer to the unthinkable, and asks the questions:

How many must be sacrificed to save the world from the ever-watchful gaze of Nemesis?

How much more will she demand when the world needs to be saved?

Get your copy of Nemesis 
here on Amazon. Also available on audiobook.

1. DELIO. Phase One by RR Haywood

When nearly every person on the planet becomes frozen a small group of survivors must navigate the darkest sides of human behaviour while learning about the creation of the world's first fully self-aware Artificial Intelligence.

In London, Yelena is trapped in a room after being sex-trafficked from Romania, and Alfie has one more drop to make then he's free of drug dealing forever. In New York, Detective Joe Stephens is working a case. Life has worn him down. He's ready to end it. Poppy is a film-maker desperate to never go back to the UK, and Tripal is a clerk in a 7-Eleven that has a secret. A secret that might be connected to why every human being on the planet just froze.

Get your copy of DELIO

here on Amazon. Also available on audiobook.

How many of the 2023 Readers' Choice top 10 list have you read? Which ones are you adding to the top of your TBR for 2024? 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! 

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