It has taken me a while to get the last ‘best of’ post out, but here it is, the overview of the SFF books I enjoyed most in 2024. It is rather long, but with the world events being what they are, I wanted to give you are range of options for escapism. I have already done a very tight selection for my overall best books list, which has already been out for a while; if you only want the crème de la crème, read that.

Just as a reminder, I had Octavia E. Butler’s The Parable of The Sower, Jaqueline Harpman’s I Who Have Never Known Men and Robert Jackson Bennett’s The Tainted Cup on that list, together with the Saints of Steel series by T. Kingfisher. These are all excellent and highly recommended, depending of course on your genre preferences and taste. And here are the rest.

Station Eleven by Emily St John Mandel. I read a number of dystopias and post-apocalyptic novels in 2024 and several of them were excellent – in a different year, Station Eleven would surely have made it to my overall favourites list, but it couldn’t quite compete with Butler and Harpman. That’s an unreasonably high bar, however, and Station Eleven is a great book. It looks at a post-pandemic collapse of civilisation and the role art plays in a society where survival is the main concern. From the four Mandel books I have read, this is the most plot-driven, although her signature contemplative style is present here as well. My only real annoyance with Station Eleven was that the almost immediate collapse of the energy system does not make sense, but this is the unfortunate side effect of me working with energy policy on a daily basis. It is clear that the book is not concerned with the mechanics of the fall, but the prerequisites for going beyond simple survival.

The Blue Book of Nebo by Manon Steffan Ros. Another post-apocalyptic novel (or a novella, rather), this one is gentle and melancholy and just really lovely. It follows a mother and her teenage son, living in isolation after a nuclear catastrophe. It is a character study, a description of a simpler life and also a contemplation on language. The events of the book are tough, but the tone is hopeful. While not a huge bestseller, it has been garnering quite a following online and everyone I know who has read it has liked it.

The Ministry of Time by Kaliane Bradley. This is another future society where things are not well, but in a different way. Time travel has been discovered and is tightly controlled by the government, who is bringing people from past to the present to study the mechanics and effects of time travel. I really enjoyed this, I liked the style and the blend of genres from SF to spy thriller to commentary on colonialism to romance (between one of the ‘expats’ from the past and his liaison officer). But this approach is also risky, as people who are expecting a pure SF thriller or romance will not get it. Someone mentioned on Goodreads that this could work very well as a TV series and this is spot-on.

The Imposition of Unnecessary Obstacles by Malka Older. I realise that I didn’t read much proper science fiction last year, something I want to amend in 2025. The second book in Older’s Investigations of Mossa and Pleiti series is definitely an SF book in terms of setting – it takes place on Jupiter which has a very cool gaslamp feel – but it is also very much a genre blend. It is a sapphic Holmes and Watson-inspired mystery, very much in the vein of The Mimicking of Known Successes (the first book in the series). But it may actually be better. TIoUO is an intelligent, thoughtfully paced novella with a small romantic subplot and great title. Recommended if you gravitate towards this kind of thing.

Ocean’s Godori by Elaine U. Cho. I was debating whether to put this rompy space opera on the list, as in terms of depth and uniqueness it’s perhaps not quite on the same level with the other books here. That said, this was a lot of fun and it is not easy to find books that have an old-school SF adventure feel but are written with a modern sensibility. This one has an unfairly disgraced space pilot, a pirate with a heart of gold and a playboy with hidden depths. Even more importantly, there’s a Korean-dominated future intergalactic society – the only similar one that comes to mind is Aliette de Bodard’s Xuya universe, which is based on Vietnam/China, but much further in the future. If this is your cup of tea and you don’t expect too much, chances are you’ll have a really good time.

Blood of the Old Kings by Sung-Il Kim (translated by Anton Hur). This one also has a setting informed by Korea, but a totally different genre. In many ways, this is a very traditional fantasy – there is an evil empire, dragons, sorcerers and three protagonist brough together by circumstances. But as the author is not from the Anglosphere, it’s a refreshing take on these tropes, mixing familiar and unfamiliar elements. There is an aspect of technology and machines that is often present in Asian or Asian-inspired fantasy (Iron Widow is an obvious and much more pronounced example). If you are an epic fantasy reader and want to broaden your horizon, but not in a too dramatic fashion, this is a good option.

Tress of the Emerald Sea by Brandon Sanderson. Continuing with adventure stories, Tress is one with fairy tale, fantasy and SF elements. While on paper, this is really SF (and part of Sanderson’s Cosmere universe), in reality it has more of a fantasy feel. The vibe is almost cosy; if you have read or watched The Princess Bride, this gives you and idea of the mood, but with added spore seas and interplanetary mystery. I failed overall in my plan to have a Year of Sanderson in 2024, as I got stuck with Elantris soon after finishing Tress. But Tress I really liked: it is whimsical and moving and fun. It can easily be read as a standalone and without knowing anything about Sanderson’s oeuvre. But for Cosmere fans there are many, many easter eggs. I imagine that the tone can be an issue for some people, but I have seen many hard-core male SFF fans really enjoying this, so I believe the book has wide appeal.

Emily Wilde’s Map of the Otherlands by Heather Fawcett. I have another cosy-ish story with a plucky female protagonist and whimsical writing on this list. This is the second book in the Emily Wilde trilogy, about a scientist of faeries in an alternative world where faeries actually exist. The voice here is very Jane Austen meets emotionally challenged protagonist – a dry, somewhat old fashioned style, with the story told in diary entries. Whether you like the book will largely depend on whether you like the style, but if you enjoy making fun of the academia and a gentle romance sub plot, you will likely enjoy the book. I have by now finished the series and while I think book one is my favourite, it is overall solid and consistent. You need to start with the first one, of course and if you like it, I recommend continuing.

Sorceress Comes to Call by T. Kingfisher. I have been thinking recently what makes cozy fantasy work for me (or not) and it really comes down to the voice. Very little happens in Legends and Lattes, but I simply like the way Baldree talks about things and the way he describes his characters. Emily Wilde is a bit more plot-driven, but the reason I like it is Emily’s humour (and the footnotes!). T. Kingfisher is one of those authors who could write anything and I would read it – I enjoy her acknowledgements more than I enjoy most author’s books.  I am not a big horror reader, but if Kingfisher does it, I will read it (I enjoyed both books in the Sworn Soldier series that I read in 2024). Anyway, I read 9 Kingfisher’s books last year and while I included the Saints of Steel series on my absolute favourites list, I believe Sorceress Comes to Call is in fact the best, if I’m trying to be objective. If you have read Kingfisher, you know she often blends cosiness, fantasy, romance, fairytale and horror in different ratios. This one is among her darker fantasies with some horror elements and little romance. The themes of abuse and agency that she explores are serious and fascinating, but her trademark cosy and funny style is still present. In my mind, this is closest to her Nettle & Bone in tone and also in including both younger and older female characters.

The Justice of Kings by Richard Swan. Talking about darkness, Swan’s series-starter is the bleakest book on my list. On paper it’s really not my thing, as the world has a rather traditional, medieval, European vibe. It is also borderline horror without Kingfisher’s cosiness, which is usually not my preference. But this is such a high-quality book that I cannot leave it out. We follow the Emperor’s Justice Konrad Vonvalt who travels the land as detective, judge and executioner. Which is exactly as morally ambivalent as it sounds. And on top of that, something is wrong in the Empire with conspiracies running deep. What I especially appreciated is that the very traditionally masculine style of the book (it is grim, muddy and violent) is contrasted by a young female protagonist, Vonvalt’s assistant Helena*. I take my hat off to Swan: Helena is a great, complex character and the way she tells the story in hindsight works very well. The whole trilogy is out now, as is an additional book set in the same universe, and I have heard only good things.

When Among Crows by Veronica Roth. Like with The Justice of Kings, I wasn’t sure this one would be for me. Not so much because of the blurb (although there is a fair amount of medieval Central European inspo here as well), but because the author also wrote the Divergent series. But no matter what you thought of Divergent, this is a completely different beast. It is an urban fantasy novella strongly inspired Polish folklore and history and it’s really well done. I would actually advise you to NOT read the blurb, as it gives away some things that should in my view not be given away. But if you like dark-ish, morally complex urban fantasy (it takes place in Chicago where there is a sizeable Polish community), secret orders, monsters, a bit of romance and satisfying endings, this should be on your list. A very pleasant surprise.

City in Glass by Nghi Vo. Yes, indeed, this is another dark fantasy novella that is also an unconventional love story. Yes, there may be a theme. Nghi Vo is one of my favourite SFF novella writers and I could have easily put The Brides of High Hill on this list, too. But I have talked about The Singing Hills Cycle before, so City in Glass it is. As soon as I heard about this book, I knew it was for me – a fabled city, awful tragedy, an angel and a demon, love, hate, etc. And it was. The lyrical writing and the bond between main characters made me think of This is How You Lose the Time War (one of my all-time favourite books), they are both also rather literary and vague on specifics. But this one is weirder and you have to take care not to expect a traditional love story.

Her Body and Other Parties by Carmen Maria Machado. This one could also have been on my fiction list, but as I am always shouting at people who think SFF is only elves and robots, I am putting it here. This short story collection is a classic at this point and I was starting to feel very bad about not reading it. And if you have any interest in high quality speculative fiction you should read it, too. There are some stories here that divide opinion and I didn’t like all of them either, but The Husband Stich is, I think, universally considered a masterpiece. If you like Angela Carter or Helen Oyeyemi, I think you are pretty much guaranteed to enjoy this. Although I personally think that her memoir, In the Dream House, is even better.

So, this is the list. In addition, while these were not my personal top faves, I could also recommend Dungeon Crawler Carl (a fun LitRPG that almost everyone likes), The Dead Cat Tail Assassins (a fun and rather original assassin fantasy, but I didn’t love the ending), A Mirror Mended (a nice follow-up to A Spindle Splintered), The Stardust Grail and Where Peace is Lost (enjoyable SF) and Five Broken Blades (fast-paced heist fantasy for times when you do not want to think).

As always, let me know if anything here speaks to you and/or what were your own highlights of 2024. I promise that this year, I will read more of the big series that I have been neglecting, starting with The Grace of Kings by Ken Liu.

*I am of course not saying that women cannot be grim, muddy and violent, you know me. And Helena is a very layered character. But the contrast between the world/story/other characters and the initial innocence and youth of Helena is clearly intentional and very well done.