As the real world grows each day stranger by leaps and bounds, the skewed secondary worlds, fantastical lands, and alternate histories that are the realms of science fiction and fantasy have only grown more vital, not only as a means of escape from blaring headlines, political turmoil, and the crescendo of climate change, but as a means of understanding them: truths more clearly viewed through the lens of fiction.
Of course, that makes reading sound like a drag, doesn’t it? The best sff books of 2018 aren’t about beating you over the head with an agenda, they’re about finding the truth in the fantastic, whether it’s an animal revenge story, an exploration of the philosophy of magic, a chronicle of a space program what could have been, an imaginary war that echoes the horrors of a real atrocity, or a very strange journey up, up, up an impossible tower. These are our favorite sci-fi and fantasy novels from another strong year for the genre and another weird year for the world. (See our list of the best books of the first half of 2018, and explore the best lists from previous years in our archive of editors’ picks.)
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Magic Triumphs, by ilona andrews because kate daniels final novel marks the end of an era in urban fantasy and the final adventure (for now) of one of the most iconic heroes of the genre. Before the finale, Kate confronted dark family secrets and forged desperate alliances to save Atlanta and the world one last time.
Lila Bowen’s Betrayal of the Hawks The fantastic final volume in Lila Bowen’s (née Delilah S. Dawson) Shadow Series finds protagonist Rhett Walker facing the single most deadly foe he all the monsters he has fought and taken down so far: his own past. Across four volumes, and set against a fully realized landscape of a freakish, monster-filled West, Bowen has followed Rhett’s struggle with identity and self-acceptance; the final steps of that journey are just as exciting as the supernatural plots at work.
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iron gold, by pierce brownin the red rise trilogy, brown showed us how a revolution can change a galaxy. In this exciting first volume of the next series, its protagonist, Darrow, a former miner from Mars, discovers just how much harder it is to build a better world.
starless, by jacqueline carey carey has a great gift for creating a deep sense of place in her novels, and starless is another kaleidoscopic book of a thousand colors: the arid desert where crows eat you when you die; the steamy, gossipy baths teeming with royal women in seclusion; the biting, salty sea wind felt from the prow of a raider’s ship: each scene is as richly nuanced as new pigment on a vellum canvas.
record of a spaceborn few by becky chambers this standalone sequel to a long road to an angry little planet and a tight, common orbit explores what happens to those passengers on the generation ships humanity used to escape earth who don’t know how to leave their ships behind. Chambers’ books are celebrated for their warmth and diversity of characters, but their world-building is also stellar; it’s a pleasure to spend more time in this universe.
an easy death, by charlaine harristhe creator of sookie stackhose begins a new adventure set in the strange west of an america changed by the murder of franklin delano roosevelt, and starring lizbeth rose , who He reluctantly accepts two wizards as clients and finds his world turned upside down. she meets another amazing woman with a wild west story to tell.
the quantum wizard, by derek künsken belisarius is a genetically engineered small time con man with super senses that give him an awareness of the quantum realms. Carrying out his latest job, transporting warships through a wormhole, will require all the skills he possesses and the help of a crew of other augmented humans. This clever sci-fi novel about heist uses math like magic to get you out of a jean-pierre melville caper.
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Sister Gray, by Mark LawrenceThings only get worse for murderous nun Nona Gray in 2017’s follow-up to Sister Red. This blood-spattered middle volume of the Book of Ancestors trilogy features intriguing politics amid scenes of sudden violence, and is populated by a host of fascinating and deadly women.
fire & blood, by george r.r. martin george r.r. Martin’s fictional tale of the rise of one of Westeros’s most powerful dynasties might not be the book fans of the author were hoping to read in 2018, but that doesn’t make it any less satisfying on its own terms: a richly detailed and surprisingly detailed tome. gripping in the tradition of tolkien the silmarillion and gibbon the story of the decline and fall of the roman empire.
alternate routes, by tim powers the master of secret stories tries something a little less serious and a little more fun, as we follow a disgraced secret service agent on a winding journey through the haunted history of the california highway system. Watching powers turn his prodigious investigative skills into such a monumentally American system (plus the Daedalus mythos, for the fun of it) is an absolute treat.
summerland, by hannu rajaniemi the author of the quantum thief creates a confusing alternate history set in a world where access to the afterlife has made post-mortem espionage a key espionage tool in a changed Europe before the Second World War. rajaniemi combines familiar tropes in surprisingly bizarre ways, creating a spy adventure that will stretch your mind even as it pummels it.
tasha suri’s empire of sand in her first novel, tasha suri draws on the history of india’s mughal empire to create a story that is claustrophobically personal and as great as civilizations. is a study in contrasts: the sweep of the story resolves itself into a girl beaten to her hands and knees before a despot, and dancing her inherent power and magic into a storm built by the dreams of the gods themselves. .
the best collections of the year & anthologies
what is the best science fiction or fantasy book you read in 2018?
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