Best Science Fiction Books of 2020

The Science Fiction Novels of 2020 That Won Awards and Readers' Votes

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Which science fiction novels defined 2020? This list ranks the year's books by how many independent signals back them: the Hugo, Nebula and Arthur C. Clarke awards, and the Goodreads Choice Awards science fiction vote.

Books that won or were shortlisted for several awards come first, followed by the books readers voted for most.

The ranking

1

Network Effect (cover not available)

Network Effect

by Martha Wells

Murderbot returns in its highly-anticipated, first, full-length standalone novel.You know that feeling when you’re at work, and you’ve had enough of people, and then the boss walks in with yet another job that needs to b...

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2

Harrow the Ninth (cover not available)

Harrow the Ninth

"She answered the Emperor's call.She arrived with her arts, her wits, and her only friend.In victory, her world has turned to ash.After rocking the cosmos with her deathly debut, Tamsyn Muir continues the story of the pe...

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3

The Relentless Moon (cover not available)

The Relentless Moon

by Mary Robinette Kowal

It's 1963, and riots and sabotage plague the space program. The climate change caused by the Meteor is becoming more and more clear, but tensions are rising, and the IAC's goal of getting humanity off Earth is threatened...

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4

The Vanished Birds (cover not available)

The Vanished Birds

by Simon Jimenez

Nia Imani captains a freighter, and because of the way she travels through space she lives out of step with everyone she loves, who age while she experiences only months. When a mute, scarred boy who has fallen from the...

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5

The Animals in That Country (cover not available)

The Animals in That Country

by Laura Jean McKay

Jean is a foul-mouthed, animal-loving guide at an outback wildlife park when a flu-like pandemic begins to let people understand the language of animals, and the noise drives many of them mad. When her infected son takes...

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6

To Sleep in a Sea of Stars (cover not available)

To Sleep in a Sea of Stars

by Christopher Paolini

Kira Navárez dreamed of life on new worlds. Now she's awakened a nightmare. During a routine survey mission on an uncolonized planet, Kira finds an alien relic. At first she's delighted, but elation turns to terror when...

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7

The Space Between Worlds (cover not available)

The Space Between Worlds

by Micaiah Johnson

Cara is a traverser for the Eldridge Institute: she collects data from alternate Earths, but she can only cross to worlds where her counterpart is already dead, and the other versions of her have died on nearly all of th...

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8

A Beautifully Foolish Endeavor (cover not available)

A Beautifully Foolish Endeavor

The Carls have vanished as suddenly as they appeared, and April May, who discovered them, is missing and presumed dead. Her friends are still trying to understand what happened: Andy has inherited her fame, Maya refuses...

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9

Axiom's End (cover not available)

Axiom's End

by Lindsay Ellis

In 2007, the world is on the verge of first contact, and Cora Sherman, a young woman, is secretly in contact with an alien being. In this alternate history, conspiracy and government secrecy close in. A first contact nov...

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10

Riot Baby (cover not available)

Riot Baby

by Tochi Onyebuchi

Ella and Kev are brother and sister, both gifted with extraordinary power. Their childhoods are defined and destroyed by structural racism and brutality. Their futures might alter the world. When Kev is incarcerated for...

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11

The Hidden Girl and Other Stories (cover not available)

The Hidden Girl and Other Stories

A collection of stories by Ken Liu that range across science fiction, fantasy and history. The tales explore memory, grief, technology and identity.

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12

Chilling Effect (cover not available)

Chilling Effect

by Valerie Valdes

Eva Innocente captains La Sirena Negra, a ship whose crew takes small cargo jobs for little money, until a criminal syndicate called the Fridge kidnaps her sister Mari and keeps her in cryostasis. To raise the ransom Eva...

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13

The Infinite (cover not available)

The Infinite

by Patience Agbabi

Elle Ifie was born on 29 February, which makes her a Leapling, and she can travel through time. On her twelfth birthday she and her best friend Big Ben go to the Time Squad Centre in 2048, where a warning from the future...

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14

Vagabonds (cover not available)

Vagabonds

by Jingfang Hao

"A century after the Martian war of independence, a group of kids are sent to Earth as delegates from Mars, but when they return home, they are caught between the two worlds, unable to reconcile the beauty and culture of...

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15

The New Wilderness (cover not available)

The New Wilderness

In a near future where city air is toxic, Bea's young daughter Agnes is dying, and Bea takes her into the Wilderness State, a protected tract of land where a small group of volunteers lives as nomadic hunter-gatherers. T...

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16

The End of October (cover not available)

The End of October

by Lawrence Wright

"IAt an internment camp in Indonesia, within one week, forty-seven people are pronounced dead with acute hemorrhagic fever. When the microbiologist and epidemiologist Henry Parsons travels there on behalf of the World He...

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17

The Last Emperox (cover not available)

The Last Emperox

The Interdependency is collapsing as the Flow streams, which link its worlds, fail. Grayland II, the new emperox, has to unite her people and defeat those who profit from the chaos before it is too late. The third and fi...

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18

Agency (cover not available)

Agency

by William Gibson

“Uma jornada sensual e visualmente impressionante, repleta de demonstrações de imaginação conceitual e humor.” – The GuardianVerity Jane se mete em problemas quando a IA avançada que deveria testar desaparece de repente....

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19

The Book of Koli (cover not available)

The Book of Koli

Koli grows up in Mythen Rood, a village hemmed in by trees that kill, in a world long after the old technology failed. When his own life goes wrong, he leaves the village and sets out into the dangerous country beyond. A...

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Trending Books in Best Science Fiction Books of 2020

Network Effect (cover not available)

Network Effect

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The Book of Koli (cover not available)

The Book of Koli

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The New Wilderness (cover not available)

The New Wilderness

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The Infinite (cover not available)

The Infinite

Patience Agbabi

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The Animals in That Country (cover not available)

The Animals in That Country

Laura Jean McKay

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To Sleep in a Sea of Stars (cover not available)

To Sleep in a Sea of Stars

Christopher Paolini

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The Space Between Worlds (cover not available)

The Space Between Worlds

Micaiah Johnson

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A Beautifully Foolish Endeavor (cover not available)

A Beautifully Foolish Endeavor

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Axiom's End (cover not available)

Axiom's End

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The End of October (cover not available)

The End of October

Lawrence Wright

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