Best Science Fiction Books of 2023

The Science Fiction Novels of 2023 That Won Awards and Readers' Votes

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Which science fiction novels defined 2023? 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

Some Desperate Glory (cover not available)

Some Desperate Glory

While we live, the enemy shall fear us.All her life Kyr has trained for the day she can avenge the murder of planet Earth. Raised in the bowels of Gaea Station alongside the last scraps of humanity, she readies herself t...

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2

Translation State (cover not available)

Translation State

"Translation State" is a 2023 science fiction novel by Ann Leckie, set in the Imperial Radch universe. It follows three characters whose lives intersect as they deal with the mystery of a missing Presger Translator, expl...

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3

Starter Villain (cover not available)

Starter Villain

Depois de um divórcio conturbado, Charlie abandonou o trabalho como jornalista e passou a se dedicar ao ensino, mas não tem nem muito dinheiro, nem amigos ou parentes próximos, só sua gata um tanto indiferente lhe faz co...

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4

The Terraformers (cover not available)

The Terraformers

by Annalee Newitz

On Sask-E, a corporate-owned planet being terraformed, Destry is a ranger who maintains the ecosystem. She discovers a hidden city of people who should not exist, inside a volcano, and a treaty follows. The story then mo...

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5

In Ascension (cover not available)

In Ascension

by Martin MacInnes

Leigh grows up in Rotterdam, drawn to the water to escape a violent father, and becomes a marine biologist. When a trench is discovered in the Atlantic, she joins the expedition hoping to find the earth's first life, and...

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6

Chain-Gang All-Stars (cover not available)

Chain-Gang All-Stars

by Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah

She felt their eyes, all those executioners…Loretta Thurwar and Hamara “Hurricane Staxxx” Stacker are the stars of the Chain-Gang All-Stars, the cornerstone of CAPE, or Criminal Action Penal Entertainment, a highly popul...

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7

System Collapse (cover not available)

System Collapse

by Martha Wells

Am I making it worse? I think I'm making it worse.Everyone's favorite lethal SecUnit is back.Following the events in Network Effect, the Barish-Estranza corporation has sent rescue ships to a newly-colonized planet in pe...

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8

The Ten Percent Thief (cover not available)

The Ten Percent Thief

by Lavanya Lakshminarayan

Apex City, once Bangalore, is ruled by a Bell Curve: the elite Virtuals live online, while those who score lowest are sent to live as Analogs, without power or running water. The Analogs and a secret resistance rise agai...

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9

Corey Fah Does Social Mobility (cover not available)

Corey Fah Does Social Mobility

by Isabel Waidner

Corey Fah is about to receive a windfall from the Social Evils prize, but the trophy, a neon-beige object with a hint of the UFO, never quite arrives. Corey, partner Drew and an eight-legged companion called Bambi Pavok...

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10

In the Lives of Puppets (cover not available)

In the Lives of Puppets

In a strange little home built into the branches of a grove of trees, live three robots--fatherly inventor android Giovanni Lawson, a pleasantly sadistic nurse machine, and a small vacuum desperate for love and attention...

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11

Light Bringer (cover not available)

Light Bringer

by Pierce Brown

The Reaper is a legend, more myth than man: the savior of worlds, the leader of the Rising, the breaker of chains. But the Reaper is also Darrow, born of the red soil of Mars: a husband, a father, a friend.Marooned far f...

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12

The Marriage Act (cover not available)

The Marriage Act

In Britain, the Sanctity of Marriage Act offers couples perks such as better healthcare and lower taxes if they accept a 'Smart Marriage', with an AI device recording their conversations. When it flags trouble, the state...

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13

The Light Pirate (cover not available)

The Light Pirate

by Lily Brooks-Dalton

Florida is slipping away. As devastating weather patterns and rising sea levels gradually wreak havoc on the state’s infrastructure, a powerful hurricane approaches a small town on the southeastern coast. Kirby Lowe, an...

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14

The Ferryman (cover not available)

The Ferryman

by Justin Cronin

On the island of Prospera, people live long lives until their forearm monitors drop below ten percent. Then a ferryman takes them to a third island, the Nursery, to be renewed with their memories wiped. Proctor Bennett i...

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15

The Future (cover not available)

The Future

by Naomi Alderman

Martha Einkorn escapes her father's doomsday cult and takes a job with Lenk Sketlish, who runs the world's largest social network. Elsewhere an internet survivalist in Singapore is hunted by assassins, and software on he...

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16

Children of Memory (cover not available)

Children of Memory

by Adrian Tchaikovsky

Sequel to Children of Ruin.On Imir, Captain Holt founded a hopeful new colony on an empty world. But generations later, his descendants are struggling to survive. As harvests worsen and equipment fails, strangers appear...

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17

Land of Milk and Honey (cover not available)

Land of Milk and Honey

In a near future where climate collapse has made food scarce and most people live on grey mung-bean flour, a 29-year-old chef takes a job at a remote mountain community. There, the world's last luxuries are stored, and s...

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18

The Deep Sky (cover not available)

The Deep Sky

by Yume Kitasei

Eighty graduates of an elite programme are aboard the Phoenix, sent to start a new generation in deep space. When a bomb kills three crew and pushes the ship off course, Asuka, the only witness, becomes the main suspect....

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19

Bridge (cover not available)

Bridge

by Lauren Beukes

After her mother's death, Bridge finds a cocoon-like pod called a dreamworm among her belongings, and realises her mother may have been telling the truth about it. Its threads let someone ride from body to body across al...

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20

I Keep My Exoskeletons to Myself (cover not available)

I Keep My Exoskeletons to Myself

by Marisa Crane

In a near future the Department of Balance punishes wrongdoers not with prison but with extra shadows, and people who carry them are shunned as Shadesters. Kris, a Shadester, has lost her wife and is raising their newbor...

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Trending Books in Best Science Fiction Books of 2023

Some Desperate Glory (cover not available)

Some Desperate Glory

Buy on Amazon

I Keep My Exoskeletons to Myself (cover not available)

I Keep My Exoskeletons to Myself

Buy on Amazon

The Future (cover not available)

The Future

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The Light Pirate (cover not available)

The Light Pirate

Lily Brooks-Dalton

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In Ascension (cover not available)

In Ascension

Martin MacInnes

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Chain-Gang All-Stars (cover not available)

Chain-Gang All-Stars

Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah

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System Collapse (cover not available)

System Collapse

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The Ten Percent Thief (cover not available)

The Ten Percent Thief

Lavanya Lakshminarayan

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Corey Fah Does Social Mobility (cover not available)

Corey Fah Does Social Mobility

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Children of Memory (cover not available)

Children of Memory

Adrian Tchaikovsky

Buy on Amazon

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