2024 Recommended SF/F List

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Baldura. Photo by Bruce D. Arthurs.

This thread is for posts about 2024-published works, which people have read and recommend to other Filers.

There will be no tallying of recommendations done in this thread; its purpose is to provide a source of recommendations for people who want to find something to read which will be eligible for the Hugos or other awards (Nebula, Locus, Asimov’s, etc.) next year.

If you’re recommending for an award other than / in addition to the Hugo Awards which has different categories than the Hugos (such as Locus Awards’ First Novel), then be sure to specify the award and category.

You don’t have to stop recommending works in Pixel Scrolls, please don’t! But it would be nice if you also post here, to capture the information for other readers.

The Suggested Format for posts is:

  • Title, Author, Published by / Published in (Anthology, Collection, Website, or Magazine + Issue)
  • Hugo or other Award Category: (Novel, Novella, Novelette, Short Story, Related Work, Graphic Novel, Lodestar, Astounding, etc)
  • link (if available to read/view online)
  • optional “Brief, spoiler-free description of story premise:”
  • “What I liked / didn’t like about it:”
  • (Please rot-13 any spoilers.)

There is a permalink to this thread in the blog header.

[Based on a post by JJ.]

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116 thoughts on “2024 Recommended SF/F List”

  3. 202>4< published works? You means that have been published in the last week, or did you mean 202>3<?

  4. Mark: I mean 2024. People will be adding to this post throughout the year. Just like they did with the already extant post for 2023 recommendations.

  10. Best Novella: Lois McMaster Bujold – “Demon Daughter” 12th of the Penric and Desdemona series; I’d recommend it for Best Series as well but I think the “Penric & Desdemona” books are covered as a subset of the “Five Gods” series, which won in 2018.

    A domestic story about a child who accidentally acquires a demon, and what comes of it. Charming and well-told.

  14. +1 to The Tusks of Extinction by Ray Nayler. I don’t often say that a story should have been longer, but this novella really should have been expanded to a full-length novel. Its fascinating ideas make this little book feel overstuffed, but it’s still worth reading.

  15. Novel

    The Tainted Cup, Robert Jackson Bennett

    This author is an auto-buy for me, and this book ups his already considerable game. This is a fascinating, complex and horrifying fantasy world with monsters and genetic engineering, and a twisty mystery plot.

  16. Novel

    +1 to Robert Jackson Bennett’s The Tainted Cup.

    SFF mystery is the one type of list where I’ve usually read at least 2/3 of the books, so I can’t be very objective about this one. Nicely fantastic central mystery, a narrator and detective with their own secrets, a great world with more to explore. Loved it.

  17. Novel

    Machine Vendetta by Alastair Reynolds, Orbit Books

    The third mystery in his Prefect Dreyfus series, and for me the most enjoyable of the three.

  21. Novella

    The Imposition of Unnecessary Obstacles, Malka Older

    I felt like the mystery element was understated in this one, and I do love my SFF mystery. But the continued worldbuilding and character development compensated. I like the small touches of a multicultural founding in the language use.

    There are a handful of quick fan service references to future operas, and one of them gave me a few minutes of joy contemplating the roles and groupings in such an opera. (“Gur nevn sebz Zheqreobg,” if you’re impatient.)

  22. The Prisoner’s Throne, by Holly Black

    Novel (YA, 2nd in a duology, part of an overarching series)

    Prince Oak is paying for his betrayal. Imprisoned in the icy north and bound to the will of a monstrous new queen, he must rely on charm and calculation to survive. Oak will have to decide whether to attempt regaining the trust of the girl he’s always loved, or to remain loyal to Elfhame and hand over the means to end her reign—even if it means ending Wren, too.??

    The shift to Prince Oak’s point of view adds a lot to the story, making it a twisty political tale of intrigue and betrayal. As with all of Holly Black’s faerie stories, I liked it.

  24. Thirteen Ways to Kill Lulubelle Rock, by Maud Woolf

    Novel

    Set in a world of the near future, the celebrity elite have access to a technology that allows them to make perfect copies of themselves, who exist to fulfil all the various duties that come as the price of fame. Our protagonist is the thirteenth copy made of the actress known as Lulabelle Rock. Her purpose is to track down and eliminate her predecessors.

    Wild, weird, inventive, and disturbing in all the right ways, this immediately shot onto my list of favorite books of 2024. If you want a book that will make you root wholeheartedly for a clone assigned to murder all of her fellow clones, this is the one.

  25. Another +1 for:

    The Tainted Cup, by Robert Jackson Bennett

    Novel

    In Daretana’s most opulent mansion, a high Imperial officer lies dead—killed, to all appearances, when a tree spontaneously erupted from his body. Called in to investigate this mystery is Ana Dolabra, an investigator whose reputation for brilliance is matched only by her eccentricities. At her side is her new assistant, Dinios Kol. Din is an engraver, magically altered to possess a perfect memory. His job is to observe and report, and act as his superior’s eyes and ears–quite literally, in this case, as among Ana’s quirks are her insistence on wearing a blindfold at all times, and her refusal to step outside the walls of her home.

    I was at first slightly worried when I realized that this book was based on the Nero Wolfe stories, since that character had a notable tendency towards misogyny. But I needn’t have been concerned; Nero Wolfe is only a loose jumping-off point for a compelling mystery set in an innovative fantasy world, without feeling the need to hew too closely to the original. Robert Jackson Bennett is as brilliant as always, which I should have only expected.

  26. Sunbringer, by Hannah Kaner

    Novel (2nd in a trilogy)

    Professional godkiller Kissen and her companions—young noble Inara and knight Elogast—return in a winding adventure in a world overflowing with magic, beauty, and danger.

    The second book in the Fallen Gods trilogy separates the characters, and spends more time with Elogast, Inara, and Skediceth than Kissen. More of the world, and of Inara’s nature and origins, are revealed, and the question of who is an enemy and who is an ally grows more complicated. The setting is as fascinating as ever, and I’m excited to find out what happens in the final book.

  27. The Book of Love, by Kelly Link

    Novel

    Late one night, Laura, Daniel, and Mo find themselves beneath the fluorescent lights of a high school classroom, almost a year after disappearing from their hometown, the small seaside community of Lovesend, Massachusetts, having long been presumed dead. Which, in fact, they are. With them in the room is their previously unremarkable high school music teacher, who seems to know something about their disappearance—and what has brought them back again. Desperate to reclaim their lives, the three agree to the terms of the bargain their music teacher proposes. They will be given a series of magical tasks; while they undertake them, they may return to their families and friends, but they can tell no one where they’ve been. In the end, there will be winners and there will be losers.

    This is absolutely not a book for those who want a fast-paced, propulsive novel. While exciting events do sometimes happen, expect a lot of introspection, a lot of contemplation, and a slow meander through the story. The book’s 700 or so pages cover only a few days. Still, I found myself appreciating the thoughtfulness and beautiful prose characteristic of Kelly Link.

  28. Gogmagog, by Jeff Noon and Steve Beard

    Novel

    In her heyday Cady carried people and goods from the thriving seaports of the estuary into Ludwich, the capital city. Now she’s drunk, holed up in a rundown seaside resort, telling her bawdy tales for shots of rum. All that’s about to change, when two strangers seek her out, asking for transport, one of whom – a young girl – is very ill, and in great danger.

    Don’t expect answers to come easily in this odd book about a journey upriver through the ghost of a dragon. Much of the story is left for later books to resolve; still more of it just expects you to keep up. But if you yearn for a strange story with a cantankerous main character, this is a good one to scratch that particular itch.

  29. The Warm Hands of Ghosts, by Katherine Arden

    Novel

    Laura Iven was a revered field nurse until she was wounded and discharged from the medical corps, leaving behind a brother still fighting in Flanders. Now home in Halifax, she receives word of Freddie’s death in combat, along with his personal effects—but something doesn’t make sense. Determined to uncover the truth, Laura returns to Belgium as a volunteer at a private hospital. Soon after arriving, she hears whispers about haunted trenches, and a strange hotelier whose wine gives soldiers the gift of oblivion. Could Freddie have escaped the battlefield, only to fall prey to something—or someone—else?

    One way to think of the premise of this book might be: World War I was so mind-breakingly hellish that Lucifer became jealous. That sounds entirely plausible to me. This is a novel that viscerally depicts the horrors of war.

  30. Novella

    The Indomitable Captain Holli, Rich Larson, Clarkesworld 211

    I don’t want to spoil the plot, but an effective story where you get the bigger picture gradually filtered in through a child’s and her big sister’s perspectives. Not as dark as a lot of Larson.

  32. “Hello! Hello! Hello!“, by Fiona Jones

    Short Story

    Two very different beings encounter one another in the vastness of space.

    I’m having trouble finding words to describe this one other than adorable.

  33. Novel

    Ghost Station, S.A. Barnes

    This author seems to be making a career of sci-fi/horror novels; this is her second, and having read the first, I can see how she has improved as a writer. This book has tighter pacing, a more careful setup, and better worldbuilding and characterization. The “horror” part of this story has a scientific rather than a supernatural basis, and the steadily rising terror of the situation is very well done.

  34. Short story

    A Magician Did It, Rich Larson, Beneath Ceaseless Skies 402

    “So, just to be clear, the cockroach is running the show,” Olaf says

    A fun caper with more than meets the eye.

  35. Red Side Story, by Jasper Fforde

    Novel (2nd in a series)

    Out on the fringes of Red Sector West, twenty-year-old Eddie Russett is being bullied into an arranged marriage with the powerful DeMauve family, purples who hope to redden up their progeny’s color-viewing potential with Eddie’s gene stock. Their obnoxious daughter Violet is confident the marriage won’t hamper her style for too long because Eddie is about to go on trial for a murder he didn’t commit. Meanwhile, Eddie is engaged in an illegal relationship with his co-defendant, the charismatic, unpredictable, and occasionally deadly Jane Grey. Time is running out for Eddie and Jane to figure out how to save themselves.

    While it doesn’t pack quite the same punch that Shades of Grey did, it’s nonetheless a delight to return to this horrible dystopia after so many years. The stakes are higher, the humor is on point, the horrors are truly terrifying, and many of the mysteries raised in the first book are revealed. That last may be the reason the book didn’t land quite as well; unlike in Shades of Grey, many of the implications here become clear to the reader long before the characters figure them out, which lessens some of the mystery. But a third book is apparently planned, and I’ll be snapping it up when it hits the bookstore shelves.

  36. Novelette

    The Speech That God Understands, Jonathan Edelstein, Beneath Ceaseless Skies 404

    Fantastic alternate history set in 12th-century Toulouse. A Jewish scholar investigates a series of supernatural thefts. There’s at least one prior story in this world.

  37. Novella (probably): The Imposition of Unnecessary Obstacles by Malka Older.

    Sequel to The Mimicking of Known Successes which is a Hugo finalist this year; a cozy mystery set on Jupiter where the refugees of an ecologically devastated Earth live on rings that encircle the planet at an altitude where gravity is a little higher than one-Earth-gravity altitude. Something of a Sherlock Holmes and Watson feel, where the Watson analogue is a scholar who researches old-Earth ecology by closely reading fiction and non-fiction from Earth looking for clues as to what animals, plants and insects lived where, while the Holmes analogue is an Investigator. And both of them are women. And they have a someone fraught emotional relationship…

  38. Short story:

    “We Will Teach You How To Read/We Will Teach You How To Read,” Caroline M. Yoachim, Lightspeed Magazine May 2024

    I prefer to have physical copies of my magazines, but in this case, the e-book formatting is essential to this story’s atmosphere and impact. This tale of a dying race of aliens trying to communicate their language and culture–their story–to humans is unforgettable.

    Novel

    The Siege of Burning Grass, Premee Mohamed

    This is a story of war and pacifism, which starts out as a fantasy and gradually turns into SF as more of the world and background is revealed. There are floating cities, medicinal wasps, and giant pillbugs turned into tanks, but the heart of the book is the conflict between the warrior and the protagonist who staunchly refuses to fight.

  39. Novel

    Blade, by Linda Nagata, Mythic Island Press

    The latest in her Inverted Frontier series, filled with post-human wonders, the ruins of cosmic engineering projects, and the continuing mystery of where are all the human beings?

  40. Novel

    Someone You Can Build a Nest In, John Wiswell

    Took a while to snap into focus for me – this might be more a Locus First Novel than a lock for my Hugo nominating ballot. But it’s charming throughout and delightful at its best, particularly in closing.

  42. Another +1 for:

    The Imposition of Unnecessary Obstacles by Malka Older

    Novella (probably; on the edge of novel length) (2nd in a series)

    Seventeen students and staff members have disappeared from Valdegeld University—yet no one has noticed. The answers to this case could be found in the outer reaches of the Jovian system—Mossa’s home—and the history of Jupiter’s original settlements. But Pleiti’s faith in her life’s work as scholar of the past has grown precarious, and this new case threatens to further destabilize her dreams for humanity’s future, as well as her own.

    This is definitely the kind of mystery series where the mystery itself takes something of a backseat to the characters and setting. The characters and setting, however, are fantastic.

  43. Lodestar Award for Best YA Book

    The Secret Library, Kekla Magoon

    Middle-grade rather than strictly YA, but certainly for younger readers.

    Dally has recently lost her grandfather and has a strained relationship with her driven mother. She finds her way to the titular library, both secret and of secrets. Gradually the secrets she learns become larger and more personal.

    Some of the plotting is choppy, but it picks up once the main thread of secrets is being followed. While there’s no resemblance in tone, the plot has echoes of Octavia E. Butler’s Kindred and would be a less-dark read on similar themes.

  44. Novel

    The Last Murder at the End of the World, Stuart Turton

    Another SFF mystery for my longlist. I was more engaged by the mystery of the world than by the solving of the murder.

  46. Best Novel

    The Fox Wife by Yangsze Choo
    In the waning days of the Qing Dynasty, a detective is asked to investigate a mysterious death. His story intersects with that of a mysterious woman on a quest for revenge. Both parallel storylines are compelling, I loved the focus on the Chinese and Japanese folklore about fox-spirits, and it was nice to see a fantasy novel centering older characters.

    Lord of the Empty Isles by Jules Arbeaux
    Remy Canta casts a death-curse on the man who murdered his brother, only to have the curse rebound on him. This is a thing that can only happen if the curse-caster and victim share a particular kind of magical bond. In the course of trying to save his own life, Remy will uncover truths about his brother’s legacy that could shake the foundations of his society. I loved the powerful emotional core of this book, the relationships it builds between the characters, and the science-fantastical setting. (Science fantasy is a subgenre we don’t see enough of, IMO.)

  47. Novelette, and watching Astounding

    The Sunset Suite, Matthew O. Fromboluti, Beneath Ceaseless Skies 400

    Debut publication from Fromboluti, a proud musician in a future science-fantasy society.

    Himalia, Carrie Vaughn, Clarkesworld 213

    A bittersweet SF twist on growing up in a small town.

  49. Novella

    The Dragonfly Gambit, A.D. Sui (Neon Hemlock)

    Nez Kato’s career as a military pilot ended with an accident during a training exercise. 10 years on, she’s brought to work for the empire’s leader, and to carry out her own plans. Motivationally twisty, rough in places but propulsive.

  50. The Practice, the Horizon, and the Chain, by Sofia Samatar

    Novella

    The boy was raised as one of the Chained, condemned to toil in the bowels of a mining ship out amongst the stars. His whole world changes?literally?when he is yanked “upstairs” to meet the woman he will come to call “professor.” The boy is no longer one of the Chained, she tells him, and he has been gifted an opportunity to be educated at the ship’s university alongside the elite.

    A powerful, elliptical look at systemic injustice, and the co-opted figleaf protests of comfortable academia, all wrapped up in a mystically enigmatic science fiction story. Samatar is a brilliant author, and this novella is no exception to the rule.

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