New and noteworthy science fiction, curated every week.
A weekly audio briefing featuring new and forthcoming science-fiction books, with spoiler-free premises, themes, publication details, and clear reasons each title was selected. New worlds worth discovering—without the endless scrolling.
For readers who want to keep up with the genre without living on book Twitter.
Adult science fiction and speculative fiction published in the US, judged on whether a real speculative mechanism drives the book rather than on which shelf it is sold from. What we look for is a premise that can carry a segment, backed by credible evidence that the book is worth your time. A book we cannot document is a book we cannot publish, however good it is.
Sci-Fi Books Weekly's own criteria, set by its editor.
How we choose
September's science fiction, in four movements: a party in a fractured Los Angeles where the guests have doubles, an economy running on stolen electricity, an anti-universe under Antarctic ice where time runs backward, and a licensing scheme that lets grieving parents overwrite another family's child — ten books, each with the reason it made the cut.
Science Fiction BooksAugust's science fiction, in six movements: a fascist empire versus one woman's democracy, two rival firms selling trips to the past, a murder solved by a copy of the victim, and four different endings of the world — fourteen books, each with the reason it made the cut.
Science Fiction InsightsIn this episode, we explore the concept of a curated shelf and its significance in the world of sci-fi literature. We dive into what Cur8r is and how it revolutionizes book selection for readers. Additionally, we discuss the process of building each briefing and the considerations that go into selecting the perfect titles for the audience.
Item images may be AI-generated — see the disclaimer at the end of this page.
Mandel moves nimbly between alternate worlds while keeping complicated relationships at the center. Against political collapse and uncertainty about what is real, the possibility of connection gives the story an unexpected warmth. Its politics can feel closely tied to today's headlines, but the combination of narrative momentum and hope makes it our lead pick.
In a future after political and environmental collapse, an orphan becomes a pincher who steals grid power for black-market batteries and underground concerts, then encounters a scientific project that may alter reality.
At McMurdo Station, scientist Laurel Salter encounters the Arc, a strange living light tied to an anti-universe theory that could let her and her former husband test whether the past can be reached again.
Azure usually makes his living killing people. His next assignment is to keep an elderly woman alive, in a future where the wealthy can extend their lives and the law permits assassins to target them. His altered body and AI assistant may not be enough to explain who wants her dead.
Earth and Mars have carried their conflict into other star systems by riding enormous living mountains through space. A ship's crew begins investigating why these beings transport humans at all, and what the arrangement might cost them.
After a crash, primatologist Jini's consciousness is embedded in the body and memories of a trafficked bonobo, forcing her to confront animal suffering, communication, and human control from the inside.
Peter Watts' collection assembles mechanism-dense stories about weaponized cognition, hacked behavior, stellar life, ecological collapse, and the grim aftershocks of human intelligence.
Ken Liu returns with thirteen speculative stories that range across science fiction and fantasy, built around perception, art, technology, and the emotional consequences of imagined systems.
A grieving writer photographs the first mimmoth, a strange new animal that spreads across the world and drags personal mourning into conspiracy, power politics, and possibly altered reality.
A licensing system lets wealthy parents reclaim a child raised by another family and replace that child's identity with their dead son's memories. One replacement resists, exposing what this promise of a second chance means for the children expected to surrender their lives.
Some or all of the item images on this page are AI-generated by the Cur8r team. They illustrate the briefing only: they are not official cover art or publisher artwork, and they do not represent the publisher, author or rights holder of any title covered here.
