The Best Fantasy and Sci-Fi Books of 2024, So Far

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The books that got me into books were fantasies. There was never a time in my life—post-infantile amnesia, I suppose—when I wasn’t reading a fantasy, or trying to write one myself. (Usually both.) The same goes for science fiction: These were the types of stories that made reading feel limitless, thrilling, like peeking through a keyhole to a vaster (if not necessarily kinder) universe. As I’ve grown older, my reading habits have expanded, my understanding of genre widened, but well-executed fantasy and sci-fi remains my deepest source of literary joy. So it’s a pleasure to present ELLE’s picks for the best of those genres in 2024—through May, for now.

These books are not only modern updates to an age-old tradition, but they tackle complex ideas about love and death, colonialism and patriarchy, climate change and technology in our own universe. As with ELLE’s other best-of book lists (including literary fiction, nonfiction, romance, and mysteries and thrillers), this list will receive updates throughout the year—so come back for more when you’ve had your fill.

For the purposes of this list, speculative stories will be considered science fiction, while fairy tales, folktales, and mythological retellings will fall under the vast and complicated banner of “fantasy.” Romantasys will fall into this category as well. (You can find our other romance recommendations here.) There’s plenty of genre overlap ahead, but that’s the joy of these books—there’s always something (seemingly) contradictory to explore within them.

Beautyland by Marie-Helene Bertino

Out now.

Within moments of cracking open the cover to Marie-Helene Bertino’s Beautyland, I was sold. She has followed up her 2020 novel Parakeet with a landmark work of literary science-fiction, set in the crosshairs of “two celestially significant events occurring simultaneously: The departure of Voyager 1 and the arrival of Adina Giorno, early and yellowed like old newspaper,” the author writes. As the Voyager 1 space probe sets its sights on the final frontier, so does the child Adina make a home for herself on Earth. But she is, in many ways, no less foreign to the planet than Voyager 1 is to the outer galaxy: Adina discovers that she’s been sent by her extraterrestrial relatives to report back her earthly findings, all via fax machine. (“Upon encountering real problems, human beings compare their lives to riding a roller coaster, even though they invented roller coasters to be fun things to do on their days off,” Adina notes in one such missive.) This is a wonder of science fiction: as tender and intimate as it is conceptually courageous.

Emily Wilde's Map of the Otherlands by Heather Fawcett

Out now.

The eagerly awaited follow-up to Heather Fawcett’s first title in the popular Emily Wilde series, Emily Wilde’s Map of the Otherlands is a winsome tale of fairies and academia, an ideal pick for fans of cozy fantasy. Set in 1910, the story follows the titular Emily, a faerie scholar who’s completed an encyclopedia of Fair Folk and is working next on a map of the creatures’ realms. But her relationship with the exiled faerie king Wendell Bambleby promises to complicate much more than her research, particularly as she and Bambleby hunt for the door back to his kingdom—and attempt to dodge his family’s assassination attempts. Clever, immersive, yet approachable for more casual readers, Map of the Otherlands is a genre-blending joy.

So Let Them Burn by Kamilah Cole

Out now.

An inventive, vivid take on the Chosen One narrative, Kamilah Cole’s So Let Them Burn is the sort of young-adult fantasy novel both teenage and maturer readers will enjoy—particularly given Cole’s knack for juggling action-heavy dual perspectives. The premise involves 17-year-old Falon, whose ability to wield the power of the gods provides the strength she’ll need to liberate the island of San Irie from the colonizing forces of the Langlish. But her sister has unexpectedly bonded with a dragon from the Langley Empire, and when those dragons turn feral, the gods inform Falon she must eradicate them—and those bonded to them. Desperate to save each other, Falon and Elara flesh out this tale from alternating third-person perspectives in Cole’s exhilarating first entry in a promised series.

Womb City by Tlotlo Tsamaase

Out now.

In Tlotlo Tsamaase’s future Botswana, consciousness can be delivered from body to body, making the life of protagonist Nelah possible. Her body used to belong to a criminal, which means the government has her microchipped: Her husband can control her, and the government can watch and assess her every move. Nelah is waiting for her child—gestating in an artificial womb—to arrive, but before that can happen, she and the man she’s in love with (a man who’s very much not her husband) commit a dangerous crime. The resulting fallout haunts Nelah (sometimes literally) in this sci-fi horror novel’s resolute skewering of misogyny.

Kinning by Nisi Shawl

Out now.

The next entry in Nisi Shawl’s anti-colonial alternative history series, the second after Everfair, Kinning is a profoundly well-realized feat of world-building. Sprawling in its characters and themes, vaguely reminiscent of Game of Thrones’ political dramas, Shawl’s afrofuturist sequel explores the aftermath of Everfair’s Great War, the country having successfully pushed Europe out of the territory. Citizens plan to spread further peace via a fungus that generates empathy in those who interact with its spores, even as Everfair itself remains threatened from outside and within its borders. This is a complex, challenging story, but without question an impressive one.

Faebound by Saara El-Arifi

Out now.

Faebound—with its simply stunning cover—takes place in a world where elves, humans, and fae once co-existed, but now only elves remain, and they’re eternally at war. Sisters Yeeran and Lettle soon find their lives bifurcated by the fighting: Yeeran is exiled outside the Elven Lands, and Lettle must pair up with one of Yeeran’s soldiers, Rayan, to find her lost sibling. Only then do they each discover that the fae are alive and well, and that the magic in store for them is well beyond what they’d once expected. This is a passionate and intriguing—but accessible—beginning to a planned Sapphic romantasy trilogy.

The Tainted Cup by Robert Jackson Bennett

Out now.

The Tainted Cup is the beginning chapter of Robert Jackson Bennett’s Shadow of the Leviathan series, and it imbues elements from myriad genres—primarily fantasy, sci-fi, and mysteries—to create a delicious detective story set in an equally unforgettable magical world. In Bennett’s Khanum, where massive leviathans threaten the world outside the empire’s walls, an imperial officer is murdered in an aristocrat’s summer home. Two detectives, Ana and Din, must tackle this mystery. Together, they make something of an odd couple: Ana’s brilliance rivals that of Sherlock Holmes himself, while Din is a magically enhanced “engraver,” one with a perfect memory. These lead protagonists’ platonic partnership, and Bennett’s remarkable imagination, make this book a strange and singular thrill.

Bride by Ali Hazelwood

Out now.

There’s an intentional silliness to Ali Hazelwood’s paranormal romance Bride, in which the vampires are “Vampyres,” the werewolves are “Weres,” the protagonist is named Misery, and her marriage of convenience to a “very powerful and dangerous Were” might actually be...something more? But this on-the-nose humor, a signature in Hazelwood’s work, only serves to underscore the shameless indulgence of Misery’s story. Bride will certainly not enrapture all fantasy readers (particularly those wishing to avoid sex scenes), but for Hazelwood’s many existing fans, this surprise genre twist from the contemporary romance author has plenty of winks to impart.

Heartless Hunter by Kristen Ciccarelli

Out now.

Heartless Hunter, an instant New York Times bestseller, has already amassed a sizable (and passionate) audience, but it’s certainly not too late to pick up this addictive romantasy, which tracks the love affair between a persecuted witch and a witch hunter. Protagonist Rune comes from privilege, but after a revolution seizes power from the once-ruling witches, she’s now hiding in plain sight: socialite by day, witch vigilante by night. (Alias: The Crimson Moth.) Working to protect her people from witch hunters, she decides to court one of them; he, in return, agrees to the relationship to gain intel about her operations. But just as their fake relationship blooms into something deeper, their political ties could easily break them apart. Relentlessly trope-y? Sure. But this is a satisfying binge-read nonetheless.

Sunbringer by Hannah Kaner

Out now.

Hannah Kaner follows up the first book in her Fallen Gods series, Godkiller, with Sunbringer, set immediately after the events of its predecessor. Brilliant mythology-inspired world-building paves the foundation for Kaner’s fantasy adventure, but it’s the fully realized ensemble cast that, ultimately, makes the series so memorable. In Sunbringer, Kissen, Inara, Skediceth, Elogast, and King Arren trade third-person perspectives as a war between gods and humans bubbles into the foreground in Middren, seeding fertile ground for an epic showdown to come.

The Fox Wife by Yangsze Choo

Out now.

“Foxes, people say, are wicked women,” Yangsze Choo writes in her historical fantasy The Fox Wife, set in early-1900s Manchuria as the Qing dynasty wanes. Choo (author of The Ghost Bride and The Night Tiger) introduces readers to Snow, a fox spirit who can shapeshift into a woman, and Detective Bao, who believes Snow is connected to a murder. But Snow, living as a human and working as a maidservant, has her own mission in mind: She wants revenge against the photographer who paid a hunter to murder her daughter. Folklore and mystery converge in Choo’s alluring, atmospheric tale.

A Fate Inked in Blood by Danielle L. Jensen

Out now.

I know better than to buy a book based solely on its character art, but there’s no denying the cover of Danielle L. Jensen’s A Fate Inked In Blood (illustrated by Eleonor Piteira) merits the attention. Blessedly, the book’s inside contents are just as richly rendered. The latest story from fantasy stalwart Jensen (The Bridge Kingdom series, The Dark Shores series), Fate centers on Freya, a young woman trapped in a loveless marriage—loveless enough that her husband betrays her, setting off a series of events that culminates in a shocking reveal: The blood of a goddess runs in Freya’s veins. That blood makes her powerful, but it also makes her a target for Skaland’s jarl, who believes his fate is tied to Freya’s. Still, it’s this jarl’s son, Bjorn, who will prove the most complicating factor in Freya’s fight for survival. This is an absorbing viking romantasy steeped in Norse mythology, and the start to a series with real momentum.

The Siege of Burning Grass by Premee Mohamed

Out now.

“They locked him up while his leg grew back.” So begins The Siege of Burning Grass, Premee Mohamed’s ferocious story of violence and resistance in a world of wound-healing wasps and floating cities. Protagonist Alefret is a peacemaker—or, anyway, he’s trying to be—but he’s since been targeted and imprisoned by his own government, then ordered to go undercover in the rival empire of Med’ariz. There, he’s tasked with seeding an anti-war effort amongst the people, an effort which Alefret’s government aims to capitalize on—and claim victory at last. But revolutions are costly in more ways than one, and Mohamed navigates these nuances with empathy and righteous verve.

The Prisoner’s Throne by Holly Black

Out now.

As a childhood enthusiast of The Spiderwick Chronicles, I’ve loved watching Holly Black’s fantasy career evolve, and her conclusion to the Stolen Heir duology, The Prisoner’s Throne, is a treat for old fans and newcomers alike. In the fairy world of Elfhame, Black has created a entertaining tableau of political intrigue and romance—most notably between High King Cardan and High Queen Jude (iykyk). And as war beckons in The Prisoner’s Throne, the imprisoned Prince Oak finds his loyalties (and his love) stretched to the brink.

Annie Bot by Sierra Greer

Out now.

One of my most anticipated reads of the spring, Sierra Greer’s feminist sci-fi Annie Bot is much as I’d hoped it would be: frightening but measured, referential but fresh. The titular Annie is indeed a robot—a Stella model coded as a Cuddle Bunny, to be exact—designed for use by Doug, who’s customized her into a near-mirror image of his ex. She does housework; she does...other things. She can set her internal body temperature and read Doug’s annoyance rankings. He can set her libido levels. (“A four’s good,” he says. “She’s, like, ready at a four, but not actively assertive.”) As Annie notes early in the novel, “I only exist because I’m wanted.” These themes are certainly not new, but it’s how Greer writes this mash-up of Ex Machina, Her, Westworld, and The Stepford Wives that makes its tension resonate so loudly, even if it’s meant more as an allegory of women’s liberation than a treatise on the threats of AI. A quick read, but one you won’t soon wipe from memory.

Those Beyond the Wall by Micaiah Johnson

Out now.

Although set in the same universe as her debut, The Space Between Worlds, Micaiah Johnson’s Those Beyond the Wall is set 10 years after the events of the former, and can be read as a standalone. (But you should definitely read The Space Between Worlds.) This clear-eyed, undaunted sci-fi saga introduces readers to a woman who goes by the name of Mr. Scales, a street-savvy “runner” living outside the walls of the gleaming Wiley City, in a far poorer desert community known as Ashtown. After she witnesses a friend’s gruesome death, she follows the breadcrumb trail to the multiverse-hopping technology residing inside Wiley City. But to stop this tech (and its users) from destroying the people of Ashtown, she’ll need to rely on more than her own wits. Gritty and raw, this is a fine work of dystopian fiction, one sure to chafe and unsettle as much as it thrills.

I Cheerfully Refuse by Leif Enger

Out now.

To start, what an absolutely fabulous title. Peace Like A River author Leif Enger’s latest is so much more than its cheeky cover; in fact, it might be one of the most optimistic post-apocalyptic novels you’ll ever read, if also one of the more unusual. In Enger’s imagined near-future America, the president is proudly illiterate, pandemics and wildfires are growing by the hour, and an entirely new class of billionaires known as “astronauts” are happy to watch from above as the plebs flee their now-closed schools for solace in drugs and government labor. But protagonist Rainey does not see the end of the world as a black hole, especially when he looks to his wife, Lark, who runs a bookstore in spite of the enormous risk inherent in doing so. It is his unflappable faith in goodness that leads him, much like Orpheus, to sail Lake Superior in search of Lark when a visitor unexpectedly tears them apart. This is a triumphant, generous work of art—neither cloying nor nihilist.

The Familiar by Leigh Bardugo

Out now.

Ninth House, Hell Bent, and Six of Crows author Leigh Bardugo steps into the Spanish Golden Age for a fantasy remarkably unlike her previous works. The Familiar is a stunning accomplishment, set in 16th-century Madrid, where the Inquisition haunts Luzia Cotado, an orphaned “not quite Spanish” scullion with a hidden talent for magic—and Jewish blood that puts her at imminent risk. When her mistress discovers Luzia’s unique skillset, she puts them to use, attracting the attention of the king’s secretary and his familiar, the immortal Guillén Santángel. With Santángel’s help, Luzia might just be able to survive—or even thrive—but, as any fantasy reader can tell you, power always has its consequences.

A Sweet Sting of Salt by Rose Sutherland

Out now.

A Sweet Sting of Salt is an altogether entrancing retelling of the traditional folktale “The Selkie Wife,” in which a man steals a selkie’s skin and forces her to become his wife. (Selkies, as a refresher, are mythological creatures who take the form of seals in the ocean and humans on land.) In Sting, the selkie in question is discovered by midwife Jean Langille on the coast of 19th century Nova Scotia, where she’s wracked with birthing pains. Jean helps deliver the woman’s child, and soon surmises this mysterious stranger is Muirin, the wife of her fisherman neighbor, Tobias. But Tobias and Muirin are clearly hiding some sort of secret, and as Jean slowly realizes she’s falling in love with Muirin, so too must she face the danger that threatens them both should their relationship continue. A beautifully written Sapphic fantasy, Sutherland’s debut announces her as a writer to watch.

The Jinn Daughter by Rania Hanna

Out now.

Rania Hanna’s debut novel The Jinn Daughter is a lush and mesmerizing story of motherhood and magic, its influences pulled from Middle Eastern mythology. Protagonist Nadine has a daughter, Layala, whom she’ll do anything to protect. But Nadine is also a jinn, one who tells the stories of the dead through the pomegranate seeds she collects each morning. Soon, Death herself arrives on Nadine’s doorstep—she has come for Nadine’s half-jinn daughter Layala, whom Death wants to replace her as the underworld’s ruler. This is not a fate Nadine can accept for Layala, and so a fight for her daughter’s life commences. This is a short but sweeping story of a mother’s unrelenting devotion.

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

Out now.

A lyrical generation-ship novella, Sofia Samatar’s The Practice, the Horizon, and the Chain places readers on one such hierarchical spaceship, where a Chained (and nameless) “boy” in the lower decks is sent above to university. There, he trades his chain for an anklet and meets a rejected-but-determined female professor—“the woman”—who soon finds herself irrevocably tied to “the boy” as the grinning hypocrisy aboard their ship becomes increasingly unbearable. Barbed, but with precision and vision, The Practice, the Horizon, and the Chain is a sci-fi manifesto of admirable vigor.

King of Dead Things by Nevin Holness

Out now.

“The soul slipped from the boy as easily as removing a sheet from a bed,” reads the opening line of Nevin Holness’ blazing YA fantasy King of Dead Things. This novel plunges a found-family cast deep into a magical London, as they race to retrieve the fang of the leopard god Osebo, an artifact that can gobble up magic itself. Protagonists Eli and Malcolm face distinct challenges—one cannot remember the past; the other cannot escape it—but as they come together and become friends, Holness’ debut blooms with creativity and delight.

Archangels of Funk by Andrea Hairston

Out now.

Andrea Hairston has created a kaleidoscopic, technicolor universe that is indeed as funky as it is prescient in Archangels of Funk. This whimsical Afrofuturist tale is bursting with proper nouns and world-building that doesn’t stop to explain itself. Instead, Hairston tosses the reader directly into the flood-ravaged landscape alongside protagonist Cinnamon Jones and her Circus-Bots and Wheel-Wizards as she attempts to put on the artsy Next World Festival amongst threats both physical and technological. Like Station Eleven in its insistence that art would (and, in fact, must) endure the apocalypse—though written in a very different font—Archangels of Funk is a unique adventure through the colliding worlds of tech, theater, climate change, and political solidarity.

The Ministry of Time by Kaliane Bradley

Out now.

Once I’d started, reading this book became a compulsion. I carried The Ministry of Time around like a security blanket, reaching for it at the office when I was meant to be answering emails. But the premise is, let’s face it, rather ridiculous: Kaliane Bradley has written a genre-bending time-travel romp wherein the romantic interest is a Navy officer from the 1800s, deposited in a near-future London to be monitored (and lusted over) by his unnamed British-Cambodian “bridge.” It’s all a bit like Kate & Leopold, if you raised the stakes considerably and got the British government involved. Bradley’s humor manages to be giddy and sad and bristling all at once, which creates an irresistible-if-confounding symbiosis on the page. She targets colonialism and individualism and empire even as her characters—including a number of other time-travel “expats” from various centuries—practically bathe in them. I cherished this book, and look forward to reading it again.

When Among Crows by Veronica Roth

Out now.

Years after her Divergent series became a sensation, Veronica Roth has built a fascinating career away from Tris and her Dauntless crew. Her latest book is When Among Crows, which spins Slavic folklore into an urban fantasy set in Roth’s beloved modern Chicago. Roth manages to build an impressively immersive Windy City in a short number of pages, sending her characters on a darkly magical journey to find the legendary witch Baba Jaga. One of these characters seeks a cure, the other to fulfill a mission. But both have reasons to fear as they explore the Chicago underground in this quick but potent novella.

Spin of Fate by A.A. Vora

Out now.

Although certainly one of the more YA-targeted books on this list, A.A. Vora’s Spin of Fate takes a refreshingly nuanced approach to questions of morality, especially in a universe where Toranic Law requires the “good” live in the opulent “upper” realms while the “bad” occupy the gritty “lower.” When protagonist Aina inadvertently “ascends” from one of the lower realms to an upper, she soon pieces together that the hierarchal system is not as just as it seems, and she joins a group of rebels keen on providing aid to the lowers. But it doesn’t take long before Aina and her allies are caught in a growing battle between the lowers—eager to eradicate the system that binds them—and the uppers, who want nothing more than to preserve the status quo. Threaded throughout these questions of grace and evil is Vora’s exciting magic system, sure to please fantasy readers seeking a page-turner.

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

Out May 21.

The author of The 7 1/2 Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle is back with another twisty murder mystery, set at the twilight of the world itself. Bizarre but, as Kirkus Reviews aptly put it, “brainy,” this particular whodunnit takes place on a Greek island where humanity’s last survivors live in peace—at least until they discover one of their Elders, a 173-year-old scientist named Niema, has been stabbed to death. That would be bad enough, except that Turton adds two further developments: Abi, the AI connected to all the island residents’ brains, has wiped their memories. Oh, and that black fog that threatens the island from the outside? With Niema dead, the security system blocking the fog has failed. With only 107 hours left before the fog breaks through and annihilates them, the islanders must crack the case—they have a lot more than their reputations as the “world’s greatest detectives” at stake.

Mood Swings by Frankie Barnet

Out May 21.

The first time I saw the cover of Frankie Barnet’s Mood Swings, it actually made me laugh aloud. (Something about that pony’s face!) Not exactly a sci-fi novel but not quite literary fiction either, Mood Swings is a sort of near-future satire, set not in a world that’s post-apocalyptic but is instead post-animal. (Which, as far as I’m concerned, might as well be post-apocalyptic.) Yes, you read that correctly: In Barnet’s universe, all animals have been eliminated thanks to their unexpected uprising against humanity. In the wake of this sudden and outlandish loss, protagonists Jenlena and Daphne—hilariously, both English grads—have to find a way to cope as they encounter canceled musicians and tech billionaires in a listless surge toward either redemption or oblivion. A clever trick mirror for the “extremely online,” Mood Swings deserves its devotees.

Ninetails: Nine Tales by Sally Wen Mao

Out May 28.

Ninetails: Nine Tales is an exquisite collection of fairy tale stories, each of which connect in some manner (figurative and literal) to foxes, and particularly the fox spirits of East Asian folklore. In gorgeous language and intimate attention to detail, Sally Wen Mao presents stories that span centuries, addressing dating apps and dancers and migrants and sex dolls with the same keen eye and enchanting prose.

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