Here are 21 sci-fi and fiction books to get stuck into over the holidays – all either stand-alone or the first of a new series. Find even more sci-fi and fantasy books from 2017 by browsing the collection below.

Spaceman of Bohemia by Jaroslav Kalfar

Spaceman of Bohemia follows a Czech astronaut as he launches into space to investigate a mysterious dust cloud covering Venus – a suicide mission sponsored by a proud nation. Suddenly a world celebrity, Jakub’s marriage starts to fail as the weeks go by, and his sanity comes into question. After his mission is derailed he must make a violent decision that will force him to come to terms with his family’s dark political past.

New York 2140 by Kim Stanley Robinson

As the sea levels rose, every street in New York City became a canal, but for the residents of one apartment building in Madison Square – their home is far from a drowned city. There is the market trader, who finds opportunities where others find trouble, and the internet star, beloved by millions for her airship adventure. There is the detective, whose work will never disappear, along with the lawyers, of course. And then there are the coders, temporary residents on the roof, whose disappearance triggers a sequence of events that threatens the existence of all.

The Power by Naomi Alderman

Set in a future where women develop the ability to kill men with a touch, The Power is an electrifying page-turner that explores timely issues including gender politics, religion, violence and the corrupting influence of power. This truly is speculative fiction at its most ambitious and provocative, taking us on a thrilling journey to an alternate reality while exposing our own world.

Borne by Jeff VanderMeer

A ruined city of the future lives in fear of a despotic, gigantic flying bear, driven mad by the tortures inflicted on him by the Company, a mysterious biotech firm. When scavenger Rachel finds a creature entangled in his fur, she names it Borne and prevents her lover from rendering down Borne as raw genetic material for the special kind of drugs he sells. But nothing is quite the way it seems and what Rachel finds hidden deep within the Company will change everything and everyone.

Strange the Dreamer by Laini Taylor

War orphan and junior librarian Lazlo Strange has been obsessed with the mythic lost city of Weep since he was a child, and so when a stunning opportunity presents itself, he seizes the chance with both hands. With a convoy that includes a hero called the Godslayer and a band of legendary warriors, Lazlo sets off on a journey in search of answers, only to discover that more await him. What happened in Weep 200 years ago to cut it off from the rest of the world? What is the mysterious puzzle the city needs solving? And who is the blue-skinned goddess who appears in Lazlo’s dreams?

Our Memory Like Dust by Gavin Chait

An aid-worker is betrayed while helping thousands escape a massacre. A secretive businessman wages clandestine war against a ruthless energy cartel. An air convoy – its illicit cargo destined for hostile militants – vanishes over the Sahara. Meanwhile, as millions fleeing famine, genocide and environmental collapse seek refuge across the Mediterranean, their genii begin to intrude into reality. And deep within the desert something precious and terrible has been lost – something which could overwhelm them all .

Sea of Rust by C. Robert Cargill

Humankind is extinct, wiped out in a global uprising by the very machines made to serve them. Now the world is controlled by One World Intelligence, a vast mainframe that has assimilated the minds of millions of robots. Not all robots are willing to cede their individuality however, and loner Brittle is one of the holdouts. After a near-deadly encounter with another AI, Brittle is forced to seek sanctuary. Critically damaged, Brittle has to hold it together long enough to find the essential rare parts to make repairs – but as a robot’s CPU gradually deteriorates, all their old memories resurface, and for Brittle this means one particularly haunting one.

Gnomon by Nick Harkaway

In a near-future Britain, a distributed surveillance-democracy called The System knows everything you, and can even spy on your mind. But when state investigators look into the head of a refusenik novelist named Diana Hunter, what they find there is not her life story but that of four other people, spread across thousands of years, all vibrantly real and each utterly impossible. Before they can unravel the puzzle, Hunter dies – an unheard of result in a perfect system which protects everyone from harm. That’s where Inspector Mielikki Neith comes in. A staunch believer in The System, he finds himself challenged by the teasing mysteries in the dead woman’s mind.

Djinn City by Saad Z. Hossain

Djinn City is a darkly comic urban fantasy that draws from Islamic mythology to present a mirror of our own world. When his father falls into a supernatural coma, Indelbed and his wise-cracking older cousin Rais learn that the supposed drunken loutish widower was in fact a magician – and trusted emissary to the djinn world. The Djinns, as it turns out, are displeased, and a hunt has been announced with young Indelbed as prey.

La Belle Sauvage (The Book of Dust Book 1) by Philip Pullman

La Belle Sauvage is a long-awaited return to the world of Philip Pullman’s award-winning His Dark Materials trilogy. Set 10 years before the original books, this thrilling adventure sees two young people embark on a dangerous trip to save a baby named Lyra whose life is under threat by various shadowy forces. This fantasy novel has been a firm favourite with Readings staff and you can read a collection of rave reviews here.

Artemis by Andy Weir

Andy Weir’s new novel takes place in the late 2080s in Artemis – the first and only city on the moon. Jazz is a small time criminal, subsidising work as a porter on the moon with smuggling a little contraband, scraping by. When she’s offered the chance to get rich quick she jumps at it. But planning the perfect crime in 1/6th gravity was never going to be easy, especially as there is a conspiracy at the heart of Artemis.

Under the Pendulum Sun by Jeannette Ng

This darkly magical debut has a unique premise: What happens when Victorian-era missionaries attempt to spread the word of God to magical creatures? Catherine Helstone’s brother, Laon, has disappeared in Arcadia – the legendary land of the magical fae. Desperate for news of him, she makes the perilous journey, but once there, she finds herself alone and isolated in the sinister house of Gethsemane. At last there comes news: her beloved brother is riding to be reunited with her soon, but the Queen of the Fae and her insane court are hard on his heels…

Killing Gravity by Corey J. White

Before she escaped in a bloody coup, Mephisto transformed Mariam Xi into a deadly voidwitch. Their training left her with terrifying capabilities, a fierce sense of independence, a deficit of trust, and an experimental pet named Seven. She’s spent her life on the run, but the boogeymen from her past are catching up with her, and an encounter with a bounty hunter has left her hanging helpless in a dying spaceship, dependent on the mercy of strangers. Penned in on all sides, Mariam chases rumours to find the one who sold her out.

This Mortal Coil by Emily Suvada

When a lone soldier, Cole, arrives with news of Lachlan Agatta’s death, all hope seems lost for Catarina. Her father was the world’s leading geneticist, and humanity’s best hope of beating a devastating virus. Then, hidden beneath Cole’s genehacked enhancements she finds a message of hope: Lachlan created a vaccine. Only she can find and decrypt it – as long as she can unravel the clues he left for her. The closer she gets, the more she finds herself at risk from Cartaxus, a shadowy organisation with a stranglehold on the world’s genetic technology.

The Witchwood Crown by Tad Williams

For readers of epic fantasy – The Witchwood Crown is a triumphant return to the beloved kingdom of Osten Ard, set 30 years after the events of the Memory, Sorrow and Thorn series. Tad Williams continues the story of Simon, servant boy made king, and his queen, Miriamele, as new troubles arrive and the conflict between humans, Norns and the Sithi grows.

Provenance by Ann Leckie

Following her record-breaking debut trilogy, Ann Leckie has returned with a fantastic new sci-fi adventure. In a possibly misguided effort to secure the status she craves, the foster-daughter of a high-ranking politician sells everything she owns and sets off to break a notorious thief out of prison. The two return to their home world to find the planet in political turmoil and in the midst of an escalating interstellar conflict.

An Excess Male by Maggie Shen King

China’s one-child policy and its cultural preference for male heirs have created a society overrun by unmarriageable men, and by the year 2030, more than 25% of men in their late thirties do not have a family of their own. This is the story of one such leftover man’s quest for love under a State that seeks to glorify its past mistakes and impose order through authoritarian measures, reinvigorated communist ideals, and social engineering.

Sleeping Beauties by Stephen King & Owen King

In a future so real and near it might be now, something happens when women go to sleep – they become shrouded in a cocoon-like gauze. If they are awakened, if the gauze wrapping their bodies is disturbed or violated, the women become feral and spectacularly violent. One woman, however, the mysterious Evie, is immune to the blessing or curse of the sleeping disease. Is Evie a medical anomaly to be studied? Or is she a demon who must be slain?

The Bear and The Nightingale by Katherine Arden

In a village at the edge of the wilderness of northern Russia, where the winds blow cold and the snow falls many months of the year, an elderly servant tells stories of sorcery, folklore and the Winter King to the children of the family, tales of old magic frowned upon by the church. But for the young, wild Vasya these are far more than just stories. She alone can see the house spirits that guard her home, and sense the growing forces of dark magic in the woods.

An Unkindness of Magicians by Kat Howard

Kat Howard’s sophomore release is a fantasy thriller that will grip you from page one. In New York City, magic controls everything but in recent times, its power has started to slowly fade, and nobody knows why. Nobody that is except Sydney, a rare magician with incredible power that has been unmatched in decades. She may be the only person who is able to stop the darkness that is weakening her peers. But Sydney has a secret – she doesn’t want to help the system, she wants to destroy it…

Amatka by Karin Tidbeck

The first novel from Swedish writer Karin Tidbeck, Amatka is surreal, elegant, beguiling and entirely original. When Vanja is sent to the austere, wintry colony of Amatka with the task of collecting intelligence for the government. she soon realises that not everything is at it seems. As she falls in love and explores her new environment, she stumbles on evidence of a growing threat to the colony and embarks on an investigation that puts her at tremendous risk. In Tidbeck’s world – everyone is suspect, no one is safe, and nothing – not even language, nor the very fabric of reality – can be taken for granted.

PLUS…

Here are some 2017 continuations of series that we love…

• Assassin’s Fate by Robin Hobb (Fitz and the Fool, Book 3)
• The Legion of Flame by Anthony Ryan (Draconis Memoria, Book 2)
• Runelight by Joanne M. Harris (Runes, Book 2)
• The Erstwhile by Brian Catling (The Vorrh Trilogy, Book 2)
• Godsgrave by Jay Kristoff (The Nevernight Chronicle, Book 2)
• The Furthest Station by Ben Aaronovitch (Peter Grant, Book 5.5)
• Persepolis Rising by James S. A. Corey (The Expanse, Book 7)
• Who’s Afraid Too? by Maria Lewis (Tommi Grayson, Book 2)
• King’s Cage by Victoria Aveyard (Red Queen, Book 3)
• A Conjuring of Light by V.E. Schwab (Shades of Magic, Book 3)
• Firebrand by Kristen Britain (Green Rider, Book 6)
• Wolf Moon by Ian McDonald (Luna, Book 2)
• Waking Gods by Sylvain Neuvel (Themis Files, Book 2)
• Corpselight by Angela Slatter (Verity Fassbinder, Book 2)