My Take on Sci-Fi Novels: Best Reads This Year

Fantasy and sci-fi are often lumped together, but they really shouldn’t be. While the two genres share a few similarities, sci-fi stands firmly on its own—with its focus on technology, future societies, and big “what if” questions. That’s why I’m sharing the best sci-fi books I read this year, even if my time with the genre was more limited than usual.

I’ll be the first to admit that sci-fi didn’t get as much attention from me this year as it normally does. Although I read over ten sci-fi novels in 2025, many of them were part of the same series. The biggest reason? I spent a lot more time diving into fantasy, mystery, biographies, and historical fiction—and something had to give.

Unfortunately, sci-fi was the genre that took the hit. That’s something I fully plan to fix going forward. Still, just because I read fewer sci-fi books doesn’t mean I didn’t read great ones. In fact, a few of the novels I picked up ended up being some of the best sci-fi I’ve ever read. You can check out the full list below!

The Best Sci-Fi Books I Read This Year

• The Murderbot Diaries by Martha Wells
• Annihilation by Jeff VanderMeer 
• The Stardust Grail by Yume Kitase
• Escape Velocity by Victor Manibo

After years of seeing The Murderbot Diaries by Martha Wells, I finally got around to reading the series this year. And I fell in love with this series from the first few pages. Many of the books in the series are novellas but there are also a couple full length novels.

If you love great writing, character development, amazing action scenes, and witty humor, then you will love The Murderbot Diaries. This is easily one of my favorite books of 2025 and one I will be revisiting again next year.

Sci-fi novels come in many forms and often times will overlap with other genres, giving us a novel we never would have imagined. Annihilation by Jeff VanderMeer  is a sci-fi, fantasy, and horror novel that feels like you’re watching a movie.

This novel is brilliant in the way it gives the reader just enough information to pique their curiosity and yet still keep the reader in the dark. Horror and sci-fi novels are a combination that is hard to pull off but this novel does an amazing job.

I really enjoyed the previous two novels mentioned and those were the highlights of 2025 for me. But there were other sci-fi novels that I still enjoyed for other reasons. The Stardust Grail by Yume Kitas and Escape Velocity by Victor Manibo are both great sci-fi novels that focus on space and have interesting plots.

I will be checking out more books by Yume Kitas going forward and Escape Velocity was a fun space mystery that makes you wonder what the future holds for us. Both novels tackle heavy subjects and their honesty makes them great reads.

Conclusion

I love reading sci-fi novels and will always be on the lookout for sci-fi books to add to my reading list. This genre has a lot to offer and the novels are easy to get absorbed into.

I read two really good sci-fi novels and two great sci-fi novels and want to read even more next year. What sci-fi books did you read this year that you loved? Let us know in the comments below!

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