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BooksBook ReviewsFictionNonfictionSummer reading
BooksBook ReviewsFictionNonfictionSummer reading


THE 11 BEST SCIENCE FICTION AND FANTASY BOOKS OF 2024


THESE STORIES FEATURE QUESTIONS ABOUT ROBOT PERSONHOOD, JOURNEYS INTO ENCHANTED
FORESTS AND MUCH MORE.

6 min
28

(Illustration by Simon Bailly for The Washington Post)
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 1.  ‘Annie Bot’ by Sierra Greer
 2.  ‘The Butcher of the Forest’ by Premee Mohamed
 3.  ‘The Fox Wife’ by Yangsze Choo
 4.  ‘The Mars House’ by Natasha Pulley
 5.  ‘Metal From Heaven’ by August Clarke
 6.  ‘Ninetails’ by Sally Wen Mao
 7.  ‘Ours’ by Phillip B. Williams
 8.  ‘The Practice, the Horizon, and the Chain’ by Sofia Samatar
 9.  ‘Someone You Can Build a Nest In’ by John Wiswell
 10. ‘The Tusks of Extinction’ by Ray Nayler
 11. ‘The Wings Upon Her Back’ by Samantha Mills

By Charlie Jane Anders
November 19, 2024 at 8:00 a.m. EST

I’m not sure if 2024 had a novel, like 2022’s “Babel” or 2023’s “Fourth Wing,”
that took the world by storm and reshaped the map of speculative fiction. But
this year did have a wealth of unforgettable books, making it tough to narrow
things down to the year’s best. These are the 11 I couldn’t stop thinking about.




‘ANNIE BOT’ BY SIERRA GREER

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This year had a bumper crop of extra-bleak dystopias. But Greer’s story of a
robot girlfriend trying to please her boyfriend/owner still stands out, thanks
to a blend of intensity and nuance. Greer captures every facet of the abusive
relationship between Annie and Doug. She conjures genuine warmth and moments of
kindness, along with a thoughtful exploration of personhood and what it means to
shape another person. “Annie Bot” is a book to hold close to your heart when the
walls start closing in. (Book World review.)


‘THE BUTCHER OF THE FOREST’ BY PREMEE MOHAMED

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Fairy stories are huge right now — but few authors capture the menace and wonder
of fairies the way Mohamed does. Her protagonist, Veris, is the only person ever
to return from an enchanted forest alive, so she’s forced to go back in to
search for a tyrant’s lost children. The best fairy tales often have a
wistfulness to go with their whimsy, and “The Butcher of the Forest” is no
exception, slowly revealing itself to be a story of loss and grief that cuts
deep. (Book World review.)


‘THE FOX WIFE’ BY YANGSZE CHOO

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This was one of several books this year about fox spirits, beguiling immortal
tricksters who crop up in many Asian cultures. Foxes may exercise power over
humans, but Choo sees them as an endangered species who must hide to survive.
Yet Choo’s seductive foxes can’t help getting drawn into human drama and
becoming the objects of our obsession. Choo makes the most of this intersection
of fragility and desire, but also surprises the reader with a wistful tale of
lost loves reunited. (Book World review.)


‘THE MARS HOUSE’ BY NATASHA PULLEY

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In Pulley’s novel, humans have adapted to the lower gravity of Mars, but
refugees from a climate-ravaged Earth pose a danger to native Martians because
of their superior strength. An Earth refugee named January is forced into an
arranged marriage with an anti-immigrant politician named Aubrey for political
reasons. Pulley doesn’t dodge the big questions her premise raises, but she also
develops a living, breathing relationship between two complicated people. In a
year full of unconventional romances, “The Mars House” is probably the oddest,
and yet the sweetest. (Book World review.)


‘METAL FROM HEAVEN’ BY AUGUST CLARKE

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When factory workers protest that ichorite, a miraculous new metal, is making
them sick, they are brutally massacred. A young girl, Marney, escapes the
slaughter and finds she can control ichorite with her mind. She joins an
all-female pirate crew, using her superpowers to steal while she plans her
revenge. Clarke creates an ornate, profane world and populates it with
unforgettable characters, while the book’s hairpin plot twists keep the reader
guessing. “Metal From Heaven” was the most fun I’ve had in ages — until it
utterly wrecked me.

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‘NINETAILS’ BY SALLY WEN MAO

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This book is so full of wordplay, even the title is a pun: It alludes to the
myth that a fox that grows nine tails can achieve immortality, but there are
also nine tales in this collection. Mao uses the alluring, shape-shifting nature
of fox spirits to explore the ways women have to reshape themselves to survive a
world that hates them. Every fantastical story in this book is a standout, and
it rewards a second, or even third, reading. (Book World review.)


‘OURS’ BY PHILLIP B. WILLIAMS

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In the 1830s, a woman named Saint frees some enslaved people and uses magic to
help them create a sanctuary called Ours — but as one person observes, when you
kill slavery, “you still got to kill the slave raised up inside the person.”
Williams weaves together various stories of people who love each other but
cannot find true intimacy because of unresolved trauma. And yet Williams’s
gorgeously poetic language shows his characters slowly finding not just
liberation but also connection and even transcendence. (Book World review.)


‘THE PRACTICE, THE HORIZON, AND THE CHAIN’ BY SOFIA SAMATAR

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A young boy toiling in the underbelly of a starship is chosen to come up and
attend an elite school on the upper decks. What ensues is a nimble exploration
of systems of oppression and the many ways that education can become a tool of
control — but also how we can study liberation instead. The boy’s benefactor,
known only as the professor, is full of contradictions: sophisticated but naive,
compassionate but co-opted. You can read Samatar’s novella in an afternoon, but
you’ll want to savor it endlessly. (Book World review.)


‘SOMEONE YOU CAN BUILD A NEST IN’ BY JOHN WISWELL

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People fall in love with monsters all the time, but few monsters are as lovable
as Shesheshen, a shape-shifting omnivore who finds comfort in the arms of
Homily, whose aristocratic family is dedicated to the destruction of
Shesheshen’s species. Wiswell considers what it means to be a monster but also
delves into rapacious parenting, trauma and compassion, and the splendor of love
between asexual, neuro-atypical people. “Someone You Can Build a Nest In” is
surprisingly funny despite its darkness. (Book World review.)


‘THE TUSKS OF EXTINCTION’ BY RAY NAYLER

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Damira was an elephant expert, until she was murdered by poachers. Now mammoths
have been brought back from extinction, and her digitally recorded consciousness
is placed in a mammoth body to help them survive. Nayler’s preoccupation with
nonhuman intelligence collides with the propensity of humans to slaughter other
living creatures for sport, and the result packs a lot of power. I’ve seen many
books about climate change, but “The Tusks of Extinction” gets to the heart of
why we keep squandering nature’s endless richness. (Book World review.)


‘THE WINGS UPON HER BACK’ BY SAMANTHA MILLS

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This is the best novel about authoritarianism I’ve read lately. In it, flying
cybernetic warriors serve the mecha god, but their leader, Vodaya, has twisted
worship into something oppressive. One of those warriors, Winged Zemolai, has a
crisis of faith and is cast out. Mills brilliantly captures both Zemolai’s
earlier devotion to Vodaya and the pain of letting go of hero worship. When the
final confrontation arrives, it’s suitably epic. (Book World review.)


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