2026 is already shaping up to be a phenomenal year for science fiction. We're getting long-awaited sequels from some of the genre's biggest names, a handful of debuts that demand attention, and one of the most anticipated literary crossovers in years. From hard SF to cozy space romance, there's range here.
These are the ten sci-fi books we're most excited about in 2026.
1. Platform Decay
By Martha Wells
Murderbot is back. In the eighth installment of Martha Wells's beloved series, our favorite antisocial security construct volunteers for a rescue mission that forces it to interact with strangers—including children. The horror. Wells keeps finding new ways to challenge a character who'd rather be watching TV than saving lives, and the tension between Murderbot's growing emotional awareness and its deep desire to avoid feelings remains one of the best things in modern SF. If you've been following the series, you already have this pre-ordered. If you haven't, go start with All Systems Red.
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2. The Faith of Beasts
By James S.A. Corey
The second book in The Captive's War trilogy picks up where The Mercy of Gods left off. The Carryx empire was built through subjugation, and as human captives spread across alien battlefronts, the true scope of that empire becomes terrifying. Daniel Abraham and Ty Franck (writing as Corey) proved with The Expanse that they know how to build tension across multiple books—and early reports suggest this one raises the stakes considerably. Fans of the duo's 2024 series opener won't be disappointed.
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3. Children of Strife
By Adrian Tchaikovsky
The fourth entry in the Children of Time universe sends a crew of humans, spiders, and a mantis shrimp captain to rediscover a terraformed world and its ark ship. When crewmate Alis wakes to find everyone else aboard has vanished, the mystery takes a horror-tinged turn. Tchaikovsky won the Arthur C. Clarke Award with the first book in this series, and each installment has expanded the scope of what interspecies cooperation (and conflict) looks like. This one promises to blend dread with his trademark sense of wonder.
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4. The Last Contract of Isako
By Fonda Lee
Fonda Lee built one of fantasy's best modern series with the Green Bone Saga. Now she's turned to space opera, and the result is exactly as sharp as you'd expect. Isako is a legendary swordswoman planning retirement when she's pulled into one final job involving her former apprentice, corporate espionage, and a conspiracy that goes deeper than she imagined. Lee's gift for writing loyalty, betrayal, and the weight of reputation translates perfectly to a far-future setting. Think samurai noir in space.
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5. Radiant Star
By Ann Leckie
A standalone set in the Imperial Radch universe, Radiant Star follows three characters navigating a contested religious site as food shortages, riots, and a communications blackout close in around them. Leckie's Ancillary Justice redefined how we think about identity and empire in SF, and this return to that world—without requiring you to read the trilogy first—is a gift. Her prose remains precise and unsettling in the best way.
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6. The Subtle Art of Folding Space
By John Chu
John Chu has won both the Hugo and Nebula for his short fiction, and his debut novel channels that same precision into a larger story. Ellie discovers a device that stabilizes her comatose mother's condition—but using it causes the rest of the universe to start breaking down. Meanwhile, her sister faces assassins, and a secretive group threatens to hijack reality itself. Chu blends quantum physics, generational trauma, and really good dim sum into something unlike anything else on this list. Library Journal named it their SFF Debut of the Month.
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7. Sublimation
By Isabel J. Kim
In Kim's debut, immigration literally splits you in two—a copy of yourself stays behind when you cross the border. Soyoung Rose Kang left home at ten and never spoke to her other selves again. Years later, she returns to find one of those copies planning to steal her life. Kim, who's won the Nebula, Locus, and Shirley Jackson awards for her short fiction, builds a thriller around questions of identity that feel painfully relevant. Fans of Severance by Ling Ma will want this immediately.
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8. As You Wake, Break the Shell
By Becky Chambers
Becky Chambers pioneered cozy sci-fi with the Wayfarers and Monk & Robot series, and her new duology continues that tradition. On the resource-poor planet Fortune, botanist Signy and rorqual pilot Cora meet and build a life together. Told in alternating timelines between their first encounter and their domestic future, it's a quiet story about what it means to choose someone and keep choosing them. If you need a break from grimdark, Chambers is always the answer. Use ShelfHop's recommendation engine to find more books with this vibe.
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9. Exit Party
By Emily St. John Mandel
The author of Station Eleven returns with a novel set in Los Angeles, 2031—the first spring after the collapse of the United States. At a party in Silverlake, a doppelganger stumbles through the crowd and the host vanishes into thin air. From there, Mandel traces a story across a splintered America, the cliffs of Greece, a domed Paris, and a colony on the moon. She's always been interested in how civilizations break and what people build from the wreckage, and this sounds like her most ambitious book yet.
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10. Detour
By Jeff Rake and Rob Hart
From the creator of Manifest and the author of The Warehouse comes a thriller with a killer premise: a space shuttle crew returns from a mission to Saturn's moon Titan only to discover the Earth they've come back to isn't the one they left. It's the first book in a series, and yes, it ends on a cliffhanger—but the ride there is propulsive enough to forgive it. If you liked Blake Crouch's Dark Matter, this scratches a similar itch with higher altitude.
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2026 isn't even half over and the reading list is already stacked. From Murderbot's latest crisis to Emily St. John Mandel reimagining America's collapse, there's something here for every flavor of sci-fi reader. Looking for more tailored picks? Drop your favorites into ShelfHop and we'll point you to your next obsession. And if fantasy is more your thing, keep an eye out for our best fantasy books of 2026 list coming soon.