5 Science-Fiction Book Recommendations for Everyone

Hoohoo, friends of the blade.

I love science-fiction books. I love space and I love how creative people get when putting fantasy and science together and make absolutely stunning worlds. And I realized I don’t read nearly enough sci-fi books and definitely need to read some more. If you’re the same, then look no further because I have 5 very different science-fiction space recommendations for you today!

Made of Stars by Jenna Voris

Shane and Ava are a team. He steals the aircraft, she charms their mark, and together they take what they need. Not even their distracting chemistry could get in the way. Until Shane was caught and left to rot on a prison moon. Now, freshly escaped from confinement and simmering with anger, he has his sights set on their biggest job yet.
Cyrus just graduated from the flight academy with a shiny new position lined up reporting to a well-respected general. On his very first assignment, he stops the outlaws in their tracks–or, he would have, if the annoyingly handsome Lark hadn’t fallen for Ava’s deception.
But when Shane uncovers a top-secret plot that would leave his home world at the mercy of Cyrus’s military leaders, he makes it his mission to thwart them at all costs. It isn’t long before Shane and Ava make interstellar headlines with each new heist. And thanks to a chance run-in with the rebels, Cyrus is caught between two versions of the truth. He must pick a side and fast. Because Shane and Ava will bring the planet to its knees…or die trying.

Made of Stars is a YA novel inspired by Bonnie and Clyde. Its pace is rather slow but I really liked the world building and the characters. I liked how their struggles were written, how their desperation makes them spiral deeper and deeper into crime, while their love and trust in each other makes them feel invincible. I liked the contrasts in Made of Stars, the fun comments and the tense mood, all the different worlds colliding.

⇒ Made of Stars is for you if you like high stakes | slow burn romance | heists | a cast of morally gray characters | found family | YA but make it dark | adventure

Iron Widow by Xiran Jay Xhao

The boys of Huaxia dream of pairing up with girls to pilot Chrysalises, giant transforming robots that can battle the mecha aliens that lurk beyond the Great Wall. It doesn’t matter that the girls often die from the mental strain.
When 18-year-old Zetian offers herself up as a concubine-pilot, it’s to assassinate the ace male pilot responsible for her sister’s death. But she gets her vengeance in a way nobody expected—she kills him through the psychic link between pilots and emerges from the cockpit unscathed. She is labeled an Iron Widow, a much-feared and much-silenced kind of female pilot who can sacrifice boys to power up Chrysalises instead.​
To tame her unnerving yet invaluable mental strength, she is paired up with Li Shimin, the strongest and most controversial male pilot in Huaxia​. But now that Zetian has had a taste of power, she will not cower so easily. She will miss no opportunity to leverage their combined might and infamy to survive attempt after attempt on her life, until she can figure out exactly why the pilot system works in its misogynist way—and stop more girls from being sacrificed.

Iron Widow was one of my favourite books last year. It was surprising, a wild ride from start to finish, furious and messy in the best sense and an absolute joy to read. I loved the romantic and friendship parts in this book as well as the mechas and, above all, I loved Zetian and her want for a better life and for power.

⇒ Iron Widow is for you if you like fast paced stories | mechas | queer af books | female MC who are not afraid to claim power and use it | characters taking up space | grumpy x grumpy x sunshine | morally gray characters

Revenger by Alastair Reynolds

The galaxy has seen great empires rise and fall. Planets have shattered and been remade. Amongst the ruins of alien civilizations, building our own from the rubble, humanity still thrives.
And there are vast fortunes to be mad, if you know where to find them…
Captain Rackamore and his crew do. It’s their business to find the tiny, enigmatic worlds which have been hidden away, booby-trapped, surrounded by layers of protection – and to crack them open for the ancient relics and barely-remembered technologies inside. But while they ply their risky trade with integrity, not everyone is so scrupulous.
Adrana and Fura Ness are the newest members of Rackamore’s crew, signed on to save their family from bankruptcy. Only Rackamore has enemies, and there might be more waiting for them in space than adventure and fortune: the fabled and feared Bosa Sennen in particular.

Listen, Revenger kind of fucked me up, I felt like I understood nothing, yet I still enjoyed it and think about it on a regular basis. Revenger is slow paced and follows sisters Adrana and Fura who want nothing more than to leave their constricting home and have an adventure. It took me some time to really get into the story, but when I did, I was completely and fully immersed in it, its dark and dangerous atmosphere having me in a tight grip.

⇒ Revenger is for you if you like slowly unfolding stories | heavy world building | complex characters | physics | pirates | treasure hunts | sibling stories | a mystical yet hovering threat | found family | YAs that feel very adult

Winter’s Orbit by Everina Maxwell

While the Iskat Empire has long dominated the system through treaties and political alliances, several planets, including Thea, have begun to chafe under Iskat’s rule. When tragedy befalls Imperial Prince Taam, his Thean widower, Jainan, is rushed into an arranged marriage with Taam’s cousin, the disreputable Kiem, in a bid to keep the rising hostilities between the two worlds under control.
But when it comes to light that Prince Taam’s death may not have been an accident, and that Jainan himself may be a suspect, the unlikely pair must overcome their misgivings and learn to trust one another as they navigate the perils of the Iskat court, try to solve a murder, and prevent an interplanetary war… all while dealing with their growing feelings for each other.

I really, really enjoyed Winter’s Orbit! It is a wonderfully, tender romance in which both parties have no clue how to act around each other but closer anyways and develop feelings. I loved how different Jainan and Kiem were yet how well they fit with each other. I liked their relationship and support of each other.

⇒ Winter’s Orbit is for you if you like sweet romances | smart people who become oblivious in romantic matters | stranding in foreign territory | arranged marriage | healing together | politics | shameless flirt x exasperated quiet person | romance heavy stories | adult books without any heavy world building

Victories Greater than Death by Charlie Jane Anders

⇒ Read my review of Victories Greater Than Death

Tina never worries about being ‘ordinary’—she doesn’t have to, since she’s known practically forever that she’s not just Tina Mains, average teenager and beloved daughter. She’s also the keeper of an interplanetary rescue beacon, and one day soon, it’s going to activate, and then her dreams of saving all the worlds and adventuring among the stars will finally be possible. Tina’s legacy, after all, is intergalactic—she is the hidden clone of a famed alien hero, left on Earth disguised as a human to give the universe another chance to defeat a terrible evil.
But when the beacon activates, it turns out that Tina’s destiny isn’t quite what she expected. Things are far more dangerous than she ever assumed. Luckily, Tina is surrounded by a crew she can trust, and her best friend Rachael, and she is still determined to save all the worlds. But first she’ll have to save herself.

There was so much I liked about this book! I especially loved the friendships and the unwavering platonic love throughout the whole story. I also liked the diversity, not only when it comes to genders and sexualities and ethnicities but also alien races and their norms. I also liked the good vs. evil aspect and the way it was all very positively chaotic, also in the best sense of the word.

⇒ Victories Greater than Death is for you if you like space adventures | a queer af cast | the chosen one | “I’m not special… oh” | found family | friendships | good vs. evil | unknown past | a lot of action | YA space operas

Still not enough of space books?

Then check out my list of books featuring space ships!

What science-fiction books can you recommend? Are you as fascinated with space as I am? Do you have a favourite constellation?

Until next time,