11 great 2020 science fiction books to check on your new Kindle

It is not easy to get to a library now, and with a long winter stuck at home approaching for many of us, there has never been a better time to settle down with a good book. If you were lucky enough to receive a new Kindle (or a non-Amazon e-reader or just a device with an e-book application), you may be looking for some new books to read.

To help, here are some of the best new science fiction books released in 2020 (along with some additional recommendations for other books in a series, where applicable), which should be the perfect match for your new e-reader.

We’ve put together our favorite and most used games, apps and entertainment. Check out our app choices for iPhones, Android Phones, Windows PCs, and Macs equipped with M1; our favorite mobile games from Apple Arcade and Google Play Pass; and our best choices for Gaming PCs, a PS5, Xbox One and X / S Series, Nintendo Switch, and VR. We also list our favorite streaming programs on the Disney Plus, Hulu, ESPN Plus, and Netflix; some great science fiction books; and exciting new podcasts. (Note: the price was correct at the time of publication, but may change.)

The city we have become by NK Jemisin

NK Jemisin is best known for its surprising Broken earth trilogy (which is also worth adding to your reading list). The city we have become – a development the size of a novel from an earlier Jemisin tale – reimagines New York City as a living, breathing entity, personified by a diverse collection of people from five districts as they struggle to save the city from an enemy from another world .

Harrow the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir

If you haven’t read Gideon Ninth, Muir’s first book Locked Tomb trilogy, read this first. You probably won’t need any incentives at that point to dive into the second book, Harrow the Ninth, which continues exactly where the first book left off, while managing to overcome its predecessor in baffling puzzles, inventive science fiction horror and Muir’s personal brand of style and wit.

End of Axiom by Lindsay Ellis

This debut novel by the essayist video Lindsay Ellis imagines an alien first contact event in an alternative 2007 version, capturing the political and cultural flavor of the time period while examining what it really means to be human – or alien.

From a certain point of view: the empire strikes back

A love letter to The Empire Strikes Back (as far as the original From a certain point of view is for A new hope), From a certain point of view: the empire strikes back features 40 short stories by 40 authors, delving into new facets of the film, from the ice creature Wampa to Boba Fett and Willrow Hood.

A beautifully foolish effort by Hank Green

Another sequel here, so you’ll probably want to read Green’s first book, An absolutely remarkable thing, before diving. (Think of it as two recommendations for the price of one!) Both books examine the consequences that happen when April May encounters a strange and alien statue (called Carl) – while also exploring how social media and fame can change how we interact and we see the world.

To sleep in a Sea of Stars by Christopher Paolini

Paolini’s first novel since his popular Inheritance Cycle from dragons to deep space and YA novels to a more adult audience. Xenobiologist Kira Navárez finds a strange alien relic, and things quickly turn into a war that may decide the fate of humanity’s interstellar civilization. With almost 900 pages, it is a perfect book to hide on vacation.

The hidden girl and other stories by Ken Liu

Liu has already become one of the biggest names in science fiction and fantasy tales, since his first collection, The Paper Menagerie. The hidden girl and other stories, his latest collection, features 17 new tales that examine artificial intelligence, classical mythology and more in a new light.

Subcutaneous by Aaron A. Reed

Subcutaneous it may be the most original book of 2020 – or perhaps never – literally. Reed describes it as a “permutational novel”, with each copy of the novel containing its own unique text. Some copy-to-copy differences will be large, others small, even if the overall story remains roughly the same.

Network effect by Martha Wells

Murderbot – an artificially intelligent and self-conscious killing machine – is one of the best science fiction heroes of recent times. Murderbot was once the star of Wells’ Murderbot Diaries soap operas but Network effect gives a novel of suitable length for the cynical TV marathon robot who just wants a break. Best of all, it’s autonomous, so you won’t have read the first novels – but you probably should have, since they’re equally excellent.

The ballad of snakes and songbirds by Suzanne Collins

The return to Hunger Games‘Panem’s world arrives almost a full decade after the launch of Thrush. But instead of another action-packed dive in the arena, The ballad of snakes and songbirds it is a prequel that focuses on the future President Snow’s rise to power – and the political and social forces that created the Hunger Games.

Shorefall by Robert Jackson Bennett

Shorefall it is technically a fantasy novel, but I am including it anyway because it is set in a magical world that is based much more on computer codes and AI than on swords and elves. It is an almost cyberpunk version of the genre in a city full of wizard computers and augmentations. Virtually everything in the city of Tevanne is some kind of programmed AI, and gigantic and imminent mega-corporations fight with each other while governing the city. Start with Foundryside, the first book in the series, before going to Shorefall, which takes everything to another level.

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