“What are the best Science Fiction and Fantasy books released in 2019?” We looked at 202 of the top Science Fiction and Fantasy books, aggregating and ranking them so we could answer that very question!
The top 32 books, all appearing on 3 or more “Best Science Fiction and Fantasy” book lists, are ranked below by how many times they appear. The remaining 150+ titles, as well as the sources we used, are in alphabetical order on the bottom of the page.
Our other Best Of 2019 Articles:
Our Other Years: 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015
All books appearing on 2 or more lists have been added to a Bookshop list as well!
Happy Scrolling!
Lists It Appears On:
THE MOST POWERFUL STORY YOU’LL READ THIS YEAR. ‘You’ll remember A Boy and His Dog at the End of the World long after you finish reading’ Peng Shepherd, author of The Book Of M ‘Fletcher’s suspenseful, atmospheric tale imagines a near future in which our wo
Lists It Appears On:
Introducing a cast of unforgettable new characters, A LITTLE HATRED is the start of a brand new trilogy set in the world of the First Law which will have you gripped from the very start . . . War. Politics. Revolution. The Age of Madness has arrived . . .
Lists It Appears On:
Cast out of the very Republic he founded, with half his fleet destroyed, he wages a rogue war on Mercury. Outnumbered and outgunned, is he still the hero who broke the chains? Or will he become the very evil he fought to destroy?
Lists It Appears On:
On the island of Kekon, the Kaul family is locked in a violent feud for control of the capital city and the supply of magical jade that endows trained Green Bone warriors with supernatural powers they alone have possessed for hundreds of years. Beyond Kekon’s borders, war is brewing. Powerful foreign governments and mercenary criminal kingpins alike turn their eyes on the island nation. Jade, Kekon’s most prized resource, could make them rich – or give them the edge they’d need to topple their rivals.
Lists It Appears On:
When apprentice librarian Elisabeth is implicated in sabotage that released the library’s most dangerous grimoire, she becomes entangled in a centuries-old conspiracy that could mean the end of everything.
Lists It Appears On:
“A revolution is happening in speculative fiction, and Annalee Newitz is leading the vanguard.”–Wil Wheaton From Annalee Newitz, founding editor of io9, comes a story of time travel, murder, and the lengths we’ll go to protect the ones we love. 1992: Afte
Lists It Appears On:
New York, late summer, 2000. A party in a spacious Manhattan apartment, hosted by a wealthy young activist. Dozens of idealistic twenty-somethings have impassioned conversations over takeout dumplings and champagne. The evening shines with the heady optimi
Lists It Appears On:
“Everything epic fantasy should be: rich, cruel, gorgeous, brilliant, enthralling and deeply, deeply satisfying. I loved it.”—Lev Grossman, author of The Magicians When destiny calls, there’s no fighting back. Kihrin grew up in the slums of Quur, a thief a
Lists It Appears On:
SHORTLISTED FOR THE BOOKER PRIZE Margaret Atwood’s dystopian masterpiece, The Handmaid’s Tale, has become a modern classic—and now she brings the iconic story to a dramatic conclusion in this riveting sequel. More than fifteen years after the events of The
Lists It Appears On:
Thirteen hundred gates have opened to solar systems around the galaxy. But as humanity builds its interstellar empire in the alien ruins, the mysteries and threats grow deeper.
Lists It Appears On:
“We Set the Dark on Fire burns bright. It will light the way for a new generation of rebels and lovers.” –NPR.org “Mejia pens a compelling, gripping story that mirrors real world issues of immigration and equality.” –Buzzfeed Five starred reviews!! In th
Lists It Appears On:
In his youth, Richard “Dodge” Forthrast founded Corporation 9592, a gaming company that made him a multibillionaire. Now in his middle years, Dodge appreciates his comfortable, unencumbered life, managing his myriad business interests, and spending time with his beloved niece Zula and her young daughter, Sophia.
Lists It Appears On:
Investigating a suicide, New York City police officer Barry Sutton finds a connection to the outbreak of a memory-altering disease and a controversial neuroscientist working to preserve precious memories.
Lists It Appears On:
A soldier with a curse Tala lost her family to the empress’s army and has spent her life avenging them in battle. But the empress’s crimes don’t haunt her half as much as the crimes Tala has committed against the laws of magic . . . and her own flesh and b
Lists It Appears On:
A fantastical journey set at the height of the Spanish Inquisition from the award-winning author of Alif the Unseen and writer of the Ms. Marvel series, G. Willow Wilson’s The Bird King is a jubilant story of love versus power, religion versus faith, and f
Lists It Appears On:
Entertainment Weekly’s 27 Female Authors Who Rule Sci-Fi and Fantasy Right Now, All the Birds in the Sky ― Winner of the 2017 Nebula Award for Best Novel, Finalist for the 2017 Hugo Award for Best Novel “If you control our sleep, then you can own our dream
Lists It Appears On:
The water-breathing descendants of African slave women tossed overboard have built their own underwater society—and must reclaim the memories of their past to shape their future in this brilliantly imaginative novella inspired by the Hugo Award–nominated s
Lists It Appears On:
An alien ship rests over Water Island. For five years the people of the US Virgin Islands have lived with the Ynaa, a race of superadvanced aliens on a research mission they will not fully disclose. They are benevolent in many ways but meet any act of aggr
Lists It Appears On:
Soldiers are broken into light and sent to the frontline of a brutal interplanetary war, in this brilliant military SF from the Hugo Award-winning author of The Stars Are Legion. The Light Brigade: it’s what soldiers fighting the war against Mars call th
Lists It Appears On:
‘A gorgeous, aching love letter to stories, storytellers and the doors they lead us through . . . absolutely enchanting’ Christina Henry, bestselling author of Alice EVERY STORY OPENS A DOOR In a sprawling mansion filled with exotic treasures, January Scal
Lists It Appears On:
‘Lean, relentless, and incandescent.’ Colson Whitehead, Pulitzer Prize winning author of The Underground Railroad and The Nickel Boys This much-anticipated second collection of stories is signature Ted Chiang, full of revelatory ideas and deeply sympatheti
Lists It Appears On:
The Mayan god of death sends a young woman on a harrowing, life-changing journey in this dark, one-of-a-kind fairy tale inspired by Mexican folklore. “Simultaneously heartbreaking and heart-mending, Gods of Jade and Shadow is a wondrous and magical tale ab
Lists It Appears On:
Sharp, mainstream fantasy meets compelling thrills of investigative noir in Magic for Liars, a fantasy debut by rising star Sarah Gailey. Ivy Gamble was born without magic and never wanted it. Ivy Gamble is perfectly happy with her life – or at least, she’
Lists It Appears On:
THE SUNDAY TIMES AND NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER ‘The new Game of Thrones’ Stylist ‘Puts Samantha Shannon in the same league as Robin Hobb and George R.R. Martin. Shannon is a master of dragons’ Starburst ‘Epic fantasy with added dragons. A blockbuster’ Guar
Lists It Appears On:
A decadent rock star. A deeply religious radio host. A disgraced scientist. And a teenage girl who may be the world’s last hope. From the mind of Chuck Wendig comes an astonishing tapestry of humanity that Harlan Coben calls “a suspenseful, twisty, satisfy
Lists It Appears On:
“A Memory Called Empire perfectly balances action and intrigue with matters of empire and identity. All around brilliant space opera, I absolutely love it.”—Ann Leckie, author of Ancillary Justice Ambassador Mahit Dzmare arrives in the center of the multi-
Lists It Appears On:
FINALIST FOR THE 2019 NATIONAL BOOK AWARD The New York Times Bestseller “A fantasy world as well-realized as anything Tolkien made.” –Neil Gaiman “Gripping, action-packed….The literary equivalent of a Marvel Comics universe.” –Michiko Kakutani, The New
Lists It Appears On:
New York Times bestselling and Alex, Nebula, and Hugo-Award-winning author Seanan McGuire introduces readers to a world of amoral alchemy, shadowy organizations, and impossible cities in the standalone fantasy, Middlegame. Meet Roger. Skilled with words, l
Lists It Appears On:
Galaxy “Alex” Stern is the most unlikely member of Yale’s freshman class. Raised in the Los Angeles hinterlands by a hippie mom, Alex dropped out of school early and into a world of shady drug-dealer boyfriends, dead-end jobs, and much, much worse. In fact, by age twenty, she is the sole survivor of a horrific, unsolved multiple homicide. Some might say she’s thrown her life away. But at her hospital bed, Alex is offered a second chance: to attend one of the world’s most prestigious universities on a full ride. What’s the catch, and why her?
Lists It Appears On:
The magical new novel from the bestselling author of The Night Circus. Zachary Ezra Rawlins is a graduate student in Vermont when he discovers a strange book hidden in the library stacks. As he turns the pages, entranced by tales of lovelorn prisoners, key
Lists It Appears On:
Tamsyn Muir’s Gideon the Ninth unveils a solar system of swordplay, cut-throat politics, and lesbian necromancers. Her characters leap off the page, as skillfully animated as arcane revenants. The result is a heart-pounding epic science fantasy.
Lists It Appears On:
Two time-traveling agents from warring futures, working their way through the past, begin to exchange letters—and fall in love in this thrilling and romantic book from award-winning authors Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone. In the ashes of a dying world, R
| # | Books | Authors | Lists |
| 33 | A People’s Future of the United States | Victor LaValle and John Joseph Adams | Publishers Weekly |
| Booklist 2 | |||
| 34 | A Song For a New Day | Sarah Pinsker | Tor |
| NPR | |||
| 35 | Darkdawn (The Nevernight Chronicle #3) | Jay Kristoff | Gizmodo AU |
| The Nerd Daily | |||
| 36 | Do You Dream Of Terra-Two? | Temi Oh | Tor |
| NPR | |||
| 37 | Famous Men Who Never Lived | K. Chess | Chicago Review of Books |
| Washington Post | |||
| 38 | Growing Things and Other Stories | Paul Tremblay | Booklist 2 |
| NPR | |||
| 39 | Lalani of the Distant Sea | Kirkus | |
| Booklist | |||
| 40 | Machines Like Me | Ian McEwan | Gizmodo AU |
| Goodreads 2 | |||
| 41 | Pet | Akwaeke Emezi | Tor |
| NPR | |||
| 42 | Sal & Gabi Break the Universe | Booklist | |
| Kirkus | |||
| 43 | Song For The Unraveling Of The World | Brian Evenson | Chicago Review of Books |
| NPR | |||
| 44 | Sooner or Later Everything Falls Into the Sea | Sarah Pinsker | Chicago Review of Books |
| Tor | |||
| 45 | The Archive Of Alternate Endings | Lindsey Dragger | Guardian |
| NPR | |||
| 46 | The Haunting Of Tram Car 015 | P. Djèlí Clark | Washington Post |
| NPR | |||
| 47 | The Kingdom of Copper: A Novel (The Daevabad Trilogy) | Kirkus Reviews | |
| Amazon | |||
| 48 | The Last Last-Day-Of-Summer | Lamar Giles, illustrated | Kirkus |
| NPR | |||
| 49 | The Library Of The Unwritten | A.J. Hackwith | The Nerd Daily |
| Library Journal | |||
| 50 | The Luminous Dead | Caitlin Starling | Publishers Weekly |
| Powell’s | |||
| 51 | The Old Drift | Namwali Serpell | Tor |
| NPR | |||
| 52 | The Pursuit of William Abbey | Claire North | Guardian |
| NPR | |||
| 53 | The Raven Tower | Anne Leckie | Gizmodo AU |
| NPR | |||
| 54 | The Red Scrolls of Magic (The Eldest Curses, #1) | Cassandra Clare | Gizmodo AU |
| Goodreads | |||
| 55 | The Water Dancer | Ta-Nehisi Coates | BookMarks |
| NPR | |||
| 56 | The Winter of the Witch (Winternight Trilogy, #3) | Katherine Arden | Noteworthy – Jackie |
| Goodreads | |||
| 57 | To Be Taught, if Fortunate | Tor | |
| Library Journal | |||
| 58 | We’re Not From Here | Geoff Rodkey | Kirkus |
| NPR | |||
| 59 | A Choir of Lies | BookPage | |
| 60 | A CURSE SO DARK AND LONELY | Kirkus 2 | |
| 61 | A HOUSE OF RAGE AND SORROW | Kirkus 2 | |
| 62 | A Spectral Hue | Craig Laurance Gidney | NPR |
| 63 | Alienation | Inés Estrada | NPR |
| 64 | All Systems Red: The Murderbot Diaries | Martha Wells | NPR |
| 65 | Always North | Guardian | |
| 66 | And Now His Lordship Is Laughing | Tor | |
| 67 | Are You Listening? | Tillie Walden | NPR |
| 68 | ATFISHING ON CATNET | Kirkus 2 | |
| 69 | Aurora Rising. | Booklist | |
| 70 | Automatic Eve | Washington Post | |
| 71 | Becoming Superman | Tor | |
| 72 | Blood Heir | Amelié Wen Zhao* | Noteworthy – Jackie |
| 73 | BLOOD OF AN EXILE | Kirkus Reviews | |
| 74 | Bloodlust and Bonnets | Tor | |
| 75 | Bloom | Kevin Panetta and Savanna Ganucheau | Powell’s |
| 76 | BTTM FDRS | Ezra Claytan Daniels, illustrated | NPR |
| 77 | Charlie Hernández and the League of Shadows. | Booklist | |
| 78 | Children of Ruin | Tor | |
| 79 | Children of Time | Tor | |
| 80 | Children Of Virtue And Vengeance | Tomi Adeyemi | NPR |
| 81 | Chilling Effect. | Library Journal | |
| 82 | City in the Middle of the Night | Guardian | |
| 83 | Cold Storage | David Koepp | The Nerd Daily |
| 84 | Craft Sequence | Tor | |
| 85 | Crimson Hills, | Washington Post | |
| 86 | Dead Astronauts | Tor | |
| 87 | Doggerland | Guardian | |
| 88 | DRAGON PEARL | Kirkus | |
| 89 | Dragonslayer | Duncan M. Hamilton | The Nerd Daily |
| 90 | Dreadful Young Ladies and Other Stories | Kelly Barnhill | Chicago Review of Books |
| 91 | EARLY RISER | Kirkus Reviews | |
| 92 | Empress of Forever | Tor | |
| 93 | Enchantée | Gita Trelease | NPR |
| 94 | Episodes | Tor | |
| 95 | EVENTOWN | Kirkus | |
| 96 | Family Business (Bitter Root #1) | David F. Walker, Chuck Brown, and Sanford | Powell’s |
| 97 | Fire & Blood (A Targaryen History, #1) | Goodreads | |
| 98 | Flowers of Mold and Other Stories | Washington Post | |
| 99 | Fractured | Tamar Ossowski | Chicago Review of Books |
| 100 | Frankenstein in Baghdad: A Novel | Ahmed Saadawi, translated by Jonathan Wright | Five Books |
| 101 | Frankissstein | Jeanette Winterson | BookMarks |
| 102 | Gingerbread: A Novel | Helen Oyeyemi | NPR |
| 103 | Her Body and Other Parties | Tor | |
| 104 | Here Now and Then, | Washington Post | |
| 105 | Hexarchate Stories | Tor | |
| 106 | HOBGOBLIN AND THE SEVEN STINKERS OF RANCIDIA | Kirkus | |
| 107 | Hollow Kingdom | Kira Jane Buxton | NPR |
| 108 | Homesick | Nino Cipri | Chicago Review of Books |
| 109 | HOW RORY THORNE DESTROYED THE MULTIVERSE | Kirkus Reviews | |
| 110 | Jakarta | Tor | |
| 111 | Kingdom of Copper (Daevabad Trilogy #2) | S. A. Chakraborty | Powell’s |
| 112 | lack Leopard, Red Wolf (The Dark Star Trilogy, #1) | Goodreads | |
| 113 | Laura Dean Keeps Breaking Up With Me | Mariko Tamaki | Powell’s |
| 114 | Lent | BookPage | |
| 115 | Man-Eaters Volume 1 | Chelsea Cain, illustrated | NPR |
| 116 | MIDSUMMER’S MAYHEM | Kirkus | |
| 117 | Mighty Are the Meek and the Myriad | Tor | |
| 118 | Of Blood and Bone (Chronicles of The One, #2) | Goodreads | |
| 119 | ONCE & FUTURE | Kirkus 2 | |
| 120 | One Word Kill | Mark Lawrence | The Nerd Daily |
| 121 | Orange World And Other Stories | Karen Russell | NPR |
| 122 | OYAGE OF THE FROSTHEART | Kirkus | |
| 123 | Palestine +100: Stories from a Century After the Nakba | Basma Ghalayini (editor) | NPR |
| 124 | Past Master | Tor | |
| 125 | Plum Rains | Andromeda Romano-Lax | Chicago Review of Books |
| 126 | Queen of the Conquered | Kacen Callender | The Nerd Daily |
| 127 | Rat Rule 79: An Adventure | Rivka Galchen, illustrated | NPR |
| 128 | Revenant Gun | Yoon Ha Lee | Five Books |
| 129 | Riverland | Fran Wilde | NPR |
| 130 | Rosewater | Tade Thompson | Five Books |
| 131 | Savages | Tor | |
| 132 | Seafire | Tor | |
| 133 | Semiosis | Sue Burke | Five Books |
| 134 | Sixteen Ways to Defend a Walled City | Tor | |
| 135 | Small Spaces. | Booklist | |
| 136 | Spin The Dawn | Elizabeth Lim | NPR |
| 137 | Steel Tide | Tor | |
| 138 | Storm Cursed (Mercy Thompson, #11) | Goodreads | |
| 139 | Storm of Locusts (Sixth World #2) | Rebecca Roanhorse | Powell’s |
| 140 | Supernova Era | Cixin Liu, translated | NPR |
| 141 | Tears of the Trufflepig | Tor | |
| 142 | Temper | Booklist 2 | |
| 143 | The 10,000 Doors of January | Alix E Harrow | Gizmodo AU |
| 144 | The Adventure Zone: Murder on the Rockport Limited | Tor | |
| 145 | The Agony House. | Booklist | |
| 146 | THE BEAST PLAYER | Kirkus 2 | |
| 147 | The Best of R. A. Lafferty | Tor | |
| 148 | The Binding | Bridget Collins* | Noteworthy – Jackie |
| 149 | The Book Of Dust: The Secret Commonwealth | Philip Pullman | NPR |
| 150 | The Book of X | Sarah Rose Etter | Chicago Review of Books |
| 151 | The Curse Of The Werepenguin | Allan Woodrow, ilustrated | NPR |
| 152 | The Dollmaker | Tor | |
| 153 | The Dragon Republic | BookPage | |
| 154 | The Drifting Classroom | Kazuo Umezz | Powell’s |
| 155 | The Electric State | Simon Stålenhag | Five Books |
| 156 | The Gameshouse | Tor | |
| 157 | The Girl In Red | Christina Henry | The Nerd Daily |
| 158 | The Grand Dark | Richard Kadrey | NPR |
| 159 | The Hanging Artist | Washington Post | |
| 160 | The Heart of the Circle | Library Journal | |
| 161 | The Institute | Stephen King | Publishers Weekly |
| 162 | THE IRON DRAGON’S MOTHER | Kirkus Reviews | |
| 163 | The Library at Mount Char | Tor | |
| 164 | THE LIBRARY OF EVER | Kirkus | |
| 165 | The Lightest Object in the Universe | Kimi Eisele | Chicago Review of Books |
| 166 | The Loosening Skin | Aliya Whiteley | Five Books |
| 167 | The Lost Coast. | Booklist | |
| 168 | The Migration Suite: A Study in C Sharp Minor | Tor | |
| 169 | The Night Circus | Tor | |
| 170 | The Night Tiger | Washington Post | |
| 171 | The Outside | Washington Post | |
| 172 | The Plotters | Un-Su Kim | Powell’s |
| 173 | The Queen of Nothing (The Folk of the Air #3) | Holly Black | The Nerd Daily |
| 174 | The Quite Nice and Fairly Accurate Script Book | Tor | |
| 175 | The Rage of Dragons (The Burning (1)) | Amazon | |
| 176 | The Rosewater Redemption | Guardian | |
| 177 | The Serial Garden | Tor | |
| 178 | The Seventh Voyage | Stanislaw Lem, illustrated | NPR |
| 179 | The Sol Majestic | Ferrett Steinmetz | Powell’s |
| 180 | The Test | Goodreads 2 | |
| 181 | The Violent Century | Lavie Tidhar | NPR |
| 182 | The Wall: A Novel | John Lanchester | NPR |
| 183 | The Warehouse | Rob Hart | BookMarks |
| 184 | The Water Cure: A Novel | Sophie Mackintosh | NPR |
| 185 | The Weight of the Stars. | Booklist | |
| 186 | The Wicked King. | Booklist | |
| 187 | The World Doesn’t Require You: Stories | Rion Amilcar Scott | NPR |
| 188 | THERE WILL COME A DARKNESS | Kirkus 2 | |
| 189 | Thirteen Days by Sunset Beach | Booklist 2 | |
| 190 | Thirteen Doorways, Wolves Behind Them All | Laura Ruby | NPR |
| 191 | Thirty-Seven | Peter Stenson | Chicago Review of Books |
| 192 | This Was Our Pact | Ryan Andrews | NPR |
| 193 | TRISTAN STRONG PUNCHES A HOLE IN THE SKY | Kirkus | |
| 194 | Unraveling | Washington Post | |
| 195 | Velocity Weapon | Booklist 2 | |
| 196 | Waste Tide | Guardian | |
| 197 | We Cast a Shadow, | Washington Post | |
| 198 | WE RULE THE NIGHT | Kirkus 2 | |
| 199 | What The Dead Man Said, | Washington Post | |
| 200 | Wicked Saints | Emily A. Duncan | The Nerd Daily |
| 201 | Wilder Girls | Rory Power | NPR |
| 202 | Winter World (The Long Winter) | Amazon |
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