“What are the best Science Fiction And Fantasy books released in 2020?” We looked at 183 of the top Science Fiction And Fantasy books, aggregating and ranking them so we could answer that very question!
The top 27 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 2020 Articles:
Previous Years: 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015
All titles have been added to a Bookshop list as well!
Happy Scrolling!
Lists It Appears On:
Bethany C. Morrow’s A Song Below Water is the story for today’s readers — a captivating modern fantasy about black sirens, friendship, and self-discovery set against the challenges of today’s racism and sexism. In a society determined to keep her under lock and key, Tavia must hide her siren powers
Lists It Appears On:
AN INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER “ONE OF THE MOST VISIONARY, ORIGINAL, AND QUIETLY INFLUENTIAL WRITERS CURRENTLY WORKING”* returns with a sharply imagined follow-up to the New York Times bestselling The Peripheral. William Gibson has trained his eye on the future for decades, ever since coining
Lists It Appears On:
THE INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER The alternate history first contact adventure Axiom’s End is an extraordinary debut from Hugo finalist and video essayist Lindsay Ellis. Truth is a human right. It’s fall 2007. A well-timed leak has revealed that the US government might have engaged in first con
Lists It Appears On:
A #1 New York Times bestseller Sarah J. Maas’s brand-new CRESCENT CITY series begins with House of Earth and Blood: the story of half-Fae and half-human Bryce Quinlan as she seeks revenge in a contemporary fantasy world of magic, danger, and searing romance. Bryce Quinlan had the perfect life–worki
Lists It Appears On:
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER – “It’s Lovecraft meets the Brontës in Latin America, and after a slow-burn start Mexican Gothic gets seriously weird.”–The Guardian IN DEVELOPMENT AS A HULU ORIGINAL LIMITED SERIES PRODUCED BY KELLY RIPA AND MARK CONSUELOS An isolated mansion. A chillingly charismatic ari
Lists It Appears On:
After forming a coalition of human resistance against the enemy invasion, Dalinar Kholin and his Knights Radiant have spent a year fighting a protracted, brutal war. Neither side has gained an advantage, and the threat of a betrayal by Dalinar’s crafty ally Taravangian looms over every strategic mov
Lists It Appears On:
Working at the local processing plant, Marcos is in the business of slaughtering humans–though no one calls them that anymore. His wife has left him, his father is sinking into dementia, and Marcos tries not to think too hard about how he makes a living. After all, it happened so quickly. First, it
Lists It Appears On:
From the Arthur C. Clarke Award-winning Adrian Tchaikovsky, The Doors of Eden is an extraordinary feat of the imagination and a page-turning adventure about parallel universes and the monsters that they hide. They thought we were safe. They were wrong. Four years ago, two girls went looking for mons
Lists It Appears On:
“No series since George R.R. Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire has quite captured both palace intrigue and the way that tribal infighting and war hurt the vulnerable the most.” –Paste MagazineThe final chapter in the bestselling, critically acclaimed Daevabad Trilogy, in which a con-woman and an idea
Lists It Appears On:
Dangerous, subtle, unexpected and familiar, angry and ferocious and hopeful… The Empress of Salt and Fortune is a remarkable accomplishment of storytelling.–NPR A 2020 ALA Booklist Top Ten SF/F Debut A Book Riot Must-Read Fantasy of 2020 A Paste Most Anticipated Novel of 2020 A Library Journal De
Lists It Appears On:
From award-winning author Ken Liu comes his much anticipated second volume of short stories. Ken Liu is one of the most lauded short story writers of our time. This collection includes a selection of his science fiction and fantasy stories from the last five years–sixteen of his best–plus a new no
Lists It Appears On:
An outsider who can travel between worlds discovers a secret that threatens the very fabric of the multiverse in this stunning debut, a powerful examination of identity, privilege, and belonging. “Gorgeous writing, mind-bending world-building, razor-sharp social commentary, and a main character who
Lists It Appears On:
A. K. Larkwood’s The Unspoken Name is a stunning debut fantasy about a young priestess sentenced to die, who at the last minute escapes her fate; only to become an assassin for the wizard who saved her. What if you knew how and when you will die? Csorwe does–she will climb the mountain, enter the S
Lists It Appears On:
A USA TODAY BESTSELLER A Publisher’s Weekly Best Book of the Year “One of 2020’s buzziest horror novels.” –Entertainment Weekly A “Most Anticipated Books of Summer” selection in Esquire, Elle, Vulture, Time, AV Club, Bustle, and Literary Hub “Gritty and gorgeous” –The New York Times “Jones is one
Lists It Appears On:
A “highly imaginative and utterly exhilarating” (Thrillist) debut that is “the best of what science fiction can be: a thought-provoking, heartrending story about the choices that define our lives.” (Kirkus Reviews, starred review) A mysterious child lands in the care of a solitary woman, changing bo
Lists It Appears On:
Harrow the Ninth, the New York Times and USA Today bestselling sequel to Gideon the Ninth, turns a galaxy inside out as one necromancer struggles to survive the wreckage of herself aboard the Emperor’s haunted space station. “Lesbian necromancers explore a haunted gothic palace in space! Decadent no
Lists It Appears On:
“This book is fast, furious, compelling, and angry as hell. — Seanan McGuire, New York Times bestselling author The Boys meets My Year of Rest and Relaxation in this smart, imaginative, and evocative novel of love, betrayal, revenge, and redemption, told with razor-sharp wit and affection, in which
Lists It Appears On:
Now a New York Times and USA Today bestseller! To Sleep in a Sea of Stars is a brand new epic novel from #1 New York Times bestselling author of Eragon, Christopher Paolini. Kira Navárez dreamed of life on new worlds. Now she’s awakened a nightmare. During a routine survey mission on an uncolonized
Lists It Appears On:
A Publishers Weekly Best of 2020 Top Ten Pick! Winner of the 2020 New England Book Award for Fiction! Riot Baby, Onyebuchi’s first novel for adults, is as much the story of Ella and her brother, Kevin, as it is the story of black pain in America, of the extent and lineage of police brutality, racism
Lists It Appears On:
In the late 1800s, three sisters use witchcraft to change the course of history in Alix E. Harrow’s powerful novel of magic and the suffragette movement. In 1893, there’s no such thing as witches. There used to be, in the wild, dark days before the burnings began, but now witching is nothing but tid
Lists It Appears On:
From the New York Times bestselling author of Star Wars: Resistance Reborn comes the first book in the Between Earth and Sky trilogy, inspired by the civilizations of the Pre-Columbian Americas and woven into a tale of celestial prophecies, political intrigue, and forbidden magic. A god will return
Lists It Appears On:
New York Times Bestseller! From the New York Times bestselling author of Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell, an intoxicating, hypnotic new novel set in a dreamlike alternative reality. Piranesi’s house is no ordinary building: its rooms are infinite, its corridors endless, its walls are lined with thousa
Lists It Appears On:
Lambda Literary Award-winning author TJ Klune’s bestselling, breakout contemporary fantasy A USA Today Bestseller! An Indie Next Pick! One of Publishers Weekly’s Most Anticipated Books of Spring 2020 One of Book Riot’s “20 Must-Read Feel-Good Fantasies” Linus Baker is a by-the-book case worker in th
Lists It Appears On:
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER – From the author of Uprooted and Spinning Silver comes the story of an unwilling dark sorceress who is destined to rewrite the rules of magic. “The dark school of magic I’ve been waiting for.” Katherine Arden, author of Winternight Trilogy I decided that Orion Lake needed
Lists It Appears On:
The first full-length novel in Martha Wells’ New York Times and USA Today bestselling Murderbot Diaries series. I caught myself rereading my favorite parts… and I can’t recommend it enough. — New York Times You know that feeling when you’re at work, and you’ve had enough of people, and then the b
Lists It Appears On:
AN INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER USA TODAY BESTSELLER NATIONAL INDIE BESTSELLER THE WASHINGTON POST BESTSELLER #1 Indie Next Pick and #1 LibraryReads Pick – October 2020 Recommended by Entertainment Weekly, Real Simple, NPR, Slate, and Oprah Magazine A “Best Of” Book From: CNN *Amazon Editors *
Lists It Appears On:
“A glorious fantasy.”–Neil Gaiman Three-time Hugo Award-winning and New York Times bestselling author N.K. Jemisin crafts her most incredible novel yet, a story of culture, identity, magic, and myths in contemporary New York City. In Manhattan, a young grad student gets off the train and realizes h
| # | Book | Author | Lists |
| 28 | A Beautifully Foolish Endeavor (The Carls, #2) | Hank Green | Waterstones |
| Goodreads 2 | |||
| 29 | Cemetery Boys | Aiden Thomas | Tor |
| NPR | |||
| 30 | Each of Us a Desert | Mark Oshiro | Tor |
| NPR | |||
| 31 | Finna | Nino Cipri | Book Riot |
| Tor | |||
| 32 | I Hold a Wolf by the Ears | Laura van den Berg | Tor |
| NPR | |||
| 33 | Lakewood | Megan Giddings | Powells |
| NPR | |||
| 34 | Little Eyes | Samanta Schweblin | The Times |
| NPR | |||
| 35 | Mordew | Alex Pheby | Waterstones |
| Tor | |||
| 36 | Peace Talks (The Dresden Files, #16) | Jim Butcher | Waterstones |
| Goodreads | |||
| 37 | Plain Bad Heroines | Emily M. Danforth and Sara Lautman | Powells |
| Tor | |||
| 38 | Ready Player Two | Ernest Cline | Barnes & Noble |
| Waterstones | |||
| 39 | Ring Shout | P. Djèlí Clark | Tor |
| NPR | |||
| 40 | Survivor Song | Paul Tremblay | Booklist |
| NPR | |||
| 41 | The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes | Suzanne Collins | Waterstones |
| Amazon | |||
| 42 | The Bone Shard Daughter (The Drowning Empire Book 1) | Andrea Stewart | Waterstones |
| Amazon | |||
| 43 | The Last Emperox (The Interdependency Book 3) | John Scalzi | NPR |
| Amazon | |||
| 44 | The Midnight Library: A Novel | Matt Haig | NYPL |
| Amazon | |||
| 45 | The New Wilderness | Diane Cook | Goodreads 2 |
| NPR | |||
| 46 | The Southern Book Club’s Guide to Slaying Vampires | Grady Hendrix | Booklist |
| Powells | |||
| 47 | The Trouble With Peace | Joe Abercrombie | Waterstones |
| The Quill To Live | |||
| 48 | Trouble the Saints | Alaya Dawn Johnson | Kirkus |
| NPR | |||
| 49 | Unconquerable Sun | Kate Elliott | Bookpage |
| The Quill To Live | |||
| 50 | Upright Women Wanted | Sarah Gailey | Booklist |
| NPR | |||
| 51 | A Children’s Bible: A Novel | Lydia Millet | NPR |
| 52 | A Memory Called Empire | Arkady Martine | Powells |
| 53 | A Sky Beyond the Storm | Sabaa Tahir | Waterstones |
| 54 | An Ember in the Ashes | Sabaa Tahir | Tor |
| 55 | And I Do Not Forgive You | Amber Sparks | Tor |
| 56 | Annihilation Aria | Michael R. Underwood | Booklist |
| 57 | Antkind: A Novel | Charlie Kaufman | NPR |
| 58 | Apsara Engine | Bishakh Som | NPR |
| 59 | Architects of Memory | Karen Osborne | One more |
| 60 | Ashes of the Sun | Django Wexler | The Quill To Live |
| 61 | Battle Ground (Dresden Files Book 17) | Jim Butcher | Amazon |
| 62 | Beowulf: A New Translation | Maria Dahvana Headley | NPR |
| 63 | Bestiary: A Novel | K-Ming Chang | NPR |
| 64 | Blackwood | Michael Farris Smith | NPR |
| 65 | Bonds of Brass: Book One of The Bloodright Trilogy | Emily Skrutskie | Amazon |
| 66 | By Force Alone | Lavie Tidhar | Tor |
| 67 | Catherine House: A Novel | Elisabeth Thomas | NPR |
| 68 | Chosen Ones | Veronica Roth | Waterstones |
| 69 | Collective Gravities | Chloe N. Clark | NPR |
| 70 | Come Tumbling Down | Seanan McGuire | Book Riot |
| 71 | Dance On Saturday: Stories | Elwin Cotman | NPR |
| 72 | Dark Blood Comes From The Feet | Emma J. Gibbon | NPR |
| 73 | Dead Astronauts | Jeff VanderMeer | Waterstones |
| 74 | Devolution: A Firsthand Account of the Rainier Sasquatch Massacre | Max Brooks | Amazon |
| 75 | Docile | K.M. Szpara | The Quill To Live |
| 76 | Dracula Motherf**ker | Alex de Campi and Erica Henderson | Powells |
| 77 | Driftwood | Marie Brennan | Kirkus |
| 78 | Elatsoe | Darcie Little Badger | NPR |
| 79 | Empire Of Wild: A Novel | Cherie Dimaline | NPR |
| 80 | England’s Screaming | Sean Hogan | Financial Times |
| 81 | Escaping Exodus | Nicky Drayden | Booklist |
| 82 | Everyone on the Moon Is Essential Personnel | Julian K. Jarboe | Publishers Weekly |
| 83 | Fantastic Four: Grand Design | Tom Scioli | NPR |
| 84 | Flyaway | Kathleen Jennings | NPR |
| 85 | Followers: A Novel | Megan Angelo | NPR |
| 86 | For He Can Creep | Siobhan Carroll | Tor |
| 87 | Ghost Squad | Claribel A. Ortega | NPR |
| 88 | Goldilocks | Laura Lam | Kirkus |
| 89 | Guantanamo Voices | Sarah Mirk | Powells |
| 90 | Hearts Of Oak | Eddie Robson | NPR |
| 91 | Hold Up the Sky | Cixin Liu | Financial Times |
| 92 | How the Multiverse Got Its Revenge | K. Eason | The Quill To Live |
| 93 | How to Rule an Empire and Get Away With It | K.J. Parker | The Quill To Live |
| 94 | Ikenga | Nnedi Okorafor | NPR |
| 95 | In Veritas | C. J. LaVigne | Tor |
| 96 | Legendborn | Tracy Deonn | Tor |
| 97 | Liquid Crystal Nightingale | Eeleen Lee | One more |
| 98 | Maids | Katie Skelly | Powells |
| 99 | Master of Poisons | Andrea Hairston | Kirkus |
| 100 | Miss Meteor | Tehlor Kay Mejia Anna-Marie McLemore | Tor |
| 101 | Moonflower, Nightshade, and the Hours of the Day | Jd Scott | Tor |
| 102 | Night Train | David Quantick | Financial Times |
| 103 | Nophek Gloss | Essa Hansen | One more |
| 104 | Notes From Small Planets | Nate Crowley | Financial Times |
| 105 | Noumenon Ultra | Marina J. Lostetter | The Quill To Live |
| 106 | Oak Flat | Lauren Redniss | Powells |
| 107 | Or What You Will | Jo Walton | Bookpage |
| 108 | Perestroika In Paris: A Novel | Jane Smiley | NPR |
| 109 | Processed Cheese: A Novel | Stephen Wright | NPR |
| 110 | Queen of Coins and Whispers | Helen Corcoran | Tor |
| 111 | Queen of Storms | Raymond E. Feist | Waterstones |
| 112 | Quotients | Tracy O’Neill | Tor |
| 113 | Race the Sands: A Novel | Sarah Beth Durst | Amazon |
| 114 | Raybearer | Jordan Ifueko | NPR |
| 115 | Re-Coil | JT Nicholas | One more |
| 116 | Remembrance | Rita Woods | NPR |
| 117 | Repo Virtual | Corey J White | One more |
| 118 | Return of The Thief | Megan Whalen Turner | Tor |
| 119 | Scarlet Odyssey | C. T. Rwizi | Amazon |
| 120 | Seven Devils | Laura Lam, Elizabeth May | Waterstones |
| 121 | Seven of Infinities | Aliette de Bodard | Tor |
| 122 | Shorefall | Robert Jackson Bennett | The Quill To Live |
| 123 | Sorcery of a Queen | Brian Naslund | The Quill To Live |
| 124 | Strange Labour | Robert G. Penner | Publishers Weekly |
| 125 | Such a Fun Age | Kiley Reid | Worldly Gentleman |
| 126 | Tarnished Are The Stars | Rosiee Thor | One more |
| 127 | Temporary | Hilary Leichter | Tor |
| 128 | The Animals in That Country | Laura Jean McKay | The Times |
| 129 | The Barren Grounds: The Misewa Saga | David A. Robertson | NPR |
| 130 | The Boatman’s Daughter: A Novel | Andy Davidson | NPR |
| 131 | The Chimera Code | Wayne Santos | One more |
| 132 | The Companions | Katie M Flynn | One more |
| 133 | The Constant Rabbit | Jasper Fforde | Waterstones |
| 134 | The Court of Miracles | Kester Grant | Waterstones |
| 135 | The Daughters Of Ys | M.T. Anderson | NPR |
| 136 | The Disaster Tourist | Yun Ko-Eun Lizzie Buehler (Translator) | Tor |
| 137 | The End of October | Lawrence Wright | Goodreads 2 |
| 138 | The Faithless Hawk | Margaret Owen | NPR |
| 139 | The First Sister | Linden A Lewis | One more |
| 140 | The Freedom Artist | Ben Okri | NPR |
| 141 | The Glass Hotel | Emily St John Mandel | Tor |
| 142 | The Heap: A Novel | Sean Adams | NPR |
| 143 | The King of Crows | Libba Bray | Tor |
| 144 | The Last Day | Andrew Hunter Murray | Waterstones |
| 145 | The Last Druid | Terry Brooks | Barnes & Noble |
| 146 | The Left-Handed Booksellers of London | Garth Nix | Waterstones |
| 147 | The Light of All that Falls | James Islington | The Quill To Live |
| 148 | The Light Years | R.W.W. Greene | One more |
| 149 | The Loneliness of the Long-Distance Cartoonist | Adrian Tomine | Powells |
| 150 | The Lost Book Of Adana Moreau: A Novel | Michael Zapata | NPR |
| 151 | The Lost Future of Pepperharrow | Natasha Pulley | Publishers Weekly |
| 152 | The Low, Low Woods | Carmen Maria Machado and Dani | Powells |
| 153 | The Mermaid, The Witch, And The Sea | Maggie Tokuda-Hall | NPR |
| 154 | The Midnight Bargain | C.L. Polk | NPR |
| 155 | The Ministry for the Future | Kim Stanley Robinson | The Times |
| 156 | The Mirror Man | Jane Gilmartin | One more |
| 157 | The Mother Code | Carole Stivers | One more |
| 158 | The Obsidian Tower | Melissa Caruso | Bookpage |
| 159 | The Order of the Pure Moon Reflected in Water | Zen Cho | Washington Post |
| 160 | The Phlebotomist | Chris Panatier | One more |
| 161 | The Poet King | Ilana C. Myer | Kirkus |
| 162 | The Regrets | Amy Bonnaffons | NPR |
| 163 | The Rush’s Edge | Ginger Smith | One more |
| 164 | The Scapegracers | Hannah Abigail Clarke | Tor |
| 165 | The Sentient | Nadia Afifi | One more |
| 166 | The Seventh Perfection | Daniel Polansky | Kirkus |
| 167 | The Silence of the Wilting Skin | Tlotlo Tsamaase | Washington Post |
| 168 | The Sunken Land Begins to Rise Again | M John Harrison | The Times |
| 169 | The Thief on the Winged Horse | Kate Mascarenhas | Waterstones |
| 170 | The Tower of Fools | Andrzej Sapkowski, David French | Waterstones |
| 171 | The Tyrant Baru Cormorant | Seth Dickinson | Tor |
| 172 | The Unconquerable Sun | Kate Elliott | Tor |
| 173 | The Wall | Gautam Bhatia | One more |
| 174 | The Wise Friend | Ramsey Campbell | Booklist |
| 175 | The Wolf of Oren-Yaro | K.S. Villoso | Bookpage |
| 176 | The Worst of All Possible Worlds | Alex White | The Quill To Live |
| 177 | Tokyo Ueno Station: A Novel | Yu Miri | NPR |
| 178 | Vagabonds | Hao Jingfang. Tr. by Ken Liu | Booklist |
| 179 | War of the Maps | Paul J. McAuley | Washington Post |
| 180 | We Ride Upon Sticks: A Novel | Quan Barry | NPR |
| 181 | When Jackals Storm the Walls | Bradley P. Beaulieu | The Quill To Live |
| 182 | Where The Wild Ladies Are | Aoko Matsuda | NPR |
| 183 | Wonder Woman: Dead Earth | Daniel Warren Johnson with Mike Spicer | NPR |
| Source | Article |
| Amazon | Best science fiction and fantasy of 2020 |
| Barnes & Noble | Barnes & Noble’s Best SF & Fantasy of 2020 |
| Book Riot | Best Books of 2020 (So Far) |
| Booklist | Top 10 SF/Fantasy & Horror: 2020 |
| Bookpage | Best Books of 2020: Sci-Fi & Fantasy |
| Financial Times | Best books of 2020: Science fiction |
| Goodreads | Best Fantasy |
| Goodreads 2 | Best Science Fiction |
| Kirkus | Best Science Fiction and Fantasy of 2020 |
| NPR | NPR’s Book Concierge |
| NYPL | Best Books for Adults 2020 |
| One more | Top Ten Tuesday: 2020 SF debuts |
| Powells | The Best Sci-Fi, Fantasy, Horror, and Graphic Novels of 2020 |
| Publishers Weekly | Best Fantasy Books |
| The Quill To Live | The Best Of 2020 |
| The Times | Best sci-fi books of the year 2020 |
| Tor | Tor.com Reviewers’ Choice: The Best Books of 2020 |
| Washington Post | Best science fiction, fantasy and horror books of 2020 |
| Waterstones | The Best Books of 2020: Science Fiction & Fantasy |
| Worldly Gentleman | The Best Books of 2020 |
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