234 different books were found in the 28 “Best Science Fiction & Fantasy” book lists we consulted. Of the 234 books, 79 titles appeared on multiple lists. Several familiar faces can be found in the top list, with a few authors appearing multiple times. Sequels or parts of series also dominate the list, but original entries carved their way in as well.
We added pictures and links for the top 34 science fiction and fantasy books that appear on 4 or more lists, with the additional titles listed after. To see our aggregated year-end lists for other categories, follow the links below.
The Best Non-Fiction Books of 2015
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The 34 Best Science Fiction & Fantasy Books of 2015
Appears On: 15 Lists
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Appears On: 11 Lists
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Appears On: 10 Lists
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Appears On: 9 Lists
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Appears On: 8 Lists
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8) The Mechanical (The Alchemy Wars) by Ian Tregillis
Appears On: 8 Lists
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Appears On: 7 Lists
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Appears On: 6 Lists
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Books 35 to 52
All appear on 3 lists a piece
- Apex by Ramez Naam
- Escape from Baghdad! by Saad Hossein
- Lightless by C.A. Higgins
- Magic Shifts by Ilona Andrews
- Planetfall, by Emma Newman
- Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo
- Slade House: A Novel by David Mitchell
- The Autumn Republic by Brian McClellan
- The Buried Giant: A Novel by Kazuo Ishiguro
- THE DEATH HOUSE BY SARAH PINBOROUGH
- The Grace of Kings by Ken Liu
- The Liar’s Key by Mark Lawrence
- The Providence of Fire by Brian Staveley
- The Watchmaker of Filigree Street” by Natasha Pulley
- Touch by Claire North
- Vermilion by Molly Tanzer
- Vision in Silver, by Anne Bishop
- Wake of Vultures by Lila Bowen
Books 53 to 79
All appear on 2 lists
- A Head Full Of Ghosts: A Novel by Paul Tremblay
- Angel of Storms by Trudi Canavan
- Archivist Wasp by Nicole Kornher-Stace
- Bitch Planet Vol. 1: Extraordinary Machine by Kelly Sue DeConnick, illustrated by Valentine De Landro
- Europe at Midnight
- Firefight by Brandon Sanderson
- Flex/The Flux, by Ferrett Steinmetz
- Gold Fame Citrus: A Novel by Claire Vaye Watkins
- Half-Resurrection Blues by Daniel José Older
- Karen Memory, by Elizabeth Bear
- Last Song Before Night by Ilana C. Myer
- Mort(e), Robert Repino
- Nemesis Games by James S.A. Corey
- Not On Fire, But Burning: A Novel by Greg Hrbek
- Red Queen by Victoria Aveyard
- Shadowshaper by Daniel José Older
- Sleeping Embers of an Ordinary Mind
- Slow Bullets
- The End of All Things (Old Man’s War #6)
- The Heart Goes Last
- The House of Shattered Wings by Aliette de Bodard
- The Invasion of the Tearling by Erika Johansen
- The Invisible Library by Genevieve Cogman
- The Mime Order by Samantha Shannon
- The Only Ones by Carola Dibbell
- Updraft
- Winter by Marissa Meyer
The 155 Additional Books Appearing on a Single List
- A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas
- A CROWN FOR COLD SILVER BY ALEX MARSHALL
- A Planet For Rent by Yoss, translated by David Frye
- A Wild Swan: And Other Tales by Michael Cunningham
- Aftermath (Star Wars: Aftermath #1)
- AliceAug 4, 2015 by Christina Henry
- Alive: Book One of the Generations TrilogyJul 14, 2015 by Scott Sigler
- All That Outer Space Allows
- An Ember in the Ashes by Sabaa Tahir
- An Inheritance of Ashes
- Angles of Attack
- Arcadia by Iain Pears
- Armada
- Bats of the Republic by Zachary Thomas Dodson
- Battlefront: Twilight Company by Alexander Freed
- Battlemage by Stephen Aryan
- Beacon 23: The Complete Novel
- Binary
- Binti by Nnedi Okorafor
- Black Wolves by Kate Elliott
- Boundary Crossed
- BrainWeb
- Broken Dolls by Tyrolin Puxty
- Burned (Fever #7)
- Carry On by Rainbow Rowell
- CHASING THE PHOENIX
- China Miéville: Critical Essays
- Chocky, John Wyndham
- City of the Iron Fish by Simon Ings
- Clade
- Clockwork Lives by Kevin J. Anderson and Neal Peart
- Cold Hillside
- Crashing Heaven by Al Robertson
- Crooked
- Dark Ascension
- Dark Intelligence by Neal Asher
- DAY FOUR BY SARAH LOTZ
- Dayblack
- Dead Heat (Alpha & Omega #4)
- Descender Volume 1: Tin Stars by Jeff Lemire, coauthored and illustrated by Dustin Nguyen
- Dragon Heart: A Fantasy Novel
- Empire Ascendant (Worldbreaker Saga #2) by Kameron Hurley
- Fake Fruit Factory by Patrick Wensick
- Falling in Love with Hominids by Nalo Hopkinson
- Fallout (Lois Lane)
- Find Me: A Novel by Laura van den Berg
- Futuristic Violence: A NovelOct 6, 2015 by David Wong
- Gemini Cell by Myke Cole
- Gene Mapper
- Ghost Fleet: A Novel of the Next World War
- Ghost Summer: Stories Tananarive Due
- Gutshot: Stories by Amelia Gray
- Gypsy by Carter Scholz
- Half a King – Shattered Sea 1
- Hannu Rajaniemi: Collected Fiction by Hannu Rajaniemi
- Imperial Handbook: A Commander’s Guide (Star Wars (Chronicle))Aug 11, 2015 by Daniel Wallace
- In Midnight’s Silence
- Ink and Bone: The Great Library, by Rachel Caine
- Interstellar Cinderella by Deborah Underwood, illustrated and co-authored by Meg Hunt
- Invasion of the Tearling by Erika Johansen
- King of Thieves (Star Rogue, #1)
- Knight’s Shadow by Sebastien de Castell
- Lagoon by Nnedi Okorafor
- Let Me Tell You: New Stories, Essays, And Other Writings by Shirley Jackson
- Letters to ZellJul 1, 2015 by Camille Griep
- LITTLE SISTER DEATH BY WILLIAM GAY
- LOST GIRL BY ADAM NEVILL
- Lungdon: Book Three (The Iremonger Trilogy) by Edward Carey
- Magnus Chase and the Gods of Asgard, Book 1: The Sword of Summer by Rick Riordan
- Magonia
- Marilyn’s Monster by Michelle Knudsen, illustrated by Matt Phelan
- Nimona by Noelle Stevenson
- Octavia’s Brood: Science Fiction Stories from Social Justice Movements, edited by Walidah Imarisha and adrienne maree brown
- Of Noble Family by Mary Robinette Kowal
- One Night in Sixes
- Our Lady of the Ice by Cassandra Rose Clarke
- Persona by Genevieve Valentine
- Pool by Jihyeon Lee
- Queen of Shadows by Sarah J. Maas
- Recurve (Elemental #1)
- Revision, by Andrea Phillips
- Scion of Ikshvaku
- Shadow Study by Maria V. Snyder
- SISTERS OF THE REVOLUTION: A FEMINIST SPECULATIVE FICTION ANTHOLOGY
- SKIN BY ILKA TAMPKE
- Son of the Black Sword by Larry Correia
- Sorcerer of the Wildeeps, by Kai Ashante Wilson
- Speak: A Novel by Louisa Hall
- Starborn: Book One: The Worldmaker Trilogy – The Worldmaker Trilogy 1
- Strands of Sorrow (Black Tide Rising, #4)
- SuperMutant Magic Academy by Jillian Tamaki
- Sword of the North by Luke Scull
- Tales From The Loop by Simon Stalenhag
- Tales Of The Marvellous And News Of The Strange by translated by Malcolm C. Lyons, illustrated by Coralie Bickford-Smith
- THE AFFINITIES
- The Beast of Cretacea by Todd Strasser
- The Beautiful Bureaucrat: A Novel
- The Best of All Possible Worlds
- The Blondes: A Novel by Emily Schultz
- The Book of Phoenix by Nnedi Okorafor
- The Child Eater
- The Country Of Ice Cream Star by Sandra Newman
- The Court Of Fives by Kate Elliott
- The Daughters: A Novel by Adrienne Celt
- The Dead Mountaineer’s Inn: One More Last Rite For The Detective Genre by Boris Strugatsky, Arkady Strugatsky, translated by Josh Billings
- The Death of Dulgath by Michael J. Sullivan
- The Devil’s Detective by Simon Kurt Unsworth
- The Dinosaur Lords by Victor Milán
- The Dirty Dust: Cré Na Cille by Máirtín Ó Cadhain, translated by Alan Titley
- The Drafter, by Kim Harrison
- The Dread Wyrm by Miles Cameron
- THE EMPRESS GAME BY RHONDA MASON
- The Fifth Heart by Dan Simmons
- The Fire Sermon
- The Fold
- The Fool’s Quest – Fitz and the Fool 2
- The Galaxy Game by Karen Lord
- The Gameshouse by Claire North
- THE GLORIOUS ANGELS BY JUSTINA ROBSON
- The Gracekeepers: A Novel by Kirsty Logan
- The Incarnations
- The IX by Andrew P. Weston
- The Labyrinth of Flame
- The Only Words That Are Worth Remembering by Jeffrey Rotter
- The Price of Valor by Django Wexler
- The Queen of the Tearling
- The Rebirths of Tao by Wesley Chu
- The Red Trilogy (3 Book Series)
- The Red: First Light Linda Nagata
- The Sandman: Overture by Neil Gaiman, illustrated by JH Williams III
- THE THREE MOMENTS OF AN EXPLOSION BY CHINA MIEVILLE
- The Total Emasculation of the White Man by David Valentine Bernard
- The Turnip Princess And Other Newly Discovered Fairy Tales by Franz-Xaver von Schönwerth, translated by Maria Tatar,
illustrated by Engelbert Suss - The Ultra Fabulous Glitter Squadron Saves the World Again
- The Unmapped Sea by Maryrose Wood, illustrated by Eliza Wheeler
- THE VAGRANT BY PETER NEWMAN
- The Visible Filth by Nathan Ballingrud
- The Wake by Paul Kingsnorth
- The Walls Around Us by Nova Ren Suma
- The Whispering Swarm – Michael Moorcock
- The Wolf Border by Sarah Hall
- The World Before Us: A Novel by Aislinn Hunter
- Thicker Than Blood (The Twenty-Sided Sorceress #6)
- Unbound by Jim C Hines
- Warheart by Terry Goodkind
- Warship (Black Fleet , #1)
- Welcome to Night Vale
- Where The Bird Sings Best by Alejandro Jodorowsky, translated by Alfred MacAdam
- Winged Histories
- Wolf Winter
- Working for Bigfoot by Jim Butcher
- Yield the Night (Steel & Stone #3)
- Your Alien by Tammi Sauer, illustrated by Goro Fujita
- Zeroes: A NovelAug 18, 2015 by Chuck Wendig
- Zisle
The 28 “Best Science Fiction & Fantasy Book” Year-End Lists Consulted