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Sci-Fi Month 2016: Favorites of 2016

SciFi Month 2016

2016 was the year I really got into adult science fiction and found quite a few new favorites (both new to me authors and books). I still hope to read a bunch of great book this month (and in December) but I’ve already got enough titles to make a favorites list of the year. (These are books I’ve read this year, not just titles released this year)

Good stuff you should read too

Revenger Alystair raynoldshold-back-the-stars-katie-khanmorning-star-pierce-brown

Revenger by Alastair Reynolds
Fierce girl in a space ship in danger of a female space pirate. Need to know anything else? I think not!

Hold Back the Stars by Katie Khan
This is a book you all need to pre-order because ASDHSFKJDLGKDFG SO GOOD! It’s like nothing I’ve ever read before and not very science-y but really good in its very unique way.

Morning Star (Red Rising #3) by Pierce Brown
Morning Star was a little predictable at times but still got my pulse racing and was a great conclusion to the trilogy. Now give me that spin-off series please!

The Lives of Tao by Wesley Chuold-mans-war_john-scalzithe-fold-peter-clines

The Lives of Tao (Tao #1) by Wesley Chu
You can read my full review of The Lives of Tao but in short: this book doesn’t reinvent the wheel but it’s both hilarious and entertaining and I love that they have plans to adapt it for TV.

Old Man’s War (Old Man’s War #1) by John Scalzi
This is the first book ever that I read which was from the POV of an old man and it was hilarious. Love Scalzi’s humor and can’t wait to read the rest of the series.

The Fold by Peter Clines
Me loving this book is kind of a surprise because the characters were rather meh and characters are important, even THE most important part for me. The science part was just too good not to like it though.

Dark Matter by Blake Crouch coverCover of Binti by Nnedi okoraforCover of The Warren by Brian Evenson

Dark Matter by Blake Crouch
Not gonna lie, this book is HIGHLY predictable BUT still addictive AF, I don’t even know why. I could have easily read this in one sitting, it was that good.

Binti (Binti #1) by Nnedi Okorafor
If you’re looking for diverse scifi, read this one. Too bad it’s only short fiction. Definitely made me want to read more by Okorafor.

The Warren by Brian Evenson
Very, VERY weird short story that prompts more questions than it answers them, which I really loved, as weird as that sounds.

Very pleasing to the ear

Audiobook cover of Lock In by John ScalziCover of The Dispatcher by John ScalziCover of Annihilation by Jeff Vandermeer

Lock In by John Scalzi
Okay, I actually still regret (and forever will) that I didn’t read this as a book first because of the main character not having a gender which I obviously didn’t notice when listening to the audiobook. This is still an AMAZING audiobook though and Will Wheaton is one of my favorite narrators. 

The Dispatcher by John Scalzi
Yep, yet another Scalzi book, but THIS BOOK IS NARRATED BY ZACHARY QUINTO! The story is great too though and I hope there’ll be more set in this world.

Annihilation (Southern Reach #1) by Jeff Vandermeer
This one was weird AF and that’s pretty much why I liked it a lot. I don’t remember much though, to be honest, and I’ll probably never read the sequels (which aren’t as good anyway from what I’ve heard), but it’s worth reading as a standalone. Just be prepared for being confused throughout the whole book. (Only recommending this as an audiobook. I think reading it would be quite boring)

Comic-Zone of epic proportions

saga-volume-6-brian-vaughanthe-wicked-and-the-divine-volume-4Cover of Paper Girls Vol.1

Saga Vol. 6 by Brian K. Vaughan, Fiona Staples
Saga was the first comic I read before I started to get into them and I still love it as much as way back when I read the first Volume. 

The Wicked + The Divine Vol. 4 by Kieron Gillen, Jamie McKelvie
This was my favorite volume up to date and I was so glad we’re back to the original art because man, Vol.3 was the absolute worst.

Paper Girls Vol. 1+2 by Brian K. Vaughan,  Cliff Chiang, Matt Wilson
I had no idea what I was getting into when I read the first issue of Paper Girls and I certainly didn’t expect it be scifi but SO HERE FOR THAT. Both story arcs were great and I can’t wait to see what comes next.

What are your favorite scifi reads of 2016? Have you read any of these too?

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  • Revenger sounds great! Dark Matter I definitely want to read and The Fold was kinda trippy there towards the end. And Paper Girls I want to read especially after seeing reviews. Looks fun!

    As for me I’m not sure what my faves are yet, although I did like World of Water by James Lovegrove and The Immortals by Jordanna Brodsky although I’m not sure if that one technically SF? It’s about Greek gods still alive in the present so it’s close anyway. :) In graphic novels I liked Alex and Ada, the story wasn’t bad but i liked the clean art style too.

  • Oh, Revenger, you beauty. I really, really hope it is not a standalone. I haven’t even looked at Hold Back The Stars, I’ve just added it straight to my list :P And Morning Star, oh my god. I need to re-read the whole trilogy back to back soon, now that I can.

    I DID NOT KNOW THAT ABOUT LOCK IN. I was planning to read that this month! :D Looking forward to that. And Saga and Paper Girls are both on my shelf <3

  • Yay, great choices! I’ve requested Revenger and Hold Back the Stars from my library, so we’ll see…

    The thing you said about The Fold is exactly why you need to read 14. It has all the awesome aspects of The Fold PLUS characters that you can actually like. :D

    I’m really looking forward to continuing Old Man’s War and to reading more of Scalzi’s other books. I think The Dispatcher might be my favorite so far.

  • I have read Binti, Saga and Annihilation from your list and liked them all, but did not love them. I must read something from Alistair Reynolds soon. I started reading Dark Matter, then put down to read something else.

  • I’ve been meaning to read Revenger ever since I saw you raving about it on GR and twitter *o* Hoping to get it for christmas maybe! If not, I’ll get the paperback this summer!
    I also have to read Lives of Tao and Old Man’s War !! They look super fun and I liked Time Savager and Lock In so I’m really looking forward to read those!
    Binti my love<3
    Coudn't get ino The Warren unfortunately!
    Ohh I loved Annihilation! I heard they're doing a movie!

    A SF book I read this year and enjoyed was Dark Orbit, plus it had one of the most beautiful cover *_*
    And thinking about reading Lightless by C.A. Higgins because I heard so many great things about it! I also have the read the third book in the Paradox trilogy by Rachel Bach <3

    Sorry for this very long comment! ^^'

  • I do not read enough Sci-Fi at all EVER. Shaaame on me. I did just finish Illumiane though for the second time and afjdksald I love it so much. AND SO MUCH LOVE FOR MORNING STAR. I THINK MY HEART STOPPED ON OCCASION.

  • Love all your comic choices – I can’t wait to see what happens in Volume 2 of Paper Girls! I also loved Annihilation and really want to read Binti. Great list!

  • I’m somehow still feeling a bit underwhelmed by most of the books I’ve read this year so that I’m having quite a hard time putting together a list with my favorites but MORNING STAR would definitely be on it. I found some parts a bit predictable but the ending was still very satisfying.

    DARK MATTER was great as well but I think I still like his WAYWARD PINES trilogy a bit better (well, at least the first two books since I’ve yet to read the last one^^).

    I’m glad you enjoyed THE FOLD, don’t forget to read 14! ;)

    ANNIHILATION was definitely a WEIRD book. I can’t say I really liked it because somehow nothing really happened but I think I still want to read the other books to see what it’s all about. And I’m definitely curious about the movie because I have no idea how the almost non-existent plot could fill a 2-hour movie :D

    LOCK IN is still high up on my wishlist and I also got THE DISPATCHER but still need to listen to it.

    • I’m actually a bit nervous about reading any other Blake Crouch book because I feel like my expectations are way too high after Dark Matter.

      I actually did forget about 14 XD

  • I definitely need to get my hands on Revenger. I love Alastair Reynold’s work and this sounds excellent. Have you read Blue Remembered Earth? I think that comes close to being my favourite novel of his.

    • Revenger was the first of his I read but it definitely won’t be the last.

  • I feel like I have so many new cool sci fi books to read after getting to read so many posts like this! I really want to start the Red Rising series, and I’ve heard Revenger is really good. As for my fav sci fi books, I definitely loved The Martian a heeeeck of a lot, Illuminae is also amazing, and I also really enjoyed most sci fi books by Aubrie Dionne. I feel like I have so much more to catch up on though, and that’s a good thing.

Nov 04, 2016