“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:

• The Best Art, Photography, And Coffee Table Books
• The Best AudioBooks
• The Best Biography And Memoir Books
• The Best Graphic Novels And Comics
• The Best Cookbooks
• The Best Fiction Books
• The Best Books (All Categories)
• The Best History Books
• The Best Kids, Children, and Youth Books
• The Best Mystery, Horror, and Thriller Books
• The Best Nonfiction Books
• The Best Poetry Books
• The Best Science And Nature Books
• The Best Science Fiction And Fantasy Books
• The Best Young Adult Books

Previous Years: 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015

All titles have been added to a Bookshop list as well!

Happy Scrolling!

Top 27 Best Science Fiction And Fantasy Books From 2020

27.) A Song Below Water written byBethany C. Morrow

Lists It Appears On:

• Book Riot
• Tor
• NPR

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

26.) Agency written byWilliam Gibson

Lists It Appears On:

• Waterstones
• The Times
• NPR

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

25.) Axiom’s End (Noumena, #1) written byLindsay Ellis

Lists It Appears On:

• Goodreads 2
• Tor
• One more

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

24.) House of Earth and Blood (Crescent City, #1) written bySarah J. Maas

Lists It Appears On:

• Barnes & Noble
• Waterstones
• Goodreads

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

23.) Mexican Gothic written bySilvia Moreno-Garcia

Lists It Appears On:

• Amazon
• Tor
• NPR

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

22.) Rhythm of War (The Stormlight Archive, #4) written byBrandon Sanderson

Lists It Appears On:

• Barnes & Noble
• Waterstones
• Goodreads

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

21.) Tender is the Flesh written byAgustina Bazterrica, translated from the Spanish by Sarah Moses

Lists It Appears On:

• NPR
• Washington Post
• Financial Times

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

20.) The Doors of Eden written byAdrian Tchaikovsky

Lists It Appears On:

• Waterstones
• Bookpage
• The Quill To Live

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

19.) The Empire of Gold (Daevabad Trilogy, #3) written byS.A. Chakraborty

Lists It Appears On:

• Booklist
• Goodreads
• Amazon

“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

18.) The Empress of Salt and Fortune written byNghi Vo

Lists It Appears On:

• NPR
• NYPL
• Tor

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

17.) The Hidden Girl and Other Stories written byKen Liu

Lists It Appears On:

• Goodreads 2
• NYPL
• NPR

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

16.) The Space Between Worlds written byMicaiah Johnson

Lists It Appears On:

• Goodreads 2
• One more
• NPR

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

15.) The Unspoken Name written byA. K. Larkwood

Lists It Appears On:

• Tor
• Bookpage
• The Quill To Live

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

14.) The Only Good Indians written byStephen Graham Jones

Lists It Appears On:

• Publishers Weekly
• Powells
• Washington Post
• NPR

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

13.) The Vanished Birds written bySimon Jimenez

Lists It Appears On:

• Bookpage
• One more
• Kirkus
• Tor

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

12.) Harrow the Ninth (The Locked Tomb, #2) written byTamsyn Muir

Lists It Appears On:

• The Quill To Live
• NPR
• Amazon
• Goodreads 2
• Tor

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

11.) Hench written byNatalie Zina Walschots

Lists It Appears On:

• Tor
• One more
• NYPL
• NPR
• The Quill To Live

“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

10.) To Sleep in a Sea of Stars written byChristopher Paolini

Lists It Appears On:

• Barnes & Noble
• Goodreads 2
• Waterstones
• Amazon
• NYPL

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

9.) Riot Baby written byTochi Onyebuchi

Lists It Appears On:

• Book Riot
• Goodreads 2
• Publishers Weekly
• Powells
• Tor
• NPR

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

8.) The Once and Future Witches written byAlix E. Harrow

Lists It Appears On:

• Barnes & Noble
• Goodreads
• Amazon
• Bookpage
• Worldly Gentleman
• NPR

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

7.) Black Sun written byRebecca Roanhorse

Lists It Appears On:

• Kirkus
• Powells
• Tor
• Amazon
• NYPL
• Worldly Gentleman
• NPR

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

6.) Piranesi written bySusanna Clarke

Lists It Appears On:

• Barnes & Noble
• Goodreads
• Kirkus
• Tor
• NYPL
• NPR
• The Quill To Live

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

5.) The House in the Cerulean Sea written byT.J. Klune

Lists It Appears On:

• Book Riot
• Goodreads
• Tor
• Amazon
• Bookpage
• Worldly Gentleman
• The Quill To Live

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

4.) A Deadly Education (The Scholomance, #1) written byNaomi Novik

Lists It Appears On:

• The Quill To Live
• Worldly Gentleman
• Bookpage
• Barnes & Noble
• Powells
• Waterstones
• Goodreads
• Amazon

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

3.) Network Effect (The Murderbot Diaries, #5) written byMartha Wells

Lists It Appears On:

• The Quill To Live
• Worldly Gentleman
• Book Riot
• Booklist
• Goodreads 2
• Tor
• Amazon
• NPR

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

2.) The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue written byV. E. Schwab

Lists It Appears On:

• Barnes & Noble
• Goodreads
• Publishers Weekly
• Waterstones
• Tor
• Amazon
• NYPL
• Worldly Gentleman
• NPR

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 *

1.) The City We Became (Great Cities, #1) written byN.K. Jemisin

Lists It Appears On:

• Worldly Gentleman
• Barnes & Noble
• Book Riot
• Booklist
• Kirkus
• Publishers Weekly
• Powells
• Waterstones
• Goodreads
• Tor
• Amazon
• NYPL
• NPR

“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

The 150+ Additional Best Science Fiction And Fantasy Books Released In 2020

20 Best Science Fiction And Fantasy Book Sources/Lists