Top list: Fantasy and Sci-Fi

Isaac Asimov’s Robot series – from the iconic collection I, Robot to four classic novels – contains some of the most influential works in the history of science fiction. Establishing and testing the Three Laws of Robotics, they continue to shape the understanding and design of artificial intelligence to this day.

Two centuries have passed since Elijah Baley’s actions on Aurora sent settlers from Earth to new worlds all over the galaxy.

The Spacer planet of Solaria has been abandoned by humans, though countless robots remain. When settlers arrive to salvage them, something unthinkable happens – the robots attack.

Accompanied by Gladia Delmarre and the robots Daneel and Giskard, a descendant of Elijah Baley sets out for Solaria to investigate, a quest that will lead them to a vast, catastrophic conspiracy and a revolution in the Three Laws of Robotics.

The million-copy bestselling series about a cosy Japanese cafe that offers its visitors the chance to travel back in time.

Toshikazu Kawaguchi’s heart-warming Before the Coffee Gets Cold, translated from Japanese, explores the age-old question: what would you do if you could travel back in time? More importantly, who would you want to meet, maybe for one last time?

In a cosy back alley in Tokyo, there is a cafe which has been serving carefully brewed coffee for more than one hundred years. But this coffee shop offers its customers a unique experience: the chance to travel back in time.

Prepare to meet four visitors, each of whom is hoping to make use of the cafe’s time-travelling offer in order to:

- confront the man who left them

- receive a letter from their husband whose memory has been taken by Alzheimer's

- see their sister one last time, and

- meet the daughter they never got the chance to know.

But the journey into the past does not come without risks: customers must sit in a particular seat, they cannot leave the cafe, and finally, they must return to the present before the coffee gets cold . . .

‘This book broke my heart, took the pieces, and put them back together in a messy and beautiful way. . . '

-@well.read.woman on Instagram

Continue the beautifully moving storytelling with Tales from the Cafe, Before Your Memory Fades, Before We Say Goodbye and Before We Forget Kindness.

The angel of death locked me in one of his castle rooms, surrounded by books and delicious food. Not bad, right? Except for the loneliness, and the lust-fueled dreams that torment me every night—specifically dreams of Samael. And did I mention a psychotic ghost keeps trying to kill me? Because no one else believes me about that. Now, I’m desperate to get out of the castle and hunt down the murderous Free Men who led to my imprisonment. Samael wants to destroy them too. We have the same goal but don't trust each other. When distrust shifts into passion, it only makes things more complicated. Despite what we feel, we’re destined to be enemies. If we can’t rewrite our fates, we’ll lose each other forever—and one of us will end up dead.

Tara West presents Book 1 in the Court of Fae and Firelight series. Contains mature themes.

“Start with Douglas Adams’s comic science fiction (A Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy) and J.R.R. Tolkien’s alternative worlds, mix in James Ellroy’s gritty realism and Jonathan Swift’s unflinching satire and, if you’re lucky, you’ll get something like Terry Pratchett’s Thud!” —Wall Street Journal

City Watch Commander Sam Vimes must solve the murder of a prominent dwarf or watch as Discworld is plunged into a bloody civil war in Terry Pratchett’s delightful Discworld satire, a brilliant tale of prejudice, ancient feuds, and tender fatherhood. This new recording of THUD! is narrated by actor Jon Culshaw (Dead Ringers and the Doctor Who audiobooks). Golden Globe award-winning actor Bill Nighy (Pirates of the Caribbean; Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows) reads the footnotes, and Peter Serafinowicz (Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace) stars as the voice of Death.

Long, long ago, in a gods-forsaken hellhole called Koom Valley, trolls and dwarfs met in bloody combat. Centuries later, each side still views the other with simmering animosity that has been heightened of late because of one Grag Hamcrusher. The influential dwarf has been fomenting unrest among a section of Ankh-Morpork’s citizenry—a volatile situation made far worse when the petite provocateur is discovered bashed to death . . . with a troll club lying conveniently nearby.

If he doesn’t solve the murder of just one dwarf, Commander Sam Vimes of Ankh-Morpork City Watch is going to see it fought again, right outside his office. But more than one corpse is waiting for Vimes in the eerie, summoning darkness of a labyrinthine mine network being secretly excavated beneath Ankh-Morpork’s streets. With war-drums beating ever louder, Vimes must unravel every clue, outwit every assassin, and brave any darkness to find the solution. And the darkness is following him, pulling him deep into the muck and mire of superstition, hatred, and fear—and perhaps all the way to Koom Valley itself.

Until six o’clock every day, when without fail, the Commander goes home to read Where’s My Cow?, with accompanying farmyard noises, to his little boy. Because there are some things you must do.

The Discworld novels can be read in any order but Thud! is the 7th book in the City Watch collection and the 34th Discworld book.

The City Watch collection in order:

Guards! Guards! Men at Arms Feet of Clay Jingo The Fifth Elephant Night Watch Thud! Snuff

After nearly eighteen months at Basgiath War College, Violet Sorrengail knows there’s no more time for lessons. No more time for uncertainty.

Because the battle has truly begun, and with enemies closing in from outside their walls and within their ranks, it’s impossible to know who to trust.

Now Violet must journey beyond the failing Aretian wards to seek allies from unfamiliar lands to stand with Navarre. The trip will test every bit of her wit, luck, and strength, but she will do anything to save what she loves—her dragons, her family, her home, and him.

Even if it means keeping a secret so big, it could destroy everything.

They need an army. They need power. They need magic. And they need the one thing only Violet can find—the truth.

But a storm is coming … and not everyone can survive its wrath.

THE INSTANT NO. 1 SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER

‘A wonderful, gritty, explosively violent, and beautifully realised debut’

DAILY MAIL

‘GODKILLER will have you in its grasp from the first pages’

Samantha Shannon, bestselling author of PRIORY OF THE ORANGE TREE

You are not welcome here, godkiller

Kissen’s family were killed by zealots of a fire god. Now, she makes a living killing gods, and enjoys it. That is until she finds a god she cannot kill: Skedi, a god of white lies, has somehow bound himself to a young noble, and they are both on the run from unknown assassins.

Joined by a disillusioned knight on a secret quest, they must travel to the ruined city of Blenraden, where the last of the wild gods reside, to each beg a favour.

Pursued by demons, and in the midst of burgeoning civil war, they will all face a reckoning – something is rotting at the heart of their world, and only they can be the ones to stop it.

NOTICE TO STAFF: There has been a disturbing increase in cheeriness, sprightly behavior, and overall optimism. Please resume your former dark, ominous terrors at your earliest convenience. —Mgmt

Evie Sage has never been happier to be the assistant to The Villain. Who would have thought that working for an outrageously handsome, evil overlord would be so rewarding? Still, the business of being bad is demanding, the forces of good are annoyingly persistent, and said forbidding boss is somewhat . . . out-of-evil-office.

But Rennedawn is in trouble, and all signs—Kingsley's included—point to catastrophe. Something peculiar is happening with the kingdom's magic, and it's made The Villain's manor vulnerable to their enemies . . . including their nemesis, the king.

Now it's time for Evie to face her greatest challenge: protecting The Villain's lair, his nefarious works, and maybe the entire kingdom. No pressure, Evie.

It's time to step out of her comfort zone and learn new skills. Like treason. Dagger work. Conspiring with the enemy. It's all so . . . so . . . delightfully fun.

But what happens when the assistant to The Villain is ready to become his apprentice?

Contains mature themes.

Ruby Dixon presents Book 14 in the Ice Planet Barbarians series. Contains mature themes.

A PEOPLE Magazine Must-Read Book for Fall 2023 | An Esquire Best Book of Fall 2023 | A Guardian Biggest New Book of 2023 | A LitHub Most Anticipated Book of 2023

An imaginative, feminist, and brilliantly relevant-to-today retelling of Orwell’s 1984, from the point of view of Winston Smith’s lover, Julia, by critically acclaimed novelist Sandra Newman.

Julia Worthing is a mechanic, working in the Fiction Department at the Ministry of Truth. It’s 1984, and Britain (now called Airstrip One) has long been absorbed into the larger trans-Atlantic nation of Oceania. Oceania has been at war for as long as anyone can remember, and is ruled by an ultra-totalitarian Party, whose leader is a quasi-mythical figure called Big Brother. In short, everything about this world is as it is in Orwell’s 1984.

All her life, Julia has known only Oceania, and, until she meets Winston Smith, she has never imagined anything else. She is an ideal citizen: cheerfully cynical, always ready with a bribe, piously repeating every political slogan while believing in nothing. She routinely breaks the rules, but also collaborates with the regime when necessary. Everyone likes Julia.

Then one day she finds herself walking toward Winston Smith in a corridor and impulsively slips him a note, setting in motion the devastating, unforgettable events of the classic story. Julia takes us on a surprising journey through Orwell’s now-iconic dystopia, with twists that reveal unexpected sides not only to Julia, but to other familiar figures in the 1984 universe. This unique perspective lays bare our own world in haunting and provocative ways, just as the original did almost seventy-five years ago.

"The epic third story in the #1 New York Times bestselling Court of Thorns and Roses series by Sarah J. Maas.

Feyre has returned to the Spring Court, determined to gather information on Tamlin's actions and learn what she can about the invading king threatening to bring her land to its knees. But to do so she must play a deadly game of deceit. One slip could bring doom not only for Feyre, but for everything-and everyone-she holds dear.

As war bears down upon them all, Feyre endeavors to take her place amongst the High Fae of the land, balancing her struggle to master her powers-both magical and political-and her love for her court and family. Amidst these struggles, Feyre and Rhysand must decide whom to trust amongst the cunning and lethal High Lords, and hunt for allies in unexpected places.

In this thrilling third audiobook in the #1 New York Times bestselling series from Sarah J. Maas, the fate of Feyre's world is at stake as armies grapple for power over the one thing that could destroy it.

Performed by Melody Muze, Anthony Palmini, Amanda Forstrom, Natalie Van Sistine, Jon Vertullo, Nora Achrati, Karenna Foley, Shawn K. Jain, Ryan Haugen, Alejandro Ruiz, Rayner Gabriel, Mike Carnes, Danny Gavigan, Chris Stinson, Gabriel Michael, Megan Dominy, Terence Aselford, Jenna Sharpe, Ryan Carlo Dalusung, KenYatta Rogers, Colleen Delany, Alex Hill-Knight, Holly Adams, Andrew Mimms, Alysia Beltran, Rob McFadyen, Tia Shearer, Nhea Durousseau, Matthew Bassett, Christopher Graybill, Michael John Casey, Henry W. Kramer, and Marni Penning."

This brand-new unabridged audio book of , the third and final part of J. R. R. Tolkien’s epic adventure, , is read by the BAFTA award-winning actor, director and author, Andy Serkis.The Return of the KingThe Lord of the Rings

The armies of the Dark Lord are massing as his evil shadow spreads even wider. Men, Dwarves, Elves and Ents unite forces to battle against the Dark. Meanwhile, Frodo and Sam struggle further into Mordor in their heroic quest to destroy the One Ring.

The devastating conclusion of J.R.R. Tolkien’s classic tale of adventure, begun in and .The Fellowship of the RingThe Two Towers

Tom Larcombe presents Book 7 in the Natural Laws Apocalypse series.

Most days, I steal from ships to earn a living. Not glamorous, admittedly, but it's honest work. Okay, fine. It isn't honest either, but it means I get to eat. Until one night, a sinfully sexy angel strides into my favorite dance hall and compels me to work for him. It isn't just work, though. He wants me to be his wife in Castle Hades. Apparently, his prophetic dreams say I'll help him become king. Beautiful as he is, he's also a lethal tyrant. And I could be in danger. Luckily, I know how to fight back, how to weaken an angel: I must seduce him. Now, this is a battle, and he’s my beautiful enemy. We are fighting with weapons of desire, and we're both at risk of losing ourselves in this war.

THE TOP 5 SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLING ENEMIES-TO LOVERS FANTASY THAT WILL TAKE THE WORLD BY STORM

‘I physically could not stop reading! Mark my words: lives will be changed by The Hurricane Wars trilogy’

Ali Hazelwood, author of THE LOVE HYPOTHESIS

‘One of my favourite books of this year!’

Katee Robert, author of NEON GODS

All Talasyn has ever known are the Hurricane Wars. An orphan of the struggle, she uses the power of light to fight for her people against the Night Empire.

All Alaric has ever known is darkness. The son of the Night Emperor and their deadliest weapon, he wields terrifying shadow magic to crush the rebellion.

Then he sees Talasyn, his sworn enemy burning bright across the battlefield. The moment they clash their lives are changed forever.

Now a greater threat is rising and only they can stop it.

The coming storm threatens to destroy everything. If they don’t destroy each other first . . .

Tropes:

Enemies to lovers ❤️‍🔥

Betrayal 🔪

Yearning 🥀

Marriage of convenience 💍

Slow burn romance 🔥

Spice:

🌶️🌶️

Reader reviews:

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ ‘A true enemies to lovers fantasy with the right amount of tension, action, and romance!’

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ ‘I loved every single minute of this book ‘

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ ‘Fans of Fourth Wing and ACOTAR this one's for you’

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ ‘delivers on all the hype surrounding it’

Carissa Broadbent presents Book 2 in the War of Lost Hearts series. Contains mature themes.

Against all odds, Althea Zoltaire emerged from her trials as a champion. Now, she must train even harder and prepare herself to become a true warrior of Thezmarr. But Thea’s world is turned upside down as she struggles to navigate her newfound magic and uncover the secrets of her past. Slowly, she begins to untangle the truth about her family, her powers, and the evil that threatens to engulf the kingdom. When Wilder Hawthorne returns to be her official mentor, everything changes. Dark forces are gathering, and he will stop at nothing to prepare her for the challenges to come, even if it means breaking her. As war looms and their quest for answers leads master and apprentice deeper into danger, the undeniable connection between them intensifies—defying all odds, but also threatening to tear them apart. With secrets unravelling and evil closing in, Thea and Wilder fight to save the world and each other. The fate of the realms rests in their hands. Will they emerge victorious, or will the darkness consume them both? Full of action, adventure, and steamy romance, Vows & Ruins is the second book in the spellbinding epic romantic fantasy series The Legends of Thezmarr.

In the second volume of the Southern Reach Trilogy, questions are answered, stakes are raised, and mysteries are deepened …

Following the disastrous twelfth expedition chronicled in ‘Annihilation’, the second book of the Southern Reach trilogy introduces John Rodriguez, the new head of the government agency responsible for the safeguarding of Area X. His first day is spent grappling with the fall-out from the last expedition. Area X itself remains a mystery. But, as instructed by a higher authority known only as The Voice, the self-styled Control must battle to ‘put his house in order’.

From a series of interrogations, a cache of hidden notes and hours of profoundly troubling video footage, the mysteries of Area X begin to reveal themselves—and what they expose pushes Control to confront disturbing truths about both himself and the agency he’s promised to serve.

Undermined and under pressure to make sense of everything, Rodriguez retreats into his past in a labyrinthine search for answers. Yet the more he uncovers, the more he risks, for the secrets of the Southern Reach are more sinister than anyone could have known.

"The seductive and stunning #1 New York Times bestselling sequel to Sarah J. Maas’s spellbinding A Court of Thorns and Roses. Adapted from the novel and produced with a full cast of actors, immersive sound effects and cinematic music!

Feyre has undergone more trials than one human woman can carry in her heart. Though she’s now been granted the powers and lifespan of the High Fae, she is haunted by her time Under the Mountain and the terrible deeds she performed to save the lives of Tamlin and his people.

As her marriage to Tamlin approaches, Feyre’s hollowness and nightmares consume her. She finds herself split into two different people: one who upholds her bargain with Rhysand, High Lord of the feared Night Court, and one who lives out her life in the Spring Court with Tamlin. While Feyre navigates a dark web of politics, passion, and dazzling power, a greater evil looms. She might just be the key to stopping it, but only if she can harness her harrowing gifts, heal her fractured soul, and decide how she wishes to shape her future?and the future of a world in turmoil.

Bestselling author Sarah J. Maas’s masterful storytelling brings this second audiobook in her dazzling, sexy, action-packed series to new heights.

Performed by Melody Muze, Anthony Palmini, Henry W. Kramer, Jon Vertullo, Amanda Forstrom, Nora Achrati, Gabriel Michael, Megan Dominy, Shawn K. Jain, Holly Adams, Natalie Van Sistine, Alysia Beltran, Darius Johnson, Karenna Foley, Scott McCormick, Trei Taylor, Debi Tinsley, Hannah Curtis, Ann Flandermeyer, Jeri Marshall, Shanta Parasuraman, Wyn Delano, Chris Davenport, Ryan Carlo Dalusung, Yasmin Tuazon, and Nanette Savard."

The INSTANT New York Times bestseller!

Available for the first time in audio, this recording of Blood of Hercules features four narrators! The overnight viral sensation everyone is talking about, Blood of Hercules is a sarcastically funny, dark fantasy romance reimagining of Hercules from bestselling author Jasmine Mas.

I’m just a girl. And it turns out, I’m Hercules.

I’m struggling to survive in a Titan infested world where Spartans, immortals from twelve royal families who have god-like powers and obscene wealth, rule over all. A shy-stammering foster child with nothing, I keep my head down, cover my scars, and focus on excelling in school. At least, I try to. Then it happens.

My blood test reveals I’m part of the powerful elite. I’m one of them. A Spartan.

Forced to attend the Spartan War Academy, I undergo the most harrowing test of all time to see if I have what it takes to be an immortal. There’s just a few problems. Achilles and Patro are my scary mentors. Kharon, the ferryman of death, and Augustus, the son of war, are my terrifying professors. Also, I’m pretty sure either someone’s stalking me everywhere I go, or my sanity’s slipping––I have a bad feeling both are true.

I’m surrounded by Villains and they’re smothering me with their hate, obsession, and dark possessiveness. Too bad for them, they have no clue just who they’re messing with.

A Dark Romantasy for readers who love: "Who did this to you?" Extreme Enemies to Lovers Strong Heroine Morally Gray Alpha Heroes Zodiac Academy, Quicksilver and When the Moon Hatched