I’m a fan of sci-fi, dystopian fiction, fantasy, and just a little bit of horror. From taking a look at what I read this year, that definitely shows.
I’m a bit surprised at the number of books I read this year with movie or Apple TV adaptations (4!). I think that might be a testament to the power of advertising.
My favourite books of 2024
Honourable mentions
Reflecting on my favourite books of this year
Project Hail Mary
Project Hail Mary is hands down my absolute favourite book of the year. If you’re a fan of sci-fi, this deserves to be at the top of your reading list.
This book is best experienced by going in completely blind! If you think you’re going to read it, I’d recommend avoiding any spoilers.
Including the rest of this review.
Trust me, it’s worth it.
Take Andy Weir’s The Martian, mix in some Interstellar, add a dash of Arrival, and you get Project Hail Mary.
I don’t think I’ve ever read another book that manages to make hard science fiction as satisfying and fun to read as this book (along with telling a gripping and surprisingly emotional story).
This book will make you fall in love again with the scientific process; what’s great is the actual science used is simple, but has profound implications in the context of how things play out in the world (there’s one story beat in particular related to global warming that has some of the most vivid imagery in the entire book, it’s incredible).
The story in Project Hail Mary is absolutely brilliant, undoubtedly one of the best sci-fi books I’ve ever read and a modern science fiction classic in the making. It reminds me of another one of my favourite sci-fi stories that came out recently: The Outer Wilds (except of course The Outer Wilds is a video game played in a nonlinear manner with a timeloop mechanism. Still incredible though).
Project Hail Mary is also fantastically easy to pick up, by virtue of the protagonist starting the book with amnesia: he wakes up in a room with no memory of how he got there or what he’s doing there. As someone who reads a fair amount of fantasy, I find overly complex world-building and endless character/place/thing introductions to be a bit of a drag (especially at the start of a book, when I’m just getting introduced to the setting of the world); there’s only so much you can pay attention to at one time.
Project Hail Mary doesn’t have that problem. It’s a focused book (one that could take place today, given some stretching of reality), and it’s all the better for it.
There’s a movie adaptation coming out in a year or so (starring Ryan Gosling and directed by Lord & Miller, so it’s in very safe hands), and I can’t wait to see it.
Fair warning though: there’s one big reveal close to the midpoint of the book that the trailers have a good chance of spoiling, so if you want to experience the story without spoilers, then now is the best time to get started reading!
Silo
Silo is a gripping exploration of a society confined to living in silos beneath the earth. Hugh Howey masterfully builds a world filled with intrigue, suspense, and unexpected revelations (there are a lot of twists, and they’re all awesome). Each book peels back layers of mystery, revealing the dark truths that keep the inhabitants in line. It’s a thought-provoking series that keeps you on the edge of your seat from start to finish.
There’s an Apple TV adaptation of the trilogy (seasons 1 and 2 are out, more are in the works), but if you’re on the fence about whether to start with the books or the show, just read the books.
I actually watched the TV show first (mainly in search of something to replace the hole in my heart left by Severance), and then read the first book because I was interested by some parts of the plot. I’m glad I did, because the book is far better than the show. The show captures the spirit of the book well, but it’s just far too slow-paced and focused on the smaller details of the world such that you don’t get to what makes the books interesting.
The Age of Madness
The finale to the seriously good First Law World series.
Joe Abercrombie writes characters like no other. If you want to read a series that’s a masterclass in character development, dark fantasy, and political intrigue, this is it.
The Age of Madness trilogy is the last set of books series in Joe Abercrombie’s First Law World series, and it’s good. It’s really good. It’s not so much a conclusion to the series as it is a reminder that stories don’t end on the last page of the book, but that’s just part of the appeal.
The characters are as complex and well-written as ever, and the plot is full of twists and turns that keep you guessing until the very end. It’s a testament to Abercrombie’s writing—as sharp and witty as ever—that you can begin to root for one character (only to hate them by the end) and to care nothing for another character (but to begin to truly feel for them over time). What’s brilliant is that you get to see these characters develop over the course of so many books (over 9!), allowing for world-building that just isn’t possible in other shorter series.
If you’re a fan of dark fantasy with a healthy dose of political intrigue, this series is a must-read.
Recursion & Dark Matter
The best of Blake Crouch.
Mind-bending sci-fi thrillers that are impossible to put down. If you like fast-paced, high-concept stories that go off the rails in the best of ways, these are must-reads.
I like to group Recursion and Dark Matter together (despite these two books not actually being in a series) because they represent the quintessential Blake Crouch experience: they’re both fast-paced, high-concept sci-fi thrillers that are impossible to put down (and once you reach the last third of the book they go off the rails in the best of ways). Recursion takes the concept of memory and time travel and runs with it, while Dark Matter is a mind-bending exploration of the multiverse. Another set of must-haves for any sci-fi fan.
There’s an Apple TV adaptation of Dark Matter that I’ve heard is pretty good (much like the book, the main concept of the story gets turned up to 11 towards the end), so that’s there if you prefer to experience the story in an audiovisual manner. The book is fantastic (though in my opinion not as amazing as Recursion), and I’d highly recommend it to any sci-fi fan.
You Like It Darker
The latest collection of short stories by Stephen King. Most of them are ok, but there’s one standout in particular that takes this book from alright to amazing.
Stephen King does it again. I’ve never read Stephen King before (excluding some of his other short stories, most notably The Jaunt and that one short story of his where a man crash lands on an island with a ton of cocaine and (spoilers!) eats himself to death), but I’ve always been a fan of his work. Now that I’ve had a taste of his work from You Like It Darker, you can bet I’ll be taking the plunge into his other work soon.
You Like It Darker is a collection of short stories that range from the supernatural to the mundane, and each one is a fairly good story, but there’s one standout story in particular (Danny Coughlin’s Bad Dream) that’s the reason why I’m writing about this book right now. I don’t normally write reviews on Goodreads (just a rating out of 5 stars, really for my own reference), but after reading Danny Coughlin’s Bad Dream I was emotionally moved enough to sit down at my computer and write this Goodreads review. Because it is truly something incredible.
I don’t want to spoil anything. Because it’s always better if you experience yourself, summarizing it would only negate any suspense or intrigue in the mystery that is Danny Coughlin’s Bad Dream. And it is a mystery, albeit an unrelenting one, oh dear, it is unrelenting, it shocks you, angers you, puzzles you. It’s a story that captured me far more than anything I’ve read these past few months, so much so that I could not tear myself away from the book until I had finished it.
Reflecting on some honourable mentions
Slow Horses
Spy thrillers that deliver. A good solid series that’s worth a read if you’re a fan of the genre. Not necessarily anything exceptional, but a good time nonetheless.
The modern Tom Clancy. (Disclaimer: I’ve never read a Tom Clancy novel… yet, but this is a spy series on the same level of contemporary spy fiction as Clancy’s work).
Slow Horses is a series of spy thrillers that follows a group of MI5 agents relegated to the adminstrative purgatory that is Slough House, a dumping ground for agents who have messed up in some way or another (but can’t be fully dismissed for what they did). The series is a mix of dark humour, spy intrigue, and suspense that keeps you guessing until the very end. The characters are well-developed and the plot is full of twists and turns that will keep you on the edge of your seat.
Every book is a self-contained story that builds on the previous ones, so you can read them in any order you like. But I’d recommend starting with Slow Horses and working your way through the series in order, as the characters and their relationships develop over time. As good as it gets for a spy thriller series, though not necessarily anything exceptional (and the endings are usually a bit more of a whimper than a bang).
Like the others, Slow Horses too has an Apple TV adaptation, one that’s probably the best of the bunch from what I hear on Reddit. I haven’t watched it yet, but I’m planning to soon. If you’re a fan of the books, it’s worth checking out.
The Apocalypse Triptych
You’ve read dystopian stories; now you can read about what happened before and after. These short stories are good, the idea is novel, but like Slow Horses there isn’t exactly anything extraordinary here to warrant making it a must-read.
What do you get when a bunch of authors get together and write 3 short stories each (with each story in the same setting, but taking place at a different time) exploring events leading up to, during, and after the apocalypse?
Answer: The Apocalypse Triptych.
Stories in The End is Nigh take place before the apocalypse, stories in The End is Now take place during the apocalypse, and stories in The End has Come take place after the apocalypse.
Each story is self-contained, but they all tie together to tell a larger story about the end of the world, what led up to it, and what comes next.
The series is a bit hit-or-miss, with some stories being better than others (in a few cases, a lot better than the others). But overall, it’s good (some stories are worth the read) and will keep you entertained from start to finish. If you’re a fan of dystopian fiction and post-apocalyptic tales, this series is worth checking out.
Everything (else) I read in 2024
