The best new science fiction books in July 2024 include a debut from Keanu Reeves

The world of science fiction is seeing some high-profile entries this month, with Keanu Reeves’ debut novel hitting the shelves. We can also look forward to the latest book from one of Britain’s best science fiction writers, Adam Roberts, and some quantum fun from Peng Shepherd.

I am most pleased about Mateo Askaripours This large hemisphere. It is a mixture of science fiction and political thriller and comes highly recommended – just what I need for my holiday reading at the end of July. I might also pack MJ Wassmer’s Zero stars, not recommendedwhere many holidaymakers have a little Lord of the flies when the sun explodes in a luxury resort. Just the thing for relaxation.

This is a collaboration between “two cross-genre pioneers,” says the editor, inspired by Keanu Reeves’ BRZRKR Comics. It’s about an immortal soldier who wants to die, a “tall, slender man… who looks at them from under a long crown of black hair” who is apparently supposed to look just like Reeves. A US black ops group says they can help him with this death wish – if he helps the team first.

Well, I have already read some of it because I am a huge fan of China Miéville (if you haven’t read it yet Embassy City and then hurry up and get a copy – it’s such a clever and stunning piece of science fiction.) And of course, I’m also a huge fan of Reeves because… Keanu Reeves.

But I had to put the book down because I found it so flowery that I couldn’t read any further. But maybe I’ll take another look at the book because if you can’t believe in Neo, who can you believe in? Maybe I just need to get in the zone.

OK, I’m definitely on board with this one. Not only does it sound like a lot of fun, but Roberts is reliably excellent. This time he presents us with two spaceships orbiting a black hole. The crews of both ships are killed in a single afternoon by Captain Alpha Raine, who says he was ordered to do so by a voice from within the black hole. That voice is called, rather tantalizingly, Mr. Modo. Of course, no one believes Raine, but something seems to be emanating from inside that black hole.

Set in the future, this novel is about a young woman, a second-class citizen, who sets out to find her older brother — who she thought was dead, but who is now the prime suspect in a murder case that is attracting a lot of attention. The publisher compares the novel to the works of NK Jemisin and Naomi Alderman, and an early review on book trade website Kirkus called it “a gripping vision of a future made all too plausible by our volatile present.” I think it sounds really interesting and I’ll be sure to pick it up.

This looks super exciting. It is set in a near-future world where cancer is eradicated by a new technological therapy that completely replaces the body’s cells with “nanites,” robotic cells that heal the sick – and actually make the person almost immortal.

We follow literary researcher Yonghun, who has a lot on his plate: not only is he creating a machine that can think, but he’s also receiving the new nanotherapy. This book promises that it will explore “the nature of intelligence and the unexpected consequences of progress, the meaning of being human and living, and what we really have to fear from technology and the future” – a lot for a novel, but I’m willing to give it a try.

Set in a “time of acute climate crisis,” this eco-thriller is set on a ship bound for Antarctica to save the region. On board is disgraced environmental activist Ivy Cunningham, who tries to save her reputation – but also begins to question the motives of her fellow travelers and the project as a whole.

Dan Foster, a “professional failure,” is vacationing at an island resort when the sun explodes. He must decide whether to save himself or help his fellow guests as temperatures drop and revolution looms. Apocalypse in paradise? I’m in!

At 45, Marsh is not satisfied with what her life has brought, from her career to her marriage to her relationship with her teenage daughter. So when she gets the chance to be the star of the TV game show All this and morewhich uses “quantum technology” to take participants back to their past, grabs her. But – you guessed it – even when she gets everything she wants, it all seems a little odd, and Marsh begins to wonder if it’s worth it. Another one of my holiday reads, I think – I love a good “search for a happy ending” story, and the addition of time travel and a dash of quantum fairy dust sounds great.

This new novella by the author of The Red Scholar’s Wake is a space opera with added martial arts. It is set in an area of ​​space known as the “Hollows,” populated by the mysterious, deadly Tanglers. When a Tangler escapes, he must be captured before he can destroy a civilian city. Two juniors from rival clans, both on a mission to stop the Tangler, discover their feelings for each other growing.

This short story collection will offer us a “kaleidoscopic view of the climate crisis,” promises the publisher. The narratives move from a boy trying to bring the natural world back into his city life to a ballet dancer trying to slip into the consciousness of a rat (it’s not currently clear why – but I’m excited to find out).

This is the second part of the Ambit’s Run series by Sagas, after Cascade errorIn it, the crew of the Ambit, having just prevented the destruction of a planet, attempts to free from prison the man they had just handed over to one of the major powers in the Spiral.

Agent Gregory Roarke is tasked with finding a teleportation portal on a distant colony world. But the former bounty hunter is confronted with better-equipped rivals – and then the murders begin… This is the latest part of the series.