SFF Novellas You’ll Love

Hi friends! Happy Holidays! This is my last post before Christmas, my next post will only be coming after Christmas. Since I’ve been reading so many novellas this year, I thought I would make a recommendations post. Here are some SFF novellas you’ll love (at least I hope you’ll love them)!

{You might also like – The Best Audiobooks of 2020}

1. Binti by Nnedi Okorafor

I mentioned this one in my Best Audiobooks of 2020 post! I really enjoyed Binti. It’s a quick Science Fiction read that is so easy to follow. The worldbuilding is immaculate for a novella, and that’s why this is on the list. You are completely sucked into the story and I became so invested. I highly recommend it!

What’s it about? Her name is Binti, and she is the first of the Himba people ever to be offered a place at Oomza University, the finest institution of higher learning in the galaxy. But to accept the offer will mean giving up her place in her family to travel between the stars among strangers who do not share her ways or respect her customs.

Knowledge comes at a cost, one that Binti is willing to pay, but her journey will not be easy. The world she seeks to enter has long warred with the Meduse, an alien race that has become the stuff of nightmares. Oomza University has wronged the Meduse, and Binti’s stellar travel will bring her within their deadly reach.

If Binti hopes to survive the legacy of a war not of her making, she will need both the gifts of her people and the wisdom enshrined within the University, itself – but first she has to make it there, alive.

2. All Systems Red (The Murderbot Diaries) by Martha Wells

This series follows an asexual, gender-neutral robot in space trying to unravel a huge corporate conspiracy, and honestly, that’s all you need to know. Murderbot is funny, compelling and one of the best Science Fiction novels I’ve read this year.

What’s it about? In a corporate-dominated spacefaring future, planetary missions must be approved and supplied by the Company. Exploratory teams are accompanied by Company-supplied security androids, for their own safety.

But in a society where contracts are awarded to the lowest bidder, safety isn’t a primary concern.

On a distant planet, a team of scientists are conducting surface tests, shadowed by their Company-supplied ‘droid—a self-aware SecUnit that has hacked its own governor module, and refers to itself (though never out loud) as “Murderbot.” Scornful of humans, all it really wants is to be left alone long enough to figure out who it is.

But when a neighbouring mission goes dark, it’s up to the scientists and their Murderbot to get to the truth.

3. Every Heart a Doorway (The Wayward Children Series) by Seanan McGuire

I’ve also mentioned this book before, but I just had to include this series here. Every Heart a Doorway, and the rest of the series, follows such a diverse cast of characters and made me feel very seen. I never knew I needed a portal fantasy about what happens after you return from Wonderland (or realms like it) until I picked up Every Heart a Doorway. Seriously, read this series.

What’s it about? Eleanor West’s Home for Wayward Children
No Solicitations
Visitors not allowed
No Quests

Children have always disappeared under the right conditions; slipping through the shadows under a bed or at the back of a wardrobe, tumbling down rabbit holes and into old wells, and emerging somewhere… else.

But magical lands have little need for used-up miracle children.

Nancy tumbled once, but now she’s back. The things she’s experienced… they change a person. The children under Miss West’s care understand all too well. And each of them is seeking a way back to their own fantasy world.

But Nancy’s arrival marks a change at the Home. There’s a darkness just around each corner, and when tragedy strikes, it’s up to Nancy and her new-found schoolmates to get to the heart of the matter.

No matter the cost.

4. A Dead Djinn in Cairo by P. Djèlí Clark

P. Djèlí Clark is fast becoming one of my favourite authors. Just read the description of the book:

What’s it about? Egypt, 1912. In an alternate Cairo infused with the otherworldly, the Ministry of Alchemy, Enchantments and Supernatural Entities investigate disturbances between the mortal and the (possibly) divine. What starts off as an odd suicide case for Special Investigator Fatma el-Sha’arawi leads her through the city’s underbelly as she encounters rampaging ghouls, saucy assassins, clockwork angels, and plot that could unravel time itself.

Who doesn’t want to read about an alternate Cairo infused with magic? The worldbuilding in this book is phenomenal and it truly transports you to a magical Cairo. This book is a must-read.

5. The Empress of Salt and Fortune by Nghi Vo

What’s it about? With the heart of an Atwood tale and the visuals of a classic Asian period drama, The Empress of Salt and Fortune is a tightly and lushly written narrative about empire, storytelling, and the anger of women.

A young royal from the far north is sent south for a political marriage. Alone and sometimes reviled, she has only her servants on her side. This evocative debut chronicles her rise to power through the eyes of her handmaiden, at once feminist high fantasy and a thrilling indictment of monarchy. 

This is the only book on this list that I haven’t read yet, but I wanted to include it because I just know I’m going to love it. The cover is stunning, and a good friend of mine recently read it and highly recommends it, so I am here for it.

There you have it! Some SFF novellas you’ll love! Have you read any of these? Let me know what you think!

Pin This!

+4

0