5 Science Fiction and Fantasy Recommendations For Your Lit Loving Book Club

These 5 science fiction books are great for book clubs that only dabble in genre fiction occasionally. I loved each and every single one of them, and the stories are so unique.

❃ KIM ❃

Sawkill Girls, Claire Legrand

Who are the Sawkill Girls? Marion, Zoey, Val. Their stories come together on the island of Sawkill Rock, where gleaming horses graze in rolling pastures and cold waves crash against black cliffs. Where kids whisper the legend of an insidious monster at parties and around campfires. Where girls have been disappearing for decades, stolen away by a ravenous evil no one has dared to fight… until now.

Creepy creepy. I would not want to be friends with these girls, that’s for sure. This is a story of an evil curse and the lengths that people will go to keep it hidden. It was gruesome and jolting and a crazy ride.

Witchmark, CL Polk

Magic marked Miles Singer for suffering the day he was born. He went to war to escape his destiny and came home a different man, but he couldn’t leave his past behind. When a fatally poisoned patient exposes Miles’ healing gift and his witchmark, he must put his anonymity and freedom at risk to investigate his patient’s murder. To find the truth he’ll need to rely on the family he despises, and on the kindness of the most gorgeous man he’s ever seen.

A seriously charming setting and story. I loved it but honestly wanted it to be a little bit longer and just a teeny bit more intricate. All in all and really great book with a solid plot.

All Systems Red, Martha Wells

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 neighboring mission goes dark, it’s up to the scientists and their Murderbot to get to the truth.

Are you tired of me raving about Murderbot? Here’s the thing- I’ve read some reviews. Most people love it and see it for what the author intended it to be- a humerous, fun, and relatable story about a sec unit. Some reviews have said it’s missing xyz- well, these are novellas. You don’t have the space luxury of pages and pages of world building and such and such. So take it for what it is and just enjoy the ride.

Scythe, Neal Shusterman

A world with no hunger, no disease, no war, no misery, where no one dies naturally. Scythe’s must control the population, killing as needed. 17 year olds, Citra and Rowan are chosen to apprentice to a scythe—a role that neither wants. These teens must master the “art” of taking life, knowing that the consequence of failure could mean losing their own.

I can’t put into words how much I loved this book. Intense action and life lessons are interspersed with real conversations about morals and death and who has the right to take it. Two main characters to love, pitted against each other. You won’t find yourself short on discussions over this plot, especially those twists!

House of Salt and Sorrows, Erin A. Craig

Annaleigh lives a sheltered life at Highmoor, a manor by the sea, with her sisters, their father, and stepmother. Once they were twelve, but loneliness fills the grand halls now that four of the girls’ lives have been cut short. There are whispers of a curse or murder. Disturbed by a series of ghostly visions, Annaleigh becomes increasingly suspicious that the deaths were no accidents.

An enchanting and dark retelling of the Twelve Dancing Princesses, House of Salt and Sorrows is gorgeously atmospheric and chilling. By the end I wasn’t sure what was real and what was an illusion.

Do you belong to a book club? What kind of books do you discuss?