Six Bossy Favorite Science Fiction Reads from the Past Year

The Bossy Bookworm
8 minutes ago
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Six Bossy Sci-Fi Favorites

I'm still mining my reading for favorites from the past year, and this is my only science fiction roundup. If you've missed my prior lists, take a look on the blog!

You can also explore the twelve titles on My Very Favorite Bossy 2025 Reads to find out about my overall favorite reads from the past year.

If you've read any of these titles, I'd love to hear what you think!

What are some of your favorite science fiction reads, whether from the past year or beyond?

01 Murder by Memory (Dorothy Gentleman #1) by Olivia Waite

The playful tone and clever main protagonist in Olivia Waite's science-fiction novella make for an appealing mystery and lay the groundwork for subsequent books.

In Olivia Waite's slim science-fiction mystery, Dorothy wakes up...in a body that's not her own. It's uncomfortable but not unheard of. Still, Dorothy was supposed to be in stasis for years after suffering an emotional loss.

Yet even more concerning than her situation is the spaceship HMS Fairweather's current state. An electrical storm has knocked systems offline, and even worse, it seems that someone has deliberately been sabotaging the Library, where the backup for each passenger on the ship is stored.

In this outer-space-set mystery, Dorothy must figure out who's behind the destruction and how to save the ship's passengers from further danger.

I'm somewhat in love with Dorothy's no-nonsense approach to the issues at hand, her striding manner, and her clever reading of a situation's nuances. She is often exasperated and very funny.

The tone of this novella (it's 112 pages) is playful--it reminded me somewhat of Becky Chambers's science fiction--and it also addresses poignant, relevant aspects of the human condition while giving the (correct) impression that happy endings are at hand.

I enjoyed this very much and wished it were a full-length novel.

For my full review of this book please see Murder by Memory.

02 Automatic Noodle by Annalee Newitz

This short novel explores an alternate-history, near-future, post-war San Francisco in which robots come online and create a noodle shop that bridges the gaps between themselves and humans. Newitz offers a cozy story of an unlikely safe haven for all.

In a San Francisco of the near future, a group of deactivated robots come back online in an abandoned kitchen after a war in which California split from the rest of the United States. Looking for a purpose, they begin to do what they do best: cook.

The robots suffer from prejudice and bear the brunt of fear-mongering from much of society. But they manage to touch the lives of those in their neighborhood looking for reliable, high-quality food by producing the best (robot-) hand-pulled noodles around and offering a charming takeout storefront.

When a series of vindictive, one-star reviews threaten their business, they must figure out who has it in for them and why. Being pushed to their limits calls for exceptional sleuthing, creativity, and efficiency. Without fear of ruin, each of them wouldn't so fully embrace their roles and abilities, bond as deeply--nor create the safe haven for humans and robots alike that is a gift to all.

I love a science-fiction story in which elements of humanity are explored, I love an alternate-history tale, and I love a chosen-family element. Newitz provides all three in a cozy story that charmed me through both funny and poignant moments. This was sweet and strange, and I really liked it.

I received a prepublication edition of this title courtesy of NetGalley and Tor Publishing Group.

Please check out my full review of Automatic Noodle.

03 Volatile Memory (Volatile Memory #1) by Seth Haddon

Seth Haddon's slim science fiction debut offers action and a risky space quest, revenge, and love, but it's also a poignant, lovely story about being seen for your true self, being vulnerable, and thinking beyond traditional standards.

Wylla's ship has seen better days, and she's desperate for a break. When she catches wind of a valuable, mysterious piece of technology on another planet, she banks on her wiliness and speed to beat other treasure hunters to it.

Wylla's own mask is outdated, and scavenging the cutting-edge mask would give her powers she couldn't have dreamed of. Masks bestow upon the wearers the instincts, abilities, and reaction times of the animals after which they're modeled. But the mask Wylla is after also turns out to be sentient, and if she's going to wear the mask, she'll need to work with the mask's creator and help it seek vengeance for past injustices.

I love a ragtag crew on a quest (you can check out other titles with this theme that I've reviewed here), and Volatile Memory is action-packed entertainment, but more importantly it's poignant, exploring issues of bodily autonomy, transgender characters, characters without bodies but with sentient selves, duty and loyalty, revenge and ruthlessness, and mercy and grace.

This slim science fiction novel packs a punch. I can't wait to read more of this immersive world and of Haddon's compelling story.

For my full review of this novel, please check out this link.

04 Hum by Helen Phillips

The dystopian future of Hum is haunting in its familiar elements, its plausible, terrible climate-change effects, the extreme reliance on technology, and the chilling power of the ubiquitous AI hums who are constantly manipulating the extensive information they gather.

After years working to advance artificial intelligence in a near-future dystopian world decimated by climate change, May's own job becomes obsolete.

Intelligent robots, "hums," have taken over much of the workforce, with their relentless advertisements and sales pitches, manipulative impressions of caring (also meant to promote sales of various items), and their extensive surveillance capabilities.

May finds herself willing to surgically alter her facial features for a sum that might keep her family financially stable for a time. But when she dares to dream of a brief family escape to a nature-filled wonderland (molded on tales they've heard of a lush, past world), her lack of control over her family's fate is shown to be terrifyingly tenuous.

The power of social media and the impact of resulting perceptions in the book are chilling--and chillingly familiar.

For my full review, please check out Hum.

05 The Last Hour Between Worlds (Echo Archives #1) by Melissa Caruso

I may not have followed all of the echoes in time, creatures convincingly impersonating other creatures, or protagonists' complex, evolving motivations, but I adored the characters, their connection, their banter, and the amount of heart in the story.

Kembral Thorne, expert investigator, is on leave and bleary-eyed from single-parenting her newborn, and she's questioning why she agreed to come to a work New Year's Eve party in the first place.

But when people start dropping dead around her, she realizes that someone is plunging the party down through layers of reality, through echoes of time in which strange events loosely repeat themselves--and seem to be building in intensity. In fact, the whole world seems to be in terrible danger.

It looks like Kembral will have to work tonight after all--and, even worse, she'll need to cooperate with her nemesis Rika Nonesuch, the cat burglar, in order to try to save the world.

I love Caruso's writing style, her character-building, and the way the characters relate to each other. The hard-fought connection between Rika and Kembral (and the rich past that's revealed) had me swooning, and their banter is sometimes grumpy, hesitantly vulnerable, and often darkly funny. I predict that I'll be reading all of Caruso's other books as well.

For Bossy reviews of many other books that play with time--this is one of my favorite elements--you can check out the books and lists at this link.

Click here for my full review of this novel.

06 All the Water in the World by Eiren Caffall

Nonie is the young protagonist of this stark climate-change dystopian future, in which her small community fights to survive and to preserve history--from the roof of the American Museum of Natural History--before a horrific storm sends them fleeing up the Hudson, encountering kindness and nefarious groups in their quest for a new home.

In a dystopian future in which the glaciers have melted, Nonie, a young girl with a gift for feeling the water, coming storms, and weather, lives in a largely deserted New York City with her family.

Their settlement is on the roof of the American Museum of Natural History (AMNH, or "Amen), and they hunt and gather in Central Park. They must be careful, as packs of feral dogs--and packs of desperate humans, the Lost--will try to take what they can get to survive. Along with her parents' researcher friends, her family helps try to save and further the exhibits of human history and science.

The climate-change novel is powerful, disturbing, and, starkly lovely in its stripped-away love and loyalty. The story keeps in the forefront the looming dangers, the fear of disease and ill intent, and the bone-weary fatigue involved in simply fighting to survive--and I couldn't ever forget that the enemy, the deadly monster here, is the human race that destroyed its planet.

I received a prepublication edition of this title courtesy of St. Martin's Press and NetGalley.