Top New Science Fiction Books in June 2022

From outer space to future Earth, science fiction helps us explore what-ifs and the human heart. Take a look at our top picks for new science fiction books in June 2022.

Drunk on All Your Strange New Words by Eddie Robson

Type: Novel
Publisher: Tordotcom
Release date: June 28

Den of Geek says: A human linguist working among aliens is an interesting enough story on its own, and this one looks like it’s taking the Douglas Adams approach with humor and fun.

Publisher’s summary: Lydia works as translator for the Logi cultural attaché to Earth. They work well together, even if the act of translating his thoughts into English makes her somewhat wobbly on her feet. She’s not the agency’s best translator, but what else is she going to do? She has no qualifications, and no discernible talent in any other field.

So when tragedy strikes, and Lydia finds herself at the center of an intergalactic incident, her future employment prospects look dire―that is, if she can keep herself out of jail!

But Lydia soon discovers that help can appear from the most unexpected source…

Buy Drunk on All Your Strange New Words by Eddie Robson.

The City Inside by Samit Basu

Type: Novel
Publisher: Tordotcom
Release date: June 7

Den of Geek says: Social media and streaming come under the microscope in this labyrinthine near-future game of metaphorical chess.

Publisher’s summary: “They’d known the end times were coming but hadn’t known they’d be multiple choice.”

Joey is a Reality Controller in near-future Delhi. Her job is to supervise the multimedia multi-reality livestreams of Indi, one of South Asia’s fastest rising online celebrities―who also happens to be her college ex. Joey’s job gives her considerable culture power, but she’s too caught up in day-to-day crisis handling to see this, or to figure out what she wants from her life.

Rudra is a recluse estranged from his wealthy and powerful family, now living in an impoverished immigrant neighborhood. When his father’s death pulls him back into his family’s orbit, an impulsive job offer from Joey becomes his only escape from the life he never wanted.

But as Joey and Rudra become enmeshed in multiple conspiracies, their lives start to spin out of control―complicated by dysfunctional relationships, corporate loyalty, and the never-ending pressures of surveillance capitalism. When a bigger picture begins to unfold, they must each decide how to do the right thing in a world where simply maintaining the status quo feels like an accomplishment. Ultimately, resistance will not―cannot―take the same shape for these two very different people.

Buy The City Inside by Samit Basu.

Invisible Things by Mat Johnson

Type: Novel
Publisher: One World
Release date: June 28

Den of Geek says: It’s another tongue-in-cheek entry on this list, this one taking aim at the divide between the rich and poor.

Publisher’s summary: When sociologist Nalini Jackson joins the SS Delany for the first manned mission to Jupiter, all she wants is a career opportunity: the chance to conduct the first field study of group dynamics on long-haul cryoships. But what she discovers instead is an entire city encased in a bubble on Europa, Jupiter’s largest moon. 

Even more unexpected, Nalini and the rest of the crew soon find themselves abducted and joining its captive population, forced to start new lives in a place called New Roanoke. 

New Roanoke is a city riven by wealth inequality and governed by a feckless, predatory elite, its economy run on heedless consumption and income inequality. But in other ways it’s different from the cities we already know: it’s covered by an enormous dome, it’s populated by alien abductees, and it happens to be terrorized by an invisible entity so disturbing that no one even dares acknowledge its existence. 

Albuquerque chauffer Chase Eubanks is pretty darn sure aliens stole his wife. People mock him for saying that, but he doesn’t care who knows it. So when his philanthropist boss funds a top-secret rescue mission to save New Roanoke’s abductees, Chase jumps at the chance to find her. The plan: Get the astronauts out and provide the population with the tech they need to escape this alien world. The reality: Nothing is ever simple when dealing with the complex, contradictory, and contrarian impulses of everyday earthlings. 

This is a madcap, surreal adventure into a Jovian mirror world, one grappling with the same polarized politics, existential crises, and mass denialism that obsess and divide our own. Will New Roanoke survive? Will we?

Buy Invisible Things by Mat Johnson.