Adrian Tchaikovsky’s latest book is among the best new science fiction books of March 2026

March is about to be packed with treats for sci-fi fans. To begin with, we return to the universe of Adrian Tchaikovsky Children of time series, this time in the company of giant mantis shrimp. We are also offered how to deal with it Moby-Dickset in space, and what sounds like a must-read: a forgotten 1936 speculative novel that features the last woman left alive in post-pandemic Britain. If instead you’re after a cozy sci-fi mystery, a bit of horror, or a mission to Europe, then you’re in luck because these are all on offer too.

The latest in Tchaikovsky’s excellent Children of time series is set to hit our shelves this month, and according to our sci-fi reviewer Emily H. Wilson, it’s brilliant. The premise is that centuries ago a terraforming team on a distant planet created something terrible. Now scientist Alis and human-sized mantis shrimp Cato must head to the planet to find out what happened to their missing crew members.

What an effort – this is a speculative retelling of none other than Herman Melville’s stop, Moby-Dick. In this version of the white whale story, Earth is dead and humanity lives on deadly planets under domes that must be fed with (wait for it) “cerebrospinal fluid harvested at great risk from gargantuan space monsters.” Our hero hunts, of course, “the greatest leviathan of all.”

First published in 1936, this speculative novel presents Britain in 1985, when only one woman is left alive after a poison gas pandemic. Introduced by TV presenter Graham Norton, it sounds like a fascinating addition to the 20th century sci-fi classic.

Ober is one of the writers of the Netflix series OA. Here she tells the story of The Sinker, whose home was destroyed by a floating machine known as The Construct when she was a child. She survived by escaping into the seemingly endless nothingness of the void – but half a lifetime later, she learns that The Construct is closing in on her again, and sets out to end its tyranny. Ober’s vision of the void sounds pretty convincing: it’s full of floating, vertically stacked rocks, some of which are magnets, some “burn with an eternal flame” and some “defy the laws of physics.”

Company director Interview with the vampire and Society of Wolves turns to science fiction with this story set in 2084, in which librarian Christian Cartwright spends his days archiving the world’s most painful memories. But when his lover Isolde dies in a car accident, he secretly resurrects her as a digital consciousness – and discovers a conspiracy with a long history.

The publisher says it’s perfect for fans Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno-Garcia, an excellent book, so I have high hopes for what sounds like a mixture of horror and sci-fi. Set in 1899, scientific illustrator Sonia Wilson is offered a job illustrating the extensive insect collection owned by the reclusive Dr. Halder. However, in the woods of North Carolina, they discover that Halder has embarked on monstrous entomological studies of parasitic worms that burrow into human flesh…

I loved Cecile Pin’s first novel, Wandering soulswhich was nominated for the Women’s Award for Fiction. Her second foray into sci-fi also sounds great: it tells the story of Ollie, born when the space shuttle Challenger fell from the sky in 1986, who grows up to be a famous astronaut and embarks on a ten-year mission to Europa. But what will await him when he returns?

Ava by Victoria Dillon

This “mix of speculative fiction and social commentary” takes place in a world where revolutionary technology has made it possible to replace pregnancy with incubation, leaving women with “real control over their reproduction”. Larkin has his second daughter this way, but as Ava grows up, she begins to question the choice that created her.

This is the second installment in what is described as a cozy mystery sci-fi series, a concept I love the sound of. Set on the interstellar cruise ship HMS Fairweather, it features ship’s detective Dorothy Gentleman investigating when a baby is mysteriously left on her nephew’s doorstep. This is surprising enough – but during interstellar travel, fertility is supposed to be suspended.

And finally, because it’s not science fiction, but might be of interest to us science fiction fans: Walton and Palmer explore modern science fiction and fantasy writing – the nature of the genre, how it’s written and how it’s read… great!

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