George RR Martin, James SA Corey and Douglas Preston have their fingers in some of the best new science fiction books for April 2026

I’m currently reading a sci-fi classic Red Mars by Kim Stanley Robinson with the New Scientist Book Club (it’s our April read). It’s fantastic so any further trips to the Red Planet are very welcome in my view and I look forward to Charlotte Robinson’s thriller Mars one. Elsewhere in sci-fi this month, there’s horror in space from SA Barnes, some resurrected Neanderthals from Douglas Preston and his daughter Aletheia Preston, and ghosts in AI-generated videos from Max Lury. Something for everyone, I’d say.

Mars one by Charlotte Robinson

This near-future space thriller follows a one-way mission to Mars as well as the disappearance of a programmer in Hong Kong who leaves behind nothing but a mysterious warning. As the spaceship Argo heads for Mars, the crew realizes it is being sabotaged. How are the two storylines connected? Mars One the publisher compares it to two of my favorite books: Andy Weir’s Martian and Terry Hayes’ spy thriller I am a Pilgrim. I hope it lives up to the hype because a combination of these two novels would make for a truly excellent read.

Claire and her lighthouse repair crew pick up a strange distress signal and decide to investigate. He discovers a luxury spaceship that disappeared on its first trip through the solar system 20 years ago – and also learns that something is wrong aboard the Aurora, by whispers in the dark and words scrawled in blood on the walls. Horror in space? That’s my cup of tea.

This speculative short story collection moves from science fiction to fantasy to literary fiction, including stories of first contact, a time-traveling fisherwoman, and a new consciousness to see the wonders of the universe. Also includes Mills’ story Test on rabbitswhich won Nebula, Locus and Sturgeon awards.

This is a collection of stories set in game of thrones copyright Wild cards a universe in which the world has been ravaged by an alien virus with random effects: you die, gain superpowers, or become strangely mutated. With writers including Cherie Priest and Walter Jon Williams, these particular stories follow Croyd Crenson as he finds himself split into six different incarnations.

Paradox by Douglas Preston and Aletheia Preston

It was very silly, but I have to admit that I thoroughly enjoyed Preston’s previous novel Extinctionand Jurassic Park-ish thriller in which various long-extinct creatures have been brought to life to romp around in a nature park. There’s even more going on in this sequel, written with his daughter: an alien artifact that “UFO researchers believe will change the world,” a fanatical secret society, and some resurrected Neanderthals from the last book who aren’t too thrilled. Homo sapiens… I expect to read it.

This is the second v War in captivity series by the author The Extend. It is a space opera in which humanity fights for survival against the monstrous Carryx empire. We follow the story of human captive Dafyd Alkhor and Swarm, an agent of the enemy Carryx, who seeks to destroy the empire.

I was intrigued by the sound of this novel, in which a sci-fi conceit is used to tell a story about loneliness. Recluse Ada lives in London. When she meets Atticus, she feels a connection between them – but her alienation from the rest of the world begins to widen, and eventually her attachment to the world and her body completely fails, and Ada finds herself in a new artificial environment, The Facility. Was it really created and designed just for her?

Permanence by Sophie Mackintosh

I really enjoyed Mackintosh’s previous novel The Water Curean ominous fable set on an island surrounded by water that may or may not have been poisonous. It bordered on sci-fi, though it didn’t quite get there, and it sounds like it to me Permanence can do something similar. This new story follows Clara and Francis, who had a secret romance set in hotel rooms – until they wake up in a bedroom they don’t know. They find themselves in a town where only their adulterers live, where they can live openly as a couple – but contact with the real world is impossible.

Event horizon by Balsam Karam, translated by Saskia Vogel

The story of 17-year-old Mildo, who rebels against the injustices of the government, which expels mothers and daughters from society, was published by the literary independent press Fitzcarraldo, which has several Nobel Prize winners on its sleeve. After being imprisoned and tortured, she is given the choice of public execution or joining an experimental mission that sends her into space and into the black hole known as Mass.

This is a standalone story set in Stroud’s universe Fractal series, opening in 2121 AD, three years after the first conflict on Mars. As the colony struggles to recover, vigilante-turned-revolutionary Magnus Sirocco takes up the cause, Peter Iskander leads a religious mission, and Commodore Ellisa Shann is drawn into a deadly duel when a ship is stolen.

I was intrigued by the sound of this novel, in which Harlow, searching for her lost friend Annie, discovers snippets of the dead in AI-generated videos, while Kieran, also on Annie’s trail, finds a community looking for ghosts who have disappeared. Its publisher promises to explore what new forms the haunting can take as new technologies emerge. It may not be straight sci-fi, but it sounds interesting.

Subway 2035 by Dmitry Glukhovsky

This is the last novel in Meter trilogy that inspired Meter computer games. It takes place 20 years after World War III wiped out most of humanity, with the only survivors being those who made it to the Moscow Metro. Artjom works tirelessly to bring his people back to the light, looking for signs of life on the surface.

Many by Sylvain Neuvel

This story of first contact shows how five people in the small town of Marquette, Michigan find their minds melding as “something bigger and stranger than they could have ever imagined” begins.

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