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

The month of March promises to be full of treats for science fiction fans. To begin, let’s return to the world of Adrian Tchaikovsky’s film. Children of time series, this time in the company of a huge mantis shrimp. We are also offered a version Moby-Dickset in space, and what seems like a must-read: a forgotten speculative novel from 1936, which imagines the last woman still alive in Britain after a pandemic. If you’re more looking for a cozy sci-fi mystery, a slice of horror, or a mission to Europe, then you’re in luck, as all of that is on offer too.

The latest addition to the excellent Children of time The series is set to hit our shelves this month, and according to our sci-fi reviewer Emily H. Wilson, it’s awesome. The premise is that centuries earlier, a terraforming team ended up creating something terrible on a distant planet. Now, scientist Alis and human-sized mantis shrimp Cato must venture across the planet to discover what happened to their missing colleagues.

What an effort – this is a speculative account from none other than Herman Melville’s Doorknock, Moby-Dick. In this version of the White Whale tale, Earth is dead and humanity lives on mortal planets under domes that must be powered by (wait for it) “cerebrospinal fluid, harvested at great risk from gargantuan space monsters.” Our protagonist is, of course, hunting “the greatest Leviathan of all.”

First published in 1936, this speculative novel imagines Britain in 1985, when only one woman remains alive following a pandemic caused by a toxic gas. It is presented by TV presenter Graham Norton and looks to be a fascinating addition to the 20th century science fiction classics.

Ober is one of the writers of the Netflix series The OA. Here, it 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 fleeing 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 her tyranny. Ober’s vision of the void seems quite compelling: it’s filled with vertically stacked floating rocks, some of which are magnets, some of which “burn with an eternal flame,” and some of which “defy the laws of physics.”

The director of Interview with the Vampire And The Company 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 crash, he secretly resurrects her as a digital consciousness – and uncovers a conspiracy with a long history.

The publisher says it’s perfect for fans of Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno-Garcia, an excellent book, so I have high hopes for what looks like a mix of horror and science fiction. The story is set in 1899, when scientific illustrator Sonia Wilson is offered a job illustrating the vast collection of insects owned by Dr. Halder, a loner. But in the woods of North Carolina, she discovers that Halder has embarked on monstrous entomological studies of parasitic worms that burrow into human flesh…

I loved Cécile Pin’s first novel, Wandering soulswhich was shortlisted for the Women’s Prize for Fiction. Her second, in which she ventures into science fiction, also sounds good: it tells the story of Ollie, born during the downing of the Challenger shuttle in 1986, who grows up to become a renowned astronaut and embarks on a 10-year mission to Europe. But what will await him when he returns?

Ava by Victoria Dillon

This “blend of speculative fiction and social commentary” takes place in a world where revolutionary technology has made it possible to replace gestation with incubation, so that women have “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 in what is described as a warm sci-fi mystery series, a concept I love the sound of. It takes place on the interstellar cruise ship HMS Fairweather and sees ship detective Dorothy Gentleman investigating when a baby is mysteriously left on her nephew’s doorstep. It’s quite surprising, but fertility is supposed to be on pause while the ship sails through the stars.

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