Top Five Tuesday: Sci-Fi Book Releases of 2020 I Want to Read

Normally I’d have a Top Five Tuesday post inspired by the always lovely Shanah at Bionic Book Worm, but she’s getting some much needed rest this month and has left us to our own devices to come up with topics!  Having just put together a list of fantasy books releasing this summer that I’m looking forward to reading, I decided to show some love to my sci-fi pile as well! Since I tend to read much less sci-fi (last year it accounted for a third of my books read) I’m expanding this list to be my top picks of sci-fi books that release at ANY point in 2020, meaning this is a mix of books that have already hit the shelves and ones I’m still eagerly awaiting.

Covers link to Goodreads!

  

AURORA BURNING by Aimee Kaufman and Jay Kristoff
The first of two sequels on the list where I haven’t read book one yet, but I really want to get to it!  I love found families and oddballs who get thrown in way over their heads, so the story of a misfit squad of cadets who get stuck having to save the galaxy seems very much my speed.  I’m trying to desperately find time to read this series over the summer, we’ll see what happens!

THE LAST HUMAN by Zack Jordan
A standalone sci-fi adventure about a woman who is the last human in existence after the rest of the alien races of the galaxy decided humanity was far too dangerous to let live.  For such a somber premise, this novel promises to be a “gleefully oddball space opera” as the last human tries to just survive day-to-day in a galaxy full of aliens – until the one day that they discover that there might be another chance for humanity after all.

CYBER SHOGUN REVOLUTION
Third in a series of standalone books set in the United States of Japan, CYBER SHOGUN REVOLUTION is an alt history of the US where Japan won WWII and colonized the States – oh, and there are mechs. I’ve been wanting to dive into this series for a while, it would be lovely if they made it to the top of my stack!

   

CHAOS VECTOR by Megan E. O’Keefe
I’m probably MOST excited for this one.  Sequel to 2019’s VELOCITY WEAPON, CHAOS VECTOR picks up the adventure as Sanda goes on the run.  Book one took so many twists and turns that it’s hard to talk about, but suffice to say that three people at three different parts of the galaxy are unknowingly part of a much bigger conflict.  One is a politician, one is a soldier, and one is a common criminal.  It’s so hard to say more than that, but man am I ready to see where this sprawling space saga is going!

THE NEMESIS by S.J. Kincaid
One of my favorite YA series has been the sci-fi trilogy that began with THE DIABOLIC, a story about a genetically engineered bodyguard (known as a Diabolic) who pretends to be her protectee and goes in her place when she summoned to the imperial court as a hostage for her family’s good behavior.  There, the Diabolic encounters a ruthless game of politics that she’ll have to learn how to navigate if she’s to survive.  This is not a series that pulls punches, and book two took some WILD turns I would never have imagined.  Book three releases later this summer and I am absolutely desperate to see how this series ends.

THRAWN ASCENDANCY: CHAOS RISING by Timothy Zahn
The beloved Star Wars author is back, this time with a prequel series!  The new trilogy will tell the story of Thrawn from before he joined up with the Empire, one of our rare peeks into the Chiss who live beyond the Outer Rim.  This first book follows Thrawn on his first command, after a surprise attack on the capitol city goes unclaimed by any assailant.  One of my biggest complaints about the recent string of Thrawn books is that they weren’t allowed to tell any meaningful arcs because they were locked into current Star Wars canon, so I’m hopeful that since this story is far removed from the Skywalker saga, we’ll be able to see a fully realized trilogy.

And those are the 2020 Sci-Fi Releases I want to read this year!  Anything else I should have on my list?