This month’s best new sci-fi releases, from Michel Houellebecq to Booker Prize nominee Richard Powers

September has a ton of new science fiction coming up, whether you’re looking for high-end literary works from the likes of Booker Prize nominees Rachel Kushner and Richard Powers, or space adventures from Yume Kitasei and Riley August. There’s also a new work from master Peter F. Hamilton, a glimpse into a near-future France from Michel Houellebecq, and an intriguing vision of how we might deal with a future epidemic from Hannu Rajaniemi. My plan is to get Kushner’s Creation LakeMove to Hokusei Stardust Grail And jump into Powers playground.

This is definitely on my reading list; in fact, I’m hoping it’ll be picked for the New Scientist Book Club’s upcoming reading list. Already shortlisted for the Booker Prize, the book has been described by our sci-fi columnist Emily H. Wilson as “part thriller, part spy adventure, part comedy, and part poetic interpretation of human history stretching back to the dawn of humanity.” Homo sapiensThe film has been described as “shockingly entertaining” in that it tells the story of “Sharing the Earth with Neanderthals,” and is a joy to watch as it follows the adventures of American spy for hire Sadie Smith as she tries to infiltrate a community of radical French environmentalists.

This was also shortlisted for the Booker Prize, and the surprisingly good PowersPerplexed is fantastic. His latest novel is set on the French Polynesian island of Makatea, where a diverse cast of characters come together as humanity hatches plans to build an autonomous floating city on the sea. “The writing feels like the ocean: vast, mysterious, deep and alive,” Percival Everett says of the novel. I’m really looking forward to it.

When art thief turned anthropology student Maya Hoshimoto is asked to find a powerful object that can save an alien race from extinction, she falls back into her old habits. As she sets off exploring the cosmos, she discovers she’s not the only one looking for it. Described as an “anti-colonial space heist,” this is brilliant.

The acclaimed (and sometimes controversial) French novelist sets his latest novel in 2027, a time when France is hit by a series of cyber attacks in the middle of its presidential elections. The story follows Paul Raison, an adviser to the French finance minister whose father is in limbo in a medical center after a stroke. It’s already a bestseller in France.

Few science fiction authors are as legendary as Peter F. Hamilton, but his latest work is intriguing: a novel set in the world of a new sci-fi role-playing game. ExodusMillennia have passed since humanity fled the dying Earth on the Ark, and the Centauri colonists have evolved into advanced beings. Finn is one of them, but he hopes for a different future and gets the chance to become a traveler, exploring the far reaches of the universe. I’m not a gamer, but I love the story of the Ark and I believe Hamilton will do a great job of telling it.

Darkom Hannu Rajaniemi

In this excellent sci-fi author’s latest work, a pandemic has brought civilization to a halt. The only way to survive is to wear an “Aspis chip” that gives them immunity to any new virus they infect. But not everyone wants that. Instead, an underground community of biohackers called Darkom modifies their bodies. Our protagonist, Inara, is from the village of Darkom, but she needs Aspis to suppress her cancer, which goes against the community’s beliefs… This is brilliant and frighteningly timely.

The universe is full of lost civilizations. Scout is an archivist combing these lost worlds to see if anything interesting remains. Now they’ve discovered a message from an alien race that witnessed the end of their world thousands of years ago. I love this quote from author Nadia El Fassi on this novel: “Come for the space archaeologists and the lovable, violent cat Pumpkin, but stay for the sci-fi that soothes the soul.”

It’s a pleasantly spooky tale, perfect for autumn in the Northern Hemisphere. The story is set in an Irish conservation project, where five children, three teachers and one forest ranger are staying. But strange happenings are occurring here, from the slaughter of livestock to the discovery of unidentified footprints. And as the children walk to the scene, they discover a host of yet-to-be-introduced animals, from wolves and wolverines to animals long believed to be extinct.

This latest installment is packed with time travel mayhem. Time Police and Annals of St. Mary series. This time, Taylor tells the origin story of bounty hunter Lady Amelia Smallhope and Pennyroyal. “No villain is too tough for them. No expense is too flexible. No adventure is too daring.”

This is a reprint of a collection of short stories written by Frances Stevens (the pen name of Gertrude Burroughs Bennett). The author wrote most of her work between 1904 and 1919 and has been described as “the woman who invented dark fantasy”. These stories include one set in an alternate future of Philadelphia, a totalitarian state where citizens are given numbers instead of names. This is right up my alley and I love rediscovering sci-fi classics.

This is Kawaguchi’s fifth Before the coffee gets cold The series is set in a Tokyo cafe where customers can travel back in time if they don’t return to the present before their coffee gets cold. This time, the people who visit the past are a father who cannot accept his daughter’s marriage, and a boy who wants to make his divorced parents smile.