Our Favorite SFF Novellas
- Snowlock Books
- Dec 29, 2024
- 3 min read
Updated: Dec 31, 2024
As much as we love sprawling, immersive, gargantuan series, sometimes it's nice to read take a break and read something shorter. Enter the novella.
What qualifies as a novella varies, but according to the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America (SFWA), who administer the Nebula Award, a novella ranges from 17,500 to 40,000 words. In print that tends to be around 50-175 pages.
Novellas are a fantastic way to get to know an author and broaden your reading horizons. We especially enjoy picking up a novella to give an author a try when their novels or series seem particularly daunting.
In this post, we'll share five of our favorite science fiction and fantasy novellas that have captivated our imaginations and left us wanting more. Whether you're new to the genre or a seasoned reader, these shorter works offer a perfect blend of depth and brevity. Let's dive in!
Priya Sharma
Acclaimed author Priya Sharma transports readers back in time with Ormeshadow, a coming-of-age story as dark and rich as good soil.
Burning with resentment and intrigue, this fantastical family drama invites readers to dig up the secrets of the Belman family, and wonder whether myths and legends are real enough to answer for a history of sin.
Uprooted from Bath by his father's failures, Gideon Belman finds himself stranded on Ormeshadow farm, an ancient place of chalk and ash and shadow. The land crests the Orme, a buried, sleeping dragon that dreams resentment, jealousy, estrangement, death. Or so the folklore says. Growing up in a house that hates him, Gideon finds his only comforts in the land. Gideon will live or die by the Orme, as all his family has.
--Publisher marketing
Christopher Rowe
The Navigating Fox is a fantastical fable of "knowledgeable creatures", in the vein of Brian Jacques's Redwall series but for adults, by Hugo and Nebula Award finalist Christopher Rowe
Quintus Shu'al, the world's only navigating fox, is in disgrace after guiding an expedition to its doom, leaving no survivors. One year later, Quintus is offered the chance to redeem himself: he will need to lead a motley, fractious team--both human and animal--all the way to the gates of Hell.
-- Publisher Marketing
Daniel Polansky
The Magnificent Seven meets The Wind in the Willows in this action-packed fantasy adventure from Daniel Polansky, The Builders.
A missing eye.
A broken wing.
A stolen country.
The last job didn't end well.
Years go by, and scars fade, but memories only fester. For the animals of the Captain's company, survival has meant keeping a low profile, building a new life, and trying to forget the war they lost. But now the Captain's whiskers are twitching at the idea of evening the score.
-- Publisher Marketing
Becky Chambers
It's been centuries since the robots of Panga gained self-awareness and laid down their tools; centuries since they wandered, en masse, into the wilderness, never to be seen again; centuries since they faded into myth and urban legend.
One day, the life of a tea monk is upended by the arrival of a robot, there to honor the old promise of checking in. The robot cannot go back until the question of "what do people need?" is answered.
But the answer to that question depends on who you ask, and how.
They're going to need to ask it a lot.
--Publisher marketing
Monk & Robot Series Order
Martha Wells
"As a heartless killing machine, I was a complete failure."
In a corporate-dominated spacefaring future, planetary missions must be approved and supplied by the Company. Exploratory teams are accompanied by Company-supplied security androids, for their own safety.
But in a society where contracts are awarded to the lowest bidder, safety isn’t a primary concern.
On a distant planet, a team of scientists are conducting surface tests, shadowed by their Company-supplied ‘droid—a self-aware SecUnit that has hacked its own governor module, and refers to itself (though never out loud) as “Murderbot.” Scornful of humans, all it really wants is to be left alone long enough to figure out who it is.
But when a neighboring mission goes dark, it's up to the scientists and their Murderbot to get to the truth.
--Publisher marketing
Murderbot Diaries Series Order
Comments