Pile By the Bed’s top 5 science fiction books for 2020 and 5 honourable mentions (so actually a top 10).

Pile by bthe Bed reviews From A Certain Point of View: The Empire Strikes Back – forty short stories celebrating the 40th anniversary of arguably the best of the Star Wars films.

Pile by the Bed reviews Nophek Gloss (Graven #1), the debut space opera by Essae Hansen featuring a super soldier and a found family of misfits.

Pile by the Bed reviews and recommends The Worst of All Possible Worlds, the last book in Alex White’s propulsive Salvagers trilogy.

Pile by the Bed reviews Catch Me If I Fall by Barry Jonsberg, a tale for teenagers set in a future Sydney dealing with inequality, climate change and robotics.

Pile by the Bed reviews Leave the World Behind by Rumaan Alam a scary, tough, compassionate look at a small group of people dealing with the first few hours of a global catastrophe.

Pile by the Bed reviews The Trials of Koli (The Ramparts #2) by MR Koli – returning for more adventures in a verdant, but dangerous post-apocalyptic Britain.

Pile by the Bed reviews Why Visit America by Matthew Baker a series of speculative short stories each set in a different alternate America.

Pile by the Bed reviews Chaos Vector by Megan O’Keefe (The Protectorate #2) – intricate, action filled space opera peopled by flawed characters and centred around an arse-kicking, wise criacking heroine.

Pile by the Bed reviews The Mother Code by Carole Stivers, a book that uses a global pandemic to explore a range of issues relating to parenthood and artificial intelligence.

Pile by the Bed reviews The First Sister by Linden Lewis, the start of a new space opera series with echoes of The Handmaid’s Tale.

Pile by the Bed reviews The Space Between Worlds by Micaiah Johnson, debut science fiction that breathes new life into multiple world tropes.

Pile by the Bed reviews Devolution by Max Brooks a horror survival tale with sasquatch by the author of World War Z.

Pile by the Bed reviews The Constant Rabbit by British fabulist Jasper Fforde – a broad satire that takes on immigration and prejudice.

Pile by the Be reviews Stormblood – debut science fiction by Australian author Jeremy Szal. A space opera that is part military science fiction, part low-down cyberpunk adventure, part murder mystery, and part first person shooter.

Pile by the Bed reviews Rise and Shine by Patrick Allington – an idiosyncratic post-apocalyptic tale that prompts readers to think differently about their world.

Pile by the Bed reviews The End of October by Lawrence Wright – a fictionalised account of a deadly, highly contagious, global pandemic that hits close to home

Pile by the Bed reviews Goldilocks by Laura Lam, a philosophical, humanist science fiction thriller with a little bit of fairytale at its core.

Pile by the Bed reviews The Book of Koli (The Ramparts #1) the start of a new post-apocalyptic trilogy by MR Carey

Pile by the Bed reviews new military science fiction novel Providence by Max Barry.