10 Science Fantasy Books That Are The Best Of Both Genres

Published Oct 17, 2026, 2:00 PM EDT Hannah is a senior writer and self-publisher at ScreenRant. There, she focuses on writing news, features, and list-style articles about all things comics, books, anime, and manga. She works as a freelance writer in the entertainment industry, focusing on video games, anime, and literature. Her published works can be found on Screen Rant, FinanceBuzz, She Reads, and She Writes. Science fantasy occupies the exciting space between science fiction and fantasy, bringing together technological innovation, extraordinary powers, impossible worlds, and supernatural mysteries. These books might explore distant planets, futuristic civilizations, or scientific experiments gone wrong, yet they also embrace magic, ancient prophecies, supernatural beings, and legendary quests. The result is a genre that refuses to follow conventional boundaries. From military space operas to post-apocalyptic epics and futuristic fairy-tale retellings, the following 10 books demonstrate just how imaginative science fantasy can become. Whether readers prefer intricate worldbuilding, morally complicated characters, or settings where the impossible becomes reality, these novels combine the best elements of both genres without sacrificing the storytelling strengths of either. 10 Ninefox Gambit by Yoon Ha Lee Ninefox Gambit is available to purchase now through this link Yoon Ha Lee's Ninefox Gambit introduces readers to a militaristic interstellar empire where mathematical systems and cultural beliefs influence the workings of reality itself. Disgraced Captain Kel Cheris receives a chance to redeem herself by reclaiming the Fortress of Scattered Needles from rebellious forces. Her unusual strategy involves hosting the consciousness of Shuos Jedao, a legendary tactician whose brilliant military record comes with a disturbing history. What makes the novel especially compelling is its combination of technical warfare and seemingly supernatural phenomena. The empire's calendar-based systems underpin its exotic weapons, military formations, and control over physical reality. This creates a world in which adherence to particular beliefs has measurable consequences, blurring the distinction between advanced technology and magic. Readers who enjoy intellectually challenging space operas will find plenty to explore here. 9 Gideon the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir Ninth House is available to purchase now through this link Tamsyn Muir's Gideon the Ninth sends its characters into a distant star system governed by the immortal Emperor and his nine powerful Houses. Each House practices necromancy, turning bones, corpses, and the manipulation of life and death into sources of power. Gideon Nav, a sword-wielding soldier desperate to escape her oppressive home, reluctantly agrees to serve Harrowhark Nonagesimus, the Ninth House's formidable necromancer. Their assignment brings them to a decaying mansion, where representatives of the Houses compete in dangerous trials intended to identify candidates worthy of becoming immortal servants of the Emperor. Spaceships, interplanetary politics, and ancient scientific mysteries coexist with skeleton armies, occult rituals, and gothic horror. Muir's irreverent humor and complicated relationships keep the story grounded even when its supernatural possibilities become increasingly bizarre. 8 Light from Uncommon Stars by Ryka Aoki Light from Uncommon Stars is available to purchase now through this link Ryka Aoki's Light from Uncommon Stars brings an unusual combination of music, extraterrestrial life, and supernatural bargains to California's San Gabriel Valley. Shizuka Satomi is a talented violinist who has promised seven musical prodigies' souls to the devil in exchange for escaping damnation herself. Having already secured six, she discovers a promising violinist in Katrina Nguyen, a transgender teenager who has run away from an abusive home. The supernatural premise becomes even stranger when Shizuka meets Lan Tran, a retired starship captain who escaped an interstellar conflict and now operates a doughnut shop with her family. Lan's extraterrestrial origins introduce space opera into a story already concerned with curses and impossible bargains. Through music, found family, and the possibility of redemption, Aoki shows how science fantasy can be intimate and emotionally grounded without losing its cosmic ambitions. 7 Cinder by Marissa Meyer Cinder is available to purchase now through this link Marissa Meyer's Cinder reimagines Cinderella as a teenage cyborg mechanic living in New Beijing, a futuristic city filled with androids, advanced computers, and sophisticated prosthetics. Cinder earns her living repairing machines while enduring discrimination because of her mechanical body. Her routine changes when Prince Kai brings a repair problem to her stall, drawing her into a conflict involving Earth's political future and its dangerous lunar neighbors. Meyer combines familiar fairy-tale elements with science-fiction concepts, including a devastating plague called letumosis and the technologically advanced Lunar population. Queen Levana's growing threat gives the Cinderella-inspired romance much higher stakes than a conventional royal love story. Cinder's mechanical expertise, mysterious past, and struggle for autonomy allow the novel to explore questions about identity and prejudice while preserving the escapist appeal of a classic fairy tale. 6 Ashes of the Sun by Django Wexler Ashes of the Sun is available to purchase now through this link Django Wexler's Ashes of the Sun unfolds in the aftermath of a devastating magical war that destroyed an ancient empire. Twelve years after their parents surrendered Maya to the Twilight Order, her brother Gyre remains obsessed with finding her and destroying the organization responsible for their separation. When their paths finally cross, however, Gyre discovers that Maya has become a powerful warrior whose loyalties oppose everything he has pursued. The resulting conflict brings together ambitious political factions, extraordinary magical abilities, mysterious artifacts, and remnants of an advanced civilization. Wexler's setting feels simultaneously like an epic fantasy kingdom and a world rebuilding itself after a technological catastrophe. The siblings' opposing allegiances provide an emotional center for the larger struggle, ensuring that the novel's inventive combination of magic and ancient technology serves a deeply personal story. 5 Jack of Shadows by Roger Zelazny Jack of Shadows is available to purchase now through this link Roger Zelazny's Jack of Shadows imagines a remarkable planet that no longer rotates, leaving one hemisphere permanently illuminated and the other shrouded in darkness. Science dominates the dayside, while magic governs the night. Jack, a shadow-dwelling thief with extraordinary abilities, becomes the center of a dangerous struggle after suffering punishment and betrayal. His search for revenge takes him through strange territories populated by supernatural beings. Rather than treating scientific progress and sorcery as interchangeable, Zelazny gives them separate territories, rules, and sources of power. Jack's journey repeatedly tests the boundaries between these two systems, creating a setting that feels alien without abandoning recognizable fantasy traditions. First published in 1971, the novel remains a stunning example of science fantasy, particularly for readers who appreciate inventive planetary geography and morally ambiguous protagonists. 4 The Fifth Season by N. K. Jemisin The Fifith Season is available to purchase now through this link N. K. Jemisin's The Fifth Season begins with a catastrophic geological event that tears a massive rift across the continent of the Stillness, threatening life on an already unstable world. The narrative follows Essun, a woman searching for her kidnapped daughter after discovering that her husband has murdered their son. Her personal tragedy unfolds against the possibility of another prolonged environmental catastrophe. The novel's science-fantasy identity emerges through orogeny, the extraordinary ability to manipulate geological energy. Orogenes possess powers that might resemble magic, but their relationship with earthquakes, tectonic forces, and environmental instability gives those abilities a distinctly scientific dimension. Jemisin also examines systemic oppression, survival, and the consequences of humanity's relationship with its planet. The resulting worldbuilding makes natural disasters, supernatural-seeming abilities, and political conflict inseparable. 3 Under the Iron Sky by A. T. Emerald Under the Iron Sky is available to purchase now through this link A. T. Emerald's Under the Iron Sky introduces Vordell, a civilization once transformed by its people's ability to harness and control the power of Light. That prosperity ends when darkness spreads across the land, the ground fractures, and terrifying creatures known as the Dar'rak return. Soraya Tollmere, a battle-hardened commander, has spent much of her life fighting the enemies responsible for the world's devastation. The novel's science-fantasy appeal lies in its combination of extraordinary forces, monstrous threats, and a society struggling to understand the catastrophe that reshaped it. Soraya's capture by a masked enemy interrogator complicates her assumptions about loyalty, while emerging secrets threaten to overturn the conflict she knows. Emerald also introduces a dangerous, slow-burning relationship between enemies, weaving romantic tension into a dark setting where the struggle over Light could determine humanity's future. 2 The Traveling House by Kristin Cashore The Traveling House is available to pre-order now through this link In Kristin Cashore's upcoming The Traveling House, time travel becomes an extraordinary family inheritance rather than simply a scientific curiosity. Matilda Frost returns to her family home in her mid-thirties, newly single and uncertain about her future. Her grandfather Winthrop's invention once made time travel possible, but the mysterious device stopped working after his death, leaving its secrets frustratingly beyond the reach of scientists. The disappearance of Matilda's Uncle Ant pushes her to investigate her grandfather's hidden history, including secrets that other family members might prefer to keep buried. Cashore pairs an impossible technological discovery with intimate questions about love, legacy, and generational trauma. Although the main time travel theme of this book belongs to science fiction, the novel's mysterious family connections and time-bending possibilities give it the wonder associated with fantasy. Its publication is scheduled for February 2027. 1 Victorious by V. E. Schwab Victorious is available to purchase now through this link V. E. Schwab's Victorious concludes the Villains series, which explores what happens when human beings acquire extraordinary abilities through near-death experiences. Its main rivalry pits Victor Vale against Eli Ever, former friends whose ambitions and experiments have transformed them into bitter enemies. The final installment brings together allies and adversaries for a confrontation shaped by years of betrayal, competing objectives, and increasingly dangerous powers. The book combines the speculative mechanics of superhuman abilities with the heightened conflicts traditionally associated with fantasy, including questions of mortality, power, and the limits of human ambition. The organization EON and the broader community of ExtraOrdinaries add institutional and scientific dimensions to a world that repeatedly challenges the boundaries of ordinary human experience. At 544 pages, Victorious offers the trilogy's concluding confrontation while continuing Schwab's exploration of the blurred line between heroism and villainy.