The best new science fiction books of September 2025

In Mason Coile's Exiles, a human crew arrive on Mars There are some sci-fi heavy hitters with new novels out this month, from Cixin Liu and Stephen Baxter to John Scalzi. I'm keen to check out Ian McEwan's venture to a flooded version of 2119 – a drowned-world trope also taken up by Yume Kitasei in the intriguing-sounding Saltcrop. The late Mason Coile's tale of disaster in a new Martian colony, Exiles, is also tempting me, as is more time travelling noir from the excellent Nicholas Binge. Come read along with us and see how it compares to the best of today's science fiction. The literary writer turns to science fiction – and not for the first time (who read 2010's Solar?).