The best new science fiction books of March 2026

March is lining up to be packed with treats for science fiction fans. For starters, we get to return to the universe of Adrian Tchaikovsky’s Children of Time series, this time in the company of a huge mantis shrimp. We’re also being offered a take on Moby-Dick, set in space, and what sounds like a must-read: a forgotten speculative novel from 1936, which imagines the last woman left alive in Britain after a pandemic. If instead you’re after a cosy sci-fi mystery, a slice of horror or a mission to Europa, then you’re in luck, because all of those are on offer too.