I published my original list of The 105 Best Philosophical Novels in 2017. Each year since then, I have issued an addendum with the best philosophical fiction released in the past twelve months. Based on curated lists from The New York Times, The Guardian, Publishers Weekly and more, suggestions from readers on Goodreads, and ratings on Goodreads and Amazon, these five philosophical novels ranked as the best of 2024.
For more philosophical reading, download these two pieces of bonus content:
- Philosophical fiction recommendations from thirteen contemporary philosophical fiction authors like Peter Watts, Khaled Hosseini and Daniel Quinn.
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You can access both of these free resources using the form below. And now, on with The Best Philosophical Fiction of 2024!
5. The Fox Wife by Yangsze Choo
A detective trying to identify a dead woman and a mother seeking vengeance for her lost child follow a trail from northern China to Japan, encountering cunning fox spirits, old friends, new foes and more deaths along the way. Choi’s richly layered historical fantasy was a Goodreads Choice Award finalist in fantasy.
4. Bright Objects by Ruby Todd
A young widow is drawn into the orbit of a local mystic as her town prepares for the arrival of a once-in-a-lifetime comet. Todd’s debut novel about the fine line between the search for meaning and obsession was named one of 2024’s best thrillers by The New York Times and one of the year’s best mysteries by Publishers Weekly.
3. Orbital by Samantha Harvey
This contemplative elegy to our planet follows six astronauts over sixteen days as they communicate with family, carry out the routines of their mission and bond with each other in the solitude of space. Orbital won the 2024 Booker Prize, and The Guardian listed it as one of the best fiction books of the year.
2. Creation Lake by Rachel Kushner
An American secret agent infiltrates a rural, anarchist, French commune in this artful, comedic spy thriller. The Guardian and Amazon named this stylish and “piercingly moral” (The New York Review of Books) novel one of the best fiction books of 2024.
1. Intermezzo by Sally Rooney
Two brothers—one a successful, self-medicating attorney juggling relationships with two women, the other a loner competitive chess player who finds himself drawn to an older woman—struggle to move from grief for their father’s death to an embrace of life’s new possibilities. The Guardian and Amazon named Intermezzo one of the best fiction books of the year, and it was a Goodreads Choice Award finalist in fiction.