10 of the Best SFF Standalone Books

You know that perfect mix of fantasy and mystery/thriller? Yep, that’s Unraveling for you. There’s a maze, a serial killer, old gods — all steeped in Caribbean folklore. The book follows a therapist named Dr. Miranda who just helped put a serial killer behind bars. It seems like her life will go back to normal, until she has a near-death experience and wakes up in a realm out of time. There, she bumps into two siblings named Chance and Trickster. They show her that maybe she didn’t capture the killer after all. So together they set out to find this evasive killer in a magical and thrilling adventure.

The Inheritance of Orquídea Divina is a more low-key kind of fantasy — as its fantastical component is magical realism. If you loved Disney’s animated film Encanto, you’ll undoubtedly love this book! Even Zoraida herself has pitched it as a more adult version of the movie. The story follows the Montoya family — starting with Orquídea. She’s the matriarch, and one day she invites the entire family to her funeral. Instead of revealing their magical secrets, Orquídea is transformed. Seven years later, the Montoya cousins Marimar, Rey, and Rhiannon realize that someone is tearing through their family. So to save everyone, they embark on a mission to Ecuador to learn the truth about their inheritance.

You know what’s super interesting and makes for a great story? The existence of a multiverse and the ability to travel within it! That’s only one of the things that make this book so unique — as it also takes time to examine identity, privilege, and belonging. The Space Between Worlds is set in a world where multiverse travel is possible as long as your counterpart in that world is dead. Enter Cara, who for some reason has only eight doppelgängers amid 372 worlds. So she’s recruited to work for Eldridge Institute, collecting off-world data. This gives Cara a chance for a peaceful life. One that will be retailed when one of her eight remaining selves dies under mysterious circumstances — forcing Cara to reveal secrets that should’ve stayed buried. 

Let’s move to another SFF standalone that is also a thriller — except this one is a sci-fi rather than a fantasy. It has some serious Westworld vibes, complete with human replicas. The Echo Wife follows a scientist named Evelyn who is at the forefront of cloning technology. She actually cloned herself, and Martine is everything Evelyn swore she’d never be. She’s also having an affair with Evelyn’s husband. Evelyn is very upset at this turn of events. But when her husband winds up dead, she teams up with Martine to clean up their mess. It’s twisty, atmospheric, and absolutely unputdownable!

This might be the most popular SFF standalone on this list — and for a reason. Many people love this beautifully written story with an amazing cast of characters. So if you haven’t read it, this is your sign to do it! Station Eleven is a post-apocalyptic sci-fi that follows a troupe of Shakespearean entertainers called the Traveling Symphony. It also follows a man named Arthur Lear, an actor who died hours before the world as we know it collapsed. The book jumps back and forth between those storylines.

Okay, technically this book is a straight-up mix of sci-fi and fantasy. There are aliens and interplanetary travel — but there are also deals with devils and cursed violins. Even though the ending leaves room for more, as of now this book is a standalone — and the story works quite well as is! Light From Uncommon Stars follows three characters. There’s Katrina Nguyen, a young trans violin prodigy; Shizuka Satomi, a violin teacher that has to deliver the souls of talented musicians to the devil; and Lan Tran, an alien with a donut shop. When they all meet their lives irrevocably tangle in a beautiful (yet sometimes difficult) story about identity, family, and hope.

This Is How You Lose the Time War might be the strangest book on this list because of its epistolary format. But let me tell you that it’s a stunning book with some seriously lyrical writing. I do have to say that some people consider this a novella. But I looked up the estimated word count and I think it’s more of a short novel — so I’m definitely including it on this list. It’s a romance with a sci-fi setting between two time traveling agents named Red and Blue. They’re sworn enemies, belonging to opposite sides of the time war. But one day, Blue leaves a letter behind for Red to find. This sparks a strong connection between them, which turns into a bond that could change history as they know it.