Quizzes

Quiz: What Work of Speculative Fiction Should You Read Next?

This content contains affiliate links. When you buy through these links, we may earn an affiliate commission.

Anne Mai Yee Jansen

Contributor

Anne Mai Yee Jansen is a literature and ethnic studies professor and a lifelong story addict. She exists on a steady diet of books and hot chocolate, with a heaping side of travel whenever possible. Originally hailing from the sun and sandstone of southern California, she currently resides with her partner, offspring, and feline companion in the sleepy mountains of western North Carolina.

Speculative fiction is a huge category. It encompasses such sub-genres as fantasy, horror, sci-fi, paranormal fiction, magical realism, and more. (For a more nuanced overview of speculative fiction, read this essay explaining the term speculative fiction.) Sometimes that variety makes it hard to decide which book you should pick up.

Feeling ghosty? That might mean magical realism or it might mean paranormal or even horror. Or perhaps you’re feeling whimsical. Does that mean you should go for a fantasy read or a work of magical realism?

Tough choices, dear reader.

So I offer you an easy solution: take this quiz to get a recommendation for a recent work of speculative fiction. I’ve include a wide variety of books so that your responses will lead you to a special read that speaks to your current needs.

As with any other works in all kinds of genres, speculative fiction often brings together different genres. You might find a humorous ghost story that engages with social realism, or a survival narrative about environmental collapse that forays into horror. Maybe you’ll even find Afrofuturist sci-fi that interrogates the tenets of body horror.

Whatever your results, I hope you find a book you want to spend some time with!


All Results

The Return of the Sorceress by Silvia Moreno-Garcia

The Sentence by Louise Erdrich

Noor by Nnedi Okrafor

The Book of Form and Emptiness by Ruth Ozeki

Bestiary by K-Ming Chang

Flowers for the Sea by Zin E. Rocklin

To Paradise by Hanya Yanagihara

More Reading Suggestions

Want to find your own recommendations? Check out these posts:

Realms to Remember: The Best Fictional Worlds

The Most Influential Sci-Fi Books Of All Time

6 Speculative Novels Full of Ennui