Reading List
Karin Tidbeck
Swedish Speculative Fiction Writer
Karin Tidbeck, born in 1977, is a Swedish author of fantasy and weird fiction who writes in Swedish and English. They debuted with the Swedish story collection Vem är Arvid Pekon? in 2010, and their English collection Jagannath, published in 2012, was shortlisted for the James Tiptree Jr. Award and nominated for the World Fantasy Award. Their novels include Amatka and The Memory Theater, and they won the Crawford Award. Their picks here are five short science fiction books: Nino Cipri’s Finna, Aliette de Bodard’s Navigational Entanglements, John A. Keel’s The Mothman Prophecies, Ted Chiang’s Stories of Your Life and Others and Nnedi Okorafor’s Binti.
Binti
by Nnedi Okorafor · 2015 · Science Fiction
“It’s a coming-of-age story, but it’s also a first contact story, where you sort of solve problems by communicating.” — via Interview, July 2025
Stories of Your Life and Others
by Ted Chiang · 2016 · Science Fiction
“Stories of Your Life is about a linguist, Louise Banks, who is hired to help study the language of aliens who have just arrived.” — via Interview, July 2025
The Mothman Prophecies
A True Story
by John A. Keel · 2013 · Mystery
“So for me, this is the perfect science-fiction-folklore crossover book.” — via Interview, July 2025
Navigational Entanglements
by Aliette de Bodard · 2024 · Science Fiction
“This book is the kind of space opera that I really find myself hankering for.” — via Interview, July 2025
Finna
by Nino Cipri · 2020 · Fantasy
“It’s a wonderful story about living under the crushing weight of capitalism and trying to stay sane.” — via Interview, July 2025
