A mercenary seeks a missing child, a dead man’s brain is reactivated, a woman travels to the Mayan underworld, a disease drives its victims mad with false memories. These are just a few of the plots that have captured readers' attention in this year's batch of science fiction and fantasy novels.To identify the books resonating with readers, we looked at sci-fi and fantasy novels published so far this year in the U.S. Then we filtered that list by average rating (everything on this list has at least a 3.5-star rating), number of reader reviews, and additions to readers' Want to Read shelves (which is how we measure buzz and anticipation).Some well-known authors make an appearance on this list, including Blake Crouch Ted Chiang , and Seanan McGuire . We're seeing new names enter the field as well. Booker Prize–winning author Marlon James and YA superstar Cassandra Clare are making a splash in the fantasy genre this year.Which of these sci-fi and fantasy novels are you most excited to read?