Sci-Fi & Fantasy Gift Guide: Best Sellers Readers Want Now

This is the sixth book in the Court of Thorns and Roses series. The Night Court faces Koschei the Deathless while still reeling from betrayals inside its own circle. Reviewers are split: some find it deeply emotional and enjoy the woven storylines, while others call it slow or repetitive. For a fan who has been waiting on this world, it is still the gift of the season.

A man, his ex-girlfriend's cat and an alien game show where survival depends on entertaining viewers. That premise opens the series that fills most of this chart. Buyers describe it as a blast from start to finish, with dark humor and characters who grow more three-dimensional as the story goes. Many say it's one of the best LitRPG series they've read.

This sci-fi thriller was executive produced by Andy Weir and is performed by a cast led by Anthony Mackie, Ariana DeBose and John Leguizamo. Skywalker Sound handled the sound design in Dolby Atmos. Three crew members crash-land in three different eras of the same deadly planet, and they have to find a way to communicate across time. It feels like a movie-sized gift for someone with a long commute.

Carl and Princess Donut move into the Over City, where an undead circus prowls the ruins and an ancient spell is waking up. Many buyers think it beats the first book, and they mention laughing out loud and racing through the twists. Give it to the friend who just finished Book 1 and won't stop talking about it.

The fourth floor is the Iron Tangle, the world's subway systems knotted together and packed with monsters. For the first time, the crawlers start working together. Reviewers describe it as exciting from start to finish, and one says they read it in a single sitting. It makes a good weekend-disappearing present.

One bubble, four castles and fifteen days. To capture a sandcastle, a gnome fortress, a derelict submarine and a haunted crypt, Carl has to rely on low-level crawlers who might not be trustworthy. Buyers say the story thickens here and the characters keep expanding, and many feel each book improves on the last.

The sixth floor is a jungle full of dinosaurs, and alien tourists now enter the game to hunt crawlers. Buyers often list this as a series favorite. They point to heart-wrenching drama alongside the laughs, so it lands well with readers who care about the characters as much as the action.

On the eighth floor, crawlers capture legendary creatures from Earth lore and turn them into summonable battle cards. One of those creatures, Shi Maria, is intelligent and very hard to tame. Reviewers say it mixes horror with humor and mention it made them laugh and cry. Collectors of creature-battling games will love the premise.

The tenth floor is a series of vehicle races with upgrades between laps, while strange glitches hint at the ominous eleventh floor. Carl starts planning something reckless and keeps it from his friends. Buyers say the series keeps getting better and praise the multi-layered twists. One reviewer compares the style to Hitchhiker's Guide meets an RPG.

Faction Wars brings nine alien armies to one castle, and this time the fallen stay dead. The crawlers become a team of their own, and self-aware NPCs field a tenth army. Buyers call it heart-wrenching, with dark humor that brings both laughter and tears. Check which book your recipient is on, because this one comes before Book 8.