By Wil Guilfoyle

This year I’ve been embedded as an underground agent on a covert mission to infiltrate Western Washington University’s Writing Program in the Pacific Northwest. Coming from a far more advanced dimension, I’ve had to adjust to the mundanity of certain academic rituals—though this isn’t entirely unfamiliar territory, considering this is the seventh college I’ve attended.

I was looking forward to taking nothing but writing classes. Instead I was forced to take literature classes. Why can’t I just take creative writing workshops? That’s all I’m interested in. But this program requires six literature classes to graduate. Little did I know my first lit class would consist entirely of science fiction stories!

Maybe the humans from this dimension aren’t so bad after all.

I’ve just wrapped my first quarter, and the benefit of balancing literature with creative writing workshops has become crystal clear: it opens your mind literarily. You’re exposed to an eclectic mix of perspectives and styles that invariably seep into your own work.

Two books on this end-of-year list were assigned texts in my Intro to Writing About Literature class, taught by Zoe Redwoman at Western. The other three I read for fun, because it’s still nice to do that.

Without further ado, my Best Science Fiction Reads of 2025:

Children of Time, by Adrian Tchaikovsky

Ever wonder what it would be like if a different Earth species evolved to develop the kind of advanced intelligence and civilization we humans have? Author Adrian Tchaikovsky studied zoology and psychology at university and has a particular affinity for spiders. This is a highly enjoyable, mind-bending read that sticks the landing with an unexpected twist that rewards every subsequent contemplation. Highly recommend.

Project Hail Mary, by Andy Weir

I cried like a little bitch several times throughout this book. I listened to the audiobook narrated by Ray Porter, and I have to tell you: Ray Porter is a talented mastermind. His ability to dramatize, modulate inflection, and deploy subtle tricks of speech brings out everything Andy Weir wrote. It’s deeply emotional and inspiring, and the film adaptation starring Ryan Gosling drops this March.

Emergency Skin, by N.K. Jemisin

What if white supremacists and tech bros abandoned Earth after leaving it in ecological shambles, wrote it off as dead, then sent back scouts who never reported what they actually found? This short story by N.K. Jemisin (of The Fifth Season fame) is one of the most originally written pieces you’ll ever read.

Earthdivers Vol. 1, by Stephen Graham Jones

A graphic novel about Native Americans in a post-apocalyptic future going back in time to kill Columbus. Who wouldn’t enjoy a story about killing genocidal tyrants? It’s got heart, it’s got lessons, and it’s a highly recommended read. This book planted the seed for my latest short story, The Board of Time-Traveling Revisionists.

Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?, by Philip K. Dick

Awww, Philip?! You care about humanity. You little darling, you. New Wave sci-fi author Philip K. Dick wrote several stories that became films you might recognize: A Scanner Darkly, Paycheck, Total Recall, The Minority Report. Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? was written in 1968 and adapted into Ridley Scott’s Blade Runner. A whole lot of the film’s ideas come straight from the novel. What is empathy? What does it mean that the desire to live is a universal yearning connecting us all?

That’s it for my 2025 list. I’ve got a few reads queued up, including We Are Legion (We Are Bob) and Dungeon Crawler Carl. My next lit class focuses on Women and Literature in North America and Europe, taught by Kami Westhoff, and I’m looking forward to having my mind blown some more. This dimension is turning out to be far more advanced than I’d thought.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​