The best sci-fi and fantasy books of 2023, so far

Though we're only halfway through the year, it's been packed with excellent science fiction and fantasy books. Many of our favorites once again blur the line between sci-fi and fantasy — but this year was a particular standout for books blurring the line between SFF and other genres, from historical fiction Westerns to fable retellings to intergenerational sagas in translation. Though we seem to have crested the wave of pandemic novels, that sense of dread and discoloration has lingered, written into novels of new forms. There's a preponderance of post-post apocalyptic science fiction unpacking lofty ideas like sentience and humanity,…