The arrival of Fall means many things. Temperatures start to (finally) cool off, pumpkin spice is suddenly everywhere, and the new TV season is about to get underway. It’s also the time of year when a raft of new books start hitting your local retailers, as big releases drop ahead of the all-important holiday shopping season. And fantasy readers, in particular, have a lot to get excited about over the next few months, with everything from big sequels to exciting new releases from established favorites hitting shelves in the weeks to come.
Here are our picks for the most anticipated fantasy books of the Fall.
Wild Reverence by Rebecca Ross
Release Date: September 2 from Saturday Books
Why We’re Excited: Good news for everyone who was obsessed with Rebecca Ross’s Letters of Enchantment duology back in 2023, the author returns to the world of this series this Fall with her latest novel, Wild Reverence. Set in the world of the gods first introduced in Divine Rivals, the story follows Matilda, a young goddess who is destined to connect with Vincent, a mortal man who asked for her help 10 years prior.
This story is basically a prequel to Divine Rivals, and you don’t have to have read the Letters of Enchantment series to enjoy this latest installment in the universe. Rich and immersive worldbuilding adds new depth and layers for already-existing fans.
Publisher’s Description: Born in the firelit domain of the under realm, Matilda is the youngest goddess of her clan, blessed with humble messenger magic. But in a land where gods often kill each other to steal power and alliances break as quickly as they are forged, Matilda must come of age sooner than most. She may be known to carry words and letters through the realms, but she holds a secret she must hide from even her dearest of allies to ensure her survival. And to complicate matters . . . there is a mortal boy who dreams of her, despite the fact they have never met in the waking world.
Ten years ago, Vincent of Beckett wrote to Matilda on the darkest night of his life—begging the goddess he befriended in dreams to help him. When his request went unanswered, Vincent moved on, becoming the hardened, irreverent lord of the river who has long forgotten Matilda. That is, until she comes tumbling into his bedroom window with a letter for him.
As Fate would have it, Matilda and Vincent were destined to find each other beyond dreams. There may be a chance for Matilda to rewrite the blood-soaked ways of the gods, but at immense sacrifice. She will have to face something she fears even more than losing her magic: to be vulnerable, and to allow herself to finally be loved.
The Maiden and Her Monster by Maddie Martinez
Release Date: September 9 from Tor Books
Why We’re Excited: Part romance, part horror story, part folktale, part ode to the author’s religious tradition, The Maiden and Her Monster follows the story of a a healer’s daughter who must go in search of a monster after she strikes a deal to save her mother’s life. But what she finds is not what she expected, and the golem who agrees to help her has conditions of her own.
What follows is a thought-provoking tale full of Jewish folklore, political intrigue, and a slow-burn sapphic romance that touches on questions of queerness, duty, and the terrible cost of bigotry in a world that punishes anyone who might be seen as different.
Publisher’s Description: As the healer’s daughter, Malka has seen how the wood’s curse has plagued her village, but the Ozmini Church only comes to collect its tithe, not to protect heretics with false stories of monsters in the trees. So when a clergy girl wanders too close to the forest and Malka’s mother is accused of her murder, Malka strikes an impossible bargain with a zealot Ozmini priest. If she brings the monster out, he will spare her mother from execution.
When she ventures into the shadowed woods, Malka finds a monster, though not the one she expects: an inscrutable, disgraced golem who agrees to implicate herself, but only if Malka helps her fulfill a promise first and free the imprisoned rabbi who created her.
But a deal easily made is not easily kept. And as their bargain begins to unravel a much more sinister threat, protecting her people may force Malka to endanger the one person she left home to save―and face her growing feelings for the very creature she was taught to fear.
Among the Burning Flowers by Samantha Shannon
Release Date: September 16 from Bloomsbury Publishing
Why We’re Excited: There will never be a time when we’re not excited for another installment in Samantha Shannon’s sweeping Roots of Chaos epic fantasy series.Th is surprisingly brief, at least by Shannon’s standards, prequel tells the story of the Fall of Yscalin and the return of the dragons that will go on to wreak so much havoc in Priory of the Orange Tree. In the world of that story, Yscalin is an enemy of Virtudom and an ally of the Draconic forces seeking to destroy the world. But it was not always that way. Given its compelling characters, morally gray themes, and generally less hefty size and scope, this is an excellent introduction for anyone looking to dive into Shannon’s Roots of Chaos series, and a real treat for longtime fans who have been with the story from the start.
Publisher’s Description: It has been centuries since the Draconic Army took wing, almost extinguishing humankind.
Marosa Vetalda is a prisoner in her own home, controlled by her cold father, King Sigoso. Over the mountains, her betrothed, Aubrecht Lievelyn, rules Mentendon in all but name. Together, they intend to usher in a better world.
A better world seems impossibly distant to Estina Melaugo, who hunts the Draconic beasts that have slept across the world for centuries.
And now the great wyrm Fýredel is stirring, and Yscalin will be the first to fall . . .
Thief of Night by Holly Black
Release Date: September 23 from Tor Books
Why We’re Excited: The long-awaited follow-up to Holly Black’s adult debut, Book of Night, this sequel picks up right where its predecessor left off, as con artist Charlie Hall deals with the fallout from binding the shadow of the man she cared about to her. But just because the being now referring to himself as Red looks like Vince, he certainly doesn’t act like him.
Publisher’s Description: Charlie Hall used to be a talented con artist and thief – until her last job nearly killed her. Instead of walking away, she bartered her freedom to the Cabal, a ruthless circle of elite gloamists who trapped Charlie’s boyfriend, the powerful shadow named Vince. As the Cabal’s new Hierophant, Charlie hunts rogue shadows on their behalf – not out of loyalty, but because it keeps Vince out of their hands.
Or, at least, what’s left of him.
The tether that binds Charlie and Vince erased every memory he had of her, leaving behind only Red – a dangerous Blight with Vince’s face. Cold, ruthless, and angry, Red doesn’t trust Charlie; he doesn’t like her, so when she’s pressed into service by the Cabal’s most manipulative member, the Puppeteer, she’s on her own.
Charlie’s no investigator, just a thief in over her head, sent to track down the Blight behind a brutal church massacre. And worse, her own shadow is making plans to betray her. Vulnerable, heartbroken, and magically outmatched, Charlie has one last chance to save herself, but the price might be the one person she thought she couldn’t bear to lose.
Alchemised by SenLin Yu
Release Date: September 23 from Del Ray
Why We’re Excited: After a summer featuring multiple fantasy books inspired by Harry Potter fanfiction, the most popular one crosses over into the world of traditional publishing. Alchemised is a dark fantasy (no, really with an absolute capital D) about a young woman who doesn’t remember her past or the magical war that killed her friends and changed her life forever. Convinced that her lost memories may hold the key to one last Resistance plot, she’s handed over to one of the triumphant dark necromancers and must fight to maintain her grasp on both her history and her self.
Publisher’s Description: Once a promising alchemist, Helena Marino is now a prisoner—of war and of her own mind. Her Resistance friends and allies have been brutally murdered, her abilities suppressed, and the world she knew destroyed.
In the aftermath of a long war, Paladia’s new ruling class of corrupt guild families and depraved necromancers, whose vile undead creatures helped bring about their victory, holds Helena captive.
According to Resistance records, she was a healer of little importance within their ranks. But Helena has inexplicable memory loss of the months leading up to her capture, making her enemies wonder: Is she truly as insignificant as she appears, or are her lost memories hiding some vital piece of the Resistance’s final gambit?
To uncover the memories buried deep within her mind, Helena is sent to the High Reeve, one of the most powerful and ruthless necromancers in this new world. Trapped on his crumbling estate, Helena’s fight—to protect her lost history and to preserve the last remaining shreds of her former self—is just beginning. For her prison and captor have secrets of their own . . . secrets Helena must unearth, whatever the cost.
What Fury Brings by Tricia Levenseller
Release Date: September 23 from Fiewel
Why We’re Excited: YA author Tricia Levenseller’s adult romantasy debut is being pitched as having serious Reputation (but Tricia’s Version) vibes, and its revenge-focused plot and furious heroine bear that comparison out. Set in a dystopian matriarchy where women use magical powers to bend men to their will and get the kind of payback that is so often denied to them throughout much of the rest of this genre. Levenseller’s gift for biting dialogue and unflinching love of morally compromised characters shines.
Publisher’s Description: There’s a shortage of men in the kingdom of Amarra. After a failed rebellion against the matriarchy, most noblemen in the country are dead. Now the women of Amarra must obtain their husbands (should they want one) by kidnapping them from other kingdoms.
Olerra, a warrior princess vying for the throne, is determined to prove her worth by kidnapping a husband. And not just any husband. To outmaneuver her treacherous cousin, she needs the best. Fortunately, the second-born prince of their greatest enemy is widely known for both his looks and his sweet, docile temperament. He’s the perfect choice to secure her claim to the throne.
Sanos, heir to the Kingdom of Brutus, has nothing but contempt for the idea of a society run by women. Trained from birth to fight, lead, and follow in his father’s overbearing footsteps, his path has always been set. Until he takes his younger brother’s place in a drunken prank and finds himself kidnapped, carted off to the Amarran Palace, and informed that he is to become the husband of Queen Potential Olerra. Sanos needs to escape before anyone learns his real identity, but the more he gets to know his captor, the less sure he is of what he truly wants.
The Weaver Bride by Lydia Gregovic
Release Date: September 30 from Delacorte Press
Why We’re Excited: A darker sort of YA fantasy about a witch who must navigate a ruthless marriage competition without falling in love along the way, The Weaver Bride also happens to have what may be the prettiest cover of any Fall release.
Publisher’s Description: Lovett Tamerlane is a silkwitch. Like all girls of her kind, she holds a rare magic—a magic that can be harnessed only through marriage to a Weaver. But finding a Weaver husband requires status, refinement, and money, all of which Lovett sadly lacks. Her one secret ability, to open any door, is her saving grace. Hidden in plain sight, Lovett spends her days using her gift to steal from wealthy families and her nights avoiding the fate imposed on all unwed silkwitches: a life confined to the cloisters.
But opening doors can be dangerous, and when Lovett steals from the wrong person, she finds herself face-to-face with Eliot Lear, the notorious son of a prominent Weaver. It turns out Eliot’s been watching Lovett. He knows she’s a silkwitch, and he offers her a life-altering opportunity: entrance to the Vainglory, a competition with the ultimate prize—marriage to Noé Alaire, heir to generations of Weaver wealth. The catch? Last year, the Vainglory ended in tragedy. The winner died. And the winner was Eliot’s sister.
The arrangement is simple: If Lovett solves the mystery of Ophelia Lear’s death and unmasks her killer, Eliot will ensure she has her pick of Weaver suitors, regardless of who wins the competition. Yet unraveling Ophelia’s murder proves far more complicated than either of them anticipated. And Lovett should know better than to take a Weaver at his word.
After all . . . what is love without betrayal?
Alchemy of Secrets by Stephanie Garber
Release Date: October 7 from Flatiron Books
Why We’re Excited: The highly anticipated adult debut from YA powerhouse Stephanie Garber, Alchemy of Secrets is something of a swerve from the author of such megapopular titles as Caraval and Once Upon a Broken Heart. A contemporary fantasy that follows university student Holland St. James, a believer in magic who’s taking a class about folklore and urban myths with a bunch of skeptical classmates. But her world takes a turn for the truly fantastical when she encounters the Watch Man, a figure of local legend said to predict the time of one’s death.
Publisher’s Description: It starts with a class in an old movie theater.
Folklore 517: Local Legends and Urban Myths, taught by a woman called the Professor. Most students believe the Professor’s stories are just fiction, but Holland St. James has always been convinced that magic is real. When she tracks down a local legend named the Watch Man, who can supposedly tell you when you’ll die, the world finally makes sense. Except that the Watch Man tells her she will die at midnight tomorrow unless she finds an ancient object called the Alchemical Heart.
With the clock ticking, Holland is pulled deeper into this magical world in the heart of Los Angeles—and into the path of a magnetic stranger. Everything about him feels like a bad idea, but he promises Holland that her sister sent him to protect her. As they chase clues and stories that take them closer to the Alchemical Heart, Holland realizes everyone in this intoxicating new world is lying to her, even this stranger. And if she can’t figure out whom to trust, not even the Alchemical Heart will save her.
Savage Blooms by S. T. Gibson
Release Date: October 7 from Redhook
Why We’re Excited: The first installment in a new trilogy from S.T. Gibson, author of such bangers as Evocation and An Education in Malice, Savage Blooms is described as the start of a “ravishingly dark” trilogy featuring gothic manors, faery magic, and forbidden desires set in the Highlands of Scotland. Um, yes, please?
Publisher’s Description: For as long as Adam can remember, the legends passed down from his world-traveling grandfather have called him to a crumbling manor in the Highlands. His closest friend Nicola longs for the same adventure, as well as for Adam himself. She’ll follow him just about anywhere – even to the remote wilds of Scotland – if it pushes the pair to surrender to their shared attraction.
But when a storm strikes and strands them unexpectedly, Adam and Nicola find themselves at the mercy of the eccentric owner of the infamous house, Eileen, as well as her brooding groundskeeper, Finley.
Trapped by the weather, and bound by ancient faery magic, Nicola and Adam get more than they bargained for as they become entangled in Eileen and Finley’s world of mind games, deceit and forbidden desire. As ancestral sins are unearthed, Adam and Nicola will have to reckon with the spell Eileen and Finley have cast over them – and whether or not they even want to be free.
Red City by Marie Lu
Release Date: October 14 from Tor Books
Why We’re Excited: Marie Lu is joining the ranks of the popular YA authors crossing over into the world of adult fiction this Fall with Red City, a contemporary urban fantasy that’s described as perfect for fans of Leigh Bardugo and V.E. Schwab. Loosely inspired by Lu’s own immigrant childhood, the story explores dark themes of trauma, wealth inequality, and ambition as it follows the story of two alchemists from opposing magical syndicates who are pit against one another.
Publisher’s Description: Alchemy is the hidden art of transformation. An exclusive power wielded by crime syndicates that market it to the world’s elites in the form of sand, a drug that enhances those who take it into a more perfect version of themselves: more beautiful, more charismatic, simply more.
Among the gleaming skyscrapers and rolling foothills of Angel City, alchemy is controlled by two rival syndicates. For years, Grand Central and Lumines have been balanced on a razor’s edge between polite negotiation and outright violence. But when two childhood friends step into that delicate equation, the city—and the paths of their lives—will be irrevocably transformed.
The daughter of a poor single mother, Sam would do anything to claw her way into the ranks of Grand Central in search of a better life. Plucked away from his family as a boy to become a Lumines apprentice, Ari is one of the syndicates’ brightest rising stars. Once, they might have loved each other. But as the two alchemists face off across opposite sides of an ever-escalating conflict, ambition becomes power, loyalty becomes lies, and no transformation may be perfect enough for them both to survive the coming war.
Kill the Beast by Serra Swift
Release Date: October 14 from Tor Books
Why We’re Excited: One of the absolute best covers of Fall belongs to Serra Swift’s Kill the Beast mixes cozy fantasy and gritty adventure in a story of revenge, redemption, and friendship.
Described as The Witcher meets Howl’s Moving Castle, the story of a monster hunter with a troubling past and an uncertain future who joins forces with a wealthy client to track down the famed beast that killed her brother deftly mixes familiar tropes and original twists.
Publisher’s Description: The night Lyssa Cadogan’s brother was murdered by a faerie-made monster known as the Beast, she made him a promise: she would find a way to destroy the immortal creature and avenge his death. For thirteen years, she has been hunting faeries and the abominations they created. But in all that time, the one Beast she is most desperate to find has never resurfaced.
Until she meets Alderic Casimir de Laurent, a melodramatic dandy with a coin purse bigger than his brain. Somehow, he has found the monster’s lair, and―even more surprising―retrieved one of its claws. A claw Lyssa needs in order to forge a sword that can kill the Beast.
Alderic is ill-equipped for a hunt and almost guaranteed to get himself killed. But as the two of them search for the rest of the materials that will be the Beast’s undoing, Alderic reveals hidden depths: dark secrets that he guards as carefully as Lyssa guards hers. Before long, and against Lyssa’s better judgment, an unlikely friendship begins to bloom―one that will either lead to the culmination of Lyssa’s quest for vengeance, or spell doom for them both.
The Isle in the Silver Sea by Tasha Suri
Release Date: October 21 from Orbit
Why We’re Excited: A new release from award-winning author Tasha Suri is reason enough to celebrate on its own, but The Isle in the Silver Sea has basically been assembled in a lab to play to every one of the The Jasmine Thone author’s interests and strengths. (Plus, another entry in the Fall’s most delightful trend: Ladies with swords!)
Described as “heart-shattering” and “full of sapphic longing”, it’s a story that mixes medieval folklore, a mysterious assassin, and a love story that spans both lifetimes and centuries.
Publisher’s Description: In an England fuelled by stories, the knight and the witch are fated to fall in love and doom each other over and over, the same tale retold over hundreds of lifetimes.
Simran is a witch of the woods. Vina is a knight of the Queen’s court. When the two women begin to fall for each other, how can they surrender to their desires, when to give in is to destroy each other?
As they seek a way to break the cycle, a mysterious assassin begins targeting tales like theirs. To survive, the two will need to write a story stronger than the one that fate has given to them.
When They Burned the Butterfly by Wen-yi Lee
Release Date: October 21 from Tor Books
Why We’re Excited: The adult debut from YA horror author Wen-yi Lee is a genre-mixing historical fantasy set in an alternate version of 1970s Singapore where gangsters in secret societies channel their ancestors’ migrant gods, gritty back alleys are the last place magic has not been legislated away, and a succession crisis within the girl gang known as the Red Butterfly intertwines with a dangerous hunt for a killer.
Publisher’s Description: Loner schoolgirl Adeline Siow has never needed more company than the flame she can summon at her fingertips. But when her mother dies in a house fire with a butterfly seared onto her skin and Adeline hunts down a girl she saw in a back-alley barfight—a girl with a butterfly tattoo—she discovers she’s far from alone.
Ang Tian is a Red Butterfly: one of a gang of girls who came from nothing, sworn to a fire goddess and empowered to wreak vengeance on the men that abuse and underestimate them. Adeline’s mother led a double life as their elusive patron, Madam Butterfly. Now that she’s dead, Adeline’s bloodline is the sole thing sustaining the goddess. Between her search for her mother’s killer and the gang’s succession crisis, Adeline becomes quickly entangled with the girls’ dangerous world, and even more so with the charismatic Tian.
But no home lasts long around here. Ambitious and paranoid neighbor gangs hunt at the edges of Butterfly territory, and bodies are turning up in the red light district suffused with a strange new magic. Adeline may have found her place for once, but with the streets changing by the day, it may take everything she is to keep it.
The Everlasting by Alix E. Harrow
Release Date: October 28 from Tor Books
Why We’re Excited: Alix E. Harrow, author of such bangers as Ten Thousand Doors of January and Starling House gets into the Fall’s big ladies with swords trend with The Everlasting, a timey-wimey epic love story that feels like the best sort of Arthurian legend (just, you know, self-aware and about a woman this time.) The result is a truly unique tale that’s one part romance, one part genre-defying quest, and one part meditation on storytelling itself. A banger.
Publisher’s Description: Sir Una Everlasting was Dominion’s greatest hero: the orphaned girl who became a knight, who died for queen and country. Her legend lives on in songs and stories, in children’s books and recruiting posters—but her life as it truly happened has been forgotten.
Centuries later, Owen Mallory—failed soldier, struggling scholar—falls in love with the tale of Una Everlasting. Her story takes him to war, to the archives—and then into the past itself. Una and Owen are tangled together in time, bound to retell the same story over and over again, no matter what it costs.
But that story always ends the same way. If they want to rewrite Una’s legend—if they want to tell a different story–they’ll have to rewrite history itself.
The House Saphir by Marissa Meyer
Release Date: November 4 from
Why We’re Excited: Marissa Meyer, best known for writing fairytale retellings like Cinder, dips her toe into a slightly different genre with this fantasy-tinged retelling of the legend of Bluebeard. One part murder mystery, one part ghost story, and one part swoony romantasy, it’s a fascinating new mix for a familiar voice.
Publisher’s Description: Mallory Fontaine is a fraud. Though she comes from a long line of witches, the only magic she possesses is the ability to see ghosts, which is rarely as useful as one would think. She and her sister have maintained the family business, eking out a paltry living by selling bogus spells to gullible buyers and conducting tours of the infamous mansion where the first of the Saphir murders took place.
Mallory is a self-proclaimed expert on Count Bastien Saphir—otherwise known as Monsieur Le Bleu—who brutally killed three of his wives more than a century ago. But she never expected to meet Bastien’s great-great grandson and heir to the Saphir estate. Armand is handsome, wealthy, and convinced that the Fontaine Sisters are as talented as they claim. The perfect mark. When he offers Mallory a large sum of money to rid his ancestral home of Le Bleu’s ghost, she can’t resist. A paid vacation at Armand’s country manor? It’s practically a dream come true, never mind the ghosts of murdered wives and the monsters that are as common as household pests.
But when murder again comes to the House Saphir, Mallory finds herself at the center of the investigation—and she is almost certain the killer is mortal. If she has any hope of cashing in on the payment she was promised, she’ll have to solve the murder and banish the ghost, all while upholding the illusion of witchcraft.
But that all sounds relatively easy compared to her biggest challenge: learning to trust her heart. Especially when the person her heart wants the most might be a murderer himself.
Empire of the Dawn by Jay Kristoff
Release Date: November 4 from St. Martin’s Press
Why We’re Excited: The conclusion to Jay Kristoff’s epic Empire of the Vampire saga will undoubtedly emotionally damage us all several times over before its final pages.
Publisher’s Description: Gabriel de León has lost his family, his faith, and his last hope of ending the endless night―the Holy Grail, Dior. With no desire left but vengeance, he and a band of loyal brothers journey into the war-torn heart of the Augustin Empire to claim the life of the Forever King.
Unbeknownst to the Last Silversaint, the Grail still lives―speeding towards Augustin’s besieged capital in the frail hope of ending Daysdeath forever. But deadly treachery awaits within the halls of power, and the Forever King’s legions march ever closer. Gabriel and Dior will be drawn into a final battle that will shape the very fate of the Empire, but as the sun sets for what may be the last time, there will be no one left for them to trust.
Not even each other.
Fallen City by Adrienne Young
Release Date: November 4 from Saturday Books
Why We’re Excited: Popular YA author Adrienne Young is another name jumping into the adult fantasy space this Fall wth Fallen City, a Romeo and Juliet-esque story of political intrigue, rebellion, and forbidden romance in which a legionnaire and a Magistrate’s daughter hatch a plan to marry and tip the scales of power in their kingdom.
Publisher’s Description: Luca Matius has one purpose—to carry on the family name, maintaining its presence in the Forum once his powerful and cruel uncle dies. But his noviceship with the city’s Philosopher places him in the middle of a catastrophe that will alter the destiny of his people.
Maris Casperia was raised amidst the strategic maneuvers of the Citadel’s inner workings, and she knows what her future holds—a lifetime of service to a corrupt city. But her years of serving as a novice to the last Priestess who possesses the stolen magic of the Old War has made her envision a different kind of future for the city. When she meets Luca, a fated chain of events is set into motion that will divinely entangle their lives.
As a secret comes to light and throws the city into chaos, Luca and Maris hatch a plot to create a calculated alliance that could tip the scales of power. But when an execution forces Luca to become the symbol of rebellion, he and Maris are thrown onto opposite sides of a holy war. As their fates diverge, they learn they are at the center of a story the gods are writing. And even if they can find their way back to each other, there may be nothing left.
Brigands & Breadknives by Travis Baldree
Release Date: November 11 from Tor Books
Why We’re Excited: The latest installment in Travis Baldree’s popular cozy fantasy universe that started with the megapopular Legends & Lattes, Brigands & Breadknives, is an all-new adventure featuring fan-favorite, foul-mouthed bookseller Fern.
Publisher’s Description: Fern has weathered the stillness and storms of a bookseller’s life for decades, but now, in the face of crippling ennui, transplants herself to the city of Thune to hang out her shingle beside a long-absent friend’s coffee shop. What could be a better pairing? Surely a charming renovation montage will cure what ails her!
If only things were so simple…
It turns out that fixing your life isn’t a one-time prospect, nor as easy as a change of scenery and a lick of paint.
A drunken and desperate night sees the rattkin waking far from home in the company of a legendary warrior, an imprisoned chaos-goblin with a fondness for silverware, and an absolutely thumping hangover.
As together they fend off a rogue’s gallery of ne’er-do-wells trying to claim the bounty the goblin represents, Fern may finally reconnect with the person she actually is when nothing seems inevitable.
The Last Wish of Bristol Keats by Mary E. Pearson
Release Date: November 11 from Flatiron Books
Why We’re Excited: The conclusion of Mary E. Pearson’s debut adult duology, The Last Wish of Bristol Keats, features even more romance, secrets, and magic than its predecessor, as Bristol must decide once and for all whether or not to claim her birthright—and what she’s willing to risk to save Elphame.
Publisher’s Description: After Bristol Keats nearly loses her beloved King Tyghan to the monsters her mother had unleashed, their love deepens to a whole new level. Together, Bristol and Tyghan work to understand and reconcile their differences, moving forward with their common goal of saving Elphame. But when a daring rescue attempt turns into a disaster, and a beloved knight dies, Bristol is forced to confront the fact that her mother is more powerful than she could have ever imagined—and more dangerous. Meanwhile, Tyghan’s heart is laid bare when he encounters his former best friend and betrayer again, Bristol’s own father, and must wrestle with a new secret that throws everything he thought he knew about his past into question.
Bristol is Elphame’s last chance for survival, but where do her loyalties truly lie? If she fully embraces the magic that has always been her birthright, she could become a different kind of monster from her mother. Is she willing to risk losing the people she loves most, if it means keeping them safe?
The Strength of the Few by James Islington
Release Date: November 11 from S&S/Saga Press
Why We’re Excited: The highly anticipated sequel to the critically acclaimed The Will of the Many may well be more intricate and heavily plotted than its predecessor, integrating multiple worlds and versions of characters across its pages (and taking the sort of wild narrative swings that probably shouldn’t pay off but do.)
Publisher’s Description: The Hierarchy still call me Vis Telimus. Still hail me as Catenicus. They still, as one, believe they know who I am.
But with all that has happened—with what I fear is coming—I am not sure it matters anymore.
I am no longer one. I won the Iudicium, and lst everything—and now, impossibly, the ancient device beyond the Labyrinth has replicated me across three separate worlds. A different version of myself in each of Obiteum, Luceum, and Res. Three different bodies, three different lives. I have to hide; fight; play politics. I have to train; trust; lie. I have to kill; heal; prove myself again, and again, and again.
I am loved, and hated, and entirely alone.
Above all, though, I need to find answers before it’s too late. To understand the nature of what has happened to me, and why.
I need to find a way to stop the coming Cataclysm, because if all I have learned is true, I may be the only one who can
The Bookshop Below by Georgia Summers
Release Date: November 18 from Redhook
Why We’re Excited: I’m always a sucker for a story about a magical bookshop or two, and this one from the author of The City of Stardust delves into a world where a secret network of such establishments has existed below the streets of London for millennia. But when they begin to slowly disappear, it’ll be up to disgraced bookseller Cassandra to find the truth—and a way to save them all.
Publisher’s Description: If you want a story that will change your life, Chiron’s bookshop is where you go. For those lucky enough to grace its doors, it’s a glimpse into a world of powerful bargains and deadly ink magic.
For Cassandra Fairfax, it’s a reminder of everything she lost, when Chiron kicked her out and all but shuttered the shop. Since then, she’s used her skills in less ethical ways, trading stolen books and magical readings to wealthy playboys and unscrupulous collectors.
Then Chiron dies under mysterious circumstances. And if Cassandra knows anything, it’s this: the bookshop must always have an owner.
But she’s not the only one interested. There’s Lowell Sharpe, a dark-eyed, regrettably handsome bookseller she can’t seem to stop bumping into; rival owners who threaten Cassandra from the shadows; and, of course, Chiron’s murderer, who is still on the loose.
As Cassandra tries to uncover the secrets her mentor left behind, a sinister force threatens to unravel the world of the magical bookshops entirely…
Snake Eater by T. Kingfisher
Release Date: December 1 from 47North
Why We’re Excited: A new novel from the prolific and always excellent T. Kingfisher is always reason to celebrate, if you ask me. (See also: Hemlock & Silver, A Sorceress Comes to Call, Thornhedge).
A story that sounds more like A House with Good Bones than the fantasy retellings that have hit shelves of late, Snake Eater is a contemporary fantasy/horror novel follows the story of Selena, a woman desperate to escape her past. But upon fleeing to the remote American desert, she finds herself catching the attention of the mysterious roadrunner god, to whom her now-dead aunt once made a life-altering promise. Now, Selena must keep that promise….or else.
Publisher’s Description: With only a few dollars to her name and her beloved dog Copper by her side, Selena flees her past in the city to claim her late aunt’s house in the desert town of Quartz Creek. The scorpions and spiders are better than what she left behind.
Because in Quartz Creek, there’s a strange beauty to everything, from the landscape to new friends, and more blue sky than Selena’s ever seen. But something lurks beneath the surface. Like the desert gods and spirits lingering outside Selena’s house at night, keeping watch. Mostly benevolent, says her neighbor, Grandma Billy. That doesn’t ease the prickly sense that one of them watches too closely and wants something from Selena she can’t begin to imagine. And when Selena’s search for answers leads her to journal entries that her aunt left behind, she discovers a sinister truth about her new home: It’s the haunting grounds of an ancient god known simply as “Snake-Eater,” who her late aunt made a promise to that remains unfulfilled.
Snake-Eater has taken a liking to Selena, an obsession of sorts that turns sinister. And now that Selena is the new owner of his home, he’s hell-bent on collecting everything he’s owed.
Lacy Baugher Milas writes about Books and TV at Paste Magazine, but loves nerding out about all sorts of pop culture. You can find her on Twitter and Bluesky at @LacyMB
