There are lot of things to dread about 2025, and you don’t need us to remind you of them. But, thank goodness, we still have books. And the publishing industry is poised to come through for us just when we need it most. (Let’s put it this way, we have a lot of most-anticipated lists headed your way over the next few days!) But for those who love the fantasy genre—buckle up, because some straight bangers are headed our way in the next twelve months.
From highly anticipated sequels and series enders, new titles from big-name favorite authors, and buzzy debuts, there’s something for everyone headed our way this year. Prepare your TBRs accordingly.
Here are the fantasy books we’re most looking forward to in 2025.
Immortal by Sue Lynn Tan
Release Date: January 7 from Harper Voyager
Why We’re Excited: This standalone fantasy is set in the world of Tan’s popular Daughter of the Moon Goddess duology that mixes political intrigue, forbidden magic, and a slow-burn, enemies-to-lovers romance between a young ruler fighting to save her kingdom and the ruthless God of War. The worldbuilding is top notch and the relationship between the young ruler of Tianxia and the immortal she begrudgingly grows to trust is excellent.
Publisher’s Description: The young heir to a mortal crown, Liyen ascends a precarious throne when her grandfather dies, vowing to end her kingdom’s obligation to the immortals and take vengeance against those she feels responsible for his death. When she is summoned to the Immortal Realm, she seizes the opportunity to learn their secrets and to form a tenuous alliance to safeguard her people, all with the one she should fear and mistrust the most: the ruthless God of War. As they are drawn together, a treacherous attraction ignites between them—one she has to resist, to not endanger all she is fighting for.
But with darker forces closing in around them, and her kingdom plunged into peril, Liyen must risk everything to save her people from an unspeakable fate, even if it means forging a dangerous bond with the immortal… even if it means losing her heart.
Four Ruined Realms by Mai Corland
Release Date: January 7 from Entangled/Red Tower Books
Why We’re Excited: The highly anticipated follow-up to Mai Corland’s twisty, propulsive Five Broken Blades, sequel Four Ruined Realms will see the lives of our main characters—and the mission they thought they were undertaking together—turned upside down.
Ordered by the King of Yusan to steal the Golden Ring of the Dragon Lord from Quilimar, the Queen of Khitan, Sora, Tiyung, Royo, Aeri, Euyn, and Mikhail, must find a way to work together—despite their differing goals and personal conflicts—and turn the tables right back.
Publisher’s Description: The King of Yusan may be the greatest liar of them all.
His sister’s ring is in his sights, and he will do anything to get what he wants. Even manipulating the five blades to steal it…
Bonded by a common enemy, then divided by deceit, the blades must rely on their skills to pull off King Joon’s pursuit or risk his legendary wrath.
A foreign rule of law stands between them and Quilimar, the Queen of Khitan. Now they have one month to steal the powerful Golden Ring of the Dragon Lord. But that impossible task might be easier than trusting one another, even though their lives, their families, and the realms depend on it.
They can all agree on one thing: the king can’t win. But can they beat him at his own game?
Because for the blades, this time it’s not just personal, it’s revenge. Lies may have torn them apart, but now vengeance will bring them together.
Onyx Storm by Rebecca Yarros
Release Date: January 21 from Entangled/Red Tower Books
Why We’re Excited: Anyone who reads any sort of fantasy—or, heck, has entered a bookstore in the last year—is undoubtedly aware of the phenomenon that is Fourth Wing, a high stakes romantasy about students at a war college for dragon riders. The second installment Iron Flame concluded with a massive (and emotionally devastating) cliffhanger, and readers have been counting the days to the release of the third book, Onyx Storm, ever since. It will hit shelves in January, and it’s unlikely that any of us are prepared for what awaits Violet Sorrengail and her friends. Just block the weekend off to read now.
Publisher’s Description: After nearly eighteen months at Basgiath War College, Violet Sorrengail knows there’s no more time for lessons. No more time for uncertainty.
Because the battle has truly begun, and with enemies closing in from outside their walls and within their ranks, it’s impossible to know who to trust.
Now Violet must journey beyond the failing Aretian wards to seek allies from unfamiliar lands to stand with Navarre. The trip will test every bit of her wit, luck, and strength, but she will do anything to save what she loves―her dragons, her family, her home, and him.
Even if it means keeping a secret so big, it could destroy everything.
They need an army. They need power. They need magic. And they need the one thing only Violet can find―the truth.
But a storm is coming…and not everyone can survive its wrath.
Emily Wilde’s Compendium of Lost Tales Heather Fawcett
Release Date: February 11 from Del Ray
Why We’re Excited: The charming third (and final) installment in the Emily Wilde series cements Heather Fawcett as the queen of cozy, low-stakes fantasy.
Publisher’s Description: Emily Wilde has spent her life studying faeries. A renowned dryadologist, she has documented hundreds of species of Folk in her Encyclopaedia of Faeries. Now she is about to embark on her most dangerous academic project yet: studying the inner workings of a faerie realm—as its queen.
Along with her former academic rival—now fiancé—the dashing and mercurial Wendell Bambleby, Emily is immediately thrust into the deadly intrigues of Faerie as the two of them seize the throne of Wendell’s long-lost kingdom, which Emily finds a beautiful nightmare filled with scholarly treasures.
Emily has been obsessed with faerie stories her entire life, but at first she feels as ill-suited to Faerie as she did to the mortal world: How can an unassuming scholar such as herself pass for a queen? Yet there is little time to settle in, for Wendell’s murderous stepmother has placed a deadly curse upon the land before vanishing without a trace. It will take all of Wendell’s magic—and Emily’s knowledge of stories—to unravel the mystery before they lose everything they hold dear.
Rebel Witch by Kristen Ciccarelli
Release Date: February 18 from Wednesday Books
Why We’re Excited: This highly anticipated sequel to the (excellent) Heartless Hunter, brings Kristen Ciccarelli’s Crimson Moth duology to a thrilling conclusion. Two months after the dramatic betrayals and world-changing revelations at the end of the first book, witch Rune and witch hunter Gideon find themselves on opposite sides of a war for the future of their republic, with their positions complicated by their genuine, conflicting feelings for one another. Enemies to lovers perfection with a breakneck narrative pace.
Publisher’s Description: A WITCH…Rune Winters is on the run. Ever since the boy she loved, Gideon Sharpe, revealed who she was and delivered her into enemy hands, everyone wants her dead. If Rune hopes to survive, she must ally herself with the cruel and dangerous Cressida Roseblood, who’s planning to take back the Republic and reinstate a Reign of Witches—something Cressida needs Rune to accomplish.
A WITCH HUNTER…Apparently it wasn’t enough for Rune to deceive Gideon; she’s now betrayed him by joining forces with the witch who made his life a living hell. Gideon won’t allow the Republic to fall to the witches and be plunged back into the nightmares of the past. In order to protect this new world he fought for, every last witch must die—especially Rune Winters.
AN IMPOSSIBLE CHOICE… When Rune makes Gideon an offer he can’t refuse, the two must pair up to accomplish dangerous goals. The more they’re forced into each other’s company, the more Gideon realizes the feelings he had for Rune aren’t as dead and buried as he thought. Now he’s faced with a terrible choice: sacrifice the girl he loves to stop a monster taking back power, or let Rune live and watch the world he fought so hard for burn.
The Dark Mirror by Samantha Shannon
Release Date: February 25 from Bloomsbury
Why We’re Excited: The highly anticipated fifth book in Samantha Shannon’s epic Bone Season series, The Dark Mirror arrives four years after its predecessor, meaning most fans are probably already positively feral with their need to find out what’s next for prickly heroine Paige Mahony. The book promises to shake things up in Shannon’s sprawling series, erasing six months of Paige’s memory and allowing her to step outside the Republic of Scion and imagine a new world of both immense and frightening possibility. (Also, fans of the relationship between Paige and warden Arcturus Mesarthim, all I can say is: Buckle up.)
Publisher’s Description: Paige Mahoney is outside the Republic of Scion for the first time in more than a decade but she has no idea how she got to the free world. Half a year has been wiped from her memory.
Her journey back to the revolution soon takes her to Venice, where the Domino Programme has uncovered evidence of a secret Scion plan. Before Paige can return to London, she must help the network unravel the sinister Operation Ventriloquist, which threatens to bring Europe to its knees in weeks.
And it soon becomes clear that the one person who could recover her memories-Arcturus Mesarthim-might also hold the key to thwarting Scion, allowing the revolution to strike an unprecedented blow.
The Scorpion and the Night Blossom by Amelie Wen Zhao
Release Date: March 4 from Delacorte Press
Why We’re Excited: In this lush fantasy inspired by Chinese mythology, a young woman desperate to save her mother enters the Immortality Trials to win the one thing that might save her—a pill of eternal life. But the Trials hold many hidden dangers—the most unexpected of which might be the handsome practitioner Yù’chén, a man talented enough to win in his own right, but who seems to be strangely invested in keeping Àn’yīng alive. A thrilling competition ensues, which features a compelling mystery and one of the most swoon-worthy, complicated romances you’ll read this year. (You can read an excerpt here.)
Publisher’s Description: Nine years ago, the war between the Kingdom of Night and the Kingdom of Rivers tore Àn’yīng’s family apart, leaving her mother barely alive and a baby sister to fend for. Now the mortal realm is falling into eternal night, and mó—beautiful, ravenous demons—roam the land, feasting on the flesh of humans and drinking their souls.
Àn’yīng is no longer a helpless child, though. Armed with her crescent blades and trained in the ancient art of practitioning, she has decided to enter the Immortality Trials, which are open to any mortal who can survive the journey to the immortal realm. Those who complete the Trials are granted a pill of eternal life—the one thing Àn’yīng knows can heal her dying mother. But to attain the prize, she must survive the competition.
Death is common in the Trials. Yet oddly, Àn’yīng finds that someone is helping her stay alive. A rival contestant. Powerful and handsome, Yù’chén is as secretive about his past as he is about his motives for protecting Àn’yīng.
The longer she survives the Trials, the clearer it becomes that all is not right in the immortal realm. To save her mother and herself, Àn’yīng will need to figure out whether she can truly trust the stranger she’s falling for or if he’s the most dangerous player of all . . . for herself and for all the realms.
The Ragpicker King by Cassandra Clare
Release Date: March 4 from Del Ray
Why We’re Excited: The highly anticipated sequel to Cassandra Clare’s Sword Catcher will pick up in the wake of that book’s explosive cliffhanger, as Kel Saren is forced to work with the criminal overlord known as the Ragpicker King to solve the mystery of a massacre at the palace and protect the crown prince he’s sword to serve.
Publisher’s Description: Kel Saren, body double to Conor, crown prince of the dazzling city of Castellane, is caught between two worlds. In order to protect his beloved prince, Kel must find the culprits responsible for a massacre at the royal palace—and the only clues are held by the Ragpicker King, the notorious criminal who rules Castellane’s underworld. The trail Kel follows leads back to the Hill, where among decadent nobles and glittering parties a dark conspiracy to destroy the royal family has taken hold—a conspiracy headed up by the monstrous Artal Gremont, the man engaged to marry the woman Kel adores.
Meanwhile, Lin Caster must face the aftermath of the greatest risk she’s ever taken. To save the life of a dying friend, Lin has falsely claimed to be the Goddess Reborn, the legendary heroine destined to save her people. Now the terrifying—but strangely magnetic—leader of her people has arrived to test her powers. The price of failure is exile, and only through her alliance with the Ragpicker King can she continue to access the magic that may save her.
Then Prince Conor reappears in her life, demanding that she use her healing powers to cure the madness of his father, the King. Lin soon realizes the King is gripped by an ancient and terrible magic, one whose lure she cannot deny any more than she can deny her growing passion for Conor.
As the simmering tensions in Castellane reach a fever pitch, Lin and Kel must decide who to trust when any false move means death—or worse.
The Witch Who Trades with Death by C.M. Alongi
Release Date: March 11 from Angry Robot
Why We’re Excited: The story of a young witch desperate to escape the cruel emperor she’s forced to serve makes a deal with Death to survive—but every bargain takes a piece of her soul in the process.
Publisher’s Description: All witches must serve the cruel and immortal Emperor Yacatl. But after four years of terror and abuse, Khana not only kills one of his favorite courtiers with her magic, but also discovers the secret of his power and immortality: he’s been making deals with Death. And now, so is she.
Armed with magic that she doesn’t fully understand, Khana flees the empire and stumbles into a small mountain town filled with fierce warriors that ostracize her for being a witch, despite using her abilities to heal their sick and injured. There, her magic and courage are put to the test as she is forced to stop running and fight back against the emperor that wants her dead.
But every deal she makes with Death takes another piece of her soul. And there’s only so much Khana can give before she turns into the very monster she’s trying to destroy.
The Prince Without Sorrow by Maithree Wijesekara
Release Date: March 18 from Harper Voyager
Why We’re Excited: This dark fantasy inspired by the Mauryan Empire of Ancient India is a crackling story of betrayal, ambition, and vengeance. A young witch breaks the non-violent rules of her order to punish an emperor who has persecuted and murdered her people and finds her story is inexplicably tied to that of his son. Political intrigue, romantic angst, and seemingly impossible choices abound.
Publisher’s Description: Prince Ashoka is the youngest son of the tyrannical Emperor Adil Maurya. Considered an outcast by his father for his rejection of the emperor’s brutal onslaught against the witches of the empire, Ashoka longs for change. When the sudden and unexpected death of his father leaves the monarchy in disarray, Ashoka is sent to govern a tumultuous region annexed by Emperor Adil that is terrorized by nature spirits—a task many see as doomed to fail. Suspected by a disdainful governor and evaded by distrustful witches, Ashoka must question his rigid ideals and fight against becoming the one person he despises the most—his father.
Shakti is a mayakari: a witch bound by a pacifist code. After witnessing the murder of her aunt and village at the hands of the emperor, Shakti hurtles down a path of revenge, casting a curse with unexpected consequences. Posing as a maidservant in the famed palace of the Mauryas and armed with newfound powers beyond her imagination, Shakti attempts to dismantle the monarchy from within by having the royal progeny ruin themselves and turn their father’s legacy into nothing but ash.
In a world where nature spirits roam the land, and witches are hunted to extinction, Ashoka and Shakti will be forced to grapple with the consequences of power: to take it for themselves or risk losing it completely.
The Bane Witch by Ava Morgyn
Release Date: March 18 from St. Martin’s Griffin
Why We’re Excited: A witchy story of poison eaters, serial killers, and female rage that’s described as a mix of Practical Magic and Gone Girl? Sign me up!
Publisher’s Description: Piers Corbin has always had an affinity for poisonous things—plants and men. From the pokeweed berries she consumed at age five that led to the accidental death of a stranger, to the husband whose dark proclivities have become… concerning, poison has been at the heart of her story.
But when she fakes her own death in an attempt to escape her volatile marriage and goes to stay with her estranged great aunt in the mountains, she realizes her predilection is more than a hunger—it’s a birthright. Piers comes from a long line of poison eaters—Bane Witches—women who ingest deadly plants and use their magic to rid the world of evil men.
Piers sets out to earn her place in her family’s gritty but distinguished legacy, all while working at her Aunt Myrtle’s cafe and perpetuating a flirtation with the local, well-meaning sheriff to allay his suspicions on the body count she’s been leaving in her wake. But soon she catches the attention of someone else, a serial killer operating in the area. And that only means one thing—it’s time to feed.
House of Blight by Maxym M. Martineau
Release Date: April 8 from Harper Voyager
Why We’re Excited: An intriguing Gothic fantasy about a threadmender whose magical abilities can heal others, but whose use means shortening her own life. But when her brothers are both simultaneously stricken by the deadly blight, she’ll have to make a deal with a member of the village’s most elite families to try to find a way to save them. Attraction ensues, alongside betrayal and many, many unexpected secrets.
Publisher’s Description: Edira Brillwyn is a threadmender. She holds a rare, lifesaving power that can cure disease and heal injuries in the blink of an eye. But magic always comes with a cost, and saving anyone sacrifices a sliver of her own life. She’s always kept her abilities hidden…until the powerful Fernglove family discovers her secret.
The Ferngloves are charming and beautiful, possess powerful magic, and don’t take no for an answer—especially Orin, the head of these ruling elites. When Edira’s brothers unexpectedly contract blight—an incurable virus killing people throughout the town, and an illness too strong for her to heal them both—Orin offers to help. Together at his estate they’ll research a cure while Orin slows their sickness and Edira hones her magic. His kindness and honesty surprises Edira, as does her undeniable attraction to him.
But the other Ferngloves are suspicious of her power and may be more dangerous than the ever-present disease. The longer Edira stays within the confines of the Manor, the more the family’s pristine exterior begins to crack—until Edira discovers a terrifying secret and must choose who she can save and at what cost…
The Raven Scholar by Antonia Hodgson
Release Date: April 15 from Orbit
Why We’re Excited: When the Emperor of Orrun steps down, the competition to replace him is fierce—literally. The best of the best from across the kingdom—each representing one of the monasteries dedicated to the seven supernatural guardians who protect it—-assemble to battle it out in a series of trials. But when one of them is murdered, the emperor’s High Scholar must enter the tournament to clear her name and solve a mystery that stretches back generations. Or die trying.
The Raven Scholar deftly blends lush high fantasy worldbuilding with a compelling murder mystery and a delightfully offbeat lead character. An unexpected banger whose release date you’ll want to circle on the calendar.
Publisher’s Description: Let us fly now to the empire of Orrun, where after twenty-four years of peace, Bersun the Brusque must end his reign. In the dizzying heat of mid-summer, seven contenders compete to replace him. They are exceptional warriors, thinkers, strategists—the best of the best.
Then one of them is murdered.
It falls to Neema Kraa, the emperor’s brilliant, idiosyncratic High Scholar, to find the killer before the trials end. To do so, she must untangle a web of deadly secrets that stretches back generations, all while competing against six warriors with their own dark histories and fierce ambitions. Neema believes she is alone. But we are here to help; all she has to do is let us in.
If she succeeds, she will win the throne. If she fails, death awaits her. But we won’t let that happen.
We are the Raven, and we are magnificent.
Silver Elite by Dani Francis
Release Date: May 6 from Del Ray
Why We’re Excited: A debut that kicks off a buzzy new dystopian fantasy romance series, Silver Elite mixes tropes we love in new and intriguing ways. Described as perfect for fans of Fourth Wing and Divergent it follows the story of a young woman with forbidden psychic powers who is forced to join the Continent’s most elite training academy—-even as she plots to burn it all down from within.
Publisher’s Description: Wren Darlington has spent her whole life in hiding, honing her psychic abilities and aiding the rebel Uprising in small ways. On the Continent, being Modified means certain death—and Wren is one of the most powerful Mods in existence. When one careless mistake places her in the hands of the enemy and she’s forced to join their most elite training program, she’s finally handed the perfect opportunity to strike a devastating blow from inside their ranks.
But training for Silver Block can be deadly, especially when you’re harboring dangerous secrets and living in close quarters with everyone who wants you dead.
As the stakes grow ever higher, Wren must prove herself to Silver Block. But that’s easier said than done when your commanding officer is the ruthless and infuriatingly irresistible Cross Redden, who doesn’t miss anything when it comes to her. And as war rages between Mods like her and those who aim to destroy them, Wren must decide just how far she’s willing to go to protect herself . . . and how much of the Continent is worth saving.
The Devils by Joe Abercrombie
Release Date: May 13 from Tor Books
Why We’re Excited: The highly anticipated new novel from Joe Abercrombie, The Devils deftly blends a high fantasy adventure with gripping elements of heist, spy, and thriller fiction to form something that feels entirely new—and thoroughly exciting. With its breakneck plot and cast of intriguing antiheroes, and thoughtful worldbuilding, its doorstopper of a length will fly by.
Publisher’s Description: Holy work sometimes requires unholy deeds.
Brother Diaz has been summoned to the Sacred City, where he is certain a commendation and grand holy assignment awaits him. But his new flock is made up of unrepentant murderers, practitioners of ghastly magic, and outright monsters. The mission he is tasked with will require bloody measures from them all in order to achieve its righteous ends.
Elves lurk at our borders and hunger for our flesh, while greedy princes care for nothing but their own ambitions and comfort. With a hellish journey before him, it’s a good thing Brother Diaz has the devils on his side.
The Incandescent by Emily Tesh
Release Date: May 13 from Tor Books
Why We’re Excited: A sapphic dark academia fantasy that’s described as Naomi Novik’s Scholomance series meets Plain Bad Heroines sounds pretty perfect to me, is all I’m saying.
Publisher’s Description: Doctor Walden is the Director of Magic at Chetwood School and one of the most powerful magicians in England. Her days consist of meetings, teaching A-Level Invocation to four talented, chaotic sixth formers, more meetings, and securing the school’s boundaries from demonic incursions.
Walden is good at her job―no, Walden is great at her job. But demons are masters of manipulation. It’s her responsibility to keep her school with its six hundred students and centuries-old legacy safe. And it’s possible the entity Walden most needs to keep her school safe from―is herself.
The Knight and the Moth by Rachel Gillig
Release Date: May 20 from Orbit
Why We’re Excited: Even if I knew absolutely nothing about this book, that cover would make me scoop it up immediately. (Wow!) But The Knight and the Moth is the highly anticipated new novel from Rachel Gillig, author of the popular Shepherd King duology, and promises to give readers even more of her signature lyrical prose and haunting storytelling.
Publisher’s Description: Sybil Delling has spent nine years dreaming of having no dreams at all. Like the other foundling girls who traded a decade of service for a home in the great cathedral, Sybil is a Diviner. In her dreams she receives visions from six unearthly figures known as Omens. From them, she can predict terrible things before they occur, and lords and common folk alike travel across the kingdom of Traum’s windswept moors to learn their futures by her dreams.
Just as she and her sister Diviners near the end of their service, a mysterious knight arrives at the cathedral. Rude, heretical, and devilishly handsome, the knight Rodrick has no respect for Sybil’s visions. But when Sybil’s fellow Diviners begin to vanish one by one, she has no choice but to seek his help in finding them. For the world outside the cathedral’s cloister is wrought with peril. Only the gods have the answers she is seeking, and as much as she’d rather avoid Rodrick’s dark eyes and sharp tongue, only a heretic can defeat a god.
Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil by V.E. Schwab
Release Date: June 10 from Tor Books
Why We’re Excited: It’s a new book from V.E. Schwab, of course, we’re excited. Described by the author herself as a more feral version of The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue, Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil crosses centuries, continents, and cultures to tell the story of three women whose bodies are buried in the same location and whose afterlives are not what they expected. Vampire fiction the way it should be done, and a compellingly dark companion to the more life-affirming Addie LaRue.
Publisher’s Description: Santo Domingo de la Calzada, 1532. London, 1827. Boston, 2019.
Three young women, their bodies planted in the same soil, their stories tangling like roots.
One grows high, and one grows deep, and one grows wild.
And all of them grow teeth.
The Nightshade God by Hannah Whitten
Release Date: July 15 from Orbit
Why We’re Excited: The third and final installment in Hannah Whitten’s Nightshade Crown trilogy has been on the top of many most anticipated lists (read: mine) since second installment The Hemlock Queen dropped last year and death witch heroine Lore was banished to the Burnt Isles. But it sounds like the finale will be more than worth the wait—as Lore works to gather the power to defeat the gods themselves.
Publisher’s Description: Lore has failed. She couldn’t save King Bastian from the rotten god speaking voices in his mind. She couldn’t save her allies from being scattered across the continent—their own lesser gods whispering to them in their dreams. She couldn’t save her beautiful, corrupt city from the dark power beneath the catacombs. And she couldn’t save herself.
Banished to the Burnt Isles, Lore must use every skill she earned on the streets of Dellaire to survive the prison colony and figure out a way to defeat the power that’s captured everything and everyone she holds dear. When a surprise ally joins her on the Burnt Isles she realizes the way forward may lie on the island itself. Somehow, her friends must help her collect the far-scattered pieces of the broken Fount—the source of all the god’s powers—and bring them back together on the Burnt Isles, returning all magic to its source and destroying, once and for all, the gods corrupting the land
But as Lore gets closer to her goal, her magic grows stronger… and to a woman who’s always had to fight for survival, that kind of power may be hard to give up.
Silvercloak by L.K. Steven
Release Date: July 29 from Del Ray
Why We’re Excited: The second banger of a fantasy novel that will hit shelves from author L.K Steven this year (look for the other, Our Infinite Fates, on our most anticipated YA list), this decidedly intriguing-sounding story will feature a unique magic system fueled by sensation and undoubtedly a complicated central romance.
Publisher’s Description: A dark and addictive epic fantasy series begins, set in a corrupt world where magic is fueled by pleasure and pain, in this first installment of the Silvercloak Saga.
Hemlock & Silver by T. Kingfisher
Release Date: August 19 from Tor Books
Why We’re Excited: At this point, after books like Nettle & Bone, Thornhedge, and A Sorceress Comes to Call, you could tell me that T. Kingfisher was writing a fantasy take on the post office and I’d line up on release day to read it. But a dark Snow White reimagining? Be still my heart.
Publisher’s Description: Healer Anja knows little of politics but much of poisons. When she is summoned to treat the mysterious illness afflicting the king’s daughter, she finds herself against the clock, desperate to track down the source of the poison killing Princess Snow. But the chance discovery of a strange alternate world inside a magic mirror leads Anja to darker discoveries, including what really happened to Snow’s dead sister, Rose, and why their mother seemingly went mad and cut out her heart.
Aided by a taciturn bodyguard, a narcissistic cat, and a late Renaissance understanding of the scientific method, Anja must navigate the mysteries of the mirror world before the dark queen that dwells within rises to threaten them all.
Katabasis by R.F. Kuang
Release Date: August 28 from Harper Voyager
Why We’re Excited: Any new book from the author of Babel and Yellowface automatically has our attention, but this weird combination of Dante’s Inferno and Susanna Clarke’s Piranesi that follows two rival PhD students who must descend into Hell to rescue the soul of their advisor sounds particularly intriguing.
Publisher’s Description: Alice Law has only ever had one goal: to become one of the brightest minds in the field of Magick. She has sacrificed everything to make that a reality: her pride, her health, her love life, and most definitely her sanity. All to work with Professor Jacob Grimes at Cambridge, the greatest magician in the world.
That is, until he dies in a magical accident that could possibly be her fault.
Grimes is now in Hell, and she’s going in after him. Because his recommendation could hold her very future in his now incorporeal hands and even death is not going to stop the pursuit of her dreams….
Nor will the fact that her rival, Peter Murdoch, has come to the very same conclusion.
With nothing but the tales of Orpheus and Dante to guide them, enough chalk to draw the Pentagrams necessary for their spells, and the burning desire to make all the academic trauma mean anything, they set off across Hell to save a man they don’t even like.
But Hell is not like the storybooks say, Magick isn’t always the answer, and there’s something in Alice and Peter’s past that could forge them into the perfect allies…or lead to their doom.
Thief of Night by Holly Black
Release Date: September 25 from Tor Books
Why We’re Excited: The long-awaited sequel to Holly Black’s Book of Night is set to arrive in September and we’re already losing our minds.
Publisher’s Description: There’d always been something wrong with Charlie Hall. Crooked from the day she was born. Never met a bad decision she wasn’t willing to double down on. She may be good enough to steal a shadow from a tower, but will she be good enough to steal back a heart?
Lacy Baugher Milas is the Books Editor at Paste Magazine, but loves nerding out about all sorts of pop culture. You can find her on Twitter and Bluesky at @LacyMB