Brace yourselves–the next parts of that story you’re waiting to read are almost here! This year is filled with sequels, be they continuing installments or series conclusions, each promising all those next steps in your favorite stories that have kept you upat night, wondering how Bree will get out of the clutches of evil (Oathbreaker); whether Keera will finally, finally find her peace (An Honored Vow); or exactly how many sacrifices Kochin will make to bring Nhika back to life (His Mortal Demise).
While the world has already caught up on Onyx Storm (yet another cliffhanger, Rebecca Yarros?), these are the other sequels of 2025 you can’t miss.
An Honored Vow by Melissa Blair
Release Date: January 7 from Union Square & Co.
Each of the novels in Blair’s Halfling Saga has changed the stakes, not just for the main characters, but for the world. In A Vicious Game, Keera embraced her Light Fae heritage, opening the seals that had closed magic away from the world, trying to fight back against the new—and worse—king. As An Honored Vow opens, it feels like things may finally start going Keera’s way, and the Halflings (people who have fae heritage) may at last break free from tyrannical rule.
But Keera continues to battle against her own worst self; when her lover’s secrets are revealed, and one of her closest allies is kidnapped, she teeters on the edge of returning to her addictions and hopelessness. And while Keera’s breaking of the seals empowered her beyond imagining, it also released an ancient evil. When the king fully realizes the threat Keera and the Halflings pose, he plunges the kingdom into violence, leading to a final, inevitable confrontation. This is the final book in the Halfling Saga, so if you’re not ready to say goodbye to these characters yet, read slowly.
Oathbound by Tracy Deonn
Release Date: March 4 from Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers
At the end of Bloodmarked, Bree—who carries both the root magic of her ancestors and the spirit of King Arthur—made good on a deal her ancestors had created with the Shadow King. She’s turned her back on her friends (and both her love interests) in order to set things right on her own terms. But while she’s abandoned the Legendborn Order, the elite (and white) heirs of the Arthurian legacy, the truth is that they need her. Selwyn, the Kingsmage, has also disappeared; Nick, seeking to keep the Round Table from fracturing completely, puts his faith in the wrong people and winds up imprisoned.
As Merlins are being murdered, it becomes clear that Bree still has a job to do—she’ll just have to figure out how to free herself from the Shadow King to do it. WARNING: Oathbound is book three of four in the series, so while readers have been itching to get their hands on it, be ready for another cliffhanger before the series’ conclusion!
His Mortal Demise by Vanessa Le
Release Date: Mach 18 from Roaring Brook Press
At the end of Vanessa Le’s The Last Bloodcarver, Nhika sacrifices herself to save the people she loves. But Kochin, a fellow heartsooth who had fallen for her, couldn’t let her go. The final chapter in the novel reveals that Kochin is treading down a dark path, and His Mortal Demise picks up on that note, with Kochin preserving Nhika’s body, intent on bringing her back to life. (Never mind that this was exactly that Nhika was trying to keep someone else from doing—it’ll be fine.)
To bring Nhika back, Kochin travels to Yarong, the original home of the heartsooths. And when Nhika awakes, Kochin has vanished; she has to find him to discover exactly what he did to save her, and what consequences he paid in the process. Told from both Kochin’s and Nhika’s POV, this sequel is a stunning conclusion to the story (although if Le returns to this world at some point with a different story, readers will not be disappointed; the setting is gorgeously immersive).
Last Chance to Save the World by Beth Revis
Release Date: April 8 from DAW
The Chaotic Orbits trilogy of novellas hit the world at full speed (in Full Speed to a Crash Landing) in August 2024, and luckily, readers haven’t had to wait long for any installment, with How to Steal a Galaxy arriving last December. Now, the characters are headed toward a conclusion that will save or seal Earth’s fate in Last Chance to Save the World.
Con artist Ada and government agent Rian have one shot at keeping Earth from being taken over by a billionaire who intends to hold the planet hostage: He’ll clean their atmosphere, sure, but only using nanobots with planned obsolescence. The planet’s residents will have to continue to pay him for his services, losing more of their own resources while he gets richer and richer. All Ada and Rian have to do is break into a high-security facility and give the nanobots a countervirus that will keep them from having an expiration date. What could possibly go wrong? Revis’s snarky first-person narration hooks readers from the beginning, and the fast paced, heist-based plotline, which threads all three stories together, is great for SF lovers and heist fans alike.
The Ashfire King by Chelsea Abdullah
Release Date: April 15 from Orbit
At the end of The Stardust Thief, Qadir, the jinn bodyguard and companion of legendary merchant Loulie al-Nazari appears to sacrifice himself to save her. Now, in The Ashfire King, Loulie and Mazen bin Malik, an exiled prince, are in the realm of the jinn, which seems to be falling apart around them. When Loulie helps an old friend of Qadir’s, who happens to be a rebel against the powers that be, she accidentally involves herself in a centuries-old war.
Readers have been waiting since 2022 to find out what happened to Qadir (is he really dead?), but this volume may not confirm anything for readers—the final book in the trilogy is yet to come. In the meantime, Loulie is a fascinating POV character with a double identity, and the world draws readers in, sinking them into a setting steeped in history and magic.
Saint Death’s Herald by C.S.E. Cooney
Release Date: April 22 from Solaris
In the World Fantasy Award-winning novel Saint Death’s Daughter, readers were introduced to Miscellaneous “Lanie” Stones, a necromancer from a family of assassins, who has an allergy to death and violence. With the Stones family’s estate in jeopardy and her parents murdered, things are dire enough—but then Liriat’s ruler is also murdered, and the entire nation is thrown into disarray. Lanie’s pursued not only by creditors, but the ghost of her grandfather.
Luckily, the goddess of death is on her side—and despite a lot of questionable choices, she rises to face even greater challenges in Saint Death’s Herald. Lanie has a talent for quelling the restless dead, but the worst among them is her own great-grandfather, a necromancer as well, who is intent on conquering the world. Along with an unlikely group of companions, Lanie has to stop him before he possesses the most powerful wizard in existence. This one is highly recommended to lovers of necromancers, LGBTQ+ fantasy, and tangential footnotes.
A Letter from the Lonesome Shore by Sylvie Cathrall
Release Date: May 6 from Orbit
In A Letter from the Luminous Deep, readers were introduced to a host of characters through epistolary storytelling in multiple perspectives. Sophy and Vyerin, siblings to two missing correspondents (E. and Henerey), are trying to piece together what happened to their loved ones before they disappeared, comparing the letters and writings each has collected.
In this concluding volume of the duology, E. and Henerey are united in an underwater city—and Sophy and Vyerin come closer to tracing their true location. But the secrets they uncover reveal an ancient threat, as well, and they’ll have to find a way to keep it from destroying the world as they know it. Despite this final looming threat, the duology has a cozy, academic feel throughout, and the underwater world is a lovely place to visit while safely snuggled under a blanket on dry land.
Flight of the Fallen by Hana Lee
Release Date: June 10 from S&S/Saga Press
The “Magebike Courier” duology returns to its post-apocalyptic world, where lovers Princess Yi-Nireen and Prince Kadrin have been united against all odds. But Jin-Lu, the courier who deserves that credit (and who is in love with both), lost her ability to use mana when the three of them saved the world at the end of Road to Ruin.
Given that the world still needs saving, the trio has to make a request of Yi-Nireen’s cruel father, who disapproves of her union, in order to find a path forward for humanity. The wasteland setting of this duology has all the Mad Max and Pacific Rim vibes you could ask for, along with dinosaurs, shield mages, and magic-powered motorcycles, and Jin is a fantastic POV character readers will continue to root for as she races toward the novel’s epic conclusion.
The Sovereign by C.L. Clark
Release Date: September 30 from Orbit
While author C.L. Clark has other books releasing this year (Ambessa, Fate’s Bane), readers of the Magic of the Lost trilogy have been holding their breath waiting for the conclusion of that series, which finally arrives in September. In The Sovereign, Luca and Touraine are now in charge of Balladaire, a nation that’s the seat of an empire that took over Touraine’s own homeland. Luca has finally won her throne, and she’s desperately seeking Balladaire’s own magic to stop the plague on her nation. Touraine is mindful of the threats from outside their borders—including an army from her homeland, led by her former lover.
The delight of this series is how complicated the world is when you are both conqueror and conquered, when you seek to make the world a better place yet inherit a legacy of tyranny. Which side should the reader root for? It’s almost impossible to say—although odds are good, rooting for Luca and Touraine to somehow win a happy ending will be at the forefront of readers’ minds!
Dead Hand Rule by Max Gladstone
Release Date: October 28 from Tor Books
If you’ve been following the Craft Wars books, you know that the series (technically, the second series) is heading toward a world-shaking climax. Starting with the Craft Sequence and Three Parts Dead (or Last First Snow, if you want to read them chronologically), the novels introduce readers to a world of legal magic, where magic-users who wield the Craft have come to power after the God Wars, in which many gods fell and died. Mixing magic and modern life—people use a currency that is literally drawn from their own souls, and carry debt the way modern readers handle their student loans—the series has shown readers resurrected gods, battles in and out of the courtroom, and relationships of all kinds between fully developed characters in all their messy glory.
In the first novel of the Craft Wars saga (book six in the overarching series), Tara Abernathy discovers that there’s something beyond the world she knows: it’s something bad, and it’s coming for them. Wicked Problems left Tara facing off against this deadly force trying to break the world (again), shattering everything the Craft has built—and in Dead Hand Rule, it’s up to Tara to bring the world together for one final stand. But after centuries at war, can they find a common ground? If you’re looking for a series to binge this year, you won’t go wrong with the Craftverse, and you’ll be all caught up as it heads into its final novel in 2026.
The Burning Queen by Aparna Verma
Release Date: November 4 from Orbit
What happens when the hero becomes the villain? In The Phoenix King, Elena Aadya Ravence fought to become the true heir to her father’s throne, wielding fire without getting burned. But when enemies invade her nation, she and a double agent—who’s also in love with her—flee, giving her a chance to take back what’s hers.
The question for Elena in The Burning Queen becomes not whether she’ll succeed, but how far she’s willing to go, and what she’s willing to destroy, to get her revenge. This second book in the “Ravence Trilogy” is sure to set the world on fire; the only question is whether anyone will walk away unscathed into the final volume.
But Wait, There’s More…
Looking for even more sequels to put on your 2025 TBR? Don’t forget to list The Blood Phoenix by Amber Chen (June 17), The Jasad Crown by Sarah Hashem (July 15), and Between These Broken Hearts by Lexi Ryan (July 22). If you need a book you can pick up right now, grab The Witch of Whispervale by R.A. Salvatore or Reluctant Witch by Melissa Marr. Whether you’re finishing a series or just catching the latest installment, these books push their stories ahead—to even greater cliffhangers or to a final happy ending.
Alana Joli Abbott is a reviewer and game writer, whose multiple-choice novels, including Choice of the Pirate and Blackstone Academy for Magical Beginners, are published by Choice of Games. She is the author of three novels, several short stories, and many roleplaying game supplements. She also co-edits fantasy anthologies for Outland Entertainment, including Rising Tides (which is currently live on Kickstarter) and edits novels, like the debut paranormal mystery A Promise of Sirens by V.L. Barycz, due out in July. You can find her online at VirgilandBeatrice.com.