Fantasy

Absolution

Jeff VanderMeer’s experimental sci-fi Southern Reach trilogy was an immediate crossover success when it was released in 2014, and it’s since been enshrined in the pantheon of modern SFF classics. Much of our current wave of literary, ambitious and unabashedly weird speculative fiction can be traced back to the Southern Reach books and their heady blend of horror, cli-fi (climate fiction) and conspiracy thriller. VanderMeer will return to the series this fall with Absolution, which will tell the story of three separate expeditions into the terrifying yet beautiful Area X.

The Lotus Empire

By Tasha Suri

And lo, a second series in the Sapphic Trifecta comes to a close. If you’re not in the know (read: way too online and/or a Tumblr user), you may not have heard of this most holy of groupings, which consists of C.L. Clark’s The Unbroken, Shelley Parker-Chan’s She Who Became the Sun and Tasha Suri’s The Jasmine Throne, all of which were released to instant acclaim in 2021 and all of which featured epic sapphic relationships at their heart. Parker-Chan’s duology ended last year, and now it’s Suri’s turn to land the ship with The Lotus Empire, the third and final installment in The Burning Kingdoms trilogy.

Buried Deep and Other Stories

By Naomi Novik

Buried Deep is a transportive story collection from Naomi Novik, who maps her narrative milieus with extraordinary precision.

Somewhere Beyond the Sea

By TJ Klune

Somewhere Beyond the Sea, the highly anticipated sequel to TJ Klune’s The House in the Cerulean Sea, is a triumphant rallying cry for freedom and joy.

The City in Glass

By Nghi Vo

The City in Glass, a beautifully written tale of a bereaved demon and a cursed angel, finds Nghi Vo at the peak of her craft.

A Letter to the Luminous Deep

By Sylvie Cathrall

Part mystery, part slowly building romance, Sylvie Cathrall’s lyrical fantasy, A Letter to the Luminous Deep, utilizes poignant details and quaint language to conjure an evocative underwater world.

Part mystery, part slowly building romance, Sylvie Cathrall's lyrical fantasy, A Letter to the Luminous Deep, utilizes poignant details and quaint language to conjure an evocative underwater world.

The Dissonance

By Shaun Hamill

A phantasmagoria of dark imagery that never loses sight of its human core, The Dissonance solidifies Shaun Hamill’s place as one of genre fiction’s brightest rising stars.

A phantasmagoria of dark imagery that never loses sight of its human core, The Dissonance solidifies Shaun Hamill’s place as one of genre fiction's brightest rising stars.