Science Fiction & Fantasy

Written on the Dark

Guy Gavriel Kay doesn’t usually write historical fantasy; most of his work is set in fictional worlds. But in every other way that matters, he’s one of the best historical fantasy authors alive. Many of Kay’s fantasies are set in worlds just one step away from our own, exhaustively researched and beautifully realized reimaginings of eras such as Tang Dynasty China or Renaissance Europe, whose separation from our reality allows Kay to comment freely upon our cultural foibles and historical sins. His latest, Written on the Dark, will take place in a world inspired by the chaotic, captivating tapestry of medieval France.

Wearing the Lion

By John Wiswell

John Wiswell’s debut, Someone You Can Build a Nest In, was a lovable and ambitious fantasy romance starring an inhuman monster impossible to not fall for. In his sophomore novel, Wiswell appears to be continuing in that vein: His retelling of the Hercules myth will see the iconic hero caring for the monsters set against him, rather than defeating them. Meanwhile, Hera, the goddess responsible for Hercules’ trials and tribulations, tries to come to terms with her guilt over her actions.

The Staircase in the Woods

By Chuck Wendig

Horror maestro Chuck Wendig’s latest doorstopper feels slightly Stephen King-esque: Five high school friends on a camping trip discover a staircase to nowhere in the middle of the forest. One walks up and never comes down, so when the staircase reappears 20 years later, the four remaining band together to rescue their lost friend from . . . whatever is up there.

Slaying the Vampire Conqueror

By Carissa Broadbent

Before readers get a sequel to Carissa Broadbent’s The Songbird & the Heart of Stone, the author will take a quick detour with this standalone novel. Sylina is a devoted acolyte and assassin of the Goddess of Fate, and her latest assignment is to gain the trust of Atrius, a vampire intent on conquering the kingdom of Glaea—and kill him. As one would expect, this plan hits several snags as Sylina learns more about Atrius and his mysterious past.

Before readers get a sequel to Carissa Broadbent's The Songbird & the Heart of Stone, the author will take a quick detour with this standalone novel. Sylina is a devoted acolyte and assassin of the Goddess of Fate, and her latest assignment is to…

The Ragpicker King

By Cassandra Clare

YA icon Cassandra Clare’s first series for adults picks up right where the first book, Sword Catcher, left off. After a massacre at the palace, Kel Saren, body double to the city-state of Castellane’s crown prince, is trying to hunt down those responsible. Meanwhile, physician Lin Caster is pretending to be the Goddess Reborn, her Ashkari people’s prophesied savior.

Hemlock & Silver

By T. Kingfisher

If you’ve read T. Kingfisher’s Thornhedge, a novella with a particularly inspired take on Sleeping Beauty, you know she does a great fairy-tale retelling. The acclaimed fantasy and horror author’s Hemlock & Silver will be a dark reimagining of Snow White, starring a late Renaissance healer tasked with figuring out which poison is slowly killing the king’s daughter.

A Drop of Corruption

By Robert Jackson Bennett

Robert Jackson Bennett’s superb new mystery series is best described as Sherlock Holmes in a high-fantasy version of Pacific Rim, but even that comparison doesn’t quite capture the inventive, character-driven cleverness of The Tainted Cup. In the follow-up, eccentric, brilliant sleuth Ana Dolabra and her long-suffering assistant are faced with an even more puzzling case than their first: A treasury officer has disappeared from a heavily guarded government building, even though all the windows and doors were locked.

The Dark Mirror

By Samantha Shannon

Before she became one of BookTok’s most beloved authors with The Priory of the Orange Tree and A Day of Fallen Night, Samantha Shannon was the wunderkind author of The Bone Season series, a futuristic fantasy set in a Europe where magic is illegal. It’s been four years since Shannon’s last Bone Season novel, and fan fervor for this fifth installment is at an all-time high.

Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil

By V. E. Schwab

V.E. Schwab has penned many, many bestselling novels, but The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue was a blockbuster hit by even her high standards. Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil seems to be a return to the dreamy, accessible historical fantasy of Addie LaRue, this time focusing on three women in different eras who are magically linked.

When We Were Real

By Daryl Gregory

It’s become something of a universal bit to declare “we live in a computer simulation” when faced with the latest nonsense of our age, but trust Daryl Gregory (Revelator, Spoonbenders) to take that idea and spin it into something more profound than pithy. Best friends JP and Dulin are heading out on a road trip—to see all the weird anomalies that popped up in our world after a mysterious announcement that our reality is merely a digital construction.

Katabasis

By R.F. Kuang

After a quick little detour telling the publishing industry about itself (2023’s ferocious satire, Yellowface), R.F. Kuang is back to fantasy and working in the mode that she, as an accomplished scholar, absolutely dominates: dark academia. And this time, it’s a dark academia love story. Between two scholars who have to go to hell to save their adviser’s soul. We do not deserve her.

The Listeners

By Maggie Stiefvater

The adored author of YA classics The Raven Cycle, The Scorpio Races and the Shiver Trilogy will finally make her adult debut with The Listeners, which seems of a piece with the dreamy, fabulist fantasy of The Raven Cycle. The Listeners will follow a midcentury hotel owner who is the only person who can “manage” the possibly/probably magical hot springs that have made the West Virginia hotel a luxury destination. However, it’s also 1942, and when the hotel owners make a deal with the State Department to house captured Axis diplomats, the beautiful environs are soon crawling with Nazis.

Hammajang Luck

By Makana Yamamoto

Like an Ocean’s movie set in space, Hammajang Luck will charm readers looking for a smooth ride with a lovable cast.

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