In a genre dominated by long, epic fantasies, P. Djèlí Clark’s The Dead Cat Tail Assassins is a breath of fresh air.
Feminist Greek mythology retellings have been in vogue for a while now, and Jennifer Saint’s novels are among the best of the best (with the very top of Mount Olympus reserved for Madeline Miller, of course). Her previous three books have focused on heroines (Ariadne and Atalanta) and avengers (Elektra), but her next work will be the first to star an outright villainous figure: Hera, Zeus’ jealous and vindictive wife. The goddess of marriage, Hera is a figure that practically begs for a more sympathetic reappraisal given our modern perspective on Zeus’ unfaithfulness and cruelty.
Liz Kerin’s Night’s Edge was the best new spin on the vampire novel in ages, and First Light will continue the story of Mia, who’s now on the hunt to find the man that turned her mother into one of the undead.
Hannah Whitten won a fan base with her fantasy Wilderwood duology, and last year’s The Foxglove King proved her bona fides with a tale that was darker and more ambitious than her first two novels. Its sequel, The Hemlock Queen, finds Bastian and Lore seemingly on top and on the verge of changing the city of Dellaire for the better, but in the time-honored tradition of second installments everywhere, things are not only about to take a turn for the worse, but they’re also about to get much more complicated.
The author of the marvelous Winterlight trilogy makes her grand return to historical fantasy with this haunting tale set during World War I. Former nurse Laura Iven’s parents recently died in an accident, and her brother, Freddie, was declared missing in the trenches. But what actually happened to Freddie is far stranger, involving a mysterious man who can make pain and trauma disappear . . .
After a cliffhanger that left readers in utter shambles at the end of House of Sky and Breath, Sarah J. Maas’ return to Crescent City is eagerly awaited even by her towering standards. Fans of her other fantasy series know that Maas often waits to reveal the full extent of the story she’s telling until the second or third book in a series; whatever’s revealed in House of Flame and Shadow could blow the preceding book’s cliffhanger out of the water.
Whether she’s writing horror (The Hollow Places, A House With Good Bones) or fairy tale-inspired fantasy (Nettle & Bone), T. Kingfisher’s work is a pitch-perfect blend of the hopeful and the grim, the macabre and the magical. The worlds she creates are often bleak, but bright spots can always be found in her characters’ irrepressible humor and love for one another. Her next novel will be inspired by the Brothers Grimm’s “The Goose Girl,” and if it’s anything like her marvelous novella Thornhedge, which flipped the tale of Sleeping Beauty on its head, A Sorceress Comes to Call will be full of nasty surprises and bursts of hope alike.
Emily Wilde’s Map of the Otherlands immerses readers in a cozy and magical 20th-century Cambridge while reuniting them with the wry and clever Professor Wilde.
The Longest Autumn will appeal to fans of Jennifer Saint’s Elektra or fantasy readers looking for something quiet and character-driven.
Fans of The Hunger Games and Red Rising will enjoy The Serpent & the Wings of the Night, Carissa Broadbent’s action-packed vampire romance.
Far more than simply “‘The Birds,’ but with owls,” The Parliament is the kind of captivating novel that comes along all too rarely.
Erika Johansen’s lyrical and terrifying retelling of The Nutcracker is just as likely to disturb as it is to enchant.
Stay on top of new releases: Sign up for our newsletter to receive reading recommendations in your favorite genres.
