This year is bringing the bangers for fantasy readers! We took a deep dive into the internet, and we found several gems we are definitely pumped about. Here are 10 fantasy books we’re looking forward to reading this year. Don’t forget to check out our sci-fi round-up.
The Devils by Joe Abercrombie
Joe Abercrombie’s newest novel is sure to be a dark, sinister, and bonkers ride. It is also the first in a series set in the same world, so we cannot wait to kick this off. If you want to get pumped with us, here’s the synopsis: “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.” Source: Macmillan
Gods and Monsters by E. E. King
Not to toot our own horn, but we’re really excited to publish our first novel! E. E. King penned much of this supernatural tale while living in a tiny Mexican town practically overflowing with magic and signs from the universe.
Part history lesson, part fantasy, part mythology – King loves to drop in real locations and historical figures for added flavor.
The fusion of literary fiction and magical realism explores destiny and the human psyche. Does fate control our future? Do our beliefs shape reality?
Hemlock & Silver by T. Kingfisher
A dark retelling of Snow White from the witch’s point of view? We will be seated! We’re most excited about the relationship between the witch and Snow White and the little hints to the larger mystery. “Healer Anja regularly drinks poison. Not to die, but to save—seeking cures for those everyone else has given up on.
But a summons from the King interrupts her quiet, herb-obsessed life. His daughter, Snow, is dying, and he hopes Anja’s unorthodox methods can save her.
Aided by a taciturn guard, a narcissistic cat, and a passion for the scientific method, Anja rushes to treat Snow, but nothing seems to work. That is, until she finds a secret world, hidden inside a magic mirror. This dark realm may hold the key to what is making Snow sick. Or it might be the thing that kills them all.” Source: Macmillan
Lightfall by Ed Crocker
Lightfall will set off Ed Crocker’s Everlands trilogy, and we’re very excited to delve into this new fantasy world. There are vampires, werewolves, murder investigations, and we spy a little bit of a class struggle within this new world. What’s not to like? “For centuries, vampires freely roamed the land until the Greys came out of nowhere, wiping out half the population in a night. The survivors fled to the last vampire city of Lightfall, where the rules are simple. If you’re poor, you drink weak blood. If you’re nobility, you get the good stuff. And you can never, ever leave.
Palace maid Sam has had enough of these rules, and she’s definitely had enough of cleaning the bedpans of the abusive lords who enforce them. When the son of the city’s ruler is murdered and she finds the only clue to his death, she seizes the chance to blackmail her way into a better class and better blood. She falls in with the Leeches, a group of rebel maids who rein in the worst of the Lords. Soon she’s in league with a sorcerer whose deductive skills make up for his lack of magic, a deadly werewolf assassin and a countess who knows a city’s worth of secrets.
There’s just one problem. What began as a murder investigation has uncovered a vast conspiracy by the ruling elite, and now Sam must find the truth before she becomes another victim of Lightfall. If she can avoid getting murdered, she might just live forever.” Source: Ed Crocker
The Lost Apprentice by Tara O’Toole
Tara O’Toole’s upcoming novel combines two blockbuster elements: dark academia and rivals to lovers. We cannot help but to rub our hands together in excitement. The Lost Apprentice promises to introduce us to a whole new mysterious academic world with tons of magic. “Fiadh Whelan should be over the moon. After months spent burning the midnight oil, at twenty-three years of age, everything she’s worked hard to achieve is finally within her grasp. Incredibly, she has her pick of prestigious apprenticeships. But when her beloved cousin goes missing, Fiadh’s world falls apart.
She seems to be the only person who won’t accept the neat explanation that Muriel messed up at work and ran away. Fiadh suspects her cousin’s former colleagues are lying; and, determined to find the truth, she accepts an apprenticeship at the firm responsible for her cousin’s disappearance. Her plan is simple: stay under the radar and investigate everyone. Annoyingly, that plan goes to hell when her rival, Keefe ‘swan man’ O’Kelly, sticks his beak where it’s not wanted and delves into a past she’d rather remain buried.
In fact, it feels as though everyone around her is hiding secrets, making it hard to know whom to trust. Yet, it’s sink or swim at Heron Early LLP and Fiadh has to compete for a coveted spot in the SoS, a secret society of solicitors she believes may be the key to finding Muriel. But every apprentice eventually learns an unfortunate truth: once a dark deed is signed, sealed and delivered – you’re theirs to control.” Source: Tara O’Toole
The Floating World by Axie Oh
Axie Oh knows how to pick titles, that’s for sure. It immediately brings to mind Kazuo Ishiguro’s An Artist of the Floating World. And although Oh’s novel most certainly differs from Ishiguro’s, there’s just something about the image it evokes that it fully grabs your attention. The second retelling of this list, Oh’s novel brings adventure and romance to the Korean legend of Celestial Maidens. “Sunho lives in the Under World, a land of perpetual darkness. An ex-soldier, he can remember little of his life from before two years ago, when he woke up alone with only his name and his sword. Now he does odd-jobs to scrape by, until he comes across the score of a lifetime—a chest of coins for any mercenary who can hunt down a girl who wields silver light.
Meanwhile, far to the east, Ren is a cheerful and spirited acrobat traveling with her adoptive family and performing at villages. But everything changes during one of their festival performances when the village is attacked by a horrific humanlike demon. In a moment of fear and rage, Ren releases a blast of silver light—a power she has kept hidden since childhood—and kills the monster. But her efforts are not in time to prevent her adoptive family from suffering a devastating loss, or to save her beloved uncle from being grievously wounded.
Determined to save him from succumbing to the poisoned wound, Ren sets off over the mountains, where the creature came from—and from where Ren herself fled ten years ago. Her path sets her on a collision course with Sunho, but he doesn’t realize she’s the girl that he—and a hundred other swords-for-hire—is looking for. As the two grow closer through their travels, they come to realize that their pasts—and destinies—are far more entwined than either of them could have imagined…” Source: Axie Oh
A Drop of Corruption by Robert Jackson Bennett
This is the awaited second installment of Robert Jackson Bennett’s Shadow of the Leviathan series. The novel seems to promise a smart mystery with several plot twists, and if there’s something we like it’s a good procedural mystery set in fantasy worlds. “In the canton of Yarrowdale, at the very edge of the Empire’s reach, a Treasury officer has disappeared into thin air—vanishing from a room within a heavily guarded tower, its door and windows locked from the inside.
To solve the case, the Empire calls on its most brilliant and mercurial detective, the great Ana Dolabra. At her side, as always, is her bemused assistant Dinios Kol.
Ana soon discovers that they are investigating not a disappearance but a murder—and one of surpassing cunning, carried out by an opponent who can pass through warded doors like a ghost.
Katabasis by R. F. Kuang
R. F. Kuang’s new novel is in everyone’s wishlists for this year. The novel is giving Dante’s Inferno vibes with a dash of magic. Journey’s into the underworld are always a wonder to read, but if it’s by Kuang, then it’s sure going to be an enjoyable time. “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.” Source: Barnes & Noble
The Incandescent by Emily Tesh
You might think there’s too many books set in magical worlds in this list, but it’s not our fault these are so appealing! Emily Tesh’s novel is set in magic school and follows a smart and sharp teacher. Some of the buzzwords used for it are “dark academia” and “sapphic romance”. There’s nothing else we could ask for, to be quite honest. “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.” Source: Macmillan
Breath of the Dragon by Shannon Lee and Fonda Lee
Dragons! Honor! Legacy! Cool fighting sequences! All of these call to us, and Shannon Lee and Fonda Lee will surely deliver a quality novel. “Sixteen-year-old Jun dreams of proving his worth as a warrior in the elite Guardian’s Tournament, held every six years to entrust the magical Scroll of Heaven to a new protector. Eager to prove his skills, Jun hopes that a win will restore his father’s pride—righting a horrible mistake that caused their banishment from his home, mother, and twin brother.
But Jun’s father strictly forbids him from participating. He believes there is no future in Jun honing his skills as a warrior, especially considering Jun is not breathmarked, born with a patch of dragon scales and blessed with special abilities like his twin. Determined to be the next Guardian, Jun stows away in the wagon of Chang and his daughter, Ren, performers on their way to the capital where the tournament will take place.
As Jun competes, he quickly realizes he may be fighting for not just a better life, but the fate of the country itself and the very survival of everyone he cares about.” Source: Fonda Lee
Adriana Acevedo is an editor, writer, and sleep paralysis demon. She's been published in magazines like samfiftyfour and Impostor. She's bilingual and living in the monstrous Mexico City. Whenever she's not reading horror stories or watching horror movies, she's baking sourdough bread. Read more of her writing here.