This season’s speculative fiction wrestles with real-world concerns—especially identity, climate change, war, and artificial intelligence—but also offers welcome escapism.
Top 10
The Book of Love
Kelly Link. Random House, Feb. 13 ($31, ISBN 978-0-8129-9658-6)
Pulitzer finalist Link makes her full-length debut with the story of three teenagers who, a year after their mysterious deaths, are resurrected by their high school music teacher and assigned magical tasks to complete if they hope to reunite with their loved ones.
The Bright Sword
Lev Grossman. Viking, July 16 ($35, ISBN 978-0-7352-2404-9)
After the heroes of Arthurian legend all die in battle, it’s up to a gang of oddballs from the mythological margins to save the day in the latest epic fantasy from bestseller Grossman.
Convergence Problems
Wole Talabi. DAW, Feb. 13 ($27, ISBN 978-0-7564-1883-0)
The 16 speculative shorts and one novella in Nigerian superstar Talabi’s second collection imagine the future of Africa and its peoples.
The Dead Cat Tail Assassins
P. Djèlí Clark. Tordotcom, Apr. 23 ($20.99, ISBN 978-1-250-76704-2)
In this standalone urban fantasy, Nebula Award winner Clark introduces a dangerous mystical city and the guild of highly trained assassins who rule its mean streets. 125,000-copy announced first printing.
The Eyes Are the Best Part
Monika Kim. Erewhon, June 25 ($27, ISBN 978-1-64566-123-8)
Kim’s debut horror novel follows a Korean American college freshman whose violent nightmares about her mother’s new white partner begin to spill over into her waking life.
I Was a Teenage Slasher
Stephen Graham Jones. Saga, July 16 ($27.99, ISBN 978-1-66802-224-5)
Bestseller Jones, known for celebrating and subverting classic horror movie tropes, revisits the slasher plots of the 1980s—but from the killer’s perspective.
The Last One
Rachel Howzell Hall. Red Tower, Feb. 6 ($32.99, ISBN 978-1-64937-440-0)
The heroine of this apocalyptic romantasy awakens with no memory of who she is or how her world was laid to waste. She sets out to save the planet—but she may have been the cause of its destruction.
The Mars House
Natasha Pulley. Bloomsbury, Mar. 19 ($29.99, ISBN 978-1-63973-233-3)
A climate refugee in Mars’s first human colony enters into a marriage of convenience with a politician pushing an anti-Earthling agenda in this queer sci-fi romance.
The Stars Too Fondly
Emily Hamilton. Harper Voyager, June 11 ($18.99 trade paper, ISBN 978-0-06-332081-9)
Hamilton debuts with a space opera about a found family of friends who inadvertently steal a historically significant spaceship, the crew of which disappeared years before. As they haplessly travel through space, they unravel the mystery of what happened.
These Fragile Graces, This Fugitive Heart
Izzy Wasserstein. Tachyon, Mar. 12 ($15.95 trade paper, ISBN 978-1-61696-412-2)
Wasserstein’s debut novel, a techno noir set in a near-future Kansas City, follows a trans security expert as she investigates the death of her ex-girlfriend.
SF, Fantasy & Horror longlist
Ace
The Night Ends with Fire by K.X. Song (July 2, $30, ISBN 978-0-593-81572-4). YA novelist Song’s adult debut, a riff on the Mulan legend, sends young Meilin to war in her father’s place. While training with the imperial army, she sees visions of a sea dragon who tempts her with untold power.
Ad Astra
House of Open Wounds by Adrian Tchaikovsky (Mar. 5, $27.99, ISBN 978-1-0359-0138-8) takes place in a war-torn fantasy world where a scrappy team of field medics turn to forbidden magic and banished gods to heal the injured and revive the fallen.
Akashic
So You Wanna Run a Country? by Kevin Holohan (Mar. 5, $27.95, ISBN 978-1-63614-160-2). In a dystopian cyberpunk future, the eponymous reality show replaces the governments of small countries with underqualified contestants who struggle to lead, all for the sake of mass entertainment.
Amistad
Midnight Rooms by Donyae Coles (Feb. 15, $28, ISBN 978-0-06-322809-2). A mixed-race spinster in 1840 England accepts the proposal of a white man who promises devotion and financial security—but only darkness awaits at his dilapidated and possibly haunted gothic manor. 75,000-copy announced first printing.
Angry Robot
The Last Phi Hunter by Salinee Goldenberg (Apr. 9, $18.99 trade paper, ISBN 978-1-915998-14-9). An ambitious young demon hunter agrees to escort a pregnant martial arts master through a dangerous forest filled with ghosts that hunger for the unborn.
Astra House
Mood Swings by Frankie Barnet (May 21, $26, ISBN 978-1-66260-259-7) imagines a near future world in which humans are the only animals left alive. Against the backdrop of this climate apocalypse, an aspiring poet enters a relationship with a billionaire who claims to have access to a time machine.
Avid Reader
A Short Walk Through a Wide World by Douglas Westerbeke (Apr. 9, $28.99, ISBN 978-1-66802-606-9) begins in 1885 Paris, when young Aubry Tourvel is cursed to die if she ever stops moving, and follows her wanderings over the course of her life.
Berkley
Island Witch by Amanda Jayatissa (Feb. 20, $28, ISBN 978-0-593-54926-1) sets a gothic horror story in 19th-century Sri Lanka, where a young girl must protect her village from supernatural attacks—even as the villagers accuse her magic-wielding father, a demon priest, of being the culprit.
Witchcraft for Wayward Girls by Grady Hendrix (July 16, $30, ISBN 978-0-593-54898-1). The latest horror comedy from bestseller Hendrix takes readers to a home for teen mothers in 1970s Florida, where five denizens discover latent talents for witchcraft.
BHC
The Dishonest Miss Take by Faye Murphy (June 18, $28, ISBN 978-1-64397-391-3). A woman with superpowers in Victorian London reluctantly accepts the mantle of hero, teaming up with a female assassin to take down a killer—and falling in love along the way.
Black Spot
Mother Knows Best: Tales of Homemade Horror, edited by Lindy Ryan (May 7, $15.95 trade paper, ISBN 978-1-64548-139-3). A star-studded lineup of female horror writers contribute stories to this anthology centered on monstrous motherhood.
Blackstone
NecroTek by Jonathan Maberry (May 28, $27.99, ISBN 979-8-200-68840-1). Humanity relies on ultra-high-tech spaceships in a war against aliens in this sci-fi thriller from bestseller Maberry. But there’s a catch: the ships can only be piloted by the dead.
Brain Lag
Mecha-Jesus and Other Stories by Derwin Mak (Mar. 8, $16.99 trade paper, ISBN 978-1-998795-17-8) collects 12 of the Aurora Award winner’s sci-fi and horror shorts featuring androids, witches, and monsters.
CamCat
The Building That Wasn’t by Abigail Miles (July 16, $28.99, ISBN 978-0-7443-0985-0). As Everly Tertium explores a mysterious apartment building with a tenuous connection to her family, she begins to suspect that the inhabitants are unable to leave.
Catapult
The Witches of Bellinas by J. Nicole Jones (May 14, $27, ISBN 978-1-64622-180-6). A couple whose marriage is on the rocks are drawn into a supposedly utopian, wellness-centered artists collective that hides a dark secret.
Del Rey
The Tainted Cup by Robert Jackson Bennett (Feb. 6, $28.99, ISBN 978-1-984820-70-9). In bestseller Bennett’s first novel since concluding his Founders trilogy, a brilliant but idiosyncratic detective and her magical assistant investigate the supernatural death of an imperial officer—and along the way discover a threat to the empire itself.
ECW
We Speak Through the Mountain by Premee Mohamed (June 18, $15.95 trade paper, ISBN 978-1-77041-733-5) returns to the post-climate-apocalypse world of The Annual Migration of Clouds, this time following series protagonist Reid to Howse University, the last bastion of knowledge and advanced civilization.
Flatiron
The Cautious Traveller’s Guide to the Wastelands by Sarah Brooks (July 9, $29.99, ISBN 978-1-250-87861-8) sets a debut historical fantasy aboard the Great Trans-Siberian Express as it carries passengers—including a child born on the train and a mysterious stowaway—through monster-infested wastelands. 125,000-copy announced first printing.
The Stardust Grail by Yume Kitasei (June 11, $29.99, ISBN 978-1-250-87537-2) sends a retired intergalactic art thief with the ability to see the future on one last job: saving an alien race from extinction. 75,000-copy announced first printing.
Forest Avenue
Chicano Frankenstein by Daniel A. Olivas (Mar. 5, $16 trade paper, ISBN 978-1-942436-59-1) retells Mary Shelley’s classic horror story from the perspective of a man brought back from the dead in a near-future world where reanimation is a hot-button political issue.
Harper Voyager
Dragon Rider by Taran Matharu (Apr. 2, $29, ISBN 978-0-06-322757-6) marks the adult debut of a bestselling YA author and launches a series about an aspiring dragon rider on a quest to beat back the imperial forces that killed his family.
Hillman Grad
Ocean’s Godori by Elaine U. Cho (Apr. 23, $28, ISBN 978-1-63893-059-4). In a far-future solar system dominated by Korea, pilot Ocean Yoon has a reputation as a wild card. After her high-ranking best friend becomes a murder suspect, Ocean sets out to clear his name. 75,000-copy announced first printing.
Hoopoe
The Jinn Daughter by Rania Hanna (Apr. 2, $16.95 trade paper, ISBN 978-1-64903-363-5) follows a jinn whose role is to tell the stories of the dead so their souls can pass over to the afterlife—until Death decides it’s time for someone else to take over.
Knopf
Navola by Paolo Bacigalupi (July 16, $30, ISBN 978-0-593-53505-9). The Renaissance-esque city-state of Navola is secretly controlled by the powerful di Regulai family. As Davico di Regulai prepares to take the reins guided by an ancient relic, revolutionary sentiment spreads. 75,000-copy announced first printing.
Mariner
Annie Bot by Sierra Greer (Mar. 19, $28, ISBN 978-0-06-331269-2). A robot programmed to be the perfect girlfriend grows increasingly sentient, threatening her relationship with her owner/boyfriend.
MCD
Moonbound by Robin Sloan (June 11, $28, ISBN 978-0-374-61060-9). Narrated by an ancient AI, this far-future science fantasy adventure from bestseller Sloan sends a boy named Ariel on a quest to save the world.
Mira
In the Hour of Crows by Dana Elmendorf (June 4, $28.99, ISBN 978-0-7783-1049-5) chronicles an Appalachian woman with the power to revive the dying as she investigates the death of her cousin, a seer.
MIT
The Inhumans and Other Stories: A Selection of Bengali Science Fiction, edited and trans. by Bodhisattva Chattopadhyay (Mar. 12, $19.95 trade paper, ISBN 978-0-262-54761-1), brings together classic sci-fi stories from colonial India, translated into English for the first time.
Morrow
The Book of Doors by Gareth Brown (Feb. 13, $30, ISBN 978-0-06-332398-8). An unassuming New York City bookstore clerk is endangered after her favorite customer leaves her a book with instructions on how to travel between worlds—making her a target for collectors eager to get their hands on the volume.
Mythic Delirium
Slow Burn by Mike Allen (July 16, $17.95 trade paper, ISBN 978-1-956522-03-7) collects 14 horror stories and 13 supernaturally inflected poems exploring all things twisted and terrifying.
Nightfire
What Feasts at Night by T. Kingfisher (Feb. 13, $19.99, ISBN 978-1-250-83085-2) returns to the gothic world of What Moves the Dead, sending former soldier Alex Easton to a desolate hunting lodge in a forlorn village plagued by monsters said to steal human breath. 150,000-copy announced first printing.
Orbit
A Letter to the Luminous Deep by Sylvie Cathrall (Apr. 23, $18.99 trade paper, ISBN 978-0-316-56553-0). After two academics living in an underwater city disappear while conducting illicit research, their respective siblings attempt to track them down using the letters they left behind in this epistolary romantasy.
Overlook
Daughters of Chaos by Jen Fawkes (July 9, $26, ISBN 978-1-4197-7247-4). A union spy in Civil War–era Nashville discovers a secret society of magical women stretching back centuries.
Penguin Books
Queen B by Juno Dawson (July 23, $18 trade paper, ISBN 978-0-14-313834-1). The third Her Majesty’s Royal Coven fantasy flashes back to the 16th century, when the eponymous witchy organization was formed under the guidance of Anne Boleyn.
Poisoned Pen
My Darling Dreadful Thing by Johanna Van Veen (May 14, $17.99 trade paper, ISBN 978-1-72828-154-4). Financially precarious medium Roos finds love with a wealthy young widow—until someone is murdered in the widow’s gothic mansion and the finger of suspicion points to Roos. 50,000-copy announced first printing.
Putnam
Heads Will Roll by Josh Winning (July 30, $29, ISBN 978-0-593-54469-3). Willow, a canceled sitcom star, escapes a social media storm of her own making by heading to an adult summer camp in upstate New York—but a series of brutal attacks on the camp disrupt her newfound peace.
Quirk
The Z Word by Lindsay King-Miller (May 7, $16.99 trade paper, ISBN 978-1-68369-407-6). Wendy must team up with her ex-girlfriend and the rest of their chaotic queer friend group to survive a zombie apocalypse in the debut novel from the author of Ask a Queer Chick.
Redhook
Daughter of the Merciful Deep by Leslye Penelope (June 4, $18.99 trade paper, ISBN 978-0-316-37822-2). In this historical fantasy, Jane Edwards sets out to save the all-Black town of Awenasa from a government plan to flood the community—and gets some unexpected help from a man who may or may not already be dead.
An Education in Malice by S.T. Gibson (Feb. 13, $28, ISBN 978-0-316-50145-3) turns to dark academia in this modern, sapphic retelling of Sheridan Le Fanu’s classic vampire tale, Carmilla.
Saga
Mirrored Heavens by Rebecca Roanhorse (June 4, $29.99, ISBN 978-1-5344-3770-8). The conflicts between individuals, nations, and gods come to a head in the final epic fantasy of bestseller Roanhorse’s Between Earth and Sky trilogy.
Scribner
Pink Slime by Fernanda Trías, trans. by Heather Cleary (July 2, $24, ISBN 978-1-66804-977-8). The U.S. debut of Uruguayan author Trías follows the life of a woman stranded in a town wracked by climate change.
Soho Press
youthjuice by E.K. Sathue (June 4, $25.95, ISBN 978-1-64129-592-5). Sathue debuts with a horror novel set in the world of wellness influencers who are determined to stay young and beautiful forever—no matter the cost. 75,000-copy announced first printing.
St. Martin’s
Daughter of Calamity by Rosalie M. Lin (June 18, $29, ISBN 978-1-250-28738-0). When a killer starts targeting cabaret dancers and stealing their faces in 1930s Shanghai, showgirl Jingwen investigates, propelling her into a shady underworld of gangsters and magic.
Strange Light
Supplication by Nour Abi-Nakhoul (May 7, $17.95 trade paper, ISBN 978-0-7710-0607-4). A woman awakens in captivity only to escape into an unnamed city with even more danger in store in this psychological horror debut.
Talos
The Oracle by Ari Juels (Feb. 20, $24.99, ISBN 978-1-945863-85-1). A coder and an FBI special agent team up to stop a near-future cult of Apollo worshipers who weaponize Web 3.0’s blockchain to order assassinations of their enemies.
Titan
The Afterlife of Mal Caldera by Nadi Reed Perez (June 11, $16.99 trade paper, ISBN 978-1-80336-776-7). The ghost of a rock star determined to reach out to her estranged younger sister from beyond the grave enlists the help of a reluctant medium, sparking an unexpected bond between all three of them.
Tor
When Among Crows by Veronica Roth (May 14, $19.99, ISBN 978-1-250-85548-0) introduces an urban fantasy world populated by beings from Slavic folklore. 200,000-copy announced first printing.
Vintage
Catchpenny by Charlie Huston (Apr. 9, $18 trade paper, ISBN 978-0-593-68508-2) follows a depressed thief who can walk through mirrors as he comes out of semi-retirement for a job that dovetails with a teenage gamer’s disappearance and his own wife’s murder.
WordFire
A Bit of Luck, edited by Lisa Mangum (Feb. 9, $29.99, ISBN 978-1-68057-613-9). Twenty SFF authors reimagine famous moments from history in this anthology of what might have been.
Word Horde
Around Eldritch Corners by Christine Morgan (Apr. 30, $20.99 trade paper, ISBN 978-1-956252-08-8) gathers Morgan’s Lovecraftian horror tales, in which she explores all things weird, unknowable, and tentacled.
This article has been updated with further information.
