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Fantasy and Science Fiction January 2026 |
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I Think I'm in Love with an Alien
by Ann Aguirre
He's stranded. He's desperate. He's not looking for love. Alien Tamzir Jaarn, a.k.a. Seeker, is paying the price for risking an illicit holiday on an interdicted planet. His ride off-world never showed, and he's been stranded on Earth for nearly a year. His gear is breaking down, food is becoming a problem, and if his camouflage unit fritzes, he'll wind up in a government lab. But he's met some cool humans online, and they've invited him to the biggest space-themed convention around. Why not make memories with them while he figures out how to get home? Space Con or bust! She's nerdy. She's flirty. She's ready for romance. Jennette Hammond is an endearing weirdo, voted most likely to bang an alien in high school. Her house is full of gray man collectibles, adorable tentacle monsters, and yes, in college, she volunteered for a SETI-type program. Not that she's ever had any close encounters of the sexy, alien kind. Heck, she's never even been able to convince anyone to attend Space Con. But that's about to change. Finally, she has online friends who have agreed to go, and it will be a romp to remember--and she'll finally put a face to the name of her longtime crush, Seeker. When alien meets adorkable, they're destined for an out-of-this-world affair...
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| The King Must Die by Kemi Ashing-GiwaMercenary Fen has spent her entire life at the mercy of cutthroat politicians on the planet Newearth. But when her fathers are executed and Fen is in danger of facing the same fate by the ruthless Sovereign, Fen must find the remnants of an underground rebellion in order to survive. For fans of: cinematic science fiction with intrigue, world-building, and well-drawn characters, such as Pierce Brown's Red Rising and Premee Mohamed's The Siege of Burning Grass. |
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In the Veins of the Drowning
by Kalie Cassidy
Imogen Nel is in hiding. Hiding from a cruel kingdom that believes Sirens are monstrous, blood-hungry creatures. Hiding from a king and his captain who viciously hunt her kind. Hiding from her own alluring abilities. By keeping herself from the sea, Imogen’s bloodlust is dulled, and her black wings remain concealed beneath her skin. When a neighboring king comes to visit, Imogen can no longer hide. He knows precisely what she is, and he believes she can save their kingdoms from an even greater monster. But Imogen’s power threatens to violently reveal itself, and the two form a blood bond that protects them both. They flee together, traversing waters teeming with the undead. As the lines between duty to their people and desire for each other begin to blur, Imogen worries her ancestral powers may not be enough to kill what hunts her—the only way to defeat a monster may be to become one herself.
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Shiny Happy People
by Clay McLeod Chapman
Sixteen-year-old Kyra teams up with new boy Logan to uncover the truth behind a mysterious drug with disturbing side effects that is plaguing their town.
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A Land So Wide
by Erin A. Craig
Like everyone else in the settlement of Mistaken, Greer Mackenzie is trapped. Founded by an ambitious lumber merchant, the village is blessed with rich natural resources that have made its people prosperous--but at a cost. The same woods that have lined the townsfolks' pockets harbor dangerous beasts: wolves, bears, and the Bright-Eyeds--monsters beyond description who have rained utter destruction down on nearby settlements. But Mistaken's founders made a deal with the mysterious Benevolence: the Warding Stones that surround the town will keep the Bright-Eyeds out--and the town's citizens in. Anyone who spends a night within Mistaken's borders belongs to it forever.
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An Ancient Witch's Guide to Modern Dating
by Cecilia Edward
An ancient witch explores the thrills--and perils--of online dating with hilarity and heart in a charming rom-com perfect for fans of cozy fantasy and witchy romance.
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A Magic Deep and Drowning
by Hester Fox
The Dutch Republic, 1650. One fine spring day in Friesland, twenty-year-old Clara van Wieren is faced with an ill omen: a whale, beached and rotting in the noonday sun. But Clara doesn't believe in magic and superstition, and this portent is quickly dismissed when a proposal from a wealthy merchant arrives, promising Clara the freedom she seeks from her mother's overbearing rule. When her attempts at overseeing the household at the family's estate lead to her chance encounter with a young man with russet hair and sparkling eyes the color of the sea, she finds herself strangely drawn to him. As Clara grows closer to Maurits, she must choose between the steady, gentle life she has been raised for and the man who makes her blood sing. But Maurits isn't who he seems to be, and his secrets, once hidden beneath the waves, threaten to rise up and drown them both. And when an ancient bargain, forged in blood between the mythical people of the sea and the rulers of the land, begins to unravel, Clara finds herself at the heart of a deadly struggle for power.
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The Mercy Makers
by Tessa Gratton
Iriset is a prodigy and an outlaw. The daughter of a powerful criminal, she dons her alter ego Silk to create magical disguises for those in her father's organization, but she longs to do more with her talent: to enhance what it means to be human by giving people wings, night-sight, and other abilities; to unlock the possibilities of gender and parenthood; to cure disease and even to end mortality itself. Everything changes when her father is captured and sentenced to death. To save him, Iriset must infiltrate the palace and the empire's fanatical ruling family. There, she realizes she has a chance--and an obligation--to bring down the entire corrupt system. She'll have to entangle herself in the lives of the emperor and his sister, getting them to trust and even to love her. But love is a two-way street, and Iriset's own heart holds the most mysterious and impenetrable magic of all.
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| Simultaneous by Eric HeissererGrant Lukather, agent of the elusive federal department known as Predictive Analytics, teams up with Sarah Newcomb, a past-life hypnosis therapist, to embark on an investigation into a bizarre killer who crosses time, space, and consciousness. The Oscar-nominated screenwriter of Arrival brings a mind-bending science fiction thriller that will draw in fans of The Glass Woman by Alice McIlroy and Annihilation by Jeff VanderMeer. |
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The Works of Vermin
by Hiron Ennes
He was sent to kill a pest. Instead, he found a monster. Enter the decadent, deadly city of Tiliard, a metropolis carved into the stump of an ancient tree. In its canopy, the pampered elite warp minds with toxic perfume; in its roots, gangs of exterminators hunt a colossal worm with an appetite for beauty. In this complex, chaotic city, Guy Mouláene has a simple goal: keep his sister out of debt. For her sake, he'll take on any job, no matter how vile. As an exterminator, Guy hunts the uncanny pests that crawl up from the river. These vermin are all strange, and often dangerous. His latest quarry is different: a worm the size of a dragon with a deadly venom and a ravenous taste for artwork. As it digests Tiliard from the sewers to the opera houses, its toxin reshapes the future of the city. No sane person would hunt it, if they had the choice. Guy doesn't have a choice.
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| Red City by Marie LuThe Alchemy in Angel City has been controlled by two rival syndicates for years, teetering perilously between tenuous peace and all-out war. But when two childhood friends are plucked from obscurity to become rising stars on opposite sides of the conflict, all loyalties will be tested. For fans of: richly detailed urban fantasy rife with drama and tension lurking in the underbellies of society, such as L.K. Steven's Silvercloak and Olivie Blake's The Atlas Six. |
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A Guardian and a Thief
by Megha Majumdar
Megha Majumdar's electrifying new novel is set in a near-future Kolkata, India, ravaged by climate change and food scarcity, in which two families seeking to protect their children must battle each other..
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Beings
by Ilana Masad
From the celebrated author of All My Mother's Lovers, a new novel based on true events asks whether extraterrestrial life might be what ties us to one another, to history, and to reality itself.
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| Slow Gods by Claire NorthAfter a cruel misunderstanding, Mawukana "Maw" na-Vdnaze was forced to give his life and consciousness to pilot a ship in the far off reaches of space. When word spreads about a nearby star system about to explode, Maw's unique gifts put him in position to be exactly what the galaxy needs. Claire North's latest unconventional but richly detailed space opera "serves up a stinging rebuke of capitalism and the international order without sacrificing the worldbuilding" (Library Journal). |
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| There Is No Antimemetics Division by QntmHumanity is under attack by Unknowns, an alien force of "antimemes" (an idea that is designed to be forgotten), and Marie Quinn, the director of the Antimemetics Division, is desperate to regain ground against them. But how do you fight against an enemy that can essentially erase itself? This surreal and twisted science fiction thriller will be memorable to fans of similarly offbeat stories as These Memories Do Not Belong To Us by Yiming Ma. |
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| Conform by Ariel SullivanIn the far future, humans are subject to the whims of the elusive Illum, a group of technologically advanced beings. Emeline spends most of her days sorting ancient art for destruction and waiting for her turn at Mate selection...until she is chosen as a Mate for an Illum named Collin, the first time an Illum has chosen a human Mate in years. For fans of: intricately plotted dystopian romances such as Dani Francis' Silver Elite. |
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| Kill the Beast by Serra SwiftWhen the immortal Beast murdered her brother, Lyssa Cadogan swore revenge. To see it through, she has teamed up with the melodramatic and foppish Alderic Casimir de Laurent, a man who somehow knows where the Beast lives and has one of its claws. But Lyssa and Alderic are keeping secrets that could doom them both. Serra Swift's folktale-inspired fantasy debut "falls in the twilight between melancholy and adventure, punctuated with brutality, occasional gore, and shocking moments of joy" (Library Journal). |
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| Colin Gets Promoted and Dooms the World by Mark WaddellColin has toiled as a low-level employee at Dark Enterprises and he fears a "termination" is around the corner. When he strikes a deal with a mysterious figure who promises to get him his heart's desire, Colin inadvertently unleashes the apocalypse on New York, and he'll have to save the world to keep his promotion secure. Fans of LGBTQIA+ characters and witty "urban fantasy that gently toes the horror line" (Kirkus) will devour this novel alongside similar titles The Devil She Knows by Alexandria Bellefleur and TJ Klune's Under the Whispering Door. |
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Lover Forbidden
by J. R. Ward
When Lyric goes out for the night, she's not ready for a brush with death--and she's really not ready for the male who comes out of nowhere and saves her. Her family, especially her father, Qhuinn, are so relieved she's okay, but all she can think about is her mysterious savior. Without telling anybody, she seeks out Devlin, and they are immediately drawn to one another. Her near-death experience has given her a fresh appreciation for life and the desire to live it to its fullest, but she has no idea that he's hiding a secret--or that he could be the key to ending the war between the Black Dagger Brotherhood and the lessers forever.
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House of the Beast
by Michelle Wong
Born out of wedlock and shunned by society, Alma learned to make her peace with solitude, so long as she had her mother by her side. When her mother becomes gravely ill, Alma discovers a clue about her estranged father and writes a message begging for help. Little does she know that she is a bastard of House Avera, one of the four noble families that serve the gods and are imbued with their powers--and her father is a vessel of the Dread Beast, the most frightening god of all, a harbinger of death. In a desperate exchange for her mother's medicine, Alma agrees to sacrifice her left arm to the Beast in a ceremony that will bind her forever to the House and its deity. Regardless, her mother soon passes, leaving Alma trapped inside the Avera's grand estate, despised by her relatives and nothing but a pawn in her father's schemes.
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Contact your librarian for more great books!
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Centerville Library
111 W. Spring Valley Rd
Centerville, OH 45458
(937) 433-8091
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Woodbourne Library
6060 Far Hills Ave Centerville, OH 45459
(937) 435-3700
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Creativity Commons
895 Miamisburg Centerville Rd
Centerville, OH 45459
(937) 610-4425
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