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Fantasy and Science Fiction February 2026 |
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Vigil
by George Saunders
Not for the first time, Jill Doll Blaine finds herself hurtling toward earth, reconstituting as she falls, right down to her favorite black pumps. She plummets towards her newest charge, yet another soul she must usher into the afterlife, and lands headfirst in the circular drive of his ornate mansion. She has performed this sacred duty 343 times since her own death. Her charges, as a rule, have been greatly comforted in their final moments. But this charge, she soon discovers, isn't like the others. The powerful K. J. Boone will not be consoled, because he has nothing to regret. He lived a big, bold, epic life, and the world is better for it. Isn't it? Vigil transports us, careening, through the wild final evening of a complicated man. Visitors begin to arrive (worldly and otherworldly, alive and dead), clamoring for a reckoning. Birds swarm the dying man's room; a black calf grazes on the love seat; a man from a distant, drought-ravaged village materializes; two oil-business cronies from decades past show up with chilling plans for Boone's post death future. With the wisdom, playfulness, and explosive imagination we've come to expect, George Saunders takes on the gravest issues of our time--the menace of corporate greed, the toll of capitalism, the environmental perils of progress--and, in the process, spins a tale that encompasses life and death, good and evil, and the thorny question of absolution.
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| Son of the Morning by Akwaeke EmeziTenderhearted Galilee has always felt a deep aching, knowing that she is different than the other women from her sequestered clan. When she meets Lucifer Helel and sees right through his facade as security head for a wealthy family, she realizes he is not human -- and neither is she. Akwaeke Emezi's latest takes their skills in a new direction with a steamy and evocative dark fantasy set in the Black South that will delight romantasy fans. |
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The Hospital at the End of the World
by Justin C. Key
From New York Times bestselling author Justin C. Key, a thrilling novel set in the near future where artificial intelligence runs the world, following a young doctor as he unravels family secrets In a year not so far from our own, society is run by the shepherds, a global AI system. The shepherds have controlled every aspect of Pok's twenty years of life-they decided what schools Pok went to, what jobs he was eligible for, what foods he ate, and even his medical care. He's content living a carefree life until his father is killed by a mysterious illness. Searching for answers, Pok decides to follow in his father's footsteps and travel to the very last hold-out city and train at the one hospital that still practices human-led medicine: Hippocrates. As Pok works his way through medical school, he's pulled into the terrifying mystery of a strange illness plaguing immigrants who grew up under shepherd rule. Will Pok be able to uncover what's truly going on in the inner sanctum of the shepherds? The Hospital at the End of the World is a medical thriller for the ages exploring the intersection of technology, health, and what it means to be truly free.
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| The Everlasting by Alix E. HarrowSir Una Everlasting's legend as a courageous knight has been memorialized in story, but her life itself has been forgotten. Centuries later, Owen Mallory's love of her tale suddenly takes him back in time to Una herself, where they will be entangled in a story bound to repeat over and over again unless they rewrite history. For fans of: knighthood fantasy with compelling characters and intricate storytelling, such as Lev Grossman's The Bright Sword and Charlotte Bond's The Fireborne Blade. |
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| The Place Where They Buried Your Heart by Christina HenryJessie Campanelli has lived for years with the guilt of daring her little brother Paul to enter the abandoned house on her street, only for him to never come back out. Now that she has a child of her own, she must finally confront the evil that broke her family apart.This horror-laden fantasy will grip fans who are looking for compelling family dramas similar to Amanda Casile's Broken Trail. |
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| Graceless Heart by Isabel IbañezDesperate to save her brother, sculptress Ravenna Maffei reveals her magic ability during a competition in a city where magic is forbidden. Ravenna is then kidnapped by a powerful immortal family and taken to Florence, where her powers put her in the middle of a struggle for power and catch the attention of the family heir. For fans of: historical romantasy with enemies-to-lovers romance and intricate magic worldbuilding, such as Heavenly Bodies by Imani Erriu. |
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| The Strength of the Few by James IslingtonFollowing the events of The Will of the Many, Vis Telimus has fractured himself into three separate realities. With each reality facing its own extinction-level threat, Vis may be the only one who can stop each one from happening. Rich with detail and lore, this sequel to James Islington's highly acclaimed previous book offers "evocative prose and nuanced ruminations on the nature of power and sacrifice" (Publishers Weekly) that fans of R.F. Kuang's The Poppy War will devour. |
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We Will Rise Again: Speculative Stories and Essays on Protest, Resistance, and Hope
by editor: Karen Lord and others
Exploring topics ranging from disability justice and environmental activism to community care and collective worldbuilding, these imaginative pieces from writers such as NK Jemisin, Charlie Jane Anders, Alejandro Heredia, Sam J. Miller, Nisi Shawl, and Sabrina Vourvoulias center solidarity, empathy, hope, joy, and creativity. Each story is grounded within a broader sociopolitical framework using essays and interviews from movement leaders, including adrienne maree brown and Walidah Imarisha, charting the future history of protest, revolutions, and resistance with the same zeal for accuracy that speculative writers normally bring to science and technology. Using the vehicle of ambitious storytelling, We Will Rise Again offers effective tools for organizing, an unflinching interrogation of the status quo, and a blueprint for prefiguring a different world.
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| The Happiness Collector by Crystal KingHistorian Aida Reale thinks she has it made when a friend recommends her for her dream job in Italy. However, cracks slowly begin to appear in the facade as she and her new colleague Luciano do more research into her company, until she realizes that they are simply pawns in a game being played by the gods. Crystal King's contemporary fantasy also serves as an alternate history taking place between 2018-2021, where "urban fantasy, unexpected romance, and mythology all collide" (Booklist). |
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| You Weren't Meant to Be Human by Andrew Joseph WhiteThough hives of festering worms have taken over Appalachia, life isn't so bad for Crane: he's been able to transition, he doesn't have to talk, and he has Levi, who treats him like a man, mostly. But when Levi gets Crane pregnant and the Hive demands he carry the baby to term, Crane realizes that his body is his only value to them and he'll have to fight to keep it to himself. Andrew Joseph White's adult debut is a gruesome and thought-provoking trans body horror nightmare for fans of Brainwyrms by Alison Rumfitt and Manhunt by Gretchen Felker-Martin. |
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Contact your librarian for more great books!
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