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Fantasy and Science Fiction October 2026 |
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| A Trade of Blood by Robert Jackson BennettIn this 3rd in the Ana and Din Mysteries series, the great detective Ana Dolabra and her assistant Din have to de-escalate a conflict between rival families by exonerating one family's eldest son of murder before all-out war erupts. Fans of the immersive setting and sharp character writing of the previous series entries will want to keep digging for more. Read next: Malka Older's Mossa and Pleiti series or Melissa Caruso's Echo Archives series.
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He Who Fights with Monsters, Book 1: Outworlder
by Travis Deverell
What's it like to wake up in a mysterious world of magic and monsters? It's not easy. For Jason, making the career jump from office-supplies-store middle manager to heroic interdimensional adventurer is surreal. Jason tries to be heroic, but it's hard to be good when all your powers are evil. He'll face off against cannibals, cultists, wizards, monsters...and that's just on the first day. Jason's a stranger in a strange land, and if he's going to survive, he'll have to find something inside himself he never knew was there. He's going to need courage, he's going to need wit, and he's going to need some magic powers of his own. But first, he's going to need pants.
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| Homebound by Portia ElanIt's 1983, and a college student is programming an adventure game to cope with the sudden loss of her uncle. This game, unbeknownst to her, will have an impact that echoes across centuries, coming into contact with a professor in the late 21st century and a sentient robot navigating a flooded Earth. Portia Elan's debut is "an ingenious narrative that explores the meaning of love and interconnectedness across time" (Kirkus Reviews) that readers of Silvia Park's Luminous or Jayson Greene's Unworld will devour. |
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| Palaces of the Crow by Ray NaylerIn this speculative alternate history of World War II, the blitzkrieg of 1941 brings together a Polish deserter, a Roma horse trader, a nonspeaking boy of unknown history, and a Jewish village girl with a strong connection to a murder of crows. Together, they work to survive the winter wilderness while evading enemy forces, guided by the crows who are more intelligent than they seem. This "impassioned paean to togetherness" (Publishers Weekly) and resilience will please fans of Kira Jane Buxton's similarly corvid-centric Hollow Kingdom. |
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| A Dark and Wild Wood by Sarah Nicole LemonSalomé has long been plagued by her spiritual visions and uncontrollable magic powers. When she flees the convent she was raised in to find her missing sister, her path intertwines with Lord Death. The Lord takes her to his home and promises to help her control her magic -- but any promise from Death must come with a price. Readers who enjoy gritty and dark fantasy stories about heroes reclaiming their power from abusive environments will be eager to read A Dark and Wild Wood. Try this next: Teagan Olivia King's Bitterbloom. |
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| Dead But Dreaming of Electric Sheep by Paul TremblayJulia Flang may be estranged from her CFO mother, but she has an offer Julia can't refuse: assume control of a comatose man with an AI implant to transport him across the country. Split between Julie's perspective and the disoriented surreal dreamscape of the remains of "Bernie's" consciousness, Paul Tremblay's latest "is injected with a squirming worm of fear that forces readers to take a critical look at AI's encroachment" (Library Journal). |
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The Calamities
by Chuck Wendig
The heir to one of the world's most influential families reckons with the demonic secret of their power in this contemporary dark fantasy that melds occult magic with shocking family drama. Mayne knows he'll one day bear the duty of managing his family's vast empire of wealth and power. But the feckless Mourning has always struggled to accept this legacy of cruelty, domination, and exploitation and something even darker. Because the Maynes are no ordinary family: Hidden in our world are the fiends--half-human, half-demon, and possessed of a dark magic born from buying human souls--and the Maynes are one of the oldest and most influential fiendish families. But when Mourning's estranged father, the formidable and terrifying Hadrian Mayne, demands that Mourning return to the fold, he has to decide whether to accept his legacy and embrace his role in the family or to forge his own destiny, and with it, change the course of the world.
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Blacktail
by Scott Hawkins
The wolf Blacktail is faithful to his Forest God, but in these times, faith is not enough. His world is besieged by men. Soon his territory will be overrun, and then there will be nowhere left to go. When his mate, a house dog, is killed, Blacktail rebels. He invades the house of her owners, seeking vengeance. Blacktail's fury catches the notice of an ancient and terrible feline witch, who makes an offer. What if Blacktail could end the human race responsible for the death of his family and for the destruction of the natural world, altogether? To do so, Blacktail must find and wake the Forest God. Only He might stand against the plague of men. Blacktail knows that his north woods are dwindling to nothing. He sees no other choice. As Blacktail journeys farther from his wild home and deeper into the world of man, he encounters strangers--animal, mortal, and otherworldly--who, for their own reasons, want to help Blacktail rid the world of humans. Along the way, it becomes clear that he is more than just a wolf. The Forest God is sleeping, yes. But what will be the price of waking him?
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