1. Hell Bent (Alex Stern #2) by Leigh Bardugo - January 10
I absolutely loved the first book, and gave it 5/5 stars at the time. I did forget a lot of what happened in
Ninth House so I definitely want to reread it before getting to
Hell Bent. I really love Bardugo's writing style and have pretty much enjoyed everything that I've read from her. She has a way with characters that makes it incredibly easy to form a connection with them, while at the same time, not being perfect. This comes out in January and I've preordered it. I'll probably get to in February after I reread the first book next month.
2. The Keepers Six by Kate Elliot - January 17
I have previously read
Servant Mage, another novella by Elliot, and really enjoyed it. I gave it a 4/5 stars but did think it was a tad but too short.
The Keeper's Six is longer and a sequel, so I am very excited to get more from this world. I absolutely love dragons and want to read more about this mythological creature. I think there have been less dragon stories published recently as the fantasy genre has shifted, but if this is anything like the first one, I'll enjoy it.
Would you look at this beautiful cover! This is a debut fantasy from M.K. Lobb and the synopsis is just as amazing as the cover. I tend to really enjoy political heavy fantasy and this promises just that. There's going to be murder and dark fantasy which I hope is actually dark. I want gritty. I want blood. I want a high stakes fantasy and this sounds like it will be that. I pick up very few new releases in series, and this is going to be one, so I hope it's as good as it sounds.
I don't need to know anything about this novella for it to convince me to read it. Fonda Lee is the author so I'm going to buy it. After reading the
The Greenbone Saga, she has become one of my auto-buy authors and favorite voices in fantasy. She writes fantastic characters that feel real because of their relationships and personalities. This novella sounds like it will be more high fantasy with a magical creature component. I already know she can successfully write a novella length plot that feels complete, as
The Jadesetter of Janloon was very good, but I'm curious as to whether or not a 160 page novella can fully build a world. Regardless, I'm sure I'll enjoy it if the writing is anythign like her previous published work.
5. Witch King by Martha Wells - May 30
I loved the
Murderbot series by Wells. It's one of my all time favorite sci-fi series. I have yet to read any fantasy from her, but I know she has some on her backlist. This book is about a mage with pain magic. I've never read a magic system based off of pain, or if I have I don't remember. This sounds incredibly unique as the MC is dead. I'm curious as to how this will go. As someone who really enjoyed Wells writing style in a sci-fi setting, I really hope I'll enjoy her fantasy voice as well. I think this is a standalone too, and at under 500 pages, I'm looking forward to a fast paced plot.
This book is taking up another spot on my "new series" list. I tend to read under five first books in a series each year, but how can I not read this. The cover and plot are immediately intriguing. AI dieties? Yes please. A seemingly immortal MC? Sign me up. LGBT characters? Give me this book now. This sounds like a cool mix of sci-fi and fantasy, which many times does tend to fall short in my opinion. However, I'm going into this fully expecting to love it. I'm hoping it doesn't let me down.
I love horror movies and this seems like a mixture of
The Ring and
Poltergeist. In the best way possible. This sounds like it will actually be scary as well. For the past few years, I've struggled to find horror books that leave me with the feeling that horror movies do. Usually they let me down because they just aren't scary. But this is already making me excited. I'm glad it comes out in the summer as well, so if it is scary, it at least will be sunny.
8. Silver Nitrate by Silvia Moreno-Garcia - July 18
I have only read one book by Moreno-Garcia,
Mexican Gothic, but it was one of my favorite books of 2020. It was spooky and made me want to read her backlist, which I failed at this year.
Silver Nitrate sounds like it is going to be much scarier than the last one. Coincidentally, it also surrounds a movie and an "entity". I can't wait to read this, especially since the early reviews are very favorable.
9. Heavenly Tyrant (Iron Widow #2) by Xiran Jay Zhao - August 29
Iron Widow was one of the best YA releases of 2021. I gave it 5/5 stars and made my list of best books that year. I doesn't come out until August so I plan on rereading the first one as a refresher. I thought it was fast paced and had some really successful meshing of sci-fi and fantasy. The past few mecha stories I've read have disappointed me, so I'm looking forward to getting back into this world. I hope it doesn't fall victim to "middle book syndrome", but the fact that it took two years to be published since
Iron Widow was released makes me think that Zhao took her time to make sure it didn't.
Ok, yes. I, like every fantasy reader probably, rank Sanderson as one of their favorite authors. Despite the fact that he writes like a maniac and is able to publish multiple books per year, I don't think it makes his books worse. His plots are fast paced, his magic system is incredibly unique, and I love the way he writes character arcs. As soon as this kickstarter was announced, I backed it. The first book is released next month and I simply cannot wait.
While I am looking forward to more new releases, these are the ones I am going to prioritize as they are released. What new releases are you looking forward to? Are you also a Sanderson nut? Let me know and maybe I'll add some to my list of books to look out for.
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