A new year has begun, and you know what that means: new books! 2024 was an epic year in fantasy and science fiction, with tons of titles releasing from giants of the genre, debut authors, and everyone in between. 2025 promises to be another great year for genre fiction, and just like last year, we're covering it month-to-month to keep you up to speed on all the most exciting books hitting shelves.
January is a great month for books; there's a sweepingly ambitious literary sci-fi from one of the genre's current greats, a team-up between the daughter of Bruce Lee and the author of The Green Bone Saga, cozy fantasy, LitRPG, vampires, the latest sequel to Fourth Wing, and even a re-release of a modern sci-fi classic to make it more widely available. There's also some intriguing horror coming out this month, and since horror is kind of like the weird spooky cousin to sci-fi/fantasy, we're going to go over that as well!
So get out a notebook, or your Goodreads or Storygraph, and let's get to finding you your next favorite book!
BREATH OF THE DRAGON by Shannon Lee & Fonda Lee (Breathmarked #1) — Jan. 7
Breath of the Dragon is one of the first books releasing in 2025, and it's one Green Bone Saga fans will want to pay attention to. This YA martial arts fantasy novel is co-written by Green Bone Saga author Fonda Lee and Shannon Lee, the daughter of the legendary martial artist Bruce Lee.
Breath of the Dragon is the first in their Breathmarked series, and follows a young warrior named Jun who enters into the elite Guardian Tournament, where the next protector of the mystical Scroll of Heaven is chosen. Jun wants to compete to prove his skills and gain his father's approval, but there's one very large catch: he isn't "breathmarked" — born with a patch of magical dragon scales that gives him special abilities — unlike the rest of the competitors.
Facing incredible odds, Jun sneaks into the tournament despite his father forbidding him to participate and soon finds himself wrapped up in a battle which could hold much greater ramifications than he'd ever anticipated.
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MOTHER OF ROME by Lauren J. A. Bear — Jan. 7
Mother of Rome by Lauren J. A. Bear is a mythological retelling in the vein of Madelleine Miller's Circe. The new book takes a new angle on the rise of Romulus and Remus. Those names are known to students of history as the two brothers who founded Rome, but what of their mother, Rhea Silvia? What if her story is more than the footnote it is over reduced to?
Mother of Rome dramatizes the rise of Rome through Rhea's perspective. After her father's kingdom is overthrown in a bloody coup, Rhea is sent to live with the Vestal Virgins...except she mysteriously gets pregnant anyway, leading to the birth of her sons. The how of it is shrouded in divine mystery — as the back-of-book description says, "when mortals scheme, gods laugh." But the result is the same: these children become targets and Rhea must fight to protect them so that one day they can go on to establish one of the greatest empires the world has ever known.
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THE MURDERBOT DIARIES by Martha Wells — Jan. 7
Our next entry on the list isn't one book, but a slew of them. Martha Wells' Murderbot Diaries are a classic of modern science fiction. They follow a self-aware security robot who has hacked its own governor module, affording it enough free will to go its own way and ponder the meaning of life. This robot — the self-proclaimed "Murderbot" — claims to not like humans very much, even though they somehow seem to always find themselves wrapped up with them. These novels have wry humor and intense adventure in equal measure, and there is a reason they've won a slew of awards and taken readers by storm.
So far, Wells has written five novellas and two novels in the Murderbot universe. While they're extremely popular, they aren't always easy to find in stores. But right now, Apple TV+ is in the process of making a TV show based on The Muderbot Diaries starring Alexander Skarsgård, and Wells' publisher Tordotcom isn't missing the opportunity to make sure the books are readily available for fans.
This month, they're releasing three brand new trade paperback compilations of The Muderbot Diaries, all on January 7. Each book contains two Murderbot stories, meaning if you get all three of them, plus the novel Network Effect, you'll have the entire series. It's by far the most economical way to get the complete Muderbot Diaries in paperback.
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DEATH OF THE AUTHOR by Nnedi Okorafor — Jan. 14
Next on our list is Death of the Author, the latest novel from visionary speculative fiction author Nnedi Okorafor. Okorafor has written many books over the years and has a reputation for insightful storytelling and cutting to the quick with her incisive prose. But her latest book may push those boundaries farther than anything she's yet written.
Death of the Author is an ambitious novel which toes the lines between literary and science fiction. It's the story of a disabled African American writer named Zelu. After a string of bad luck sees Zelu fired from her job and the novel she's spent years crafting is rejected yet again, she decides to write something totally different: a science fiction book called Rused Robots. The book ends up taking off in ways Zelu could never have predicted, launching her into "literary stardom" at the cost of "obliterat[ing] everything her book was meant to be."
I'm currently in the midst of reading Death of the Author (my local bookstore had it out a week early, because street dates are an illusion), and one of the things that's grabbed me most about it is how wildly creative Okorafor's writing is. Death of the Author is a story-within-a-story, weaving together Zelu's tale with chapters of the sci-fi book she's writing alongside interviews with the people who knew her best. It's been a gripping read so far, utterly unlike anything I've read before. Nnedi Okorafor never misses, but this may be one of her most notable books yet.
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LIGHTFALL by Ed Crocker (The Everlands Trilogy #1) — Jan. 14
If you're itching to spend some time with vampires during these cold, dark winter months, this next book is for you. Lightfall is the debut epic fantasy novel from Ed Crocker, and it puts these creatures of the night front and center for a tale of courtly scheming, magic, and bloody betrayals. This is a solid choice for your TBR if you enjoyed Jay Kristoff's Empire of the Vampire.
Lightfall is the story of the city of First Light, the final bastion of the vampires after nearly half their population was wiped out by the mysterious Grays. First Light is a city with strict social strata; the poor drink weak blood while nobles and the like get to feast on better fare. At the heart of this tale is Sam, a palace maid who's grown sick of her lot. After the city's ruler is murdered, Sam discovers the only clue to his death, a clue which will allow her to blackmail her way into higher standing. This in turn gets her wrapped up with a sect of rebel maids who manipulate the lords from the shadows, a werewolf assassin, an intelligent but magically inept sorcerer, and a countess who deals in secrets.
But this murder is part of a much vaster conspiracy, and Sam soon finds herself in extreme danger as she gains the attention of the ruling elite of First Light.
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WITCHCRAFT FOR WAYWARD GIRLS by Grady Hendrix — Jan. 14
Next let's step into the realm of horror for a new novel from Grady Hendrix. Witchcraft for Wayward Girls is a period piece set in the 1970s which follows a young woman named Fern who is sent to the Wellwood Home in St. Augustine, Florida, where "unwed mothers are hidden by their families to have their babies in secret, give them up for adoption, and most important of all, to forget any of it ever happened."
This mind-bending horror novel sees Fern — 15, pregnant, and terrified of the path she's on — befriend several other young women at the Wellwood Home. They're under strict surveillance and control there...until a librarian gives them an occult book about witchcraft, and their first real taste at wresting back power for themselves. But you know how it goes with occult power — there's always a price, and often a grisly one.
Hendrix has been carving out a solid niche in the horror world for himself with previous hit books like How to Sell a Haunted House and The Final Girl Support Group. The initial buzz for Witchcraft for Wayward Girls has been pretty solid, so if horror is your bag it's one to keep an eye on.
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LEVEL UNKNOWN by David Dalglish [series] — Jan. 14
Level: Unknown is the latest novel from veteran fantasy author David Dalglish. Dalglish has written plenty of books in the past — most recently, his excellent Vagrant Gods epic fantasy series. But Level: Unknown is going to be a bit of a different book for the author, because this is his first foray into LitRPG.
If you're not familiar with LitRPG, it's a fantasy subgenre which often incorporates the mechanics you'd expect from a game, with the main characters having to grow stronger to overcome obstacles. Level: Unknown is about a research cadet named Nick, who is chosen by an alien artifact and drawn into a strange fantastical world held in its depths whenever he sleeps. That world, Yensere, is full of monstrous creatures and heroes with strange powers...and pretty much everything there wants to kill him on sight. Every time they succeed and murder him, he is forced awake.
The only way for Nick to solve the mysteries of Yensere is to get stronger and more accustomed to that realm, until he's just as formidable as the creatures which want to tear him limb from limb.
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THE RAINFALL MARKET by You Yeong-Gwang, translated by Slin Jung — Jan. 21
From LitRPG we head to cozy fantasy with The Rainfall Market. This book from bestselling South Korean author You Yeong-Gwang is getting a new English translation from Slin Jung this month. If you enjoy books that will warm you up in this cold season, like Legends & Lattes and Before the Coffee Gets Cold, then The Rainfall Market is a novel you'll probably want on your radar.
In this novel, a lonely teenager named Serin is given a ticket to the titular Rainfall Market, which only opens once a year through an abandoned old house. There, Serin is given a seemingly wonderful choice: she can choose any sort of new life she wants, trading out her hum-drum existence for something better. Along with a magical cat companion named Issha, Serin wanders through bookstores, perfumeries, and fantastical realms to help her decide on what she'd like in this new, perfect life.
Of course, there is a catch: If Serin doesn't choose her new life by the end of a week, she'll disappear into the Rainfall Market forever. The set-up of this novel reminds me a lot of Spirited Away, which is enough to add it to the TBR in my book.
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ONYX STORM by Rebecca Yarros (The Empyrean #3) — Jan. 21
January is a big month for fans of The Empyrean, which started with Rebecca Yarros' breakout fantasy novel Fourth Wing. The first book told us how Violet Sorrengail joined an elite dragon-riding school where she had to compete to the death for the honor of bonding with a dragon. Think Hunger Games but with dragon-riding academia and a healthy dose of romance thrown in and you've got a good idea of what The Empyrean is about.
Onyx Storm continues the story for Violet and the nation of Navarre. Now the battle is expanding beyond the walls of Basgiath War College. Violet has to set out on a quest that will take her past the Aretian Wards to gather allies and magics for her people to help them survive an onslaught from enemies without, while scheming and betrayals threaten to tear the carefully laid order down from within. It will take all she's learned so far to safeguard those she cares about, and even that may not be enough.
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A CROWN SO SILVER by Lyra Selene (Fair Folk #2) — Jan. 21
A Crown So Silver is the second book in Lyra Selene's Fair Folk series. The first novel introduced readers to Fia, a changeling who went on a mission into the fae realm to save her sister Eala, who had been kidnapped and taken there as a child. But then things took a hard left turn. In A Crown So Silver, Fia's magic is at its peak after she made a sacrifice on the Ember Moon, and she's "eager to rush into battle against her murderous sister." Whatever Eala did, it was probably pretty bad.
However, rather than rush straight into a fight, Fia and her new husband Irian take shelter on the snowy Silver Isle at the edge of the fae realm. There, they're drawn into a Tournament of Kings hosted by the trickster smith-king. The prize will help Fia in her quest to defeat her sister, but it will also test her relationship and force her to question whether the price of revenge is worth the cost.
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MOTHEATER by Linda H. Codega — Jan. 21
Motheater is the debut novel from Linda H. Codega; if you follow a lot of nerdy news, you may recognize their name from Gizmodo, where they covered tabletop gaming and book news for the past several years before becoming a writers room assistant for AMC's Interview With The Vampire. Motheater is Codega's first stab at publishing their own book, one publisher Erewhon calls a "nuanced queer fantasy set amid the Appalachian Mountains in Virginia," where "the last witch of the Ridge must choose sides in a clash between industry and nature."
The story follows a woman named Benethea “Bennie” Mattox, who gives up everything to try and discover why people are mysteriously dying in a mine on Kire Mountain after losing her best friend there. This leads Bennie to discover a half-drowned woman who she hopes can bring her answers.
That woman goes by the name of Motheater, and she claims to be a witch of the mountain, bound on a "doomed quest" to stop industry from taking root there. She's fought this fight for over a century; now that she's met Bennie, the choices they'll make together may finally bring it to an end — and change the face of their town in the process.
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THE OUTCAST MAGE by Annabel Campbell (The Shattered Lands #1) — Jan. 28
Another debut novel, The Outcast Mage is an epic fantasy and the first entry in Annabel Campbell's series The Shattered Lands. This story is set in the glass city of Amoria, where magic rules and prospective mages are either trained to wield immense power or banished and persecuted should they fail.
Naila is one such student of magic, and she stands on the razor's edge of losing her position at the Academy. When a tragic incident brings her even closer to either banishment or being consumed by her own power, her life is saved by Haelius Akana, the most renowned mage in Amoria. He takes her under his wing and begins training her to harness her power. But Haelius has plenty of enemies of his own. This puts a target squarely on Naila's back as she's gets mixed up with the city's elite political power players. Should she fail, Amoria could descend into civil war...or worse, should the "greater powers" working from the shadows use her power for their own ends.
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FIRE & BLOOD by George R.R. Martin (Folio Society Limited Edition) — Jan. 28
We end our round-up for January with a limited edition release of George R.R. Martin's Fire & Blood. Martin's fake history book about the Targaryen dynasty has been out for years now, but this month the Folio Society is releasing a premium collector's edition flush with gorgeous new illustrations, printed endpapers, black and gold printing throughout, and an illustrated slipcase.
We don't typically go out of our way to include limited edition releases on these lists, but it's George R.R. Martin! If you're not familiar with the Folio Society, they do wonderful work putting together high quality collector's editions of books. They've already released all of Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire novels published so far, so it was only a matter of time until they gave Fire & Blood the same treatment. It's a pretty pricey edition at $150, but if you're into collector's editions, you already know the deal. Gorgeous illustrations and high-quality bindings don't come cheap!
And so concludes our list of new fantasy and science fiction book releases for January 2025! Happy New Year and happy reading!
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