Ages come and pass, and a new month has dawned — bringing with it new books! It seems like it's always a busy time in the science fiction and fantasy section of the book stores these days, with more new releases coming out every month than a mere mortal could possibly hope to read. But for those of us who love to have full shelves and even fuller TBR piles, it's heaven.
Like January and February before it, March of 2025 contains a veritable treasure trove of new book releases. We've curated a list of 15 we're especially excited for. They include dark fantasies brimming with magic, contemplative speculative fiction, urban fantasy that takes readers to the mean streets of Boston, sequels to well-loved sci-fi and fantasy series, and debut novels to hook us in to our new favorite authors.
As always, pull up your Goodreads (or, even better, StoryGraph), and let's get to the list!
THE RADIANT KING by David Dalglish (Astral Kingdoms #1)— March 4
This is a pretty wild year for fans of David Dalglish. Not only did he release the first book in his new LitRPG series Level: Unknown back in January (with volumes two and three coming later this year!), but he's also starting another epic fantasy series as well with this month's The Radiant King. This is the first book in the Astral Kingdoms series, and it's the story of a clash of deific proportions.
Once, a group of six immortal beings ruled the land by harnessing the mystical power of radiance, but after nearly destroying the world, they swore to never again wear crowns or sit thrones. Obviously, that wasn't going to stick. One of these siblings, Eder, breaks his oath and builds a new fanatical religious order bent on conquest. His brothers Faron and Sariel decide to stop him, even if it means aligning themselves with a powerful zealot ruler named the Bastard Princess, who possesses strange powers she claims are from a goddess.
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THE RAGPICKER KING by Cassandra Clare (Chronicles of Castellane #2) — March 4
The Ragpicker King is the second installment in Chronicles of Castellane, the new fantasy series from Shadowhunters author Cassandra Clare. Unlike Clare's previous YA urban fantasy work, this one is epic fantasy to the core, and skews adult. It's a tale of political intrigue and ancient magics, as the Kel Saren, the body double for the crown prince, journeys into the seedy underbelly of the city of Castellane in hopes of overturning a dangerous conspiracy which threatens to throw the realm into chaos.
At the same time, a young woman named Lin Caster falsely claims that she's the mystical Goddess Reborn, a savior her people have been waiting for. Lin's gambit in assuming the role will comes to a head as both she and Kel are forced into uncomfortable alliances with the Ragpicker King — a notorious criminal with more than a few secrets of their own.
With a healthy dash of romance and political intrigue, The Ragpicker King is another must-read for fans of Cassandra Clare. Check out our early review here.
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THE RIVER HAS ROOTS by Amal El-Mohtar — March 4
The River Has Roots is the latest novella from Amal El-Mohatar, best known for co-authoring the viral New York Times Bestseller This Is How You Lose the Time War. El-Mohtar has gone solo with her latest work, a fantasy novella about two sisters whose bond is so strong it can even transcend death. Steeped in magic, mysticism, and folklore, The River Has Roots is a new fairy tale for modern readers.
"In the small town of Thistleford, on the edge of Faerie, dwells the mysterious Hawthorn family.
There, they tend and harvest the enchanted willows and honour an ancient compact to sing to them in thanks for their magic. None more devotedly than the family’s latest daughters, Esther and Ysabel, who cherish each other as much as they cherish the ancient trees.
But when Esther rejects a forceful suitor in favor of a lover from the land of Faerie, not only the sisters’ bond but also their lives will be at risk…"
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ONCE WAS WILLEM by M. R. Carey — March 4
The next book on our list is a dark medieval fantasy from M. R. Carey, the author of The Girl with All the Gifts. Once Was Willem is the story of Once Was Willem, a being who is brought back to life after more than 1,100 years in medieval England in order to defeat a dark force threatening the land. Who exactly is Once Was Willem? What is he? You'll have to read to find out, but given Carey's track record for writing bangers, it's probably going to be well worth the time.
"Eleven hundred and some years after the death of Christ, in the kingdom that had but recently begun to call itself England, I, Once Was Willem, rose from the dead to defeat a great evil facing the humble village of Cosham. The words enclosed herein are true.
I speak of monsters and magic, battle and bloodletting, and the crimes of desperate men. I speak also of secret things, of that which lies beneath us and that which impends above. By the time you come to the end of this account you will know the truth of your own life and death, the path laid out for your immortal soul, your origin and your inevitable end."
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COLD IRON TASK by James J. Butcher (The Unorthodox Chronicles #3) — March 4
Cold Iron Task is the third installment in the urban fantasy series The Unorthodox Chronicles by James J. Butcher, the son of Dresden Files author Jim Butcher. The series follows Grimshaw Griswald Grimsby, a novice auditor at Boston's Department of Unorthodox Affairs — in other words, its monster and otherworldly being police department. Grimsby managed to survive his first case on the job, but he's still having plenty of problems fitting in at the department as well as managing to keep his straining friendships in tact.
What better way to repair things than going on a magical heist? Grimsby is invited to help raid an otherworldly vault, which contains a way to make everything right in his life once more. I think we can all guess how that is going to turn out for him. Toss in the fact that his partner Mayflower has a bunch of deep, dark secrets that are coming to light, and it sounds like it's going to be another dangerous chapter for the Department of Unorthodox Affairs.
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GALAPHILE by Terry Brooks (The First Druids of Shannara #1) — March 11
Back in 2020, Terry Brooks capped off his series The Fall of Shannara, which brought his grand fantasy saga to a close. But let's be real: did any of us really expect Brooks to be able to stay away from Shannara? He's written more than 40 books in the Shannara universe, so it was always a safe bet that he was going to return to his beloved fantasy world.
This month, that return is finally here. Galaphile is the first of a new Shannara series, The First Druids of Shannara. That means that whether you're very familiar with this high fantasy world or just starting out, this is a book you can safely pick up to see what it's all about.
As for what we can expect in Galaphile, this is the story of that very first druid in the land of Shannara, who led the construction of the druid's keep of Paranor. There were other mages and beings of magic before Galaphile, but his actions lay the groundwork for the Four Lands as we know it from later books, and pave the way for later druids like Allanon. Now, at last, we can see where it all began for the druids of Shannara.
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INSTALLMENT IMMORTALITY by Seanen McGuire (InCryptid #14) — March 11
It's a new month, which means there's a decent chance that Seanen McGuire, one of the most prolific writers in genre fiction, probably has a new book out. And lo! This month McGuire returns to her InCryptid series for its 14th volume: Installment Immortality.
InCryptid is an urban fantasy series about a family of eccentric cryptozoologists who protect the human world from the many magical beasts living alongside it. The books in this series tend to hop around to different family members, each with their own unique viewpoints and tonal styles. McGuire also tends to release them in sequences, so we get a few books for a given family member in a row. The last book, Aftermarket Afterlife, switched things up in a big way by centering Mary, the Price family's phantom nanny. Installment Immortality continues Mary's story by sending her on a road trip with two of the Price family members to hunt down Covenant agents who are trapping ghosts on the East Coast.
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THE TOMB OF DRAGONS by Katherine Addison (The Cemeteries of Amalo #3) — March 11
Leaving the urban side of fantasy behind, our next book is The Tomb of Dragons by Katherine Addison. This is the fourth book in Addison's Chronicles of Oserth series, which kicked off in 2014's acclaimed standalone fantasy novel The Goblin Emperor, as well as the third and final book in her Cemetaries of Amalo trilogy, which started in 2021 with The Witness for the Dead. All that adds up to mean that The Tomb of Dragons is an exciting release for fans of Addison's works.
The Cemetaries of Amalo is about an elf named Celehar, who serves as a Witness for the Dead, helping the recently deceased find justice and closure. The job title is exactly what it sounds like: Celehar communicates with spirits and brings the secrets of their demise to light. However, this far into the series, Celehar has lost his ability to commune with the dead. That doesn't mean he's retired, though; instead, he continues to mentor his protégé Velhiro Tomasaran. Together with their found family of friends, Celehar and Velhiro must gain justice for those who cannot gain it for themselves, even as political unrest threatens to upend the world around them.
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THE GATE OF THE FERAL GODS by Matt Dinniman (Dungeon Crawler Carl #4) — March 11
Next up we take the plunge into the realm of LitRPG with The Gate of the Feral Gods. This is the fourth installment in Matt Dinniman's popular Dungeon Crawler Carl series, which Ace is re-releasing in a beautiful set of matching hardcovers. So now you can get in your dungeon crawling and have it look nice on your shelf while you're at it.
Dungeon Crawler Carl is a raucous fantasy story where a Coast Guard vet named Carl and his ex-girlfriend's cat, Princess Donut, are forced to compete in a reality game show for the entertainment of the aliens who have conquered Earth. That game show pretty closely resembles a video game fantasy dungeon, with exploding goblins, warrior gnomes, drug-dealing llamas, and who knows what else. Carl and Princess Donut have survived their first three outings, but there's no telling what awaits them on the next floor of the dungeon.
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BLOOD BENEATH THE SNOW by Alexandra Kennington (Blood & Souls Duology #1) — March 11
Romantasy remains all the rage in the fantasy sectin at the moment, and if you've been enjoying this new boom, then the next book on our list is for you. Blood Beneath the Snow is the debut novel from Alexandra Kennington, and the first installment of her Blood & Souls Duology. It's the story of Revna, the only child in the royal family who has no magic powers. This makes her an outcast in her own home, and a stain on the reputation of her kingdom.
Revna finds solace with other outcasts, until two of her closest friends end up in mortal danger. Her only chance to save them is by competing in The Bloodshed Trials, where the royal siblings compete to the death for the throne.
Except it sounds like Revna won't get the chance to compete normally in the Trials, because she's kidnapped by a powerful being known as the Hellbringer, who serves as the general to her country's greatest enemy. And while this man with the abiility to rend souls from his foes is terrifying at first, Revna soon finds that his ulterior motives may actually be to her benefit, if she can find the remaining humanity beneath his dark and brooding exterior. I'm sensing enemies-to-lovers.
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THE MARTIAN CONTINGENCY by Mary Robinette Kowal (Lady Astronaut #4) — March 18
From romantasy, we had next to the hard sci-fi quandaries of colonizing Mars. Lady Astronaut is an acclaimed and very well-loved series of sci-fi books from Mary Robinette Kowal, and this month, she's releasing the fourth volume: The Martian Contingency.
The basic set up for Lady Astronaut is that a meteorite slammed into Earth in 1952, triggering a climate cataclysm that will make the Earth uninhabitable. Because of this, there was an accelerated effort to colonize space in order to get as many people off the planet as possible before it's too late. Into this exciting setup steps Elma York, who became the first Lady Astronaut thanks to her skills as a WASP pilot and mathematician, as well as her unstoppable drive to get the job done.
By the time of The Martian Contingency, the scope of the series is expanding beyond the moon and space stations, out to the distant vistas of Mars. There, Elma hopes to build a new colony without the prejudices of Earth...but secrets from the last failed expedition threaten this noble aim. If you've been enjoying For All Mankind on Apple TV+, Lady Astronaut is a series you will absolutely want to check out.
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MURDER BY MEMORY by Olivia Waite (Dorothy Gentlemen #1) — March 18
Murder By Mystery is a cozy sci-fi mystery novella by Olivia Waite. On the luxury interstellar passenger liner HMS Fairweather, peoples' minds are stored in glass jars in the ship's Library and can be printed into as many bodies as they desire. Want to see what it's like to walk in a different set of shoes? Want to murder other passengers — but not really? These delights and more you can try out as you travel across the stars.
At least, that's how it's supposed to work. Then the ship's detective, Dorothy Gentleman, wakes up in a body that's not her own, just as another person is found murdered. It soon becomes clear that someone has found a way to not only kill people on the HMS Fairweather, but delete their minds from the Library as well for a more permanent sort of death. Dorothy needs to crack the case before the casualties start piling up. It's a sci-fi murder mystery on a luxury space cruiser, with "a formidable, no-nonsense auntie of a detective" on the case. Sounds like a total blast to me.
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DISSOLUTION by Nicholas Binge — March 25
Sticking with the theme of memories, the next book on our list is Dissolution, the latest technothriller from Nicholas Binge. Binge broke onto the speculative fiction scene in a big way with his acclaimed 2023 novel Ascension; now he's back with another standalone novel that will have readers glued to the pages right down to the end.
Dissolution is about a woman named Maggie Webb who has spent a decade caring for her elderly husband, Stanley, as his memories gradually fade away. Then a mysterious man named Hassan appears on her door with a devastating revelation: Stanley's memories aren't going away naturally, they're being erased on purpose to cover up the deadly secrets of his past. Using Hassan's "technological marvels," Maggie must go on a journey into her husband's mind in search of the truth. But that truth is far wilder than she could have ever imagined, and whatever Stanley did in his past, bringing it to light has the potential to put reality itself in danger.
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WHEN THE MOON HITS YOUR EYE by John Scalzi — March 25
Zipping back to the sillier side of sci-fi, we have the latest novel from John Scalzi. Scalzi has written dozens of books, and they tend to either by light, fun romps or thought-provoking sci-fi in the vein of Asimov. When the Moon Hits your Eye is very much the former sort of book, as should be obvious from the set up: what would the world do if, suddenly, inexplicably, the moon turned into a giant ball of cheese?
Yup, you read that right. And the denizens of Earth will have very different opinions about what to do with this miracle:
"For some it’s an opportunity. For others it’s a moment to question their faith: In God, in science, in everything. Still others try to keep the world running in the face of absurdity and uncertainty. And then there are the billions looking to the sky and wondering how a thing that was always just there is now... something absolutely impossible.
Astronauts and billionaires, comedians and bank executives, professors and presidents, teenagers and terminal patients at the end of their lives -- over the length of an entire lunar cycle, each get their moment in the moonlight. To panic, to plan, to wonder and to pray, to laugh and to grieve. All in a kaleidoscopic novel that goes all the places you’d expect, and then to so many places you wouldn’t."
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THE SERPENT CALLED MERCY by Roanne Lau — March 25
Moving back over to fantasy, The Serpent Called Mercy is a Malaysian Chinese-inspired epic fantasy series that's been compared to The Witcher and Squid Game, which is a pretty interesting combination. It follows two slumdogs, Lythlet and Desil, who enter into an arena where they fight against monsters for coin in order to pay off their insurmountable debt. They make a great team, until a match-master takes note of Lythlet's cunning and decides to launch her into the higher echelons of the arena, leaving Desil behind.
Ambitious to a fault, Lythlet gets caught up in the whirlwind of fame and glory. And she isn't the only one; an even deadlier game than the arena soon becomes apparent, as the political scheming of those outside the ring come to the forefront. Ultimately, she'll have to decide if the cost of the life she's dreamed of is worth sacrificing everything she's known, including her honor and only true friend.
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TIDEBORN by Eliza Chan (Drowned World #2) — March 25
We end our list for March with another fantasy: Tideborn by Eliza Chan. This is the sequel to Fathomfolk, Chan's 2024 debut novel about the half-submerged city of Tiankawi, where humans live in shining towers while the fathomfolk — kelpies, mermaids, sea dragons and the like — live below in their shadow. Half-siren Mira was assigned to Be a border guard in that book, and found herself torn between two worlds as she tried to advocate for a fairer coexistence for fathomfolk and humans.
Tideborn continues Mira's journey following a devastating tsunami, while the dragon princess Mira sets out for the open ocean on an epic quest.
"A tsunami and a dragon's wish have wrought changes upon the city of Tiankawi that have never been seen before. But shared experiences have not healed the rift between the city’s fathomfolk and human citizens, and scars from years of oppression still remain.
Mira, a half-siren and activist, fights politicians and her own people to rebuild her city, and to uncover a deadly conspiracy. And Nami, the dragon princess, undertakes a daring ocean voyage alongside friend and foe, in order to convince a mythical Titan not to destroy Tiankawi for its crimes..."
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And that brings us to the end of March. What books from this list are you adding to your TBR? Are there any you're excited for that we missed, or that you'd be especially interested in reading further discussions about on the site? Let us know in the comments!
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