15 new Fantasy and Science Fiction books to read in 2021

The Fireheart Tiger by Aliette de Bodard (February 9)

Just because a book is in the fantasy genre doesn’t mean it needs to be so thick you could use it to defend yourself on the subway. The Fireheart Tiger by Aliette de Bodard is a novella being published by Tor.com as a paperback this February, and it promises to pack a lot of amazing storytelling into a very compact package. The publisher bills this one as “The Goblin Emperor meets Howl’s Moving Castle in a pre-colonial Vietnamese-esque world,” which more or less makes it impossible not to take a second look. Add to that the fact that de Bodard is an excellent writer whose previous works — such as her Xuya Universe novels — have been nominated for all sorts of awards, and you have the recipe for a really compelling read.

Here’s the back of book description for The Fireheart Tiger:

"Quiet, thoughtful princess Thanh was sent away as a hostage to the powerful faraway country of Ephteria as a child. Now she’s returned to her mother’s imperial court, haunted not only by memories of her first romance, but by worrying magical echoes of a fire that devastated Ephteria’s royal palace. Thanh’s new role as a diplomat places her once again in the path of her first love, the powerful and magnetic Eldris of Ephteria, who knows exactly what she wants: romance from Thanh and much more from Thanh’s home. Eldris won’t take no for an answer, on either front. But the fire that burned down one palace is tempting Thanh with the possibility of making her own dangerous decisions. Can Thanh find the freedom to shape her country’s fate—and her own?"

The Fireheart Tiger comes out February 9, from Tor.com books.