15 highly anticipated fantasy and science fiction books coming this fall

4. A Spindle Splintered by Alix E. Harrow (10/5)

Heading into October, one of the first fantasy releases on the calendar is A Spindle Splintered by Alix E. Harrow. Harrow is best known for her novels The Once and Future Witches and The Ten Thousand Doors of January. Her newest release is a fairytale retelling with a fun multiversal twist. Here’s the back-of-book description for A Spindle Splintered:

"It’s Zinnia Gray’s twenty-first birthday, which is extra-special because it’s the last birthday she’ll ever have. When she was young, an industrial accident left Zinnia with a rare condition. Not much is known about her illness, just that no one has lived past twenty-one. Her best friend Charm is intent on making Zinnia’s last birthday special with a full sleeping beauty experience, complete with a tower and a spinning wheel. But when Zinnia pricks her finger, something strange and unexpected happens, and she finds herself falling through worlds, with another sleeping beauty, just as desperate to escape her fate."

Sleeping Beauty meets the multiverse in a story that promises to be thought-provoking and challenge age-old fairytale tropes. And since this book is a novella, it’s perfect for devouring in a minimum number of sittings for maximum immersion.

A Spindle Splintered comes out on October 5.