40 fantasy and science fiction books you should read in 2022

Azura Ghost by Essa Hansen (The Graven #2) — February 1

Kicking off the month of February in style is Azura Ghost, the sequel to Essa Hansen’s mind-bendingly epic sci-fi debut Nophek Gloss. Azura Ghost follows the adventures of a spacefarer named Caiden who traverses a wide and weird multiverse on his sentient starship the Azura. The Azura is singularly unique, built with ancient technology made by the precursor Graven beings who once ruled the void…and the most powerful factions of Caiden’s time want the ship for their own ends.

Nophek Gloss earned all sorts of praise when it came out, especially for its dense and highly imaginative worldbuilding. But the real heart of the book is the vast emotional journey that Caiden and his found family take as he goes from a terrified refugee child to a seasoned freedom fighter who learns to rein in his endless anger over the injustices of the multiverse.

Azura Ghost picks up right where Nophek Gloss left off, and follows Caiden as a figure from his past comes back to draw him — and the wider multiverse — into a new conflict with terrifyingly high stakes.

Pre-order it: Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and Books-A-Million