40 fantasy and science fiction books you should read in 2022

The Book Eaters by Sunyi Dean — August 9

The Book Eaters is author Sunyi Dean’s debut novel, and its premise is crazy in the best way. People eat books…and absorb all the information in them. It sounds like all fun and games, until main character Devon discovers her son is only satiated by knowledge and experiences from a very different kind of source:

Out on the Yorkshire Moors lives a secret line of people for whom books are food, and who retain all of a book’s content after eating it. To them, spy novels are a peppery snack; romance novels are sweet and delicious. Eating a map can help them remember destinations, and children, when they misbehave, are forced to eat dry, musty pages from dictionaries.

Devon is part of The Family, an old and reclusive clan of book eaters. Her brothers grow up feasting on stories of valor and adventure, and Devon—like all other book eater women—is raised on a carefully curated diet of fairytales and cautionary stories.

But real life doesn’t always come with happy endings, as Devon learns when her son is born with a rare and darker kind of hunger—not for books, but for human minds.

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

Glacier’s Edge by R.A. Salvatore (Way of the Drow #2) — August 9

Few names in fantasy are as instantly recognizable as Drizzt Do’Urden, the dark elf warrior that R.A. Salvatore made a mainstay over the course of nearly 36 Forgotten Realms books. Based on Dungeons & Dragons lore, these books have inspired generations of readers with their vivid worldbuilding and gripping action scenes. Once you’ve read Drizzt slice his way through a horde of baddies with his twin scimitars, his panther companion Guenhwyvar at his side, it’s hard to forget it.

Salvatore began a new trilogy centered around Drizzt and his wife Catti-Brie last year with Starlight Enclave. This year, he returns to the Forgotten Realms with the follow-up Glacier’s Edge. If you’re into Drizzt, you know exactly what you’re getting into here. If you’re not…well, you probably want to start earlier in the series so that you know what’s going on.

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