40 fantasy and science fiction books you should read in 2022

Fairy Tale by Stephen King — September 9

It was recently announced that the master of horror himself, Stephen King, will also be releasing a new novel this year. This is one that King wrote during the COVID-19 pandemic when he allowed his imagination to lead him to distant vistas, abandoned cities, and fantasy worlds that are at once distant and just out of reach:

Charlie Reade looks like a regular high school kid, great at baseball and football, a decent student. But he carries a heavy load. His mom was killed in a hit-and-run accident when he was ten, and grief drove his dad to drink. Charlie learned how to take care of himself—and his dad. Then, when Charlie is seventeen, he meets Howard Bowditch, a recluse with a big dog in a big house at the top of a big hill. In the backyard is a locked shed from which strange sounds emerge, as if some creature is trying to escape. When Mr. Bowditch dies, he leaves Charlie the house, a massive amount of gold, a cassette tape telling a story that is impossible to believe, and a responsibility far too massive for a boy to shoulder.

Because within the shed is a portal to another world—one whose denizens are in peril and whose monstrous leaders may destroy their own world, and ours. In this parallel universe, where two moons race across the sky, and the grand towers of a sprawling palace pierce the clouds, there are exiled princesses and princes who suffer horrific punishments; there are dungeons; there are games in which men and women must fight each other to the death for the amusement of the “Fair One.” And there is a magic sundial that can turn back time.

This is far from King’s first foray into fantasy, and you can bet there will be some kind of dark, mind-blowing twist to accompany this fairly wholesome-sounding premise. It is Stephen King, after all.

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