11 great fantasy & science fiction books to read that came out in April 2022

Another month has come and gone. April may have rushed by with all the speed of a bullet train, but it left behind a bevy of great books in its wake. This month may have been the best month of 2022 so far in terms of the sheer volume of great fantasy and science fiction books hitting the shelves. Of course, there are only so many hours in the day, and it’s easy to miss some.

Therefore it is our solemn duty to round up some of those great fantasy and sci-fi books that you should be aware of. From Norse fantasies to magical cities and sentient starships, there’s plenty of nerdy goodness to go around in these novels and short fiction collections.

The Bladed Faith by David Dalglish

David Dalglish is a steadfast fantasy writer with more than 25 novels under his belt. The Bladed Faith is his latest work and the first installment of the Vagrant Gods trilogy. It follows dispossessed prince Cyrus and his comrades as they try to strike up a revolution in a fantasy world filled with gods, magic and political turmoil.

But striking back against an empire that has conquered most of the known world is no easy task, and it comes with steep costs for young Cyrus. As he hones his new skills as an assassin and gets to know the various members of his band of revolutionaries, he’s forced to make impossible decisions in order to keep faith in the fallen gods of his people alive.

The Bladed Faith has a seriously strong group dynamic that will feel instantly familiar to any fan of games like Final Fantasy. The posse is a big part of the fun here, and Dalglish does an excellent job of making each member of Cyrus’ crew feel as real as someone you know. (Except that they can do magic and fight off swathes of soldiers.)

The Blood Trials by N.E. Davenport

Author N.E. Davenport’s debut novel The Blood Trials is the first part of The Blood Gift duology, a series that blends science fiction and fantasy against the backdrop of a brutal competition that could upend the Republic of Mareen.

Ikenna’s grandfather trained her in secret to harness the outlawed abilities of her bloodline and become a deadly warrior. When he’s murdered, Ikenna’s investigation leads her to the highest levels of Mareen’s political elite. To get revenge on those who took her family, she must enter the Praetorian Trials, a deadly competition where only a quarter of entrants survive. If she succeeds, she could change the racist and misogynistic hierarchy of her world for good.

The Blood Trials has been gaining a ton of hype since it released on April 5, making Davenport one of 2022’s debut authors to watch.

Skyward Flight: The Collection by Brandon Sanderson and Janci Patterson

When Brandon Sanderson isn’t running record-breaking Kickstarters and working on monstrous tomes like The Stormlight Archive, he has plenty of other series in the hopper. One of those is the Skyward series of YA books. The first novel, also called Skyward, is Sanderson’s analog for How to Train Your Dragon, except it features a teenage girl as a protagonist and instead of discovering a dragon she finds a starship with advanced technology.

Fast-forward a few years, and the final Skyward book, Defiant, is due out in 2023. To fill out the story, Sanderson teamed up with writer Janci Patterson to create a series of novellas that follow some of the secondary characters from the books. Sunreach and ReDawn are meant to be read between the second and third novels of the main series, with the final novella Evershore set after the third.

For the first time, all three novellas have been released in a single binding. Skyward Flight: The Collection is a solid addition to any Sanderson fan’s shelf.

The Hunger of the Gods by John Gwynne

The Shadow of the Gods was the start of The Faithful and the Fallen author John Gwynne’s new Norse-inspired fantasy trilogy, and it was epic. That book came out in 2021, and already Gwynne has followed it up with a sequel, The Hunger of the Gods. We can’t say too much here because this is the second book in the trilogy, and by Odin we would not want to spoil the insane cliffhanger ending of the first book.

Suffice it to say, Gwynne’s series is fantasy fiction polished to a mirror sheen, and while many book series draw inspiration from Norse myth, The Bloodsworn trilogy is a step above in terms of how it incorporates the mythology, vocabulary, creatures, and culture of Viking raiders and Norse retellings into the narrative. If words like Ragnarok and shield-wall make you weak in the knees, you have just discovered your new favorite series.

Fevered Star by Rebecca Roanhorse

Rebecca Roanhorse has written in several different genres over the years including middle-grade fantasy and urban fantasy, but her latest novels are taking the adult epic fantasy genre and putting a really fresh spin on it. Between Earth and Sky is a series set in a fantasy world inspired by the Pre-Columbian empires of North America, like the Maya and Aztec. The first book, Black Sun, was nominated for a Hugo Award for Best Novel last year and gained lots of praise for Roanhorse’s imaginative worldbuilding, richly realized mythology, and compelling characters.

Black Sun saw blind priest Serapio and the Teek sailor Xiala arrive at the holy city of Tova in time to witness a rare solar eclipse. The celestial event coincided with a bloody prophecy, and after the dust settled the novel ended with a pretty serious cliffhanger.

Now, Roanhorse is back with the sequel Fevered Star. What’s next for Xiala and company in this world filled with complex politics, enormous animal avatars, and hidden magic?

The Memory Librarian and Other Stories of Dirty Computer by Janelle Monáe

The Memory Librarian and Other Stories of Dirty Computer is one of the more unique books on this list. Singer, songwriter and pop sensation Janelle Monáe has touched fans all over the world with her music, but now she’s turning to the written word with this short fiction collection based off the dystopian future introduced in her concept album Dirty Computer. Expanding on the mythos, Monáe and a cadre of other talented writers, including Yohanca Delgado and Shereé Rene Thomas, take on various themes and ideas presented in Monae’s groundbreaking album, which examined an Afrofuturistic society where every aspect of people’s lives were controlled and dictated to them.

The Memory Librarian and Other Stories of Dirty Computer explores “how different threads of liberation—queerness, race, gender plurality, and love—become tangled with future possibilities of memory and time in such a totalitarian landscape…and what the costs might be when trying to unravel and weave them into freedoms.” It’s a thought-provoking collection of stories that deals with age-old science fiction questions through the lens of a powerfully imagined dystopian future.

Kaikeyi by Vaishnavi Patel

Vaishnavi Patel’s debut novel Kaikeyi is a reimagining of the Indian epic the Ramayana from the point of view of the infamous queen Kaikeyi. In the original text, Kaikeyi is a villainous figure, but with this fresh spin on the story, Patel deepens her character considerably.

Kaikeyi is the sole daughter of the kingdom of Kekaya, raised on stories of gods and magic…but as she grows older, it becomes clear that the real world falls short of those tales. With a father content to banish her mother and marry her off for political gain, Kaikeyi finds solace in the texts and stories of her childhood. Through them she uncovers the secret to a hidden magic, which she uses to become a powerful warrior and diplomat.

Kaikeyi’s determination leads her onto a path that clashes with the destiny the gods had planned for her and her family, and forces her to face difficult truths about the legacy she will leave behind. Patel’s debut novel is one you absolutely do not want to miss.

The Girl and the Moon by Mark Lawrence

Mark Lawrence is a well-established fantasy writer, having put out a couple of really popular trilogies to date including The Broken Empire, which began with Prince of Thorns. Lawrence has lately been hard at work on his latest trilogy The Book of Ice, which features the author’s trademark knack for immersive details and gritty characters set against the backdrop of a vast world covered in ice.

The Girl and the Moon is the final book of the trilogy, and will not only wrap up the story of Yaz the Ice triber and her journey to find the green land of the Corridor, but also tie The Book of Ice even more strongly to Lawrence’s previous trilogy Book of the Ancestor. If you’ve been following the series, no doubt you’re already hyped for this one. If it’s new to you, I challenge you to read the back-of-book description for the first book in the series, The Girl and the Stars, and not become interested.

One Foot in the Fade by Luke Arnold

If you’re a Harry Dresden fan and you’ve never heard of Luke Arnold, you are in for a wonderful surprise. Arnold’s Fetch Phillips novels will feel familiar to any lover of urban fantasy stories even as they twist the genre in some really excellent ways.

For starters, these books are set in an actual fantasy world where a metropolis powered by magic has fallen into a rundown state after the world’s arcane power mysteriously dried up. Into that noir-inspired setting walks Fetch Phillips, private investigator and guy who generally can’t catch a break. Whether he’s helping goblins track down an elusive item or solving murders involving warlocks, elves or succubi, Fetch’s stories are always highly entertaining. A huge part of that is Arnold’s particular voice, which totally sells the adventure.

One Foot in the Fade is the third novel in the series, following The Last Smile in Sunder City and Dead Man in a Ditch. This time around, Fetch is thrown into a new investigation when an angel plummets to its death on the streets of Sunder City. Whenever Fetch is on the case, you know you’re in for a wild ride.

The Discord of the Gods by Jenn Lyons

The final book of Jenn Lyons A Chorus of Dragons series is here, and the fate of the universe hangs in the balance. Beginning with The Ruin of Kings, Lyons has gradually built out an intricate story that is right in the wheelhouse of other epic fantasy authors like Brandon Sanderson or George R.R. Martin.

The Ruin of Kings followed Kihrin, who is revealed to be the long-lost son of a treasonous prince. But being royalty is nothing like Kihrin imagined; it’s a life filled with treachery and power plays, where stories of demons, dragons, and gods proved to have more truth to them than he’d ever thought. To top it all off, there’s a dark prophecy about how Kihrin will affect the fate of the very world.

Fast forward to The Discord of the Gods and things have blown up to truly epic proportions. If you’ve been looking for a new series to scratch that epic fantasy itch (and hey, maybe you’re one of those people who doesn’t like to start series until they’re finished), you’re in luck here. Lyons has established herself as one of the prominent voices in modern fantasy, and The Discord of the Gods may just be her most ambitious book yet.

The Jade Setter of Janloon by Fonda Lee

If you’re a fan of Fonda Lee’s fantasy gangster series The Green Bone Saga, you may still be going through withdrawal after the release of her masterpiece Jade Legacy last fall. Thankfully, Lee is taking us back to Janloon for another adventure this month.

The Jade Setter of Janloon is a novella set before the events of The Green Bone Saga. It follows apprentice jade setter Pulo Oritono, who is thrust into the thick of Janloon’s criminal underground when a priceless weapon is stolen from his shop. Pulo has three days to retrieve the weapon before his loved ones, prospects, and life are subject to the wrath of the Clans.

At just over 100 pages, The Jade Setter of Janloon is a short read that can be easily devoured, and with Lee you always know it’s going to be amazing.

A note on this one: the print edition of The Jade Setter of Janloon is a limited run from Subterranean Press. It’s currently on its second printing, which will not be shipping until the fall. However, the ebook edition of Jade Setter comes out on April 30, meaning you can pick your poison for how you want to experience your return to Janloon.

And that wraps up our list of 11 great science fiction and fantasy books that hit shelves during the month of April 2022. Which are you most looking forward to reading? Have you already read any? Did we forget one of your favorites? Let us know in the comments…and happy reading!

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