10 new fantasy and science fiction books coming in March 2023
By Daniel Roman
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Another month, another round of new fantasy and science fiction books hitting the shelves at your local bookstore! Plenty of great books have already come out in January and February of 2023, and March promises to be no different.
From magical empires to dark romantic fantasies, multiverses, time travel, and spooky houses filled with secrets, there’s an awful lot of promising new speculative fiction to inhale this month. Here are 10 sci-fi and fantasy books we’re excited to read in March 2023!
THE FAITHLESS by C.L. Clark (Magic of the Lost #2) — March 7
Let’s kick things off with a sequel that we’ve been anxiously waiting for here at WinterIsComing. The Faithless continues author C.L. Clark’s Magic of the Lost trilogy. The excellent first book in the series, The Unbroken, was a story of colonialism and revolution, unrequited sapphic love, and hidden magic set in the fantasy nation of Qazal, which draws inspiration from the colonial relationship between France and North Africa. That one wrapped up really well, but left a few huge plot threads hanging for book two: namely, what’s going to happen next for soldier Touraine and imperial heir apparent Luca? Will they get to be together, or will the turnings of the empire — and their own divided loyalties — keep them apart? And will the Qazali be able to solidify their hard-won victories from the first book?
The Faithless picks up where The Unbroken left off, exploring the next chapter for Clark’s fascinating fantasy world and the characters that inhabit it. If you love military fantasy with a dash of magical intrigue and complex politics, this is a series to earmark.
Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Goodreads
THE FOXGLOVE KING by Hannah Whitten (The Nightshade Crown #1) — March 7
Author Hannah Whitten smashed onto the fantasy scene in 2021 with her dark fantasy romance novel For The Wolf. She quickly followed that up in 2022 with the sequel For The Throne, capping off her bestselling Wilderwood duology.
This year she’s back with another new novel, The Foxglove King. This one is the start of a brand new series, making it an excellent entry point regardless of whether you’re familiar with Whitten’s previous work. The back-of-book description paints a vivid picture:
When Lore was thirteen, she escaped a cult in the catacombs beneath the city of Dellaire. And in the ten years since, she’s lived by one rule: don’t let them find you. Easier said than done, when her death magic ties her to the city.
Mortem, the magic born from death, is a high-priced and illicit commodity in Dellaire, and Lore’s job running poisons keeps her in food, shelter, and relative security. But when a run goes wrong and Lore’s power is revealed, she’s taken by the Presque Mort, a group of warrior-monks sanctioned to use Mortem working for the Sainted King. Lore fully expects a pyre, but King August has a different plan. Entire villages on the outskirts of the country have been dying overnight, seemingly at random. Lore can either use her magic to find out what’s happening and who in the King’s court is responsible, or die.
Lore is thrust into the Sainted King’s glittering court, where no one can be believed and even fewer can be trusted. Guarded by Gabriel, a duke-turned-monk, and continually running up against Bastian, August’s ne’er-do-well heir, Lore tangles in politics, religion, and forbidden romance as she attempts to navigate a debauched and opulent society.
But the life she left behind in the catacombs is catching up with her. And even as Lore makes her way through the Sainted court above, they might be drawing closer than she thinks.