10 new fantasy and science fiction books to read in April 2023
By Daniel Roman
UNTETHERED SKY by Fonda Lee — April 11
Fonda Lee’s Green Bone Saga is one of the masterpieces of modern fantasy, but this year she’s taking us far from Janloon and into a totally new fantasy world for her novella Untethered Sky. Lee excels at crafting intricate stories with highly believable characters, as well as torturing readers (in the best way) with emotional gut punches.
We’re expecting Untethered Sky to check all those boxes and more. And since it’s a novella, it’s a quicker read, although it still tells a complete story.
Ester’s family was torn apart when a manticore killed her mother and baby brother, leaving her with nothing but her father’s painful silence and a single, overwhelming need to kill the monsters that took her family.
Ester’s path leads her to the King’s Royal Mews, where the giant rocs of legend are flown to hunt manticores by their brave and dedicated ruhkers. Paired with a fledgling roc named Zahra, Ester finds purpose and acclaim by devoting herself to a calling that demands absolute sacrifice and a creature that will never return her love. The terrifying partnership between woman and roc leads Ester not only on the empire’s most dangerous manticore hunt, but on a journey of perseverance and acceptance.
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THE FRUGAL WIZARD’S HANDBOOK TO SURVIVING MEDIEVAL ENGLAND by Brandon Sanderson — April 11
What’s that? You thought a month would pass without some kind of new Brandon Sanderson book? Not this year, my friend!
In April, readers will be treated to the second of Sanderon’s “Secret Project” novels, which he revealed in his record-shattering Kickstarter last year. This one is titled The Frugal Wizard’s Handbook to Surviving Medieval England, and unlike Sanderson’s last Secret Project book, Tress of the Emerald Sea, this one is not part of of the Cosmere, Sanderson’s interconnected fantasy universe.
Instead, The Frugal Wizard’s Handbook is a standalone tale that trades in the sort of absurdity familiar to readers of of Douglas Adams’ The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy. Except instead of a galaxy-spanning quest, we have a time traveler who finds themselves stuck in medieval England with amnesia and an incomplete set of instructions for survival.
A man awakes in a clearing in what appears to be medieval England with no memory of who he is, where he came from, or why he is there. Chased by a group from his own time, his sole hope for survival lies in regaining his missing memories, making allies among the locals, and perhaps even trusting in their superstitious boasts. His only help from the “real world” should have been a guidebook entitled The Frugal Wizard’s Handbook for Surviving Medieval England, except his copy exploded during transit. The few fragments he managed to save provide clues to his situation, but can he figure them out in time to survive?
Since this is one of Sanderson’s Secret Projects, the rollout is a little unusual. The novel will release in ebook on April 11, as well as in audiobook form through Spotify and Speechify. A physical release will follow in the summer of 2023, to allow time for all of Sanderson’s Kickstarter backers to receive their copies before the book hits shelves.
Sanderson’s first Secret Project novel, Tress of the Emerald Sea, will also be releasing as a physical book this month. The hardcover version of Tress will be available online and at bookstores on April 4.