13 new fantasy and science fiction books to read in May 2023
By Daniel Roman
THE SWORD DEFIANT by Gareth Hanrahan (Lands of the Firstborn #1) — May 2
Next we head into the realm of dark fantasy for Gareth Hanrahan’s The Sword Defiant. It’s hard to be an aging fantasy hero, especially when those you used to call allies succumb to the darkness and become your enemies. Sir Aelfric has his work cut out for him, literally.
Many years ago, Sir Aelfric and his nine companions saved the world, seizing the Dark Lord’s cursed weapons, along with his dread city of Necrad. That was the easy part.
Now, when Aelfric – keeper of the cursed sword Spellbreaker – learns of a new and terrifying threat, he seeks the nine heroes once again. But they are wandering adventurers no longer. Yesterday’s eager heroes are today’s weary leaders – and some have turned to the darkness, becoming monsters themselves.
If there’s one thing Aelfric knows, it’s slaying monsters. Even if they used to be his friends.
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THE BOOK THAT WOULDN’T BURN by Mark Lawrence (The Library Trilogy #1) — May 9
Saying Mark Lawrence is one of the most prolific fantasy authors working today feels like an understatement; he’s perhaps best known for The Broken Empire trilogy, but has since wrapped up a slew of other trilogies such as The Red Queen’s War, Book of the Ancestor, Book of Ice, and Impossible Times; and that’s not even taking into account his short fiction or other works.
Some of those previous series are set in interconnected fantasy worlds, but with The Book That Wouldn’t Burn, Lawrence is embarking on a new adventure with new characters and a new setting. Given the title, it shouldn’t come as a surprise that a vast, ancient library features prominently in this one. The Book That Wouldn’t Burn sounds like a love letter to reading.
The boy has lived his whole life trapped within a book-choked chamber older than empires and larger than cities.
The girl has spent hers in a tiny settlement out on the Dust, where nightmares stalk and no one goes.
The world has never even noticed them. That’s about to change.
Their stories spiral around each other, across worlds and time. This is a tale of truth and lies and hearts, and the blurring of one into another. A journey on which knowledge erodes certainty and on which, though the pen may be mightier than the sword, blood will be spilled and cities burned.