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After another banger of a month for new books in August, it’s time to start getting ready for fall with a new batch of fantasy and science fiction books! I know we say this every month, but September is actually so stacked with new releases that you might need a whole new shelf just to fit them all.
From shiny new re-releases of older titles to space operas, fantasy sagas, historical epics and cyberpunk dystopias, there’s quite a lot of reading material to choose from in September. We’ve even got some LitRPG books on the list for the first time here at WinterIsComing!
Without further adieu, let’s get into the new fantasy and science fiction books coming in September, starting with…
CITY OF BONES by Martha Wells — September 5
Martha Wells is the author of the beloved Murderbot Diaries sci-fi series, but she’s having a hell of a year outside of Murderbot in 2023. Back in May we got a brand new fantasy story from Wells, Witch King. In September we’ll be getting a re-release of one of the author’s earlier fantasy novels, City of Bones, which was originally printed back in 1995, long before Wells’ breakout Murderbot series. City of Bones: Updated and Revised Edition brings that story to life with a new coat of polish, making it widely available once more for fans of the author’s work.
The city of Charisat, a tiered monolith of the Ancients’ design, sits on the edge of the vast desert known as the Waste. Khat, a member of a humanoid race created by the Ancients to survive in the Waste, and Sagai, his human partner, are relic dealers working in the bottom tiers of society, trying to stay one step ahead of the Trade Inspectors.
When Khat is hired by the all-powerful Warders to find relics believed to be part of one of the Ancients’ arcane engines, he, and his party, begin unravelling the mysteries of an age-old technology.
This they expected.
They soon find themselves as the last line of defense between the suffering masses of Charisat and a fanatical cult, bent on unleashing an evil upon the city with an undying thirst for bone.
That, they did not expect.
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OTHER MINDS by Eliane Booey — September 5
Other Minds is the debut book from Chinese Singaporean writer Eliane Boey. It actually consists of two novellas, Carrier and Signal\Tracer, which are set in the same cyberpunk world decades apart. As Boey notes in the book’s introduction, that means Other Minds isn’t two completely separate works, but rather “a world in two novellas, which broach the same question, in different ways.”
Boey’s approach in these novellas has been compared to that of William Gibson, so if you’ve been going through a bit of a withdrawal in the wake of The Peripheral being canceled, this could be a great option to scratch that cyberpunk itch.
What wouldn’t we build; if loss was impermanent, happiness could be constructed, and our limits were boundless?
Administration agent Xi regulates an immersive nostalgic mirror of her decaying capital city, until she finds avatars controlled by dead users, and digging only raises questions about the system she serves, and the friendships she thought were real.
Disgraced aerospace engineer Ming Wen, launches her intelligent luxury orbiter, and a chance at redemption, with her daughter onboard. But when the ship seems to know things she’s long forgotten, the only way out is within.
From a cyberpunk mystery that threatens to break the violet skies of a beautiful dream, to the quiet terror of facing corrupted love, and reckoning, in deep space, OTHER MINDS will immerse you in a near-future world where anything can be built, except what we need.
GODKILLER by Hannah Kaner (Godkiller #1) — September 12
The debut novel from author Hannah Kaner, Godkiller is the first book of a dark fantasy trilogy where the old gods have been outlawed, yet ancient magic still stirs. It’s been described as a great fit for fans of stories like The Witcher, Gideon the Ninth, and American Gods.
Gods are forbidden in the kingdom of Middren. Formed by human desires and fed by their worship, there are countless gods in the world—but after a great war, the new king outlawed them and now pays “godkillers” to destroy any who try to rise from the shadows.
As a child, Kissen saw her family murdered by a fire god. Now, she makes a living killing them and enjoys it. But all this changes when Kissen is tasked with helping a young noble girl with a god problem. The child’s soul is bonded to a tiny god of white lies, and Kissen can’t kill it without ending the girl’s life too.
Joined by a disillusioned knight on a secret quest, the unlikely group must travel to the ruined city of Blenraden, where the last of the wild gods reside, to each beg a favor. Pursued by assassins and demons, and in the midst of burgeoning civil war, they will all face a reckoning. Something is rotting at the heart of their world, and they are the only ones who can stop it.
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MAMMOTHS AT THE GATES by Nghi Vo (The Singing Hills Cycle #4) — September 12
Mammoths at the Gates is the fourth novella in Nghi Vho’s The Singing Hills Cycle, a lyrical fantasy set in a fictional world reminiscent of Imperial China. The series consists of four standalone books, each linked by a cleric named Chih. While it’s never a bad choice to start at the beginning of a series, The Singing Hills Cycle books are constructed such that you can easily dive in wherever you wish, since each one contains a full tale within its pages.
The wandering Cleric Chih returns home to the Singing Hills Abbey for the first time in almost three years, to be met with both joy and sorrow. Their mentor, Cleric Thien, has died, and rests among the archivists and storytellers of the storied abbey. But not everyone is prepared to leave them to their rest.
Because Cleric Thien was once the patriarch of Coh clan of Northern Bell Pass–and now their granddaughters have arrived on the backs of royal mammoths, demanding their grandfather’s body for burial. Chih must somehow balance honoring their mentor’s chosen life while keeping the sisters from the north from storming the gates and destroying the history the clerics have worked so hard to preserve.
But as Chih and their neixin Almost Brilliant navigate the looming crisis, Myriad Virtues, Cleric Thien’s own beloved hoopoe companion, grieves her loss as only a being with perfect memory can, and her sorrow may be more powerful than anyone could anticipate. . .
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THE WORDS OF KINGS AND PROPHETS by Shauna Lawless (Gael Song #2) — September 14
This month will see the arrival of the much-anticipated sequel to Shauna Lawless’ The Children of Gods and Fighting Men. The second book in the Gael Song series, The Words of Kings and Prophets is set in a fantastical version of medieval Ireland where conflicted characters are caught in the midst of a looming war. It’s drawn comparisons to both Game of Thrones and The Last Kingdom, but with its own distinct flavor thanks to its Irish roots and clashing factions of magic. If you’re a fan of either of those series this is one you probably want on your radar.
Ireland, 1000 AD. Clouds of war gather for mortals and immortals alike as the Irish kingdoms strive for supremacy.
Gormflaith, unhappy queen of Brian Boru, schemes to destroy the Descendants, sworn enemies of her Fomorian kind. As her plans take an unexpected turn, Gormflaith discovers her magic is more powerful than she ever realised – but at what cost?
Descendant healer Fódla dwells disguised in the mortal world, seeking to protect her young nephew – but the boy has secrets of his own. Fódla must do all in her power to keep him hidden from those who would use him for evil.
When a mysterious man comes to King Brian’s court, his presence could spell disaster for both Gormflaith and Fódla – and for Ireland herself. For he is Tomas, an ambitious immortal – and he will do anything to see his plans become reality…
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THE PRIMAL HUNTER 7: A LITRPG ADVENTURE — September 15
Next we step over into the realm of LitRPGs for The Primal Hunter 7 by Zogarth. If this is the first you’re hearing about LitRPGs, or Literary Role Playing Games, welcome. This genre combines elements from gaming like leveling up and character progression with more traditional storytelling, often with the gaming elements clearly defined for the characters. The genre has taken off in a huge way in recent years; if you’re into gaming and reading and haven’t heard about LitRPGs, this may be a genre you’d enjoy quite a lot.
The Primal Hunter is a well-loved series in the genre which follows a group of office workers who are transported to a multiverse where they have to master various skills in order to survive. The series has a very clearly defined set of game rules as main character Jake hones his craft to become a “true apex hunter.”
The Primal Hunter 7 is, obviously, the seventh installment in this series. Since it’s a linear progression for the characters, you’re probably going to want to start at the beginning.
STARTER VILLAIN by John Scalzi — September 16
For readers, a few things are certain: new books are always on the way, we’ll probably still be waiting for George R.R. Martin’s The Winds of Winter a month from now, and if science fiction author John Scalzi is releasing a new book, it’s going to be a raucous good time. Scalzi has written so many sci-fi books at this point that we’d be here for a while if we listed them all, but perhaps his best known is Old Man’s War.
In the years since that one, Scalzi has developed a reputation for writing stories that are fun, action-packed, and often hilarious. The cover for his latest book Starter Villain promises pretty much exactly that. It’s about a man who takes over his dead uncle’s supervillain business. There are talking cats, “unionized dolphins,” and all sorts of other things that sound so absurd I can’t not be curious.
Are the cats middle-management? Do they actually wear suits? We’ll have to read and find out.
Charlie’s life is going nowhere fast. A divorced substitute teacher living with his cat in a house his siblings want to sell, all he wants is to open a pub downtown, if only the bank will approve his loan.
Then his long-lost uncle Jake dies and leaves his supervillain business (complete with island volcano lair) to Charlie.
But becoming a supervillain isn’t all giant laser death rays and lava pits. Jake had enemies, and now they’re coming after Charlie. His uncle might have been a stand-up, old-fashioned kind of villain, but these are the real thing: rich, soulless predators backed by multinational corporations and venture capital.
It’s up to Charlie to win the war his uncle started against a league of supervillains. But with unionized dolphins, hyper-intelligent talking spy cats, and a terrifying henchperson at his side, going bad is starting to look pretty good.
In a dog-eat-dog world…be a cat.
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STARS LIKE ACID by Marissa Lupe — September 18
Stars Like Acid is the debut novel from Marissa Lupe. It’s a science fiction novel which sees two women — a soldier and a member of the societal elite — brought together on a distant space station where they’re forced to unravel a web of mysteries with immense ramifications for humanity. With explorations of oppressive government oversight, out-of-control human evolution, and humanity adapting to life beyond Earth, Stars Like Acid calls to mind complex space sagas like The Expanse.
Téa, a Latina soldier in training, is used to standing her ground in a world that seems hellbent on bringing her to her knees. Orphaned at age five and held captive on a military base for most of her life, she barely remembers a time before the government controlled her every move.
Now, fifteen years later, the Earth is dying, a resistance is forming, and the corrupt government is hoarding resources and information that could save the world. When Téa is forced to marry the son of a terrifying general, she stumbles across a dark secret that could finally dismantle her power-hungry father-in-law’s regime and offer her a chance at freedom.
Humans are evolving in dangerous and powerful ways, and Téa may be the most powerful one of them all.
Meanwhile, Annabelle, another of Earth’s many orphans, has lived a mostly charmed life. That is if you don’t count the fact that she’s technically a prisoner. Drifting among the stars on Space Station Luna–the top-secret government lifeboat built to save Earth’s ruling class–Annabelle has everything she needs and the woman she loves by her side.
But when Téa ends up at the space station, she unravels a web of deceptions that send both women reeling and make one thing perfectly clear: the secrets that connect Téa and Annabelle may be powerful enough to turn the tides of war, save the planet, and set the people free.
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The Darkest Stars by Kristy Gardner (The Broken Stars #2) — September 19
The second book in Kristy Gardner’s The Broken Stars trilogy, The Darkest Stars continues the story of Calay, a survivor in a post-apocalyptic Pacific Northwest ravaged by alien horrors and darkness.
The first book in Gardner’s series, The Stars in Their Eyes, saw Calay risk it all to reunite with her love Tess. Things didn’t all work out as planned. Calay is still alive despite the post-apocalypse, but the dangers she faces have only grown more menacing in The Darkest Stars.
After discovering everything she’s ever known has been a lie, Calay understands humanity’s brutality firsthand. Now, depleted rations, unexplained aberrations, and an ecosystem in collapse have driven her to the brink of madness–even with Jacob by her side. When a mysterious woman sent from the stars promises to grant every desire she’s ever locked away in her shattered heart, she’s forced to make an impossible decision: remain on a dying Earth or journey to a planet two-billion lightyears away in an effort to save them all. Clinging to the dream she might yet find somewhere to call home, she agrees. After all, how much worse could it get?
When she arrives on the shimmering, glass-city planet Téras, Calay desperately want to believe in a better future. Despite being haunted by the past she’ll never escape, her hope is buoyed by the reunion with the mother she thought long-dead and the possibility of uniting their civilizations. The reality, however, is more horrifying than anything she could have imagined.
As the universe descends into darkness, she finds herself trapped in the far reaches of deep space, face to face with dangerous forces, unyielding truths, and feral monsters that will force her to confront the darkest parts of herself, pushing her to the very limits of what it means to be human.
In this gripping queer sci-fi odyssey, Calay’s journey through love, betrayal, and self-discovery becomes a fight not only for her life, but the survival of Earth itself.
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THE ICE by Ryan Cahill (The Bound and the Broken novella #3) — September 23
Ryan Cahill’s The Bound and the Broken is an epic fantasy series in the vein of the classics, with elves, dwarves, dragons and epic warfare. So far the main series consists of three books: Of Blood and Fire, Of Darkness and Light, and Of War and Ruin. There are also two novellas: The Fall and The Exile.
There’s a huge fantasy world waiting for you in this series. This month, Cahill returns with another Bound and the Broken novella: The Ice. While The Ice is technically a prequel set before the main The Bound and the Broken series, to get the full effect you’ll probably want to start reading at the beginning.
In Epheria, you are the predators. Here, you are the prey.
Almost four hundred years have passed since the fall of The Order. Four hundred years since the empire rose. Four hundred years since the last dragon egg hatched.
In the icy wasteland of Valacia, Aeson Virandr searches for the one thing that could turn the tide of war: hope.
But there is a reason no soul has ever returned from Valacia.
Hope comes at a cost, one that can only be paid in blood.
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THE HEXOLOGISTS by Josiah Bancroft (The Hexologists #1) — September 26
Josiah Bancroft is the author of the Babel series, which began with Senlin Ascends. That one wrapped up last year, and already Bancroft is back with something new: The Hexologists. It follows a husband and wife team who go around solving hexes for clients, which sounds like a fun set up with plenty of Bancroft’s trademark wit.
The Hexologists, Iz and Warren Wilby, are quite accustomed to helping desperate clients with the bugbears of city life. Aided by hexes and a bag of charmed relics, the Wilbies have recovered children abducted by chimney-wraiths, removed infestations of barb-nosed incubi, and ventured into the Gray Plains of the Unmade to soothe a troubled ghost. Well-acquainted with the weird, they never shy away from a challenging case.
But when they are approached by the royal secretary and told the king pleads to be baked into a cake—going so far as to wedge himself inside a lit oven—the Wilbies soon find themselves embroiled in a mystery that could very well see the nation turned on its head. Their effort to expose a royal secret buried under forty years of lies brings them nose to nose with a violent anti-royalist gang, avaricious ghouls, alchemists who draw their power from a hell-like dimension, and a bookish dragon who only occasionally eats people.
Armed with a love toughened by adversity and a stick of chalk that can conjure light from the darkness, hope from the hopeless, Iz and Warren Wilby are ready for a case that will test every spell, skill, and odd magical artifact in their considerable bag of tricks.
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DEVIL’S BATTLE by Taylor Anderson (The Artillerymen #3) — September 26
The third entry in Taylor Anderson’s historical fantasy series The Artillerymen, Devil’s Battle follows a group of 1800’s soldiers who were on their way to fight in the Mexican-American war but instead were mysteriously transported to an alternate Earth populated with strange new sentient species. And also dinosaurs. It’s a spinoff to Anderson’s popular Destroyermen series, but with a whole new cast of characters and even more epic battles.
After being stranded on a very different and more perilous Earth, Colonel Lewis Cayce led his small army of displaced Americans, natives of the Yucatán, and Jaguar Warriors to defeat the biggest host the Dominion general Agon could assemble. Most unexpectedly, General Agon came to recognize the inherent evil of the Dominion and its depraved Blood Priests and turned on his former leaders.
Awkwardly at first, Lewis Cayce and Agon join forces to press their common enemy back toward the dark heart of the Dominion in the Great Valley of Mexico. But more Dominion troops have been drawn from the west to stop the Allied march on the Holy City, and a grueling race has begun. Worse, the Gran Cruzada—a vast Dom army that was marching on the far Californias to eject yet another heretic foe—might’ve already been recalled to face Cayce’s soldiers.
Time has become more precious than ever, and before Lewis Cayce can even try to implement his plan for total victory, he and his force must brave their greatest challenge yet—a brutal fight against a larger, better-trained army whose commander has a gift for strategy to rival Cayce’s own. The struggle to keep all his soldiers alive, new friends and old comrades alike, will test Cayce like never before, and, win or lose, nothing will be the same.
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THE FRACTURED DARK by Megan E. O’Keefe (The Devoured Worlds #2) — September 26
This month we’ll be getting the follow-up to Megan E. O’Keefe’s The Blighted Stars, which was a fantastic sci-fi horror book that came out in May. The first novel had an enemies-to-lovers romance involving a space marine and a geologist member of the aristocracy, a planet filled with mysteries alien organisms, and some very cool sci-fi technology.
We can’t talk too much about what happened in The Blighted Stars because there’s a special place in hell for people who spoil good books, but suffice it to say that ever since reading the first book I’ve been dying to see what happens next to Naira and Tarquin. Fortunately, Megan E. O’Keefe is a writing machine and The Fractured Dark is already on the way!
Naira and Tarquin have escaped vicious counterrevolutionaries, misprinted monsters, and the pull of a dying planet. Now, bound together to find the truth behind the blight that has been killing habitable planets, they need to hunt out the Mercator family secrets. But, when the head of Mercator disappears, taking the universe’s remaining supply of starship fuel with him, chaos breaks loose between the ruling families. Naira’s revolution must be put aside for the sake of humanity’s immediate survival.
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THE NAVIGATING FOX by Christopher Rowe — September 26
The next book on our list might be one of the most unique. The Navigating Fox is a novella from author Christopher Rowe. It’s about a literal fox who works as a navigator on expeditions.
Rowe is an acclaimed author of short fiction, and with this story drawing comparisons to works like Brian Jacques’ beloved Redwall series, I’m more than a little curious to read it when it releases later this month.
Quintus Shu’al, the world’s only navigating fox, is in disgrace after guiding an expedition to its doom, leaving no survivors. One year later, Quintus is offered the chance to redeem himself: he will need to lead a motley, fractious team—both human and animal—all the way to the gates of Hell.
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THE FRAGILE THREADS OF POWER by V.E. Schwab (Threads of Power #1) — September 26
One of the most notable book releases in September is The Fragile Threads of Power by V.E. Schwab. This is the start of a brand new series set in Schwab’s highly-acclaimed Shades of Magic universe, which features alternate-universe versions of London, world-bending magic and heists gone awry. But even more exciting than that is that this is a direct sequel which even brings back many of the main cast members from those books. Kell and the crew return!
Once, there were four worlds, nestled like pages in a book, each pulsing with fantastical power and connected by a single city: London. Until the magic grew too fast and forced the worlds to seal the doors between them in a desperate gamble to protect their own. The few magicians who could still open the doors grew more rare as time passed and now, only three Antari are known in recent memory—Kell Maresh of Red London, Delilah Bard of Grey London, and Holland Vosijk, of White London.
But barely a glimpse of them have been seen in the last seven years—and a new Antari named Kosika has appeared in White London, taking the throne in Holland’s absence. The young queen is willing to feed her city with blood, including her own—but her growing religious fervor has the potential to drown it instead.
And back in Red London, King Rhy Maresh is threatened by a rising rebellion, one determined to correct the balance of power by razing the throne entirely.
These two royals from very different empires now face very similar struggles: how to keep their crowns—and their own heads.
Amidst this tapestry of old friends and new enemies, a girl with an unusual magical ability comes into possession of a device that could change the fate of all four worlds.
Her name is Tes, and she’s the only one who can bring them together—or unravel it all.
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SHADOW SPEAKER by Nnedi Okorafor (The Desert Magician’s Duology #1) — September 26
Nnedi Okorafor is a visionary author best known for her Africanfuturism and Africanjujuism stories, such as the Binti trilogy and Who Fears Death, the latter of which is currently in development as a series at HBO. This month will see the re-release of one of Okorafor’s earlier works which was previously out of print: Shadow Speaker, the first book of The Desert Magician’s Duology. Okorafor is a consistently great writer, so it’s very exciting that this previously hard-to-find novel is getting another run.
Niger, West Africa, 2074
It is an era of tainted technology and mysterious mysticism. A great change has happened all over the planet, and the laws of physics aren’t what they used to be.
Within all this, I introduce you to Ejii Ugabe, a child of the worst type of politician. Back when she was nine years old, she was there as her father met his end. Don’t waste your tears on him: this girl’s father would throw anyone under a bus to gain power. He was a cruel, cruel man, but even so, Ejii did not rejoice at his departure from the world. Children are still learning that some people don’t deserve their love.
Now 15 years old and manifesting the abilities given to her by the strange Earth, Ejii decides to go after the killer of her father. Is it for revenge or something else? You will have to find out by reading this book.
I am the Desert Magician, and this is a novel I have conjured for you, so I’m certainly not going to just tell you here.
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VAULT: A LITRPG ADVENTURE by Nicoli Gonnella (Unbound #8) — September 27
We end with another LitRPG Adventure: Vault, the eighth book in Nicoli Gonnella’s Unbound series. This one takes the action and mechanics of the LitRPG genre and applies them to a world filled with primordial gods, chimaeras and other fun fantasy elements.
Three months have passed since the battle against the High Guard, and Felix and his people have grown. He’s poised on the brink of ascension to Master Tier, and his Stronghold is a burgeoning city; echoing with commerce, affluence, and the influence that comes with it.
Felix cares for none of it.
His Companion Pit remains cursed. Wings lost and wounds unable to heal, every remedy they try on the grounded creature only brings a fresh round of despair. It consumes all of Felix’s attention, to the point that only the threat of the Corrupted Unbound—Imara—can force him away.
The huntress has only a singular prey: the Unbound known only as the Ashen Gnome, who she intends to personally deliver to the Hierophant.
Should the Gnome fall into her clutches, everything Felix has built would be destroyed—and there’s not a chance in hell that he’ll let that happen.
And so ends our round-up of this month’s new fantasy and science fiction book releases. We’ll be working through some of these here on the site, so make sure to check back for reviews throughout the month!
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