This post contains affiliate links, where we may receive a percentage of any sale made from the links on this page. Prices and availability accurate as of the time of publication.
It’s time for our monthly round-up of new science fiction and fantasy book releases! Every month, we run through the books that are expected to hit shelves in the coming weeks and highlight some we’re especially looking forward to reading. And with Halloween approaching, there are some especially spooky books to feast on, from horror anthologies to deep space sci-fi, epic fantasy and more.
Here are 16 books to add to your never-ending TBR, starting with a treat from none other than A Song of Ice and Fire scribe George R.R. Martin:
VOYAGING, VOLUME ONE: THE PLAGUE STAR by George R.R. Martin, art and adaptation by Raya Golden — October 3
Voyaging is a graphic novel by Raya Golden which adapts the classic George R.R. Martin story The Plague Star, from his Tuf Voyaging collection, which was originally published in the 1980s. That book contained seven pieces of short fiction which follow the trader Haviland Tuf, who resides on a rickety spaceship called the Cornucopia of Excellent Goods at Low Prices with his cats Havoc and Mushroom. It’s a lot of fun, and an essential part of Martin’s career from before he wrote A Song of Ice and Fire.
Voyaging, Volume One: The Plague Star adapts the first of those stories about Tuf, where he’s hired by a group of shady characters to ferry them out to a mysterious celestial object that’s raining plagues down on a nearby planet. This is one I’ve already had a chance to read. Golden’s adaptation of Martin tale features tons of great artwork and smart choices that bring the story to life in a visual medium. If you enjoy Martin’s work, this is one you’ll definitely want to check out.
On the distant planet Hro B’rana, the last words of a dying man echo through the halls of a run-down trading station.
Nearly three hundred years later, a group of fortune seekers embark on a mission to unravel the mystery of the fabled Plague Star aboard a rickety trade ship called The Cornucopia of Excellent Goods at Low Prices. But their journey will be far more perilous than any of them could have imagined—who will survive this deadly quest and battle it out for the final prize?
A darkly comic meditation on our future as a species, Voyaging, Volume 1: The Plague Star is a sci-fi adventure story of intrigue, greed, deception, and of course… cats. Adapted and vividly illustrated by Hugo Award–nominated artist Raya Golden, this thrilling and action-packed graphic novel brings the first story from #1 New York Times bestselling author George R. R. Martin’s classic collection Tuf Voyaging to life.
Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Goodreads
PRINCESS OF DUNE by Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson — October 3
The movie Dune: Part Two may have been pushed back to 2024, but you don’t have to wait that long to go back to Arrakis. Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson have a new Dune book coming out this month, and it’s one that ties together nicely with what we’re expecting to see in Dune: Part Two.
Princess of Dune is the story of Chani and Princess Irulan, two of the most important women around unwilling messiah Paul Atriedes. Each plays an important role in Frank Herbert’s Dune books, but they’ve never had their full story told from their own perspectives…until now.
Set two years before Dune: Princess of Dune is the never-before-told story of two key women in the life of Paul Muad’Dib—Princess Irulan, his wife in name only, and Paul’s true love, the Fremen Chani. Both women become central to Paul’s galaxy-spanning Imperial reign.
Raised in the Imperial court and born to be a political bargaining chip, Irulan was sent at an early age to be trained as a Bene Gesserit Sister. As Princess Royal, she also learned important lessons from her father—the Padishah Emperor Shaddam Corrino IV. Now of marriageable age, Princess Irulan sees the machinations of the many factions vying for power—the Bene Gesserit Sisterhood, the Spacing Guild, the Imperial throne, and a ruthless rebellion in the Imperial military. The young woman has a wise and independent streak and is determined to become much more than a pawn to be moved about on anyone’s gameboard.
Meanwhile, on Arrakis, Chani—the daughter of Liet-Kynes, the Imperial Planetologist who serves under the harsh rule of House Harkonnen—is trained in the Fremen mystical ways by an ancient Reverend Mother. Brought up to believe in her father’s ecological dream of a green Arrakis, she follows Liet around to Imperial testing stations, surviving the many hazards of desert life. Chani soon learns the harsh cost of Fremen dreams and obligations under the oppressive boot heel of the long Harkonnen occupation.
Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Goodreads
OUT THERE SCREAMING edited by Jordan Peele — October 3
Jordan Peele is best known for visionary movies like Get Out and Nope, but this month he’s curating a new speculative anthology of Black horror called Out There Screaming. This book features a slew of stories from a ton of prominent authors of color, including N.K. Jemisen, P. Djèlí Clark, Nnedi Okorafor, L.D. Lewis, Tochi Onyebuchi, Nalo Hopkinson, Rebecca Roanhorse and more.
Out There Screaming explores “not only the terrors of the supernatural but the chilling reality of injustice that haunts our nation.” That sounds right on brand for Peele, and with the stable of authors assembled for this book, you know it’s going to be something special.
A cop begins seeing huge, blinking eyes where the headlights of cars should be that tell him who to pull over. Two freedom riders take a bus ride that leaves them stranded on a lonely road in Alabama where several unsettling somethings await them. A young girl dives into the depths of the Earth in search of the demon that killed her parents. These are just a few of the worlds of Out There Screaming, Jordan Peele’s anthology of all-new horror stories by Black writers. Featuring an introduction by Peele and an all-star roster of beloved writers and new voices, Out There Screaming is a master class in horror, and—like his spine-chilling films—its stories prey on everything we think we know about our world . . . and redefine what it means to be afraid.
Featuring stories by: Erin E. Adams, Violet Allen, Lesley Nneka Arimah, Maurice Broaddus, Chesya Burke, P. Djèlí Clark, Ezra Claytan Daniels, Tananarive Due, Nalo Hopkinson, N. K. Jemisin, Justin C. Key, L. D. Lewis, Nnedi Okorafor, Tochi Onyebuchi, Rebecca Roanhorse, Nicole D. Sconiers, Rion Amilcar Scott, Terence Taylor, and Cadwell Turnbull.
Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Goodreads
THE JINN-BOT OF SHANTIPORT by Samit Basu — October 3
The Jinn-Bot of Shantiport is a new standalone sci-fi novel from Indian author Samit Basu. This book sounds like a blast, combining elements from myth with a brother-sister dynamic between a woman and a robot monkey in a bustling spaceport city.
Shantiport was supposed to be a gateway to the stars. But the city is sinking, and its colonist rulers aren’t helping anyone but themselves.
Lina, a daughter of failed revolutionaries, has no desire to escape Shantiport. She loves her city and would do anything to save its people. This is, in fact, the plan for her life, made before she was even born.
Her brother, Bador, is a small monkey bot with a big attitude and bigger ambitions. He wants a chance to leave this dead-end planet and explore the universe on his own terms. But that would mean abandoning the family he loves—even if they do take him for granted.
When Shantiport’s resident tech billionaire coerces Lina into retrieving a powerful artifact rumored to be able to reshape reality, forces from before their time begin coalescing around the siblings. And when you throw in a piece of sentient, off-world tech with the ability to grant three wishes into the mix… None of the city’s powers will know what hit them.
Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Goodreads
THE HURRICANE WARS by Thea Guanzon — October 3
Our next book is a fantasy romance called The Hurricane Wars, the debut novel from Thea Guanzon. It’s set in a Southeast-Asia inspired fantasy world that’s racked by storms and follows two enemies with opposing magical abilities who are pulled together by the whims of fate and war. This book is being marketed as a great fit for readers who enjoyed The Fourth Wing or A Court of Thorns and Roses, so if those books are up your alley you may have just found your next fantasy obsession.
All Talasyn has ever known is the Hurricane Wars. Growing up an orphan in a nation under siege by the ruthless Night Emperor, she found her family among the soldiers who fight for freedom. But she is hiding a deadly secret: light magic courses through her veins, a blazing power believed to have been wiped out years ago that can cut through the Night Empire’s shadows.
Prince Alaric, the emperor’s only son and heir, has been tasked with obliterating any threats to the Night Empire’s rule with the strength of his armies and mighty shadow magic. He discovers the greatest threat yet in Talasyn: a girl burning brightly on the battlefield with the magic that killed his grandfather, turned his father into a monster, and ignited the Hurricane Wars. He tries to kill her, but in a clash of light and dark, their powers merge and create a force the likes of which has never been seen.
This war can only end with them. But an even greater danger is coming, and the strange magic they can create together could be the only way to overcome it. Talasyn and Alaric must decide… are they fated to join hands, or destroy each other?
Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Goodreads
SHIELD MAIDEN by Sharon Emmerichs — October 3
Sticking with debuts, next on the list is Shield Maiden by Sharon Emmerichs. This is a reimagining of Beowulf from the perspective of Beowulf’s niece Fryda. With that sort of rich story to pull from, it’ll probably appeal to readers who enjoyed Madeline Miller’s Circe or Vashnavi Patel’s Kaikeyi.
All her life, Fryda has longed to be a shield maiden, an honor reserved for Geatland’s mightiest warriors. When a childhood accident leaves her tragically injured and unfit for the battlefield, her dreams are dashed—or so she thinks. But a strange, unfathomable power is awakening within her, a power that will soon be put to the test.
For when foreign lords and chieftains descend upon Fryda’s home to celebrate her uncle King Beowulf’s fifty-year reign, she realizes not all their guests come with good intentions. Treachery is afoot, and Fryda must gather her courage to fight for her people…as a queen should—as a shield maiden would—and as only Fryda can.
But as Fryda’s power grows stronger, something ancient hears its call. For buried deep in her gilded lair, a dragon awakens…and Fryda must prove herself once and for all.
Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Goodreads
YUMI AND THE NIGHTMARE PAINTER by Brandon Sanderson (Secret Project #3) — October 3
The Brandon Sanderson fans have been eating well this year. Following the success of his record-setting Kickstarter campaign, 2023 has become “the Year of Sanderson.” In other words, this famously prolific fantasy author has been releasing a deluge of books — four, to be exact — which were all funded by his Kickstarter throughout the course of the year.
October is perhaps the biggest month for the Year of Sanderson yet, since it sees both the wider release of the Tor Books version of Yumi and the Nightmare Painter (aka Secret Project #3) as well as his fourth and final Secret Project book.
Like Tress and the Emerald Sea, Yumi and the Nightmare Painter is a Cosmere story told by Hoid, the mysterious world-hopper who appears in all of the books set in Sanderson’s shared universe. This one promises to be a bit less whimsical than Tress and sounds like it features another one of Sanderson’s trademark intricate magic systems.
Yumi has spent her entire life in strict obedience, granting her the power to summon the spirits that bestow vital aid upon her society―but she longs for even a single day as a normal person. Painter patrols the dark streets dreaming of being a hero―a goal that has led to nothing but heartache and isolation, leaving him always on the outside looking in. In their own ways, both of them face the world alone.
Suddenly flung together, Yumi and Painter must strive to right the wrongs in both their lives, reconciling their past and present while maintaining the precarious balance of each of their worlds. If they cannot unravel the mystery of what brought them together before it’s too late, they risk forever losing not only the bond growing between them, but the very worlds they’ve always struggled to protect.
Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Goodreads
THE SUNLIT MAN by Brandon Sanderson (Secret Project #4) — October 10
Sanderson is also releasing the digital version of The Sunlit Man, aka Secret Project #4. This one is also set in the Cosmere, but it sounds more like a traditional Sanderson fantasy adventure rather than a tale being relayed by Hoid.
Hoid or no, there’s bound to be plenty of Cosmere magic afoot in The Sunlit Man. It stars another world-hopper, known only as “Nomad,” who becomes embroiled in a war on an unstable world.
Running. Putting distance between himself and the relentless Night Brigade has been Nomad’s strategy for years. Staying one or two steps ahead of his pursuers by skipping through the Cosmere from one world to the next.
But now, his powers too depleted to escape, Nomad finds himself trapped on Canticle, a planet that will kill anyone who doesn’t keep moving. Fleeing the fires of a sunrise that melts the very stones, he is instantly caught up in the struggle between a heartless tyrant and the brave rebels who defy him.
Failure means a quick death, incinerated by the sun…or a lifetime as a mindless slave. Tormented by the consequences of his past, Nomad must fight not only for his survival—but also for his very soul.
LONG PAST DUES by James J. Butcher (The Unorthodox Chronicles #2) — October 10
Next up we have a dose of urban fantasy with Long Past Dues, the second book in James J. Butcher’s The Unorthodox Chronicles. These books follow a young man named Grimshaw Griswald Grimsby (great name), who is part of a department that keeps things in order in the magical underworld of Boston.
James J. Butcher is the son of Dresden Files author Jim Butcher, and The Unorthodox Chronicles sounds like it scratches that same itch his dad’s series did.
Against all odds, Grimshaw Griswald Grimsby has become an Auditor, enforcing laws about magic for Boston’s Department of Unorthodox Affairs. But Grimsby soon realizes the daily grind of his job is far removed from the glamour he imagined. Overlooked for every exciting case, Grimsby tires of being told to handle mundane magical troubles, and appropriates a case file intended for a friend.
Alongside Leslie Mayflower, the temporarily unretired Huntsman, Grimsby aims to crack the case and discover the origin of a strange, unfinished ritual—one that seems to imitate the handiwork of a foe Mayflower put down twenty years ago.
Together, they’ll have to deal with escaped werewolves, a cursed artifact, and a perilous journey to the mysterious subterranean city below Boston, all to uncover the shocking truth. At any cost, Grimsby must stop this ritual from finally being completed. Yet the cost may be paid not by himself but by his friends. . . .
Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Goodreads
THE ART OF DESTINY by Wesley Chu (The War Arts Saga #2) — October 10
The Art of Destiny is the sequel to Wesley Chu’s acclaimed martial arts fantasy novel The Art of Prophecy. Set in a fictional 2nd Century world, The War Arts Saga brings together magic and prophecy, martial arts and a subversive take on fantasy tropes.
Chu is perhaps best known for his Lives of Tao books, which were New York Times Bestsellers, but The War Arts is gaining a lot of steam. There’s even a TV series in the works, so now is a good time to get in on the ground floor and see what the hype is about.
Once there was a prophecy that a chosen one would rise to defeat the Eternal Khan, an immortal god-king.
But the prophecy was wrong.
Now Jian, the former chosen hero, is just an ordinary young man trying to find his own way. But he may yet have an extraordinary destiny, because he joins forces with Taishi, his grumpy grandmaster, who instructs him in the ways of her family’s powerful war art. Jian still has a long way to go before he can become her heir, so she recruits a band of elderly grandmasters who come out of retirement to whip him into shape and help with this one last job.
And there are others who are also seeking their own destiny, like Qisami, an assassin on a secret mission to protect a powerful noblewoman from her enemies. But as Qisami goes undercover to complete her mission, she takes on a new identity that gives her something she never had before: friendship, found family, and new purpose.
Sali also thought her fate was laid before her. She was supposed to be looking for the next Eternal Khan and now finds her clan exiled from everything she’s ever known. As she leads the survivors in search of a new home, Sali discovers that she’s something she never thought she could be: a leader and a revolutionary.
Because sometimes destiny is grander than any prophecy can foresee. And the greatest destiny of all is the one you choose for yourself.
Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Goodreads
AN INHERITANCE OF MAGIC by Benedict Jacka (Stephen Oakwood #1) — October 10
The first book in author Benedict Jacka’s Stephen Oakwood series, An Inheritance of Magic tackles questions about wealth and power. In this world, the wealthy horde magic for their own gain. It’s been pitched as a novel that is great for fans of shows like Succession as well as Lev Grossman’s The Magicians. That alone is enough to pique my interest.
This is another solid choice for Halloween season. You really can’t go wrong with corrupt magicians in October.
The wealthy seem to exist in a different, glittering world from the rest of us. Almost as if by . . . magic.
Stephen Oakwood is a young man on the edge of this hidden world. He has talent and potential, but turning that potential into magical power takes money, opportunity, and training. All Stephen has is a minimum wage job and a cat.
But when a chance encounter with a member of House Ashford gets him noticed by the wrong people, Stephen is thrown in the deep end. For centuries, the vast corporations and aristocratic Houses of the magical world have grown impossibly rich and influential by hoarding their knowledge. To survive, Stephen will have to take his talent and build it up into something greater—for only then can he beat them at their own game.
Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Goodreads
GENERATION SHIP by Michael Mammay — October 17
Michael Mammay is the author of tightly focused science fiction mysteries like the Planetside books and The Misfit Soldier, but this month he’s doing something a bit different. Generation Ship is a sprawling standalone sci-fi epic which follows a colony ship on its voyage out into the cold darkness of space. The ship has strict rules. But what happens when it finally draws near to its destination and those rules begin to buckle?
Mammay is a consistently solid author, and I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t very excited to see what he can do with the broader canvas that Generation Ship promises compared to his usual work.
In 2108, Colony Ship Voyager departed Earth for the planet of Promissa with 18,000 of the world’s best and brightest on board. 250 years and 27 light years later, an arrival is imminent.
But all is not well.
The probes that they’ve sent ahead to gather the data needed to establish any kind of settlement aren’t responding, and the information they have received has presented more questions than answers. It’s a time when the entire crew should be coming together to solve the problem, but science officer Sheila Jackson can’t get people to listen.
With the finish line in sight, a group of crewmembers want an end to the draconian rules that their forebearers put in place generations before. However, security force officer Mark Rector and his department have different plans. As alliances form and fall, Governor Jared Pantel sees only one way to bring Voyager’s citizens together and secure his own power: a full-scale colonization effort. Yet, he may have underestimated the passion of those working for the other side…
Meanwhile, a harsh alien planet awaits that might have its own ideas about being colonized. A battle for control brews, and victory for one group could mean death for them all.
Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Goodreads
THESE BURNING STARS by Bethany Jacobs (The Kindom Trilogy #1) — October 17
If you’re into science fiction, you want These Burning Stars by Bethany Jacobs you want on your radar. It’s Jacobs’ debut novel, a space opera that fans of books like A Memory Called Empire will probably devour.
Early reader reviews of These Burning Stars have been extremely positive; that’s not something I’d normally mention, but I have seen so many people raving about this book. Judging by the buzz it’s building, These Burning Stars is probably going to end up becoming one of the more notable debuts of the year.
A dangerous cat-and-mouse quest for revenge. An empire that spans star systems, built on the bones of a genocide. A carefully hidden secret that could collapse worlds, hunted by three women with secrets of their own. All collide in this explosive space opera debut from a powerful new voice in sci-fi.
On a dusty backwater planet, occasional thief Jun Ironway has gotten her hands on the score of a lifetime: a secret that could raze the Kindom, the ruling power of the galaxy.
A star system away, preternaturally stoic Chono and brilliant hothead Esek— the two most brutal clerics of the Kindom—are tasked with hunting Jun down.
And tracking all three across the stars is a ghost from their shared past known only as Six. But what Six wants is anyone’s guess. It’s a game of manipulation and betrayal that could destroy them all. And they have no choice but to see it through.
Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Goodreads
DARK MOON, SHALLOW SEA by David R. Slayton (The Gods of Night and Day #1) — October 31
David R. Slayton is the author of the Adam Binder series, an urban fantasy that began with White Trash Warlock. This month he’s starting a new adventure with Dark Moon, Shallow Sea, the first novel in his epic fantasy series The Gods of Night and Day. It’s being pitched as a good fit for fans of series like Dark Souls or Brandon Sanderon’s Cosmere, but with plenty of Greek myth imagery and much better LGBTQIA+ representation.
When Phoebe, goddess of the moon, is killed by the knights of the sun god, Hyperion, all who follow her are branded heretics. With Phoebe gone, the souls of the dead are no longer ferried to the underworld, and instead linger on as shades who feast on the blood of the living.
Raef is a child of the night. He lives in the shadows, on scraps, eking out a meager existence as a thief. But when an ornate box is sequestered in the Temple of Hyperion, the chance of a big score proves too great to resist. What he finds within propels him on an odyssey across the sea and back again, altering the course of his life forever.
Seth is a knight of the sun. But unlike the others of his order, the fire of Hyperion only brings him pain. He believes he deserves this penance, exacted for his unknown origins. Tasked with recovering the contents of the box, Seth must also venture beyond the horizon if he’s to learn the truth about himself.
In a dying world divided by the greed of those in power, Raef and Seth find their destinies intertwined—and learn they might have more in common than they ever imagined.
Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Goodreads
STRANGER THINGS: FLIGHT OF ICARUS by Caitlin Schneiderhan — October 31
It’s fitting that we end our book round-up for spooky season in Hawkins, Indiana. Stranger Things: Flight of Icarus is a new tie-in novel for Netflix’s smash hit show Stranger Things, written by Medici Heist author Caitlin Schneiderhan. It’s all about everyone’s favorite metalhead Eddie Munson, and really, what else do you need to know? If you love Eddie Munson as much as I do, you obviously need this book in your life.
Hawkins, Indiana: For most, it’s simply another idyllic, manicured all-American town. But for Eddie Munson, it’s like living in a perpetual Tomb of Horrors. Luckily, he has only a few more months to survive at Hawkins High. And what is senior year, really, but killing time between Dungeons & Dragons sessions with the Hellfire Club and gigs with his band, Corroded Coffin?
At the worst dive bar in town, Eddie meets Paige, someone who has pulled off a freaking miracle. She escaped Hawkins and built a wickedly cool life for herself working for a record producer in Los Angeles. Not only is she the definition of a badass—with killer taste in music—but she might also be the only person who actually appreciates Eddie as the bard he is instead of as the devil incarnate. But the best thing? She’s offering him a chance to make something of himself, and all he needs to do is get her a demo tape of Corroded Coffin’s best songs.
Just one problem: Recording costs money. Money Eddie doesn’t have. But he’s willing to do whatever it takes, even if that means relying on his dad. Al Munson has just stumbled back into Eddie’s life with another dubious scheme up his sleeve, and yet Eddie knows this is his only option to make enough dough in enough time. It’s a risk, but if it pays off he will finally have a one-way ticket out of Hawkins.
Eddie can feel it: 1984 is going to be his year.
Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Goodreads
Thus concludes our book round-up for October! Happy reading to you, and whatever ghouls and goblins you’ll be book clubbing with this month.
To stay up to date on everything fantasy, science fiction, and WiC, follow our all-encompassing Facebook page and sign up for our exclusive newsletter.
Get HBO, Starz, Showtime and MORE for FREE with a no-risk, 7-day free trial of Amazon Channels