18 fantasy and science fiction books to read in November 2023
By Daniel Roman
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It’s that time again! Another month has come and gone, and more books are on the way. Just like in October, there are a ton of exciting fantasy and science fiction books hitting shelves in November. From long-awaited returns to exciting debuts; steampunk, sci-fi and epic fantasy filled with dragons and dangerous quests, the to-be-read stack is about to grow.
You know the drill. Let’s run through 18 fantasy and science fiction books we’re dying to get our hands on this November.
THE OLYMPIAN AFFAIR by Jim Butcher (The Cinder Spires #2) — October 7
First up, we have a new book from Dresden Files author Jim Butcher. The Olympian Affair is the long-awaited sequel to Butcher’s steampunk novel The Aeronaut’s Windlass, which came out all the way back in 2015. That novel marked a bit of a departure from Butcher’s usual works, but retained the same fun flair; it takes place in a world where people live in massive spires. The awakening of monstrous powers threatened their way of life. Butcher also threw included some political intrigue and great characters (including a talking cat).
Steampunk books are few and far between, especially those of the scope and scale of Butcher’s Cinder Spires series. We’ve been waiting a long time for this one, and now it’s finally time to see what’s next for Captain Grimm and his companions.
For centuries the Cinder Spires have safeguarded humanity, rising far above the deadly surface world. Within their halls, aristocratic houses rule, developing scientific marvels and building fleets of airships for defense and trade.
Now, the Spires hover on the brink of open war.
Everyone knows it’s coming. The guns of the great airship fleets that control the skies between the last bastions of humanity will soon speak in anger, and Spire Albion stands alone against the overwhelming might of Spire Aurora’s Armada and its new secret weapon–one capable of destroying the populations of entire Spires.
A trading summit at Spire Olympia provides an opportunity for the Spirearch, Lord Albion, to secure alliances that will shape the outcomes of the war, and to that end he dispatches privateer Captain Francis Madison Grimm and the crew of the AMS Predator to bolster the Spirearch’s diplomatic agents.
It will take daring, skill, and no small amount of showmanship to convince the world to stand with Spire Albion–assuming that it is not already too late.