While August is firmly planted within summer, it just feels like the winding down of the season. Sure, summer doesn't technically end until late September. But with back-to-school marketing and some people already gunning for Halloween, August has more pre-autumn vibes than beachy vacation ones.
This month's new fantasy and science fiction novels offer a similar mood of not quite spooky season, but filled with mystical whispers on the wind. And for those who are wishing August would become October already, there are a couple of books with horror themes blended into the sci-fi and fantasy. If you're looking for a new read that fits with the changing seasons, these books are a perfect place to start.
Time Travel for Beginners by Jaclyn Moriarty — Aug. 4
Jaclyn Moriarty comes from a family of writers. She and her sisters, Liane and Nicola, could be considered the modern Brontë sisters. She has written for young adults, children, and adults, and she doesn't allow herself to be typecast into one genre. Her latest novel, Time Travel for Beginners, views fate and destiny through the lens of time travel vacations.
Time Travel for Beginners follows the stories of Anna, Teddy, and Jude. Anna works for the Time Travel Agency and Teddy is a customer looking to go back to see where his marriage went wrong. Jude is angry with the agency, and his motives for being there aren't innocent, but he also gets caught up in time. Each of their journeys lead back to the other two, and they learn they are more connected than they realized.
On a bustling road in Sydney, Australia, lies a nondescript storefront known simply as the Time Travel Agency. Inside, you’ll be welcomed by the smell of fresh-brewed coffee, a selection of baked goods…and the question, Where in time do you wish to go?
The guidelines are simple: you can go whenever you wish into the past, and there’s no fear of altering the present. Have tea with Jane Austen, scream at a Beatles concert, witness the Olympics in ancient Greece. Perhaps a more personal trip? Visit your long-lost grandmother, recapture the heady days of your youth, return to the idyllic time when your teen was a babbling baby—or watch yourself make the one decision that changed everything.
Is it a hoax? And if it’s real, what’s the catch?
When single mother Anna is offered a job at the agency, she glimpses the possibility of happiness. Meanwhile, Teddy’s a customer hoping to untangle his recently imploded marriage. And Jade, who has a deeply buried secret, despises the agency for offering false hope.
In Jaclyn Moriarty’s incandescent novel, Anna, Teddy, and Jade leap headlong into time, hurtling on a crash course toward one another. At turns entertaining and illuminating, Time Travel for Beginners explores the moments, big and small, that shape our destiny.
Time to Burn by Ellery Lloyd — Aug. 4
Sticking with the theme of time travel tourism, Time to Burn is a science fiction thriller about the past not remaining buried, and secrets being revealed that could destroy the present. This tour of the London Blitz in 1941 by the uber-wealthy sounds like it goes about as well as the OceanGate submersible trip to view the Titanic wreckage.
Time to Burn is the sixth book by Ellery Lloyd, though it is the fourth full-length novel. Ellery Lloyd is the pen name of married couple Collette Lyons and Paul Vlitos. This is the couple's first science fiction novel, as all of their others are mystery-thrillers. Their book, The Club, is a Reese Witherspoon Book Club Pick, if name-dropping entices you.
Mercurial tech entrepreneur Inigo Frank has perfected commercial time travel, though it is tightly regulated and so expensive that it’s open only to the very wealthiest.
His company, Tempus Tours, has so far been approved for just one route: a journey back to London in 1941, to the days of the Blitz, allowing the super-rich to experience the awesome sights and sounds of the aerial bombardment of the capital during World War II. It’s a slick operation—routes across the wartime city are meticulously plotted, guides are extensively trained, and rules for the time tourists are strictly enforced.
To immortalize his achievement, Frank enlists award-winning filmmaker Phoebe Hunt to create a fly-on-the-wall documentary. On her first day shadowing Inigo, she is set to witness the return of a billionaire property developer and his family from their trip to the past. But instead of their awe-filled return, she captures the group arriving bloodied and traumatized, with one of their number missing.
Not only that, but Phoebe recognizes the missing woman, and knows not only that she’s not who she claims to be but that she has every reason to harbor a grudge against her. And as events begin to unravel in the present day, it seems increasingly clear that she had sinister motives for returning to the past—and that people close to Phoebe are in danger.
Phoebe must race to untangle the truth—before past and the future are rewritten.
(Mostly) Human Resources by Grace Viall — Aug. 4
(Mostly) Human Resources is Grace Viall's debut novel, though she plans to publish two sequels in 2027 and 2028. After growing up near the Appalachian Mountains, Viall knows a thing or two about campfire tales and cryptid legends. She uses her knowledge to weave a fantasy that is a sort of cozy horror, without being oxymoronic.
There is a love story within the plot, so if romance isn't your thing, you might want to skip this one. But the main story is about a woman in the HR department of a cryptid tracking agency entering the field to find a missing coworker. It doesn't help that her father, who had worked at the same agency, was killed in the same woods she must venture into now. (Mostly) Human Resources whimsically combines cosmic horror with cozy fantasy and a dash of slow-burn romance.
Working in human resources was not what Alexys had in mind when she joined Entity, the private company that categorizes and manages the world’s cryptids. But after her dad was killed on the job as a Warden in the Appalachian Mountains, she was filled with noble ideas of carrying on his legacy . . . from the safety of a desk. Alexys dreams of climbing the corporate ladder while managing the Appalachian Wardens and sparring with Nic, the frustrating (and annoyingly attractive) Director of Research and Cataloging.
When one of Alexys’s new Wardens goes missing after inquiring about a mysterious and highly dangerous monster, her chances of promotion disappear along with him. Determined to save her career—and to shield the Warden’s family from the trauma she experienced after losing her father on the job—she marches off into the monster-infested wilderness to find him herself.
Meanwhile, Nic, with ambitions of becoming the youngest Entity employee to discover a new monster, follows Alexys on her hunt. But the work nemeses are about to discover why the Appalachian Mountains are the last place you want to find yourself after dark. Among mountains older than bones, the jackalopes and ghouls are the least of their worries . . .
A Trade of Blood by Robert Jackson Bennett (Shadow of the Leviathan #3) — Aug. 4
If the Shadow of the Leviathan series sounds somewhat familiar, we've previously listed Robert Jackson Bennett's second book in the series, A Drop of Corruption, as one of 2025's best fantasy books. At the time, sources said that the third installment, A Trade of Blood, would be out in June 2026, but it's actually coming out two months later.
Robert Jackson Bennett's Shadow of the Leviathan series is about a Sherlock-and-Watson-type team who must solve magical crime mysteries. In their third adventure, Ana and Din must save an accused murderer by finding the real killer. But this villain is a Moriarty-level mastermind who will test Ana's skills and deductions at every turn. Will she and Din be able to stop a man whose powers match his ruthlessness and cunning?
The heir to one of the Empire’s most powerful families sits in jail, accused of murder. His hands are covered in the victim’s blood, and he can neither deny his guilt nor explain his actions.
But if the great detective Ana Dolabra cannot save him from the noose, the farming canton of Sapirdad will explode into war, threatening to plunge the whole Empire into starvation and chaos.
As Ana investigates—her assistant Dinios Kol, as ever, acting as her eyes and ears—she fears her task is even more daunting than it seemed. For this murder is just the latest in a deeper, subtler web of death, woven by a mastermind with an ancient weapon at his disposal.
With their customary skill, Ana and Din pursue their adversary through the canton’s wild ranges, sprawling ranches, and reeking slaughterhouses. Yet even they are not prepared to learn the horrifying secret behind their opponent’s powers.
Eyes of Kings by Chloe Gong (Flesh & False Gods #3) — Aug. 4
If, after reading George R.R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire series, you're looking for another fantasy series with political scheming, violence, and that is loosely inspired by history, then the Flesh & False Gods series by Chloe Gong should be next on your list. This trilogy takes inspiration from Shakespeare's Antony and Cleopatra, and even if the ending is different, it definitely won't end happily.
The third and final book in the series, Eyes of Kings, brings the fight for the throne of Talin to its peak. Calla is willing to do anything to keep her crown, and Anton begins to wonder if allying with her was the right decision after hearing rumors that the old gods are returning. Depending on how closely the story follows Antony and Cleopatra, we can expect Calla and Anton's deaths and August regaining the throne. But Gong has kept us guessing so far, and it will be an exciting end whatever the outcome.
War beckons in the kingdom of Talin. On one side sits Calla Tuoleimi and Anton Makusa, and on the other, the recently dethroned August Shenzhi and Calla's own predecessor Sinoa Tuoleimi. Neither will rest until the opposition is buried.
Calla assumed victory would be easy. She wears the divine crown after a violent coup, wielding the most powerful weapon in the kingdom. Then the provinces start to whisper of the old gods returning to earth, and suddenly the game board is flipped upside-down.
Anton thought he aligned himself with victory. When he swore to serve as Calla’s general, he understood the battle they were waging. But he fears Calla is no longer herself with the crown. Rather, he fears that Calla is returning to who she once was.
August would sacrifice anything for victory. He has waited his entire life for the throne, and surrender is not an option. In the face of age-old immortals challenging his terrain and the possibility of betrayal from his closest and most cherished guard, he must be careful who he trusts.
Because when the war ends, there can only be one king.
The Dungeon Book by Gareth Hanrahan — Aug. 11
Gareth Hanrahan is a writer and game designer, having worked on several RPGs for Pelgrane Press, Mongoose Publishing, and Galileo Games. He took a break from computer programming to try his hand at writing, and has yet to return after 15 years. His previous novels include The Black Iron Legacy series and The Lands of the Firstborn trilogy. Hanrahan's latest book asks, "What if Mowgli had grown up in a dungeon instead of the jungle?"
Combining Dungeons & Dragons with Rudyard Kipling's The Jungle Book, Hanrahan brings us the story of a young human girl who was raised by goblins after being abandoned in a dungeon as an infant. Her world consists of darkness and monsters, but begins to expand when human treasure hunters enter her home. It's a similar story of change and growth, but has a talking skull and a minotaur in the place of a panther and a bear.
Enter a world of dungeons and dragons, magic and manticores, and goblins and gargoyles ...
Bait doesn't remember a time before the dungeon. Before the dragon stole her from her cot. She doesn't know what her name was before she was handed over to the monstrous denizens of the dungeon beneath the sorcerer's tower. Luckily for Bait, they decided not to eat her. And so she grew up in the dark--the goblins her adopted family, a vengeful minotaur her protector, a sentient skull her tutor, and a blob of corridor slime her main source of nutrition.
But the labyrinthine dungeon, with its haunted halls, buried temples and forgotten magics, draws treasure hunters like moths to flame. And as the outside world starts to intrude, Bait will learn what it means to be monstrous, and she will have to decide where she truly belongs.
Them by W.H. Chizmar — Aug. 11
Them is W.H. Chizmar's solo debut novel, but he has previously co-authored several books with his father, Richard Chizmar. Their best-known work, Widow's Point: The Complete Haunting, was praised by Stephen King as "The perfect story for a dark and stormy night." Them is a science fiction horror story on par with the other terrifying works in the Chizmar library.
A cosmic horror from space is accidentally released on earth, transforming the planet into the perfect habitat for monstrous beings. After years of death and destruction, one man is searching for other survivors, desperately hoping that he's not the only one left. If you like your science fiction dark and spine-tingling, Them will certainly keep you up all night.
A top-secret government project hits upon a revolutionary idea for transporting matter across the vast reaches of the universe, and it succeeds in bringing something back. Something alive. Soon, mankind’s reign comes to an abrupt halt when a truck hauling a very special shipping container overturns and rolls off the highway, unleashing an otherworldly horror upon an unsuspecting New England countryside, where it cannot be contained…
Several years later, an unidentified man emerges from the rubble of humanity, seeking other survivors and a shred of hope amid an eerie and lonely landscape. He travels by night up the rural East Coast, discovering Americana ruins and encountering monsters the likes of which no one has survived. Scarred and molded by the cruel horrors of this new natural order, he must face his own dwindling humanity and pray that any others out there have not become monsters themselves…
Dreamland by Olivie Blake — Aug. 11
Olivie Blake is the pseudonym of Alexene Farol Follmuth and is known for her sumptuous contemporary/urban fantasy novels like The Atlas Six and Girl Dinner. Her books often have supernatural elements, but she uses those elements to tell deeply human stories.
Dreamland is Blake's latest offering, set in Los Angeles, but featuring Gothic fantasy vibes. A powerful family in the film industry has dark secrets and hints of being cursed. A prospective actress, Anya is thrilled to get the opportunity of working for the family, but she'll have to decide if her dreams are worth the cost when bodies start piling up.
The headlines are calling it the "summer of exsanguination" in LA—girls are being murdered, the Santa Ana winds are blowing a strange energy into the city, and all signs point to fire season.
More pressing for Anya Morris, though, is the drudgery of living at home, working part-time at the family store, and contending with her mother's disdain for the acting career Anya knows she's destined for but that feels more impossible by the day.
It’s in this suffocating late summer heat that Anya receives a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, an invitation to work for the de Witt family, one of LA’s most influential film dynasties. Soon, she’s spending her days and nights at their strange villa high in the Hollywood Hills, where she meets Jude, a recluse who is both the family’s heir apparent and its most closely guarded secret.
There’s a magnetism to Jude that Anya cannot resist, despite warning signs that scream like sirens in the night. Because the villa holds generations of bloodstained history, and an occult family curse may even live within its walls—or within Jude himself.
In this city, everyone cuts a deal with the devil. When Anya comes face to face with a devil of her own, she’ll learn just how far she’s willing to go to get everything she’s ever wanted.
The Two of Us at the End of the World by C.A. Fletcher — Aug. 18
C.A. Fletcher takes us back to the post-apocalyptic universe in which he wrote A Boy and His Dog at the End of the World. The Two of Us at the End of the World is a standalone science fiction story, but it delves into how the world became so empty of human life, as well as follows two new characters struggling to survive the end of the world.
Fletcher has also written several adult and children's fantasy novels under the name Charlie Fletcher. His previous works include The Oversight trilogy, Stone Heart trilogy, and Dragonshield trilogy. But for those who enjoy his science fiction more, The Two of Us at the End of the World promises to be another emotional journey, this time between two children who are each other's world.
What if one person was your whole world?
In the overgrown ruins of a world almost empty of people, the only person Mouse has ever known is Cat, the brave girl who carried him inland, away from the sickness that came from the sea. When strangers arrive with a choice to be made, nothing will ever be the same.
Almost two hundred years earlier, a couple are falling in love as the world is dying out. When they discover they are two of the few people still able to have a child, so do the authorities. They may be separated from Mouse and Cat by an insurmountable gulf of time, but some truths remain: family comes in all shapes and sizes, so does love.
And even at the end of the world, hope dies last.
Slow Burn by Amal Singh — Aug. 18
With his short stories published in Clarkesworld, Asimov's, Apex, Tor.com, and others, Indian author Amal Singh decided to try his hand at novels as well. His first novel, The Garden of Delights, mixed Indian myths with contemporary fantasy and presented a world where flowers are magical. His second novel, Slow Burn, imagines the weight of fame through an inverted, mirror world.
Rishi Tripathi has nothing in common with Lewis Carroll's protagonist, Alice, except that he also goes through a looking glass to find an inverted world. In this world, he's successful and famous, but "he" has also done some terrible things. Rishi doesn't want to take the fall for his other self's choices, so he must try to find a way back home.
When Rishi Tripathi, a failed actor, falls through a mirror in an inverted Mumbai, he invites fame like he has never seen before. In this inverted city, he’s a superstar and a critically acclaimed darling. But he soon realizes that success bears a heavy cost. The cruel actions of his doppelganger catch up to him, and he’s forced to find an entity called the Maker of Mirrors to return to his actual city.
But fame is also a drug, and Rishi has become an addict.
Is he truly ready to return and embrace failure?
Siren Says by Jennifer Herrera — Aug. 18
Jennifer Herrera is a literary agent who began to dabble in writing her own novels after representing many successful authors. Siren Says is her fantasy debut, though she has also written The Hunter, a small-town suspense novel. It will be interesting to see how her expertise as an agent translates to the page, especially when it involves magic and Welsh myth.
Siren Says is about Raven, a woman from a long line of magic wielders, who is cursed by that same magic. In order to get control of it, she must capture fairy spirits. But there's a ritual that is performed that requires much more than just a spirit's capture. And Raven has already formed a bond with her kidnapped spirit. Will she be able to end her curse?
Twenty-five-year-old Raven Wynn knows that the ancient plant magic running through her veins brings nothing but destruction. It doomed her Welsh ancestors. It killed her mother. It’s the reason she’s now bound by a painful curse—one that will destroy her if she can’t find a way to break its hold.
When her estranged Aunt Delilah bursts into her life promising a cure, Raven seizes the chance. However, her freedom comes at a steep price: Once her magic is fully unleashed, she is more powerful—and more dangerous—than anyone thought possible.
Desperate to tame powers she never wanted, Raven makes a pact with Delilah: In exchange for learning to control her magic, Raven will capture one of the spirits that roam Delilah’s hometown on May’s Eve so that it may grant Delilah’s secret wish. With the help of an enigmatic new friend, Cherry, as well as an infuriatingly handsome stoneworker, Idris, Raven learns that her task is even more perilous than she imagined—one false move and the spirits could trap her soul—forever.
The Whitechapel Full Moon Society by Elizabeth DeLozier — Aug. 25
Elizabeth DeLozier has already proved herself masterful with historical fiction in her novel Eleanore of Avignon. Now, she's adding fantasy into the historical fiction to create an alternate, supernatural retelling of the serial killer known as Jack the Ripper. The question is: does DeLozier play into the stories of the Ripper being a monster, or will she surprise us?
Both in Victorian and modern times, some people have suggested that only a creature such as a werewolf or a vampire could have murdered so brutally. With the title referring to a full moon, DeLozier has set her readers up to think The Whitechapel Full Moon Society is a werewolf story, but we'll have to read it to find out how the mystical meshes with the macabre.
When Caroline Foster arrives at the Whitechapel Full Moon Society in search of her missing brother, she finds a dilapidated façade belying an interior as opulent as any exclusive gentlemen’s club. In exchange for room and board, Caroline is hired as the Full Moon’s maid, where she is given three orders: don’t ask personal questions, stay out of the iron-barred room on the second floor, and remain in her bedroom from sunup to sundown on the full moon.
But when it is revealed that the previous maid was murdered—an early victim of Jack the Ripper—and her brother has left behind no answers, only more questions, Caroline begins to suspect her hosts might be hiding something. As more bodies turn up with a connection to the Society, Caroline fears she may have unwittingly stumbled into a bedtime story, the kind with monsters and curses, family secrets and ancient lore.
Tantalizing and pulsing, Elizabeth DeLozier’s sophomore novel gives an exciting alternative look into the infamous Jack the Ripper story with a major, supernatural twist.
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