15 new fantasy and science fiction books to read in January 2024

THE CITY OF STARDUST by Georgia Summers—January 30

The City of Stardust is the debut fantasy novel from George Summers, a romantic standalone which follows a woman named Violet Everly as she tries to break a generations-long curse on her family. In order to do so, she'll have to set out on a perilous journey into magical realms to stave off the ire of the seemingly immortal woman who haunts her bloodline.

For centuries, the Everlys have seen their best and brightest disappear, taken as punishment for a crime no one remembers, for a purpose no one understands. Their tormentor, a woman named Penelope, never ages, never grows sick – and never forgives a debt.

Violet Everly was a child when her mother left on a stormy night, determined to break the curse. When Marianne never returns, Penelope issues an ultimatum: Violet has ten years to find her mother, or she will take her place. Violet is the last of the Everly line, the last to suffer. Unless she can break the curse first.

Her hunt leads her into a seductive magical underworld of power-hungry scholars, fickle gods and monsters bent on revenge. And into the path of Penelope's quiet assistant, Aleksander, who she knows cannot be trusted – and yet to whom she finds herself undeniably drawn.

With her time running out, Violet will travel the edges of the world to find Marianne and the key to the city of stardust, where the Everly story began.

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ESRAHADDON by Michael J. Sullivan (The Rise and Fall #3)—January 30

We end our round-up for January with a new hardcover release from epic fantasy mainstay Michael J. Sullivan. Sullivan is the author of The Riyria Revelations, Riyria Chronicles, and The Legends of the First Empire, all of which are set in the fictional world of Elan. His latest trilogy, The Rise and Fall, is a series of three standalone books which bridge the gap from the days of the First Empire books to Riyria, when partners-in-crime Royce and Hadrian got up to their adventures. Each Rise and Fall book is about a specific character from the history of Elan, giving a broad view of how the empire shifted over time.

Esrahaddon is the third and final book in The Rise and Fall, and it centers on the early days of the titular wizard Esrahaddon, who should be familiar to readers of Riyria. This book first released through Kickstarter and digitally last year, but now at last Sullivan is making a new hardcover edition widely available. Your bookshelves can rejoice at having the fully completed series together at last!

A HERO TO SOME. A VILLAIN TO MANY. THE TRUTH FOREVER BURIED.

The man who became known as Esrahaddon is reported to have destroyed the world’s greatest empire — but there are those who believe he saved it. Few individuals are as divisive, but all agree on three facts: He was exiled to the wilderness, hunted by a goblin priestess, and sentenced to death by a god — all before the age of eight. How he managed to survive and why people continued to fear his name a thousand years later has always been a mystery . . . until now.

From the three-time New York Times best-selling author Michael J. Sullivan, Esrahaddon is the final novel in The Rise and Fall trilogy. This latest set of stories sits snugly between the Legends of the First Empire series and the Riyria books (Revelations and Chronicles). With this tale, Michael continues his tradition of unlikely heroes who must rise to the call when history knocks, demanding to be let in. This is the nineteenth full-length novel in a body of work that started in 2008 and spans four series.

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Goodreads

And so concludes our first book release round-up of 2024! What will you be reading this month?

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