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

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A new year has dawned, yet your dusty old TBR pile from 2023 remains. Have you set a new reading goal on Goodreads? Cleaned off your shelves? Charged your e-reader?

Good, because it's 2024, and there are books coming out. This is going to be another great year for fantasy and science fiction novels, with some huge releases and exciting debuts peppered throughout. As we did last year, we'll be compiling round-ups of all the latest fantasy and sci-fi books each month so that you don't miss any of the hottest new releases. Starting now!

January holds a wealth of books, from epic clashes between gods and assassins to romantasy, myth and fairytale retellings, world-hopping sci-fi and more. Let's find you your next read!

THAT TIME I GOT DRUNK AND SAVED A DEMON by Kimberly Lemming (Mead Mishaps #1)—January 2

January is kicking off in cozy fashion with That Time I Got Drunk and Saved a Demon by Kimberly Lemming. The title says it all here. This is a romantasy rom-com which sees a spice trader named Cinammon accidentally save a demon, subsequently get caught up in their quest, and maybe (probably) have some romantic hijinks along the way. If you enjoyed lighter fantasy reads like Legends & Lattes, this one may be up your alley.

That Time I Got Drunk and Saved a Demon was originally a self-published book that has since been picked up by Orbit, and its two sequels, That Time I Got Drunk and Yeeted a Love Potion at a Werewolf and That Time I got Drunk and Saved a Human are both finished already. They'll be releasing in February and March, respectively, so if you enjoy reading That Time I Got Drunk and Saved a Demon you won't have to wait long for more.

Spice trader Cinnamon’s quiet life is turned upside down when she ends up on a quest with a fiery demon, in this irreverently quirky rom-com fantasy that is sweet, steamy, and funny as hell.

All she wanted to do was live her life in peace—maybe get a cat, expand the family spice farm. Really, anything that didn’t involve going on an adventure where an orc might rip her face off. But they say the goddess has favorites, and if so, Cin is clearly not one of them.

After Cin saves the demon Fallon in a wine-drunk stupor, Fallon reveals that all he really wants to do is kill an evil witch enslaving his people. And who can blame him? But now he’s dragging Cinnamon along for the ride whether she likes it or not. On the bright side, at least he keeps burning off his shirt.…

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THE SLAIN DIVINE by David Dalglish (Vagrant Gods #3)—January 9

On the epic fantasy front, one of the first big releases of the year is The Slain Divine, the third and final book in David Dalglish's Vagrant Gods trilogy. Prince Cyrus has come a long way since he was forced into hiding after the Everlorn Empire killed his peoples' gods and took over the island of Thanet. There have been clashes between godlike beings, daring assassinations, betrayals, and more political upheaval than you can shake a dagger at.

The second book in the series, The Sapphire Altar, featured some major twists and turns that laid the groundwork for an exciting finale. Personally, this is one I'll be reading right at the top of the month because I need to know how it all ends.

The Everlorn Empire's grip on Thanet is tighter than ever. The God-Incarnate himself has arrived on its shores to crush the struggling rebellion and carry out his final, sinister plan: he will sacrifice the entire island in order to rise, reincarnated from its ashes. 

The rebellion is struggling to separate allies from enemies, and to figure out a way to stop the slow destruction of everything and everyone they care for. Meanwhile, Cyrus is disappearing deeper beneath the vicious mask of the "Vagrant". Under the mantel of the legendary assassin, he may be strong enough to take down the Empire, but at what cost? 

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THE ATLAS COMPLEX by Olivie Blake (The Atlas #3)—January 9

The gods of books looked down and decreed, "January shall be a month for trilogy endings." On January 9th we'll be getting The Atlas Complex, the highly-anticipated third book in The Atlas series by Olivie Blake. Six talented magicians vied to join the ranks of the Alexandrian Society in the viral sensation first novel of the series, The Atlas Six. Their dark and twisty journey continued into The Atlas Paradox, where readers found out even more about the true nature of the Alexandrian Society.

From the sounds of things, The Atlas Complex will bring things full circle, showing just how dangerous the agreement to join the Alexandrian Society really was.

Only the extraordinary are chosen.

Only the cunning survive.

An explosive return to the library leaves the six Alexandrians vulnerable to the lethal terms of their recruitment.

Old alliances quickly fracture as the initiates take opposing strategies as to how to deal with the deadly bargain they have so far failed to uphold. Those who remain with the archives wrestle with the ethics of their astronomical abilities, while elsewhere, an unlikely pair from the Society cohort partner to influence politics on a global stage.

And still the outside world mobilizes to destroy them, while the Caretaker himself, Atlas Blakely, may yet succeed with a plan foreseen to have world-ending stakes. It’s a race to survive as the six Society recruits are faced with the question of what they're willing to betray for limitless power—and who will be destroyed along the way.

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MISLAID IN PARTS HALF-KNOWN by Seanen McGuire (Wayward Children #9)—January 9

This month will also see the release of the ninth book in Seanen McGuire's multi award-winning Wayward Children series. Wayward Children is a portal fantasy series with a unique twist. We're all familiar with the idea of stories where kids go through doorways into magical worlds. Wayward Children deals with what these misplaced kids go through upon their return, as they struggle to reintegrate into the real world after finding belonging elsewhere.

The format of the series is fascinating. The odd-numbered Wayward Children books typically show how various children return to the real world, where they inevitably end up at a school called Eleanor West’s Home for Wayward Children, which is designed to help them get reacclimated. The even numbered books are often designed as standalone stories that show what their lives were like in those fantastical worlds.

Mislaid in Parts Half-Known looks to shake up that format a bit; it's a direct continuation of the preceding book, Lost in the Moment and Found, and follows a group of students who leave the Home for Wayward Children. Who knows what worlds they'll end up in?

Antsy is the latest student to pass through the doors at Eleanor West's School for Wayward Children.

When the school’s (literally irresistible) mean girl realizes that Antsy's talent for finding absolutely anything may extend to doors, Antsy is forced to flee in the company of a small group of friends, looking for a way back to the Shop Where the Lost Things Go to be sure that Vineta and Hudson are keeping their promise.

Along the way, they will travel from a world which hides painful memories that cut as sharply as its beauty, to a land that time wasn’t yet old enough to forget—and more than one student's life will change forever.

Mislaid in Parts Half-Known is a story that reminds us that getting what you want doesn't always mean finding what you need.

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SONS OF DARKNESS by Gourav Mohanty (The Raag of Rta #1)—January 9

Sons of Darkness by Gourav Mohanty is a fantasy reimagining of the Indian epic The Mahabarata, with a dark and gritty tone in the vein of A Song of Ice and Fire or Joe Abercrombie's The First Law. We talked about this book back in July 2023 when it was released in the UK (and digitally in the US), but now at long last you can finally add a proper hardcover copy of the book to your shelves.

SOME BALLADS ARE INKED IN BLOOD

Bled dry by violent confrontations with the Magadhan Empire, the Mathuran Republic simmers on the brink of oblivion. Senator Krishna and his third wife Satyabhama have put their plans in motion, both within and beyond the Republic's blood-soaked borders, to protect it from total annihilation.

But they are soon to discover that neither gold nor alliances last forever – and that they are not the only players on the board.

Mati, Pirate-Princess of Kalinga, has decided to mend her ways and become a good wife. But old habits die hard, especially when one habitually uses murder to settle old scores.

Brooding and beautiful Karna hopes to bury his brutal past, but finds that destiny is a miser when it comes to granting second chances.

Hero-turned-torturer Shakuni limps through a path of daggers. Meanwhile, his foes and woes multiply, leaving little time for vengeance.

Their lives are about to become yet more difficult, as a cast of sinister queens, naive kings, pious assassins and ravenous priests are converging where the Son of Darkness is prophesied to rise... even as forgotten Gods prepare to play their hand.

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PILLAR OF ASH by H.M. Long (The Four Pillars #1)—January 16

Another series reaching its epic conclusion in January is H.M. Long's The Four Pillars. This Norse-inspired fantasy series follows siblings Yske and Berin, a pacifist healer and glory-seeking warrior respectively. Pillar of Ash will see them set out on a dangerous quest where they'll be drawn into an ancient conflict which could spell the end of their world. Based on some of the cryptic hints in the back-of-book description, I'm betting there'll be more than a little Ragnarok flavoring to events.

I have to add a special note here that since Pillar of Ash is the final book in the series, and publisher Titan Books did not choose violence, the whole thing is now available with nicely matching covers. They look pretty great together!

Yske, daughter of the legendary warrior priestess Hessa, has dedicated her life to medicine and pacifism in service to Aita, the Great Healer. When her twin brother Berin, hungry for glory, gathers a party to investigate rumours of strange sightings in the Unmade – shadows in the darkness at the end of the world – Yske joins the mission, to keep him safe.

Their journey east takes them through primal forests, walking paths last trod when gods were at war and ancient, powerful beasts were defeated and bound. And the closer they get to the Unmade, the more strange and terrible things haunt them from the shadows, corruptions in nature and monstrous creatures of moss and bone.

Earning the respect of Berin and his warriors, Yske must forge a place for mercy and healing in a world of violence and sacrifice. She must survive murderous ambushes and brutal sieges and take her place at the centre of the oldest war of all.

Thrust into a desperate conflict of survival, Yske and Berin will wage the final war with the gods – in the shadow of a vast and ancient tree, the fate of creation is about to be decided.

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EMILY WILDE'S MAP OF THE OTHERLANDS by Heather Fawcett (Emily Wilde Series #2)—January 16

The second book in Heather Fawcett's Emily Wilde series, Emily Wilde's Map of the Otherlands, follows the titular scholar of faerie folklore on yet another adventure. The charm of Emily Wilde is in the telling; Fawcett's writing for the "curmdgeonly professor" bleeds personality, and the story is written in journal-style entries. It sounds like a pretty charming read!

Emily Wilde is a genius scholar of faerie folklore who just wrote the world’s first comprehensive encyclopaedia of faeries. She’s learned many of the secrets of the Hidden Ones on her adventures . . . and also from her fellow scholar and former rival Wendell Bambleby. 

Because Bambleby is more than infuriatingly charming. He’s an exiled faerie king on the run from his murderous mother and in search of a door back to his realm. And despite Emily’s feelings for Bambleby, she’s not ready to accept his proposal of marriage: Loving one of the Fair Folk comes with secrets and dangers. 

She also has a new project to focus on: a map of the realms of faerie. While she is preparing her research, Bambleby lands her in trouble yet again, when assassins sent by his mother invade Cambridge. Now Bambleby and Emily are on another adventure, this time to the picturesque Austrian Alps, where Emily believes they may find the door to Bambleby’s realm and the key to freeing him from his family’s dark plans.

But with new relationships for the prickly Emily to navigate and dangerous Folk lurking in every forest and hollow, Emily must unravel the mysterious workings of faerie doors and of her own heart.

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UNBOUND by Christy Healy—January 16

Next up we step into the realm of fairtytale retellings. Unbound by Christy Healy is a genderbent reimagining of Beauty and the Beast, steeped in Irish mythology and folklore. It's being pitched as a good fit for fans of authors like Hannah Whitten (For the Wolf) and Rebecca Ross (A River Enchanted), and from the description I can totally see that. It sounds enchanting, complex, and romantic. Plus that cover art.

Rozlyn Ó Conchúir is used to waiting—waiting for the king, her father, to relent and allow her to leave the solitude of her tower; waiting for the dreaded and mysterious Beast of Connacht to at last be defeated; waiting for the arrival of the man destined to win her heart and break the terrible curse placed on her and her land. So when she meets Jamie—a charming and compelling suitor—she allows herself to hope that her days of solitude and patience are over at long last.

But as she finds her trust betrayed—and newer, more sinister threats arising—Rozlyn learns that some curses are better left unbroken …

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A DROP OF VENOM by Sajni Patel—January 16

If you're into mythology, there's a decent chance you might be indulging in the brand new Percy Jackson and the Olympians show that's airing right now on Disney+. One of the fascinating things that show is doing is fleshing out some aspects of the book that the author, Rick Riordan, wished could be updated, such as the tragic tale of Medusa.

It's fitting then that this month we'll see the release of A Drop of Venom by Sajni Patel, which is a reimagining of Medusa's story that draws on Indian myth instead of Greek. This book is coming out under the Rick Riordan Presents line, which are books that Riordan backs from other authors that explore mythologies from different cultures. Essentially, if you like books like Percy Jackson or Tristan Strong or any of the other mythological fantasy books that are accessible to kids as well as adults, you want A Drop of Venom on your radar.

All monsters and heroes have beginnings. This is mine.

Sixteen-year-old Manisha is no stranger to monsters—she’s been running from them for years, from beasts who roam the jungle to the King’s army, who forced her people, the naga, to scatter to the ends of the earth. You might think that the kingdom’s famed holy temples atop the floating mountains, where Manisha is now a priestess, would be safe—but you would be wrong.

Seventeen-year-old Pratyush is a famed slayer of monsters, one of the King’s most prized warriors and a frequent visitor to the floating temples. For every monster the slayer kills, years are added to his life. You might think such a powerful warrior could do whatever he wants, but true power lies with the King. Tired after years of fighting, Pratyush wants nothing more than a peaceful, respectable life.

When Pratyush and Manisha meet, each sees in the other the possibility to chart a new path. Unfortunately, the kingdom’s powerful have other plans. A temple visitor sexually assaults Manisha and pushes her off the mountain into a pit of vipers. A month later, the King sends Pratyush off to kill one last monster (a powerful nagin who has been turning men to stone) before he’ll consider granting the slayer his freedom.

Except Manisha doesn’t die, despite the hundreds of snake bites covering her body and the venom running through her veins. She rises from the pit more powerful than ever before, with heightened senses, armor-like skin, and blood that can turn people to stone. And Pratyush doesn’t know it, but the “monster” he’s been sent to kill is none other than the girl he wants to marry.

Alternating between Manisha’s and Pratyush’s perspectives, Sajni Patel weaves together lush language, high stakes, and page-turning suspense, demanding an answer to the question “What does it truly mean to be a monster?”

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SO LET THEM BURN by Kamilah Cole—January 16

So Let Them Burn is the debut novel from Kamilah Cole. It's a Jamaican-inspired fantasy story where a young woman must choose between saving her sister or her homeland. The story's heroine, Faron, has been blessed by the gods—which is probably helpful when it comes to fighting off an invading empire of dragonriders. I can't recall ever seeing dragonriders mixed with a Jamaican-inspired fantasy setting before, so I'm more than a little intrigued about So Let Them Burn.

Something else interesting to note: So Let Them Burn is technically being marketed as a YA book, but the comp titles which are listed on Amazon are Xiran Jay Zhao's Iron Widow and Samantha Shannon's The Priory of the Orange Tree. Iron Widow is also YA, but Priory is a massive, dense sapphic adult epic fantasy book. To me that says that So Let Them Burn has elements that will probably make for a complex and gripping read, no matter your age.

Faron Vincent can channel the power of the gods. Five years ago, she used her divine magic to liberate her island from its enemies, the dragon-riding Langley Empire. But now, at seventeen, Faron is all powered up with no wars to fight. She’s a legend to her people and a nuisance to her neighbors.

When she’s forced to attend an international peace summit, Faron expects that she will perform tricks like a trained pet and then go home. She doesn’t expect her older sister, Elara, forming an unprecedented bond with an enemy dragon—or the gods claiming the only way to break that bond is to kill her sister.

As Faron’s desperation to find another solution takes her down a dark path, and Elara discovers the shocking secrets at the heart of the Langley Empire, both must make difficult choices that will shape each other’s lives, as well as the fate of their world.

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TO CHALLENGE HEAVEN by David Weber and Chris Kennedy (Out of the Dark #3)—January 16

Back to series-enders, we'll be saying goodbye to the Out of the Dark science fiction series by David Weber and Chris Kennedy this month. The final book, To Challenge Heaven, is due out right in the middle of the month. The series is sci-fi of the classic, action-packed sort, with an alien invasion forcing humanity to ally with other sentient species in order to avoid extinction.

In a universe teeming with predators, humanity needs friends. And fast.

We've come a long way in the forty years since the Shongairi attacked Earth, killed half its people, and then were driven away by an alliance of humans with the other sentient bipeds who inhabit our planet.

We took the technology they left behind, and rapidly built ourselves into a starfaring civilization. Because we haven't got a moment to lose. Because it's clear that there are even more powerful, more hostile aliens out there, and Earth needs allies.

But it also transpires that the Shongairi expedition that nearly destroyed our home planet ...wasn't an official one. That, indeed, its commander may have been acting as an unwitting cats-paw for the Founders, the ancient alliance of very old, very evil aliens who run the Hegemony that dominates our galaxy, and who hold the Shongairi, as they hold most non-Founder species, in not-so-benign contempt.

Indeed, it may turn out to be possible to turn the Shongairi into our allies against the Hegemony. There's just the small matter of the Shongairi honor code, which makes bushido look like a child's game. We might be able to make them our friends -- if we can crush their planetary defenses in the greatest battle we, or they, have ever seen...

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WOMB CITY by Tlotlo Tsamaase—January 23

The next book on our list sounds like it might be the first truly mind-blowing science fiction book of 2024. Womb City is the debut novel by acclaimed Motswana short fiction author Tlotlo Tsamaase. I could try to describe what this book is about to you...but honestly, I think the back-of-book does such a good job that it'd be better off to just let it speak for itself. Womb City is easily one of my most anticipated sci-fi releases of the month.

Nelah seems to have it all: fame, wealth, and a long-awaited daughter growing in a government lab. But, trapped in a loveless marriage to a policeman who uses a microchip to monitor her every move, Nelah’s perfect life is precarious. After a drug-fueled evening culminates in an eerie car accident, Nelah commits a desperate crime and buries the body, daring to hope that she can keep one last secret.

The truth claws its way into Nelah’s life from the grave.

As the ghost of her victim viciously hunts down the people Nelah holds dear, she is thrust into a race against the clock: in order to save any of her remaining loved ones, Nelah must unravel the political conspiracy her victim was on the verge of exposing—or risk losing everyone.

Set in a cruel futuristic surveillance state where bodies are a government-issued resource, this harrowing story is a twisty, nail-biting commentary on power, monstrosity, and bodily autonomy. In sickeningly evocative prose, Womb City interrogates how patriarchy pits women against each other as unwitting collaborators in their own oppression. In this devastatingly timely debut novel, acclaimed short fiction writer Tlotlo Tsamaase brings a searing intelligence and Botswana’s cultural sensibility to the question: just how far must a woman go to bring the whole system crashing down?

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FAEBOUND by Saara El-Arifi (Faebound #1)—January 23

From dystopian sci-fi we head next to the fae court. The Final Strife author Saara El-Arifi is releasing a new novel this month called Faebound, which follows two elven sisters who are exiled from their home only to find themselves in the mysterious court of the fae, where temptation and danger await. Faebound is the first of a new trilogy, so if you enjoy it there's more on the way.

Yeeran was born on the battlefield, has lived on the battlefield, and one day, she knows, she’ll die on the battlefield.

As a warrior in the elven army, Yeeran has known nothing but violence her whole life. Her sister, Lettle, is trying to make a living as a diviner, seeking prophecies of a better future.

When a fatal mistake leads to Yeeran’s exile from the Elven Lands, both sisters are forced into the terrifying wilderness beyond their borders.

There they encounter the impossible: the fae court. The fae haven’t been seen for a millennium. But now Yeeran and Lettle are thrust into their seductive world, torn among their loyalties to each other, their elven homeland, and their hearts.

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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.

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

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