Best New Fantasy Books of 2025: Must-Read Upcoming Releases

A Sea of Unspoken Things by Adrienne Young

Release Date: January 7, 2025

In this captivating atmospheric novel from the New York Times bestselling author of The Unmaking of June Farrow, a woman investigates her twin brother’s mysterious death while confronting the ghosts of her own haunted past.

Babylonia by Costanza Casati

Release Date: January 14, 2025

From the author of the bestselling Clytemnestra comes another intoxicating excursion into ancient history, painting the brutal and captivating empire of gods and men, and the one queen destined to rule them all.

Onyx Storm by Rebecca Yarros

Release Date: January 21, 2024

Third book in the empyrean series

After nearly eighteen months at Basgiath War College, Violet Sorrengail knows the battle has truly begun. With enemies closing in both inside and outside their ranks, she must venture beyond the weakening Aretian wards to find allies for Navarre. The journey will test her wit, strength, and luck as she fights to protect her dragons, family, home, and the one she loves—all while guarding a dangerous secret. To survive, they need an army, power, magic, and most importantly, the truth. But as a storm approaches, not everyone will make it through.

The Bones Beneath My Skin by T. J. Klune

Release Date: February 4, 2025

A spine-tingling standalone novel by bestselling author TJ Klune―a supernatural road-trip thriller featuring an extraordinary young girl and her two unlikely protectors on the run from cultists and the government.

Emily Wilde’s Compendium of Lost Tales by Heather Fawcett

Release Date: February 11, 2025

Third book in the emily wilde series

The third installment in the heartwarming and enchanting Emily Wilde series, about a curmudgeonly scholar of folklore and the fae prince she loves

Rebel Witch by Kristen Ciccarelli

Release Date: February 18, 2025

final Book in the crimson moth duology

The stakes are even higher in this epic, romantic conclusion to the New York Times bestselling Crimson Moth duology

Greenteeth by Molly O’Neill

Release Date: February 25, 2025

When a feared lake monster, Jenny Greenteeth, rescues a witch named Temperance from drowning, an unlikely alliance is formed. Temperance has been cast out by her village, seemingly under the influence of a sinister new pastor. Though they have little in common, Jenny and Temperance must embark on a magical quest to defeat the growing evil that threatens the lake, Temperance’s family, and the very soul of Britain.

Days of Shattered Faith by Adrian Tchaikovsky

Release Date: March 4, 2025

Third book in the tyrant philosophers series

Welcome to Alkhalend, Jewel of the Waters, capital of Usmai, greatest of the Successor States, inheritor to the necromantic dominion that was the Moeribandi Empire and tomorrow’s frontline in the Palleseen’s relentless march to bring Perfection and Correctness to an imperfect world.

Emberclaw by L. R. Lam

Release Date: March 4, 2025

Second book in the dragon scales series

The final book in a lush and inventive fantasy duology with a slowburn romance, in which long-banished dragons, revered as gods, return to the mortal realm—a perfect read for your next book club!

Oathbound by Tracy Deon

Release Date: March 4, 2025

Third book in the Legendborn cycle series

Tracy Deonn’s #1 New York Times bestselling Legendborn Cycle continues in the sensational third book about a dazzling contemporary fantasy world that blends Southern Black Girl Magic with secret societies and the legend of King Arthur!

The River Has Roots by Amal El-Mohtar

Release Date: March 4, 2025

The River Has Roots is the hugely anticipated solo debut of the New York Times bestselling and Hugo Award winning author Amal El-Mohtar. Follow the river Liss to the small town of Thistleford, on the edge of Faerie, and meet two sisters who cannot be separated, even in death.

The Winter Goddess by Megan Barnard

Release Date: March 11, 2025

A goddess is cursed to endlessly live and die as a mortal until she understands the value of human life, in this inventive, moving reimagining of Irish mythology.

A Drop of Corruption by Robert Jackson Bennett

Release Date: April 1, 2025

Second book in the shadow of the leviathan series

The eccentric detective Ana Dolabra matches wits with a seemingly omniscient adversary in this brilliant fantasy-mystery from the author of The Tainted Cup.

Gifted & Talented by Olivie Blake

Release Date: April 1, 2025

From the New York Times bestselling author of The Atlas Six comes the story of three siblings who, upon the death of their father, are forced to reckon with their long-festering rivalries, dangerous abilities, and the crushing weight of all their unrealized adolescent potential.

The Sirens by Emilia Hart

Release Date: April 1, 2025

A spellbinding novel about sisters separated by centuries, but bound together by the sea, from the author of the runaway New York Times bestseller Weyward.

Don’t Sleep with the Dead by Nghi Vo

Release Date: April 8, 2025

From award-winning author Nghi Vo comes Don’t Sleep with the Dead, a standalone companion novella to The Chosen and the Beautiful, her acclaimed reimagining of The Great Gatsby.

Enchantra by Kaylie Smith

Release Date: April 8, 2025

Second book in the Wicked Games Series

Return to the world of USA Today bestselling BookTok favorite Phantasma in this spicy, stand-alone romantasy, where seven immortal siblings are trapped in a deadly game of hide and seek . . . until one mortal woman changes the rules. The print edition includes custom silver foiling on the cover.

The Ashfire King by Chelsea Abdullah

Release Date: April 15, 2025

Second book in the sandsea trilogy

A merchant and a prince trapped in the crumbling realm of jinn must figure out how to save one world to return to their own in The Ashfire King, the second book in the Sandsea Trilogy, perfect for fans of The City of Brass and The Bone Shard Daughter.

A Curse Carved in Bone by Danielle L. Jensen

Release Date: May 13, 2025

Second book in the saga of the unfated

A shield maiden fights to break the shackles of prophecy—and to overcome the betrayal of the man who broke her heart—in this searing conclusion to the Norse-inspired fantasy romance duology that began with the bestselling A Fate Inked in Blood.

The Devils by Joe Abercrombie

Release Date: May 13, 2025

First book in The Devils Series

A brand-new epic fantasy from New York Times bestselling author Joe Abercrombie, featuring a notorious band of anti-heroes on a delightfully bloody and raucous journey.

The Incandescent by Emily Tesh

Release Date: May 13, 2025

Naomi Novik’s Scholomance series meets Plain Bad Heroines in this sapphic dark academia fantasy by instant national and international bestselling author Emily Tesh, winner of the Hugo and World Fantasy Awards.

Aftertaste by Daria Lavelle

Release Date: May 20, 2025

What if you could have one last meal with someone you’ve loved, someone you’ve lost? Combining the magic of Under the Whispering Door with the high-stakes culinary world of Sweetbitter, Aftertaste is an epic love story, a dark comedy, and a synesthetic adventure through food and grief.

The Knight and the Moth by Rachel Gillig

Release Date: May 20, 2025

First book in the stonewater kingdom series

From NYT bestselling author Rachel Gillig comes the next big romantasy sensation, a gothic, mist-cloaked tale of a young prophetess forced on an impossible quest with the one knight whose future is beyond her sight. Perfect for fans of Jennifer L. Armentrout and Leigh Bardugo.

Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil by V. E. Schwab

Release Date: June 10, 2025

Santo Domingo de la Calzada, 1532. London, 1827. Boston, 2019.

Three young women, their bodies planted in the same soil, their stories tangling like roots. One grows high, and one grows deep, and one grows wild. And all of them grow teeth.

A Far Better Thing by H. G. Parry

Release Date: June 17, 2025

Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell meets A Tale of Two Cities in H. G. Parry’s A Far Better Thing, a heart-rending fantasy of faery revenge set during the French Revolution.

The Irresistible Urge to Fall for Your Enemy by Brigitte Knightley

Release Date: July 8, 2025

Debut Author, First book in a series

Loyalties are tested in this slow burn, enemies-to-lovers romantasy following an assassin and a healer forced to work together to cure a fatal disease, all while resisting the urge to kill each other—or, worse, fall in love.

Rose in Chains by Julie Soto

Release Date: July 8, 2025

USA Today bestselling author Julie Soto crafts a lush romantic fantasy that’s filled with intrigue, magic, and an irresistible enemies-to-lovers romance.

The Nightshade God by Hannah Whitten

Release Date: July 15, 2025

Third Book in a Series

The Nightshade Crown is in the hands of a ruthless god and Lore will stop at nothing to defeat him in the final installment of this lush, romantic, New York Times bestselling fantasy series from breakout star Hannah Whitten.

A Resistance of Witches by Morgan Ryan

Release Date: July 15, 2025

Debut Author

As World War II rages around her, a witch abandoned by her coven must journey to find a book of unspeakable power before it lands in Nazi hands.

A Witch’s Guide to Magical Innkeeping by Sangu Mandanna

Release Date: July 15, 2025

A whimsical and heartwarming novel about a witch who has a second chance to get her magical powers—and her life—back on track, from the national bestselling author of The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches.

Arcana Academy by Elise Kova

Release Date: July 22, 2025

A woman who wields magical tarot cards lands herself in a false engagement with the headmaster of a mysterious academy in this first installment of an enthralling fantasy romance series from the bestselling author of A Deal with the Elf King.

Beasts of Carnaval by Rosalia Rodrigo

Release Date: July 29, 2025

Debut Author

For fans of The Night Circus, this sweeping historical fantasy set in a lush, Puerto Rico-inspired world, uses magical realism to combine Caribbean carnaval culture and the mythology of the Taíno—the Indigenous people of the region—in a gripping exploration of community, reclamation, and healing in defiance of a violent past.

Silvercloak by L. K. Steven

Release Date: July 29, 2025

From the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Our Infinite Fates comes an addictive new fantasy series where magic is fueled by pleasure and pain and an obsessive detective must infiltrate a brutal gang of dark mages—knowing that one wrong move will get her killed. . . .