26 Books to Read in 2026

Through Gates of Garnet and Gold

Seanan McGuire

Published January 7

A fan-favorite character returns in this action-packed instalment of the Hugo Award-winning Wayward Children series.

After Nancy was cast out of the Halls of the Dead and forced to enroll at Eleanor West's School for Wayward Children, she never believed she'd find her door again, and when she did, she didn't look back. Years have passed. A darkness has descended on the Halls, and the living statues who populate them are dying at the hands of the already dead, forcing Nancy to leave the Halls again, this time on purpose, as she attempts to seek much-needed help from her former

schoolmates.

City of Others

Jared Poon

Published January 13

Dive into a world where magic lies hidden just below the surface in this charming urban fantasy full of workplace found family from debut author Jared Poon. 

In the sunny city of Singapore, the government takes care of everything—even the weird stuff. Ben is a middle manager in the Division for Engagement of Unusual Stakeholders (DEUS) - his job is to keep the supernatural inhabitants of Singapore happy and out of sight. But when an entire housing estate glitches out of existence Ben has to scramble to keep things under control and stop the rest of the city from disappearing. He may not have the budget or the bandwidth, but he has the best team to help him. 

To Ride a Rising Storm

Moniquill Blackgoose

Published January 27th

Anequs has not only survived her first year at Kuiper’s Academy but exceeded all of her professors’ admittedly low expectations—and passed all her courses with honors. Now, she and her dragon, Kasaqua, are headed home for the summer.

But what should have been a relaxing break takes a darker turn. Anequs will always fight for what she believes in, and what she believes in is her people’s right to self-govern and live as they have for generations, without the restrictive yoke of Anglish rules and social customs. And fight she will—even if it means lighting a spark which may flare into civil war.

Quiet Spells

Isabel Agajanian

Published February 3

From the acclaimed author of Modern Divination comes the dark and magical concluding part of the Spells for Life and Death duology.

More than half a year has passed since the disappearance of Gemma Eakley and Teddy Ingram still has no clue as to whether she is alive, dead or something worse. With Gemma's young daughter left in his care Teddy haunts the rural haven of Townsend like one of its many spirits.

But then Aurelia returns with the news that her own mother is dead, her old coven wants to know what secrets she took with her to the funeral pyre; and did she have the key to fixing their botched attempts at necromancy?

Carnival Fantástico

Angela Montoya

Published February 3

Welcome to the Carnival Fantástico, a spectacle of magic and mischief, and the perfect haven for a runaway.

Using her tricks and razor-sharp wit, Esmeralda becomes the carnival’s resident fortune-teller where success would mean freedom from the commander of the King’s army.

Ignacio has defected from the army and is on the hunt for evidence of his father’s corruption. But the last thing he expects to find on his father’s trail of lies is the only girl he’s ever loved, spinning false fortunes at a traveling carnival.

Agnes Aubert's Mystical Cat Shelter

Heather Fawcett

Published February 17

A woman who runs a cat rescue in 1920s Montreal turns to a grouchy but charming wizard to help save the shelter in this heartwarming cozy fantasy.

Agnes Aubert leads a meticulously organized life—and she likes it that way. As the proudly type-A manager of a much-needed cat rescue charity, she has devoted her life to finding forever homes for lost cats. But after she is forced to move the cat shelter, Agnes learns that her new landlord is using her charity as a front. Owned by the disorganized—not to mention self-absorbed, irritating, but also decidedly handsome—Havelock Renard, magician and failed Dark Lord, Agnes's charity offers the perfect cover for illegal magics.

Cleopatra

Saara El-Arifi

Published February 24

YOU KNOW MY NAME. BUT YOU DO NOT KNOW ME.

Your historians call me seductress, but I was ever in love's thrall.Your playwrights speak of witchcraft, but my talents came from the gods themselves.Your poets sing of my bloodlust, but I was always protecting my children. How wilfully they refuse to concede that a woman could be powerful, strategic, divinely blessed to rule. Death will silence me no longer. This is not the story of how I died. But how I lived.

This epic and groundbreaking new novel shows us Cleopatra on her own terms.

Cabaret in Flames

Hache Pueyo

Published March 10

Where Interview with the Vampire meets Certain Dark Things in an alternate-Brazil where brutal flesh-hungering Guls stalk the night streets and manipulate the government from their glittering cabaret.

Ariadne’s routine is disturbed when Quaint knocks on her door: a charming, tattooed gul claiming to be her missing mentors oldest friend. Quaint suspects foul play in Erik's disappearance, and they soon discover he sought asylum at Cabaré, an infamous club in Rio de Janeiro frequented by the gul elite.

Together, they'll unravel the conspiracy behind their friend’s disappearance, navigate the labyrinthine world of Ariadne’s memories, and discover what Erik means to them—and what they are starting to mean to each other.

Nobody's Baby

Olivia Waite

Published March 10

Becky Chambers meets Miss Marple in the second entry of this cozy sci-fi mystery series.

Welcome to the HMS Fairweather, Her Majesty's most luxurious interstellar passenger liner! A wild baby appears! Dorothy Gentleman, ship detective, is put to the test once again when an infant is mysteriously left on her nephew's doorstep. Fertility is supposed to be on pause during the Fairweather’s journey across the stars—but humans have a way of breaking any rule you set them. Told through Dorothy’s delightfully shrewd POV, this novella series is an ode to the cozy mystery taken to the stars with a fresh new sci-fi take.

Wolf Worm

T. Kingfisher

Published Mar 24

Something darker than the devil stalks the North Carolina woods in Wolf Worm.

The year is 1899 and Sonia Wilson is a scientific illustrator without work, prospects, or hope. When the reclusive Dr. Halder offers her a position illustrating his vast collection of insects, Sonia jumps at the chance to move to his North Carolina manor house and put her talents to use. But soon enough she finds that there are darker things at work than the Carolina woods. What happened to her predecessor, Halder’s wife? Why are animals acting so strangely, and what is behind the peculiar local whispers about “blood thiefs?”

Seasons of Glass and Iron: Stories

Amal El-Mohtar

Published March 24

Full of glimpses into gleaming worlds and fairy tales with teeth, Seasons of Glass and Iron is a collection of acclaimed and awarded work from Amal El-Mohtar.

With confidence and style, El-Mohtar guides us through exquisitely told and sharply observed tales about life as it is, was, and could be. Like miscellany from other worlds, these stories are told in letters, diary entries, reference materials, folktales, and lyrical prose.

The Subtle Art of Folding Space

John Chu

Published April 7

The Subtle Art of Folding Space channels unhinged physics, generational trauma, and the comfort of really good dim sum. This isn't your usual jaunt through quantum physics.

Ellie’s universe, and this one, is falling apart. Her ailing mother is in a coma; her sister, Chris, accuses her of being insufficiently Chinese between assassination attempts; and a shadowy cabal of engineers is trying to hijack the skunkworks, the machinery that keeps the physics of each universe working the way it’s supposed to.

Daniel, Ellie's cousin, has found an illicit device in the skunkworks—one that keeps Ellie's comatose mother alive while also creating destabilizing bugs in the physics of this universe. It's not a good day.

Japanese Gothic

Kylie Lee Baker

Published April 14

October, 2026: Lee Turner doesn’t remember how or why he killed his college roommate. The details are blurred and bloody. All he knows is he has to flee New York and go to the one place that might offer refuge—his father’s new home in Japan, a house hidden by sword ferns and wild ginger.

October, 1877: Sen is a young samurai in exile, hiding from the imperial soldiers in a house behind the sword ferns. A monster came home from war wearing her father’s face, but Sen would do anything to please him, even turn her sword on her own mother. She knows the soldiers will soon slaughter her whole family when she sees a terrible omen: a young foreign man who appears outside her window.

The Killing Spell

Shay Kauwe

Published April 14

In this spellbinding fantasy debut, a young Hawaiian woman must solve a murder to clear her name.

Kea Petrova is the youngest leader of a struggling Hawaiian clan on the Homestead, a refuge built after a magical flood destroyed Hawai‘i. As a treaty protecting their community nears expiration, she survives by secretly crafting Hawaiian language spells. When a prominent activist is murdered with a rare death spell, Kea becomes the prime suspect. To clear her name, she investigates the crime herself, uncovering dangerous power struggles across Los Angeles. With rival factions closing in, Kea must find the truth before she loses her freedom and clan.

The Language of Liars

S.L. Huang

Published April 21

In his training as a spy, Ro was told: you will always be living a lie.

Jumping into a Star Eater's mind in the first place requires a moment of perfect psychic connection, and he has studied all his life to comprehend their species. Admires them, respects them, is reverent at the idea of being one of them—the only species physiologically capable of mining the element needed for lightyear-spanning space travel. The species all others crave to know more of, but who have notoriously shared so very little. The species Ro's own small civilization, with its dwindling resources and withering reach, needs to know more about.

How to Cheat Your Own Death

Kristen Perrin

Published April 28

1968: Frances Adams is loving her new London life, and she’s stepped into a world of glamour thanks to her new friend, Vera Huntington–a magnetic socialite as mysterious as she is provocative.

Present day: When Annie Adams heads to London to visit her famous artist mother, Laura, the last thing she expects to find is a dead body. Least of all for it to be Laura’s new protégée, left in an alley with her heart surgically removed from her chest.

As Annie investigates, threats pile up on Laura’s doorstep, and it soon becomes clear that she’s next. Can Annie find the killer before it’s too late?

Molka

Monika Kim

Published April 30

molka (n): the Korean term for spy cameras secretly and illegally installed, often to capture voyeuristic images and videos

Dahye can't believe her luck when she finds herself in a whirlwind romance with handsome, charismatic Hyukjoon, the heir to a multi-million dollar fortune. But then a shocking revelation threatens: the couple has been caught on a spycam amid Korea's growing molka epidemic, and the video is all over the internet. When Hyukjoon flees the country to avoid the intense public scrutiny, Dahye is left to grapple with the ramifications on her own; and the demons from her childhood, long dormant, begin to surface.

A Long and Speaking Silence

Nghi Vo

Published May 5

On the banks of the Ya-lé River, the town of Luntien gathers to celebrate the start of the rainy season, but the celebration is marred by the arrival of refugees from the sea.

Cleric Chih, very recently still Novice Chih, is also a stranger in Luntien. A moment of carelessness and bad luck leaves them waiting tables as they struggle to establish themself as a real cleric. A cleric’s job is to listen and record, but the stories emerging in Luntien are ugly and violent, as hard to predict as the river itself. With their hoopoe companion Almost Brilliant by their side, Chih must help the refugees while also unraveling a mystery that may have roots in their own faraway home in the abbey of Singing Hills.

The Last Contract of Isako

Fonda Lee

Published May 5

Get ready to be blown away by this searing standalone space opera where corporate samurai fight beneath merciless stars.

Isako is a legendary swordswoman, but every legend has to come to an end. When her long-time client unexpectedly retires, she plans to follow--to walk out into the frozen wasteland of their planet with her head held high and her family enriched by her legacy. But when a competitor offers her a final mission, it's one she can't refuse. Soon, she's thrust deep into a world of corporate espionage, duty-bound duels, and shadowy secrets. What she uncovers will change humanity's existence in the stars forever.

Platform Decay

Martha Wells

Published May 5

Everyone's favorite lethal SecUnit is back in the next installment in Martha Wells' bestselling Murderbot Diaries series.

Having someone else support your bad decision feels kind of good.

Having volunteered to run a rescue mission, Murderbot realises that it will have to spend significant time with a bunch of humans it doesn't know.

Including human children. Ugh.

This may well call for... eye contact!

(Emotion check: Oh, for f—)

The Republic of Memory

Mahmud El Sayed

Published May 5

The Safina is a city ship, two hundred years into its voyage from the ruins of Earth towards a new habitable world. Its crew maintain the ship, generation after generation, while protecting their 'ancestors' - the final remnants of Earth's doomed Network Empire - by keeping them alive in cryostasis.

But a lot can change in two hundred years, and the crew has had enough

And when the blackouts start, they set in motion a chain of events that will change life on the Safina forever. The system is only secure so long as those in power maintain the obedience of those beneath them.

All Hail Chaos

Sarah Rees Brennan

Published May 12

THE EMPEROR IS HERE. AND SHE MADE HIM WORSE.

Playing the villainess, Rae thought she could change the narrative, but this version of the plot is far much more deadly than the one she knew.

Her friends are on the run and Rae's favorite character ever, now possibly the greatest monster in the land - wants her to be his evil queen.

What's a villainess to do? It's time for wicked bargains and fake engagements, in a fantasy where the most dangerous thing you can do is believe in someone.

The Tapestry of Fate

Shannon Chakraborty

Published May 12

Amina al-Sirafi thinks she’s struck gold. Tasked with hunting down arcane artifacts for the council of immortal peris, she can savor the occasional rollicking adventure on the high seas with her cherished criminal companions while still returning home to raise her beloved daughter, Marjana. But when Raksh, the spirit of discord with whom she is reluctantly wed, provokes the council’s wrath, Amina is charged with a seemingly impossible quest: steal a spindle capable of rewriting fate from a mysterious sorceress on an island no one can escape.

But deadly storms, an erratic poison mistress, and old enemies are the least of her worries.

Moss'd in Space

Rebecca Thorne

Published July 7

Torian Razner finally bought a starship, and contrary to Amelia’s assessment, it was not “a meteoric sign of stupidity.” Sure, the alien starship may have been abandoned for a century, and it may be covered in moss now… but it’s Torian’s ticket to freedom.

Except Torian’s first flight reveals a surprise passenger: the moss is actually an organic computer with a snarky attitude and serious abandonment issues. The target of its loathing? The immortal alien who built it (and then parked the starship, with Moss inside, and forgot about it). The same alien who just found Torian and accused her of “stealing” the ship.

Season of the Serpent

Suyi Davies Okungbowa

Published August 11

The old world has fallen. Now is the time of serpents.

The continent is split. The islands have sunk. The empire of Bassa is no more. With the resistant Nameless Republic and the conquering Kangalaland on the brink of war, all must choose a side. Oon's heroes and villains must rise from their ashes and meet a Third Great War.

Peace won't come easy. Long-lost family will fight to reach Danso before war erases him forever. Lilong has survived the island catastrophe but lost her power, and will do anything to get it back. And fate will find Esheme where it left her-will the dead queen rise again?

What Feeds Below

Tatiana Schlote-Bonne

Published October 6

The darkness isn’t empty. It’s hungry.

At the edge of the City of the Void, a massive chasm extends miles into the earth, its treacherous terrain overrun with vicious monsters and carnivorous plants. For orphaned best friends Petra and Jade, guiding treasure-seeking tourists down into the Void is the only way to earn enough to pull themselves up out of the slums for good.

When one of their jobs goes wrong and Jade is lost in the Void, Petra must plunge deeper than she’s ever dared to save her friend. But she doesn’t know the truth of the Void . . . or what really waits for her in its depths.