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The Most Anticipated Fantasy & Science Fiction Books
Here there be dragons, superheroes, aliens, and warlords. In the coming months, readers will get to return to Westeros and the All Souls universe, explore an India-inspired world of mythology and magic, experience the haunting tale of a monster coming into her own, and so much more.
To discover the best fantasy and science fiction novels hitting bookshelves through the rest of the year, we focused on what Goodreads members are anticipating and reactions from early reviewers. We measured anticipation by how many times a book has been added to Want to Read shelves, and then we only included books that have earned at least a four-star rating. (If you're curious how you can read prepublished books and be among the first to rate them, take a look at our book giveaways.)
Check out the fantastical reads below, and add what catches your eye to your Want to Read shelf!
To discover the best fantasy and science fiction novels hitting bookshelves through the rest of the year, we focused on what Goodreads members are anticipating and reactions from early reviewers. We measured anticipation by how many times a book has been added to Want to Read shelves, and then we only included books that have earned at least a four-star rating. (If you're curious how you can read prepublished books and be among the first to rate them, take a look at our book giveaways.)
Check out the fantastical reads below, and add what catches your eye to your Want to Read shelf!
Soldiers don't get paid to ask questions. In this installment in the beloved Chronicles of the Black Company series, Croaker struggles to trust his new ally, the peculiar sorcerer Mischievous Rain, as the Company attempts to break a rebel army.
Publication date: September 11
Immune to magic, Lady Everleigh escapes a massacre at the court of Bellona and goes into hiding with a gladiator troupe. As her desire for vengeance grows, she trains herself to take on the cruel usurper who assassinated the royal family.
Publication date: October 2
To save the world, Baru Cormorant must tear it apart. She becomes the very thing she once sought to destroy, all in a quest for revenge against the Empire of Masks in this sequel to The Traitor Baru Cormorant.
Publication date: October 30
Mehr can manipulate the dreams of the gods. An outcast descended from desert spirits, she defies an emperor and challenges a cabal of ruthless mystics in this captivating debut inspired by India's Mughal Empire.
Publication date: November 13
Brace yourself; The Winds of Winter is…still not here. Instead, the author of A Song of Ice and Fire delivers the first volume of his two-part history of the Targaryens, charting their volatile rise to power in Westeros.
Publication date: November 20
Formed around an alien biodome, Rosewater is a town on the edge. Its residents are hopeful and hungry to unlock the mysterious structure's rumored powers in this scientific thriller set in Nigeria.
Publication date: September 18
In the final installment in the Murderbot Diaries, the rogue robot fights its own programming to help the only human who ever showed it respect, traveling the width of the galaxy to stop a nefarious corporation and save innocent colonists.
Publication date: October 2
As humanity's interstellar empire nears collapse, Emperox Grayland II sets desperate measures into motion while the rest of the universe prepares for war in this pulse-pounding sequel to The Collapsing Empire.
Publication date: October 16
The crew of the Rocinante is scattered across the galaxy. Fighting to hold off an authoritarian regime and a sociopathic scientist, they launch a daring, last-ditch plan in this eighth installment in The Expanse series.
Publication date: December 4
This summer Liu became the first woman to win the Best Writer Eisner Award. She and artist Takeda continue their acclaimed Monstress comic about a young woman struggling to control her inner beast in an alternate 20th-century Asia.
Publication date: September 11
Heading into a year-long hiatus, Vaughan and Staples leave their fans with an explosive spacefaring adventure that follows Alana, Marko, and Hazel as they encounter fake news, old enemies, and genuine terror.
Publication date: October 2
After a devastating betrayal, October "Toby" Daye worries her fragile self-made family will fall apart. She juggles a kidnapping, an annoying ex-boyfriend, and meddling faeries in this latest installment in the October Daye series.
Publication date: September 4
What does it take to become a vampire? Harkness returns to the world of her All Souls trilogy to tell the story of a young immortal during the Revolutionary War and the human he will come to love hundreds of years later.
Publication date: September 18
In this sequel to Vicious, the line between life and death blurs as ambitious Sydney Clarke does everything she can to try and save Victor Vale, the superhuman man who stood up to Eli Ever and paid the ultimate price.
Publication date: September 25
Peter Grant, detective and apprentice wizard, is used to solving magical crimes, but he wonders if he's met his match when he encounters Martin Chorley, the so-called Faceless Man wanted for numerous crimes against humanity.
Publication date: November 13
Check out the complete coverage of Sci-Fi & Fantasy Week:
Top 50 Fantasy Books on Goodreads
The Best Sci-Fi & Fantasy of the Year (So Far)
Hidden Gems for Lifelong Fans of Sci-Fi & Fantasy
Comments Showing 51-70 of 70 (70 new)
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message 51:
by
anya
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Aug 22, 2018 05:11PM
Why is Kingdom of Ash by Sarah J Maas not on this list?
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For me it has to be "Cold Iron" by Miles Cameron, as well as "The Ember Blade" by Chris Wooding.
The Hod King (The Books of Babel) • The Winter of the Witch• both pre-ordered :)
Tanya wrote: "Surely the most anticipated fantasy book is Winds of Winter. Whenever that's happening."Lets not forget there is also (at least) A Dream of Spring to be written. There is no way GRRM is finishing ASOIAF
Shelly wrote: "Teresa wrote: "Adger wrote: "Patrick Rothfus's 3rd Kingkiller book would be mighty welcome."Ryanb wrote: "Honestly at this point I don't think he has any intention of ever finishing the series......"
The kicker is, supposedly the entire trilogy was done already when the first book was published. And then he changed his mind about it.
Circe wrote: "Next Desden File book by Jim Butcher would be good, but I don't think that will ever happen....😥"Rumor has it that Peace Talks will be released in February 2019 and, after he wraps up the publicity tour, he'll start the sequel to Aeronaut's Windlass.
Anyone else excited for The Kings of the Wyld sequel?
Adger wrote: "Patrick Rothfus's 3rd Kingkiller book would be mighty welcome."Exactly. But I support him in taking the time he needs to finish it. I think as consumers, we demand a scheduled installment from our writing artists. He has had a lot of criticism and bad press, when he is doing what artists do. I am willing to let him think, and am eminently grateful for what he has already produced.
John wrote: "Skyward by Brandon Sanderson. If for no other reasons than 1. He's awesome and 2. It's a new location in the Cosmere."Not a cosmere book, but I agree. This should ABSOLUTELY be on the list!
Tanya wrote: "Surely the most anticipated fantasy book is Winds of Winter. Whenever that's happening."Nov. 20/18
You know what I'd love is the next book in the Name of the Wind series.
I'm not anticipating WoW. I have given up. I am anticipating the next Aaronovitch and may that series never end!
From this list I'm eagerly awaiting Vengeful and The Monster Baru Cormorant. I will definitely read Fire & Blood, but don't have it on pre-order like the other two. WoW is an obvious "on my wish list", but I'm not holding my breath. Another that I will eagerly read when it comes out (but have stopped checking for a publish date) is The Thorn of Emberlain by Scott Lynch.
Denise wrote: "Please come out with a sequel to the aeronauts windlass."right? i didn't realize that ive been waiting on this sequel since 2015
Cendaquenta wrote: "Huh, I didn't know the Black Company series was still going. I should get back into that."i lost a lot of interest during the Books of the South. got much too dark and depressing and never felt like it had a payoff
Ellenann wrote: "Adger wrote: "Patrick Rothfus's 3rd Kingkiller book would be mighty welcome."Exactly. But I support him in taking the time he needs to finish it. I think as consumers, we demand a scheduled insta..."
It's also so important to point out that Wise Man's Fear was very, very nearly as long as the ENTIRE lord of the rings trilogy, which took tolkien twelve years to write (and was originally intended to be one book, but was split up due to printing limitations and marketing). It was absurdly, uncommonly long.
I expect Doors of Stone to be as long or possibly even longer, perhaps ultimately being split into two books (which translations of Wise Man's Fear already were in many countries). People forget that a longer book takes longer to write, and we basically got 3-4 books worth of content in one installment. If he releases Doors of Stone soon (within a year or two), and it's at least as long as Wise Man's Fear, it'll be the equivalent of releasing a normal-length book about every two years. I've had to wait four to seven years between each Queen's Thief installment, and they're all slim volumes of 100-130k words. We're years away from being able to say Rothfuss is even a particularly slow writer, much less that he's given up, doesn't care, is dawdling, etc.
Denise wrote: "Please come out with a sequel to the aeronauts windlass."YESSSSS!
Gentleman Bastards, Dresden Files, Kingkiller, and ASOIAF have to be most most anticipated.
