If you know me, then you know Women in SFF is a topic I am rather passionate about. 

Some years back, I was prompted to look closely at my SFF shelves. Always preferring little to no romance, aside from very few exceptions, I found the ratio was quite a bit horrendous, with about 80 male authors. And most of the books written by women were YA. So, I had a good long think about why this might be the case and decided to change things! 

I quickly learned the problem wasn’t a lack of books out there, but just not being aware of a lot of authors, as they usually weren’t prominent in the bookshop, or online stores. You had to dig a bit to find them. So, dig I did! And then I dug some more… 

Just a few years later I am at almost 50/50 and I have discovered so many hidden gems, it’s ridiculous!

This gigantic list of Female SFF authors is by no means an exhaustive list. It’s not even a list of all the ones I read. It’s just my personal favourites right now. So, only those I rated with 4 stars or more.

I sorted them roughly by genre or similar interests. At the end you’ll also get a little glimpse at some of my TBR.

If you are on a similar path, I do hope this list will help you find a lot of books to add to your own TBR!

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Dark and Bloody

Anna Stephens

If you like your stories on the grim and bloody side, but you also want amazing characters, an inclusive cast and a big world to explore—then look no farther than Anna Stephens! Her first trilogy, Godblind, is fantastic and already finished. The Stone Knife, book one of her new, Aztec inspired, series is even better.

Rebecca Levene

Do not be fooled by the cover of Smiler’s Fair. This is not a cute story, but a rather grim one! I especially loved the innovative worldbuilding. In some places, if you want to stay alive, you can never stop moving. This was a great new idea, which kept the story fresh without long info dumps.

Grey and flawed characters and a diverse cast rounded this off nicely.

Devin Madson (LGBTQIA+* Author)

Two series, both low in magic, with grey characters, gritty, bloody and with a very realistic feel to them.

The Vengeance Trilogy is finished and its biggest hook for me was how Madson managed to make me root for all the characters, who seem to be rather fixated on killing each other…

In The Reborn Empire (3 books out so far) I especially loved the three different cultures clashing. A lot of very unique characters kept me breezing through the book.

[Editor’s Note: *LGBTQIA+ stands for the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer, Intersex, and Asexual community. The plus sign is for any others in the community that aren’t covered in the above list. You can learn more here.]

Laura M. Hughes (Self-Published)

This is a short and weird little story. It is eerie, and creepy, and yet I found it fun as well. If you’re looking for something different, a quick bite between the big tomes, Danse Macabre is a great choice!

H. L. Tinsley (Self-Published)

A mix of an almost medieval feeling city, with some newer inventions, We Men of Ash and Shadow is already setup as something a bit different. When we meet the main character, this proves to be true! He is an ex-soldier who kills for a living, and who has a strange talent to go unseen. I loved the way his character was handled, as he seems to have his very own way of thinking. He feels almost slow at times, but not dumb. Just different. I can’t say I remember a similar lead character, and I am here for it! All the characters are some sort of shady. Killers, outcasts, gang boss, whore, or the man whose job it is to make bodies disappear.

Aliette de Bodard (BIPoC*)

Wonder what Harry Dresden would have done if he was born in the Aztec Empire? If so, then read Servant of the Underworld! It has the quick tone and pace of an urban fantasy, and even features a murder mystery at the heart of the story. But it is set in an Aztec inspired world full of gods and sacrifices and magic. I wasn’t sure if a mix of such an epic setting, and humorous tone would work—but I ended up very much addicted!

[Editor’s Note: *BIPoC stands for Black, Indigenous, or Person of Color. You can learn more here.]

Anna Smith Spark (Author with Asperger’s, Dyslexia, and Dyspraxia)

I confess I smuggled The Court of Broken Knives one onto here, as I personally didn’t get on to well with the prose. But I fully realize that is because the prose is on par with most literary fiction. And to be blunt—I just can’t appreciate that as much as I maybe should.

The world is bleak and bloody, and the characters grey at best. And if you do like your fantasy more literary, then it is more than worth a look! (Also, the author is a fantastic human being!)

Ishbelle Bee

I just read The Singular & Extraordinary Tale of Mirror & Goliath last week, and it is a fun one. It is very weird, very twisted, dark and bloody. It feels like a lot of tiny stories put together, with a lot of jumping between all sorts of people and times—and I breezed through it in just a few days. There’s some really nice formatting at times that just adds to the flavour. There’s plenty of gore and death (including children, if you are sensitive to that) but it’s not written in a horrific sort of way, but rather an entertaining one. Like this:

DECAPITATION

I simply love the word. Head over heels.

I take my ancestral sword with me. Daddy will be so proud that it was going to get some use. Heads lying around the cemetery like pumpkins! I can’t wait. I do hope they have an interesting vicar. Maybe one with a lisp. It is going to be a splendid day!

Epic / High Fantasy & No Clear Subgenre

Marie Brennan

A Natural History of Dragons is the fictional memoir of Lady Trent, who defies society by becoming a scientist. Not only that, she also goes on expeditions to study dragons—and in trousers no less, oh the scandal!

I loved the scholarly touch, and the illustrations, a few are just glorious. I love her witty and sneaky tone and would love to have tea with her! Added bonus later in the series it’s not just about dragons, but also goes into archaeology.

J. A. Andrews (Self-Published)

Both of these series take place in the same world, but you can start either with the completed Keeper Chronicles (which is an omnibus of 3 books!) or with Dragon’s Reach, which is the first in the Keeper Origins series.

Both have that good traditional fantasy feel to them. They are definitely meant for an adult audience, and don’t shy away from harder topics, but they don’t have overly graphic violence, or sex scenes. Instead of the guts and gore, these focus on the consequences and repercussions of war and death. How it affects the characters and the world.

I enjoyed them all! Andrews gets better by the book. So, while the very first, A Threat of Shadows, was a good and entertaining read, it felt a bit predictable and easy at times. Still a four-star read for me, but not yet perfect. By the time I got to Dragon’s Reach she had progressed to an absolute favourite!

M. L. Spencer (Self-Published)

A bit like with Andrews up above, Spencer gets better by the book. I’ve read three of her books so far, and I enjoyed each one more than the last!

These also have the classic fantasy feel to them, but are a bit grimmer than Andrews’ books. Chain of Bloods had a great mix of new characters interwoven with the stories from her first series. You could read this without knowing the Rhenwar books, but if you read them, you get a lot of flashbacks, in the good way! A nice twisty plot kept me hooked all the way.

But then I read Dragon Mage—and I have to say I am utterly in love with that one! It isn’t just a good story—with dragons—it also has something you rarely see in fantasy: A main character who is on the autism spectrum! And it was handled absolutely wonderfully.

Alicia Wanstall-Burke (Self-Published)

Blood of Heirs starts off like a “good old fantasy” but over time it does leave the beaten track and swerve in new directions. I especially enjoyed the Australian inspired setting and character growth!

M. L. Wang (Self-Published, BIPOC)

Sword of Kaigen has a different world and an Asian-inspired culture to explore, characters that grow and change, lots of amazing sword fights, and incredibly well-done character growth—what’s not to love!

Angela Boord (Self-Published)

I didn’t think I would enjoy Fortune’s Fool, but after a rocky start I soon found myself fully immersed and thoroughly hooked! It’s a slow burn, which even with a romance at the heart of the story, managed to work even for me. There’s politics, mysteries, loyalties, fight scenes and enough twists to keep me on my toes. I loved the character development of the main character!

Robin Hobb

Assassin’s Apprentice has great characters who change and grow throughout the whole series. I quickly formed a bond with Fitz. And while I found there was less assassinating than I expected, I was still hooked all the way through!

S. A. Chakraborty (Muslim convert)

Early on I feared The City of Brass might get too romantic for my personal taste—but luckily it never did. Instead, it was an amazing and deep story about Djinn, and explored a different part of the world than what I am used to. It had plenty of mysteries, action and adventure, great characters with a good amount of grey areas, so you keep wondering who is right and who is wrong.

Jen Williams

The Ninth Rain is another very recent discovery for me. And I curse myself for not having read it earlier!

It has three amazing point of view (POV) characters and a very big and deep world to explore. I love all the mysteries, clues and secrets throughout the story. And a monster-hunting lady archaeologist as a main character was something I hadn’t seen before!

Rachel Emma Shaw (Self-Published)

Last Memoria was one of the SPFBO finalists last year! And for us at The Fantasy Hive (I write for both sites) it placed 2nd—which shows you just how good it is! Find our (long) review here. [You can also read Fantasy-Faction’s review here.]

In short: A twisty character driven fantasy, with an intriguing world and setting. The theme of memories, and how much of our character depends on them was fascinating and thought provoking.

Katherine Addison

A slow burn, political court fantasy, that somehow still had me hooked all the way through. This is not usually my preferred style of book, but Addison made the world and characters so fascinating I just couldn’t put The Goblin Emperor down!

Kristen Britain

Green Rider one doesn’t just have a classic feel to it, but being released in 1998, it almost is a classic!

I openly admit I have a hard time with a lot of older fantasy, aside from a few favourites—but Green Rider worked well for me. The audio narration was amazing, and I think it made the book even better. What I enjoyed was a strong female main character, who wasn’t just a born fighter. She just has to deal with what fate is throwing at her, and so she does.

K. S. Villoso (BIPOC)

This was a bit of a mixed bag for me. I did love a lot about The Wolf of Oren-Yaro.

Strong female character, deeply developed Asian inspired culture and world, unexpected twists, adventures and plenty of action. But at times, the stupid decisions characters made really annoyed me, and sometimes the flashbacks and plot felt a bit disjointed. Overall though, I loved the world and plot enough to balance it out and include it here for its strengths.

A. M. Justice (Self-Published)

A Wizard’s Forge is special, because the main character is a former sex slave. Her character development and the way she dealt with her past gave this an extra layer of depth. It feels like a traditional fantasy, but you get glimpses that hint at this series going more into the science fantasy direction later on.

Virginia McClain (Self-Published, LGBTQIA+ Author)

Blade’s Edge is an Asian-inspired book that has some serious topics included, while still managing to be an easy and quick read. I especially loved the main characters and the time they spent traveling.

R. F. Kuang (BIPOC)

The Poppy War is a wild mix of a book. The first half is a quick and easy read that could almost be classed as YA, and then the second half gets grim, bloody, and quite more complex. I liked the Asian inspired setting, and the tropes in this one.

Sam Hawke

City of Lies has a food taster (or proofer) as a main character, which was a nice change to the usual fighters! I enjoyed a character who isn’t physically strong but has to use wit and knowledge to their advantage. And just look at that brilliant first sentence:

I was seven years old the first time my uncle poisoned me.

Joanne Hall (Small Press)

On the slightly grimmer side of classic fantasy, Joanne Hall has written The Art of Forgettingduology that evolves well over the course of the story. The first book has one of my favourite tropes—a young man getting a military education—but also has enough twists and turns to not feel like just one more “boring old” story. In the second we get to travel and spend quite some time with a different culture and way of life, and I loved that!

Another plus for me was this series having a bisexual (bi) male main character, but not focusing on the romance part. It is just a natural part of the character.

The Summer Goddess features a strong female main character who goes on the hunt for her family. I loved the balance between easy read and yet not fluffy. Really enjoyed seeing the main character grow and flex!

Deborah A. Wolf

It took me a little bit to get into Dragon’s Legacy. Once I found my footing, I loved the strong female leads, the big sprawling world, the animal companions and the twisty plot!

Claire Frank (Self-Published)

In To Whatever End we see a wife setting out to rescue her vanished husband. That was a really nice new plot I haven’t read before!

Rachel Aaron

The Spirit Thief is fun, light and a bit silly, and yet still had a real fantasy feel and not like a comedy. This was a great change to the dark books I’ve read recently.

Angela Holder

The Tale of Gurion Thricebound is a slow burn. Usually I would get bored, but for some reason this one worked for me! The plot is quite relevant as it’s about the power divide in society and a starting rebellion. (Please do not be put off by the cover.)

Urban Fantasy / Dystopian / Horror

Leigh Bardugo (Israeli-American)

Ninth House is really gritty and dark, so not for the faint of heart. An amazing urban fantasy that has a lot of relevant themes in it, like the rich getting away with almost anything. Plus, many different kinds of magic and a rather pragmatic main character I loved from the start.

Rebecca Roanhorse (BIPOC)

I loved the main character in Trail of Lightning. A female Navajo monster hunter, who isn’t really the most social of creatures. I love the mysteries about her past that I got to piece together little by little over the course of the story. It gave her more and more depth and never felt like an info dump to me.

Fonda Lee (BIPOC)

Jade City is not a book for anyone who is looking for good guys or straight heroes. Here the society is run by different clans, and involves quite some gang wars on the street. It is urban fantasy in a modern world, but it combines cars and guns with blades and magic, so it felt as much like a typical fantasy as it did like UF. What I especially liked was the new setting to explore, with a culture very different to anything I am used to!

Sammy H.K. Smith

Anna is set in a near future dystopian UK, where society has gone down the drain. Women are often fair game, and if you brand one you caught, she’s now yours. Congratulations.

From there on its a story of abuse and the slow spiral from finding a way out, into losing your way and starting to doubt your worth. Do you even deserve to get away?

There’s violence, there physical and mental abuse, there’s rape (not in graphic detail, but psychological), there’s being controlled and there’s all the emotional turmoil that comes with it.

Anna is not a comfortable read. Anna is not an easy read.

Anna however is an addictive read that makes you think and re-evaluate things. It is challenging and hard to digest, yet it doesn’t leave you utterly hopeless. It’s an eye opener and I am sure I will think about it for weeks to come.

Alexandra Engellmann (Self-Published)

Sky Ghosts: Initiation was an easy read, perfect for after a long day. Good blend of action, love, friendship, character growth, beheading and entertainment.

Mira Grant (aka Seanan MaGuire; LGBTQIA+ Author)

I loved the mix of science, horror and fantasy in Into the Drowning Deep.

The first half is rather slow, but in a good way. It is setting up characters and backstory and a scientific background, while the second half has a lot of blood, gore, action and tight spots. The bodies are piling up, and you actually do not know how it all will end till the very end.

The characters were well done and handled in a way that made me grumblingly care for even the worst ones, and I could root for monsters and humans alike. And who is the real monster after all?

Marina Finlayson (Self-Published)

Stolen Magic is a quick and easy read I mostly enjoyed due to the main character. Aside from the occasional ogling of a brooding male, she was a capable and witty thief to follow around. I was more than happy to accompany her in her adventures!

Madeleine Roux

Allison Hewitt is Trapped has zombies, action, humour and all that set in a bookstore—what’s not to love? This also was an easy read that had me well entertained all the way through. I liked the second book even a bit better.

Science Fiction / LitRPG

Emma Newman (Author with Anxiety)

Planetfall is a very fascinating sci-fi that combines a lot of my favourite things. It has a main character with Anxiety, a whole new world to explore, more than one mystery, and science!

A small and close-knit colony setting doesn’t just allow for good character friction, but also a good look at human nature.

Becky Chambers (LGBTQIA+ Author)

The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet is one of my very favourite sci-fi series, because aliens are really alien and not just “green humans”. It is an amazing space opera with characters I instantly clicked with and couldn’t get enough of! Easy to read and yet not shallow at all, this was a joy to read.

Ann Leckie

Ancillary Justice is the start to a brilliant series that plays with gender roles and expectations in a way that really makes the reader think twice. Some twists and complexity kept me on my toes and hooked all the way through!

Martha Wells

I just discovered this utter gem of a book recently. The main character in All Systems Red calls itself Murderbot and is a hybrid of human and artificial construct. I’ve always loved non-human characters, and the voice and tone of this whole story was addictive! Full of action and some philosophical questions as well as banter and snark. I devoured this novella.

Octavia E. Butler (BIPOC, LGBTQIA+ Author)

Bloodchild was my first, but definitely not my last, book by Butler. It was a creepy and slightly disturbing read. It’s a short story, and yet it manages to convey quite a lot of topics and discussion starters. From adapting to a new planet, symbiosis, responsibilities and love, to blood and fear. 

Demi Harper (aka Laura M. Hughes)

God of Gnomes is a very fun god-core romp! While it was funny and easy to read it still had topics that made you think twice and managed to stay thrilling and action filled to the very end. I for one can’t wait to read more in this world!

Mythological

Joanne M. Harris

I loved the tone and voice in Gospel of Loki. The most fun lesson in Norse mythology I’ve ever had the pleasure to read. Who doesn’t love a trickster god! And it surely isn’t his fault when everything goes haywire.

Timandra Whitecastle (Self-Published)

I loved the characters in Queens of the Wyrd! I enjoyed mums and regular women being the main characters and still being awesome. I’m not maternal and no mum myself, and don’t intend to ever be one, but the theme still absolutely worked for me.

The mythology part definitely works best if you already have some basic info about it, as it’s often not described in great detail, so it gets a lot more depth if your brain just adds in more backdrop. This does make for an even quicker read and doesn’t take away from the book if you have some knowledge of it already. Only if this is your first encounter with the topic it might lack a bit of depth.

Alternate History

Suzannah Rowntree (Self-Published)

I loved the time period and setting in A Wind from The Wilderness. I can’t say I remember any fantasy book set in 1097 Constantinople before!

I loved the female main character, but had a harder time caring for the male POV. But not as in him being badly written, rather in his attitude not being someone I personally click with easily. But the combination of the two just made the whole story feel more real to me.

The writing was beautiful, the plot had me hooked all the way, even though it is slow going and has quite some politics, which I’m not especially a fan of. The dialogues however where really well done and so I didn’t mind the bickering between different faction but instead was glued to the pages.

Alix E. Harrow

I think The Once and Future Witches is the first book I’ve read that gave me head to toe goosebumps so badly my husband asked if I was cold not once, not twice, but three times!

I loved the setting, which had suffragettes fighting for women’s rights along with witch burnings being a thing of the not so distant past. Sexual or gender orientation also still being mostly dictated by the church adds yet another layer to the book. Combined with racism still quite rampant even though slavery was officially over, it made for a gripping and thought provoking read with no clear good or evil side, instead a lot of grey areas, and characters.

All of these topics could make for a very dry and almost sanctimonious read, but no—it was one enthralling tale full of twists and turns and mysteries that had me spellbound all the way through.

Charlotte Nicole Davis (BIPOC)

Not really alt-history, but as it has a Western feel to it, and there’s a robbery, so I’ll put it here.

A bundle of escaped whores on a quest to get rid of their magical mark, which brands them as property of the brothel.

This is a sort of story I never read before! I especially enjoyed how The Good Luck Girls, after some initial conflicts, work together. So often if there’s a bunch of girls, they are always fighting and trying to control each other. I definitely loved seeing them become sisters in spirit instead!

T. Frohock (Author with Hearing Loss)

Los Nefilim takes place in 1930 Spain, has well developed LGBT+ characters, and half-angel, half-daimon as main characters. It ticked a lot of boxes for me! I especially enjoyed the character development throughout the book had me hooked all the way through.

Naomi Novik

Temeraire is an alternate history series with dragons in the military! These are quite an easy and quick read and I found them perfect in between the grim or complex tomes.

Slightly Romantic / Steampunk / Victorian

Gail Carriger

Soulless is fun and has banter and a strong main character who doesn’t fit into the role society wants to see her in. Neither does she really care about their opinion that much! It has romance, but the humorous kind, not the hot, whiny kind. My favourite bad mood read!

Zen Cho (BIPOC)

Sorcerer to the Crown manages to both be a quick, fun and easy comfort read like Pride and Prejudice, and yet handles topics like racism and feminism in a really great way. I loved the witty banter!

Stephanie Burgis (Self-Published)

Snowspelled was a quick and fun read! It reminded me a bit of Jane Austen, but with elves and magic—and a troll. Banter and snark kept me well entertained!

Amanda DeWees (Self-Published)

Nocturne for a Widow had me hooked right from the start. I’m always a sucker for a strong willed and slightly sarcastic female main character who goes her own way. And Sybil does just that! She knows her strengths, and she likes to play to them, but she also knows her limitations and makes the most of whatever life throws at her. Instead of fainting or becoming hysterical she’ll look for a way forward and just won’t give up! I also love how she’s definitely looking out for herself, but at the same time is really loyal and loveable, as well as open to all sorts of people and experiences.

The plot is as much mystery and ghost story as it is Regency romance, and I enjoyed each of the aspects! The prose was fluent and quick and so very easy to devour.

Tilly Wallace (Self-Published)

Manners and Monsters is a really weird and fun read! So far, I never enjoyed books like “Jane Austen with zombies”, but Wallace manages to pull it off. It’s less a zombie story than a murder mystery, with some of the noble ladies being “afflicted” with some sort of magical illness that makes them crave brains.

But if you are a lady of quality you obviously don’t just go and eat people, you buy pickled “cauliflower” from already deceased people! But who then is leaving dead bodies without a brain? The most grumpy man to be found, and a young lady whose mother is a mage as well as afflicted will have to find out together.

Young Adult (YA)

Lian Hearn

I’ve seen Across the Nightingale Floor both in the YA and the adult section. Wherever you’d put it, it was a great mix of Asian inspired culture and action with relatable characters! A quick and addicting read.

Trudi Canavan

Magician’s Guild is another one I’ve seen on YA and adult shelves. It does fit as the characters grow quite a bit over the course of the series! Gripping plot and lots of magic had me hooked from start to end.

Tamora Pierce

Every book by Tamora Pierce I’ve read—and that has been quite a lot—has been amazing. They all feature strong female characters, in all sorts of professions, and different ages. They are about growing up, finding your way, never giving up and forming friendships and loyalties. They all are inspiring, exciting, fascinating, and addictive, and I can’t choose one single series to recommend.

Roseanne A. Brown (BIPOC)

I didn’t just love the African inspired setting in A Song of Wraiths and Ruin. I also enjoyed the good character development and political manoeuvring! And my absolute favourite bit about the book is one of the main characters having Anxiety. This is the first time I came across a main character like that in fantasy, and I seriously loved the representation!

Namina Forna (BIPOC)

The Gilded Ones straddles between upper YA or easier adult read. The topics and gore level definitely work for both, though the character development could have been a bit deeper at times. Feminism, racism, xenophobia, misogyny and other problematic themes are included here—and I thought they were well handled. I liked the “moral” of the story being something that just comes along with the plot, and didn’t feel like being pointed at what you should think.

Reni K. Amayo (BIPOC)

I really enjoyed the different setting and POVs in Daughters of Nri. I got attached to the main characters early on, and so was eager to see what would happen to them.

It was a fluent and rather quick read, despite being about political intrigue. The end didn’t fully live up the rest of the book, but the fresh tone and voice was enough for me to overall still really like the book.

Tomi Adeyemi (BIPOC)

Children of Blood and Bone is an African inspired fantasy with interesting worldbuilding. Again, I enjoyed the different tone and voice, and discovering new cultures.

Isabel Allende

Isabel Allende doesn’t only write adult fiction, she also wrote the wonderful fantasy series Eagle and Jaguar, which allows the reader to explore the Amazon, join an exciting adventure in the jungle and follow two main characters on their path of learning that not everything we do with the best intentions is actually good.

Juliana Spink Mills

I’d recommend Heart Blade for ages 14+. I loved it for its realistic teenage characters. No glammed-up supermodel, but a girl who is both badass and yet does drool in her sleep!

Combined with lots of action, and growing up, and a small dash of love, it was a great read!

– – –

To-Be-Read List (TBR)

And obviously all those books above don’t even make a dent in the sheer amount of amazing female SFF authors, so here’s a glimpse at my TBR.

The Bone Shard Daughter by Andrea Stewart

The emperor’s reign has lasted for decades, his mastery of bone shard magic powering the animal-like constructs that maintain law and order. But now his rule is failing, and revolution is sweeping across the Empire’s many islands.

Lin is the emperor’s daughter and spends her days trapped in a palace of locked doors and dark secrets. When her father refuses to recognise her as heir to the throne, she vows to prove her worth by mastering the forbidden art of bone shard magic.

Yet such power carries a great cost, and when the revolution reaches the gates of the palace, Lin must decide how far she is willing to go to claim her birthright—and save her people.

The Whitefire Crossing by Courtney Schafer

Dev is a smuggler with the perfect cover. He’s in high demand as a guide for the caravans that carry legitimate goods from the city of Ninavel into the country of Alathia. The route through the Whitefire Mountains is treacherous, and Dev is one of the few climbers who knows how to cross them safely. With his skill and connections, it’s easy enough to slip contraband charms from Ninavel—where any magic is fair game, no matter how dark—into Alathia, where most magic is outlawed.

But smuggling a few charms is one thing; smuggling a person through the warded Alathian border is near suicidal. Having made a promise to a dying friend, Dev is forced to take on a singularly dangerous cargo: Kiran. A young apprentice on the run from one of the most powerful mages in Ninavel, Kiran is desperate enough to pay a fortune to sneak into a country where discovery means certain execution—and he’ll do whatever it takes to prevent Dev from finding out the terrible truth behind his getaway.

Yet Kiran isn’t the only one harboring a deadly secret. Caught up in a web of subterfuge and dark magic, Dev and Kiran must find a way to trust each other—or face not only their own destruction, but that of the entire city of Ninavel.

A Cavern of Black Ice by J. V. Jones

As a newborn Ash March was abandoned—left for dead at the foot of a frozen mountain. Found and raised by the Penthero Iss, the mighty Surlord of Spire Vanis, she has always known she is different. Terrible dreams plague her and sometimes in the darkness she hears dread voices from another world. Iss watches her as she grows to womanhood, eager to discover what powers his ward might possess. As his interest quickens, he sends his living blade, Marafice Eye, to guard her night and day.

Raif Sevrance, a young man of Clan Blackhail, also knows he is different, with uncanny abilities that distance him from the clan. But when he and his brother survive an ambush that plunges the entire Northern Territories into war, he yet seeks justice for his own…even if it means he must forsake clan and kin.

Ash and Raif must learn to master their powers and accept their joint fate if they are to defeat an ancient prophecy and prevent the release of the pure evil known as the End Lords.

The Thief’s Gamble by Juliet E. McKenna

Magic? It’s for the rich, the powerful…the Archmage and his elite wizards and cloud-masters.

Livak is not among them. She haunts the back taverns of the realm, careful to appear neither rich nor poor, neither tall nor short…neither man nor woman. Obscurity is her protection, thievery her livelihood, and gambling her weakness.

Alas, some bets are hard to resist. Particularly when they offer a chance to board a ship for Hadrumal, the fabled city of the Archmage.

So Livak follows a minor wizard, Shiv, in an attempt to turn a rune or two, never dreaming the stolen tankard she wants to sell contains the secrets of an ancient magic far more powerful, and infinitely darker, than any mortal mage’s spells.

The Curse of the Mistwraith by Janny Wurts

The world of Athera lives in eternal fog, its skies obscured by the malevolent Mistwraith. Only the combined powers of two half-brothers can challenge the Mistwraith’s stranglehold: Arithon, Master of Shadow and Lysaer, Lord of Light.

Arithon and Lysaer will find they are inescapably bound inside a pattern of events dictated by their own deepest convictions. Yet there is more at stake than one battle with the Mistwraith—as the sorcerers of the Fellowship of Seven know well. For between them the half-brothers hold the balance of the world, its harmony and its future, in their hands.

The Leopard by K. V. Johansen

In the days of the first kings in the North, there were seven devils.

Ahjvar, the assassin known as the Leopard, wants only to die, to end the curse that binds him to a life of horror. Although he has no reason to trust the goddess Catairanach or her messenger Deyandara, fugitive heir to a murdered tribal queen, desperation leads him to accept her bargain: if he kills the mad prophet known as the Voice of Marakand, Catairanach will free him of his curse.

Accompanying him on his mission is the one person he has let close to him in a lifetime of death, a runaway slave named Ghu. Ahj knows Ghu is far from the half-wit others think him, but in Marakand, the great city where the caravan roads of east and west meet, both will need to face the deepest secrets of their souls, if either is to survive the undying enemies who hunt them and find a way through the darkness that damns the Leopard.

To Marakand, too, come a Northron wanderer and her demon verrbjarn lover, carrying the obsidian sword Lakkariss, a weapon forged by the Old Great Gods to bring their justice to the seven devils who escaped the cold hells so long before.

The Mirror Empire by Kameron Hurley

On the eve of a recurring catastrophic event known to extinguish nations and reshape continents, a troubled orphan evades death and slavery to uncover her own bloody past…while a world goes to war with itself.

In the frozen kingdom of Saiduan, invaders from another realm are decimating whole cities, leaving behind nothing but ash and ruin.

As the dark star of the cataclysm rises, an illegitimate ruler is tasked with holding together a country fractured by civil war, a precocious young fighter is asked to betray his family, and a half-Dhai general must choose between the eradication of her father’s people or loyalty to her alien Empress.

Through tense alliances and devastating betrayal, the Dhai and their allies attempt to hold against a seemingly unstoppable force as enemy nations prepare for a coming together of worlds as old as the universe itself.

In the end, one world will rise—and many will perish.

A River of Royal Blood by Amanda Joy

Sixteen-year-old Eva is a princess, born with the magick of marrow and blood—a dark and terrible magick that hasn’t been seen for generations in the vibrant but fractured country of Myre. Its last known practitioner was Queen Raina, who toppled the native khimaer royalty and massacred thousands, including her own sister, eight generations ago, thus beginning the Rival Heir tradition. Living in Raina’s long and dark shadow, Eva must now face her older sister, Isa, in a battle to the death if she hopes to ascend to the Ivory Throne—because in the Queendom of Myre only the strongest, most ruthless rulers survive.

When Eva is attacked by an assassin just weeks before the battle with her sister, she discovers there is more to the attempt on her life than meets the eye—and it isn’t just her sister who wants to see her dead. As tensions escalate, Eva is forced to turn to a fey instructor of mythic proportions and a mysterious and handsome khimaer prince for help in growing her magick into something to fear. Because despite the love she still has for her sister, Eva will have to choose: Isa’s death or her own.

A River of Royal Blood is an enthralling debut set in a lush North African inspired fantasy world that subtly but powerfully challenges our notions of power, history, and identity.

Daggerspell by Katharine Kerr

Even as a young girl, Jill was a favorite of the magical, mysterious Wildfolk, who appeared to her from their invisible realm. Little did she know her extraordinary friends represented but a glimpse of a forgotten past and a fateful future.

Four hundred years and many lifetimes-ago, one selfish young lord caused the death of two innocent lovers. Then and there he vowed never to rest until he’d righted that wrong-and laid the foundation for the lives of Jill and all those whom she would hold dear: her father, the mercenary soldier Cullyn; the exiled berserker Rhodry Maelwaedd; and the ancient and powerful herbman Nevyn, all bound in a struggle against darkness…and a quest to fulfill the destinies determined centuries ago.

Here in this newly revised edition comes the incredible novel that began one of the best-loved fantasy series in recent years—a tale of bold adventure and timeless love, perilous battle and pure magic. For long-standing fans of Deverry and those who have yet to experience this exciting series, Daggerspell is a rare and special treat.

The Emperor’s Knife by Mazarkis Williams

There is a cancer at the heart of the mighty Cerani Empire: a plague that attacks young and old, rich and poor alike. Geometric patterns spread across the skin, until you die in agony, or become a Carrier, doing the bidding of an evil intelligence, the Pattern Master. Anyone showing the tell-tale marks is put to death; that is Emperor Beyon’s law.

But now the pattern is running over the Emperor’s own arms. His body servants have been executed, he ignores his wives, but he is doomed, for soon the pattern will reach his face. While Beyon’s agents scour the land for a cure, Sarmin, the Emperor’s only surviving brother, awaits his bride, Mesema, a windreader from the northern plains. Unused to the Imperial Court’s stifling protocols and deadly intrigues, Mesema has no one to turn to but an aging imperial assassin, the Emperor’s Knife.

As long-planned conspiracies boil over into open violence, the invincible Pattern Master appears from the deep desert. Only three people stand in his way: a lost prince, a world-weary killer, and a young girl from the steppes who once saw a path in a pattern—a path that might save them all.

The Calculating Stars by Mary Robinette Kowal

On a cold spring night in 1952, a huge meteorite fell to earth and obliterated much of the east coast of the United States, including Washington D.C. The ensuing climate cataclysm will soon render the earth inhospitable for humanity, as the last such meteorite did for the dinosaurs. This looming threat calls for a radically accelerated effort to colonize space and requires a much larger share of humanity to take part in the process.

Elma York’s experience as a WASP pilot and mathematician earns her a place in the International Aerospace Coalition’s attempts to put man on the moon, as a calculator. But with so many skilled and experienced women pilots and scientists involved with the program, it doesn’t take long before Elma begins to wonder why they can’t go into space, too.

Elma’s drive to become the first Lady Astronaut is so strong that even the most dearly held conventions of society may not stand a chance against her.

Subversive by Colleen Cowley

In an America controlled by wizards and 100 years behind on women’s rights, Beatrix Harper counts herself among the resistance—the Women’s League for the Prohibition of Magic. Then Peter Blackwell, the only wizard her town has ever produced, unexpectedly returns home, and presses her into service as his assistant.

Beatrix fears he wants to undermine the League. His real purpose is far more dangerous for them both.

Subversive is the first novel in the Clandestine Magic trilogy, set in a warped 21st Century that will appeal to fans of gaslamp fantasy.

Girl One by Sara Flannery Murphy

Orphan Black meets Margaret Atwood in this twisty supernatural thriller about female power and the bonds of sisterhood.

Josephine Morrow is Girl One, the first of nine “Miracle Babies” conceived without male DNA, raised on an experimental commune known as the Homestead. When a suspicious fire destroys the commune and claims the lives of two of the Homesteaders, the remaining Girls and their Mothers scatter across the United States and lose touch.

Years later, Margaret Morrow goes missing, and Josie sets off on a desperate road trip, tracking down her estranged sisters who seem to hold the keys to her mother’s disappearance. Tracing the clues Margaret left behind, Josie joins forces with the other Girls, facing down those who seek to eradicate their very existence while uncovering secrets about their origins and unlocking devastating abilities they never knew they had.

The Chosen and the Beautiful by Nghi Vo

Immigrant. Socialite. Magician.

Jordan Baker grows up in the most rarefied circles of 1920s American society—she has money, education, a killer golf handicap, and invitations to some of the most exclusive parties of the Jazz Age. She’s also queer, Asian, adopted, and treated as an exotic attraction by her peers, while the most important doors remain closed to her.

But the world is full of wonders: infernal pacts and dazzling illusions, lost ghosts and elemental mysteries. In all paper is fire, and Jordan can burn the cut paper heart out of a man. She just has to learn how.

Nghi Vo’s debut novel The Chosen and the Beautiful reinvents this classic of the American canon as a coming-of-age story full of magic, mystery, and glittering excess, and introduces a major new literary voice.

We Are Satellites by Sarah Pinsker

Everybody’s getting one.

Val and Julie just want what’s best for their kids, David and Sophie. So, when teenage son David comes home one day asking for a Pilot, a new brain implant to help with school, they reluctantly agree. This is the future, after all.

Soon, Julie feels mounting pressure at work to get a Pilot to keep pace with her colleagues, leaving Val and Sophie part of the shrinking minority of people without the device.

Before long, the implications are clear, for the family and society: get a Pilot or get left behind. With government subsidies and no downside, why would anyone refuse? And how do you stop a technology once it’s everywhere? Those are the questions Sophie and her anti-Pilot movement rise up to answer, even if it puts them up against the Pilot’s powerful manufacturer and pits Sophie against the people she loves most.

Firebreak by Nicole Kornher-Stace

Like everyone else she knows, Mallory is an orphan of the corporate war. As a child, she lost her parents, her home, and her entire building in an airstrike. As an adult, she lives in a cramped hotel room with eight other people, all of them working multiple jobs to try to afford water and make ends meet. And the job she’s best at is streaming a popular VR war game. The best part of the game isn’t killing enemy combatants, though—it’s catching in-game glimpses of SpecOps operatives, celebrity supersoldiers grown and owned by Stellaxis, the corporation that runs the America she lives in.

Until a chance encounter with a SpecOps operative in the game leads Mal to a horrifying discovery: the real-life operatives weren’t created by Stellaxis. They were kids, just like her, who lost everything in the war, and were stolen and augmented and tortured into becoming supersoldiers. The world worships them, but the world believes a lie.

The company controls every part of their lives and defying them puts everything at risk—her water ration, her livelihood, her connectivity, her friends, her life—but she can’t just sit on the knowledge. She has to do something—even if doing something will bring the wrath of the most powerful company in the world down upon her.

The Boy with Fire by Aparna Verma

Dune meets The Poppy War in Aparna Verma’s The Boy with Fire. A glorious yet brutal tour-de-force debut that grapples with the power and manipulation of myth in an Indian-inspired epic fantasy.

Yassen Knight was the Arohassin’s most notorious assassin until a horrible accident. Now, he’s on the run from both the authorities and his former employer. But when Yassen seeks refuge with an old friend, he’s offered an irresistible deal: defend the heir of Ravence from the Arohassin and earn his freedom.

Elena Ravence prepares to ascend the throne. Trained since birth in statecraft, warfare, and the desert ways, Elena knows she is ready. She only lacks one thing: the ability to hold Fire. With the coronation only weeks away, she must learn quickly or lose her kingdom.

Leo Ravence is not yet ready to give up the crown. There’s still too much work to be done, too many battles to be won. But when an ancient prophecy threatens to undo his lifetime of work, Leo wages war on the heavens themselves to protect his legacy.

Book of Fire by Michelle Kenney

Life outside the domes is not possible. At least that’s what Insiders are told. Twins Eli and Talia shouldn’t exist. They’re Outsiders.

Their home is a secret.

Their lives are a secret.

Arafel is a secret.

An unexpected forest raid forces Talia into a desperate mission to rescue her family while protecting the sacred book of Arafel from those who would use it as a weapon. As Talia and her lifelong friend Max enter the dome, she makes some unexpected discoveries, and allies, in the form of rugged Insider August, that will change the course of her life forever.

She’ll stop at nothing to save her family, but will she sacrifice her heart in the process?

The All-Consuming World by Cassandra Khaw

A diverse team of broken, diminished former criminals get back together to solve the mystery of their last, disastrous mission and to rescue a missing and much-changed comrade, but they’re not the only ones in pursuit of the secret at the heart of the planet Dimmuborgir.

The highly evolved AI of the universe have their own agenda and will do whatever it takes to keep humans from ever controlling the universe again.

This band of dangerous women, half-clone and half-machine, must battle their own traumas and a universe of sapient ageships who want them dead, in order to settle their affairs once and for all. 

Cassandra Khaw’s debut novel is a page-turning exploration of humans and machines that is perfect for readers of Ann Leckie, Ursula Le Guin, and Kameron Hurley.

The Jasmine Throne by Tasha Suri

Author of Empire of Sand and Realm of Ash Tasha Suri’s The Jasmine Throne, begins a new trilogy set in a world inspired by the history and epics of India, in which a captive princess and a maidservant in possession of forbidden magic become unlikely allies on a dark journey to save their empire from the princess’s traitor brother.

Imprisoned by her dictator brother, Malini spends her days in isolation in the Hirana: an ancient temple that was once the source of the powerful, magical deathless waters—but is now little more than a decaying ruin.

Priya is a maidservant, one among several who make the treacherous journey to the top of the Hirana every night to clean Malini’s chambers. She is happy to be an anonymous drudge, so long as it keeps anyone from guessing the dangerous secret she hides.

But when Malini accidentally bears witness to Priya’s true nature, their destinies become irrevocably tangled. One is a vengeful princess seeking to depose her brother from his throne. The other is a priestess seeking to find her family. Together, they will change the fate of an empire.

The Kingdoms by Natasha Pulley

For fans of The 7 ½ Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle and David Mitchell, a genre bending, time twisting alternative history that asks whether it’s worth changing the past to save the future, even if it costs you everyone you’ve ever loved.

Joe Tournier has a bad case of amnesia. His first memory is of stepping off a train in the nineteenth-century French colony of England. The only clue Joe has about his identity is a century-old postcard of a Scottish lighthouse that arrives in London the same month he does. Written in illegal English—instead of French—the postcard is signed only with the letter “M,” but Joe is certain whoever wrote it knows him far better than he currently knows himself, and he’s determined to find the writer. The search for M, will drive Joe from French-ruled London to rebel-owned Scotland and finally onto the battle ships of a lost empire’s Royal Navy. In the process, Joe will remake history, and himself.

From bestselling author Natasha Pulley, The Kingdoms is an epic, wildly original novel that bends genre as easily as it twists time.

A Declaration of the Rights of Magicians by H. G. Parry

It is the Age of Enlightenment—of new and magical political movements, from the necromancer Robespierre calling for revolution in France to the weather mage Toussaint L’Ouverture leading the slaves of Haiti in their fight for freedom, to the bold new Prime Minister William Pitt weighing the legalization of magic amongst commoners in Britain and abolition throughout its colonies overseas.

But amidst all of the upheaval of the early modern world, there is an unknown force inciting all of human civilization into violent conflict. And it will require the combined efforts of revolutionaries, magicians, and abolitionists to unmask this hidden enemy before the whole world falls to darkness and chaos.

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Title image background by Ricardo Cruz.