Basu debuts and launches the Reckoning Storm duology with a fast-paced fantasy built on real-world parallels. Poppy Sutherland is the adoptive daughter of the viceroy of Viryana, and unlike her colonizer parents, she is a native Virian. Having faced prejudice since her adoption, she went to finishing school to learn to fit in and returns determined to woo Capt. Richard Montrose, head of the police force and son of a First Family, Viryana’s political leaders. Though initially it seems she has secured the protected future for herself that a union with Richard would offer, Poppy finds herself out of her depth and powerless when he shows his true colors. Basu’s historically influenced worldbuilding fictionalizes the British colonial rule of India and draws from Indian culture, folklore, and caste systems. Magic and magic users exist, but the fantasy elements go relatively underdeveloped. The themes of racial justice, anticolonialism, and female empowerment under a patriarchy are similarly treated a bit simplistically, resulting in an almost YA feel. Readers will hope Basu goes deeper in the next installment. Agent: Allegra Martschenko, BookEnds Literary. (Oct.)

Reviewed on 09/19/2025 | Details & Permalink

Bestseller Young (Sky in the Deep) delivers a sweeping Greco-Roman–inspired romantasy that pairs divine machinations with the ruin of empire. Rebellion is brewing in the walled city of Isara. Novice philosopher Luca Matius, heir to a notorious political dynasty, and Maris Casperia, daughter of a magistrate and apprentice to the city’s last priestess, are drawn together in a fragile romance that soon plunges them into the political upheaval. Their alliance begins as an attempt to reclaim stolen magic and imagine a different future for Isara, but an execution forces Luca into the role of rebel figurehead, while Maris remains trapped inside the city’s Citadel and loyal to the ruling class, setting them on opposing sides of a holy war. In alternating perspectives, Young traces both the tender beginnings of their forbidden love and its brutal unraveling, layering intimacy against the backdrop of bloody revolution. The prose is lush and cinematic, with the city rendered as almost a living character haunted by gods and secrets. While the nonlinear structure occasionally dulls the impact of the romance, the emotional stakes and mythic atmosphere keep the pages turning. This haunting series starter showcases Young’s talent for blending intimacy and grandeur. Agent: Barbara Poelle, Irene Goodman Literary. (Nov.)

Reviewed on 09/19/2025 | Details & Permalink

In this stirring fantasy, bestseller Gray (Beasts of War) reimagines Medusa as a fierce heroine given to righteous anger, with a strong drive for justice and a deep desire for acceptance, all of which puts her squarely at odds with the capricious gods. Meddy, a dark-skinned 17-year-old, is a mortal among immortals, the exception in a family of primordial sea gods, but she’s still subject to the same pressures as her sisters: uphold her family’s honor and marry to strengthen their standing within the Sea Court. Restless, stubborn, and book smart, but painfully naive, Meddy attracts the goddess Athena’s attention and is invited to serve at her temple in Athens. Becoming a priestess is no easy feat as Meddy faces tests from the goddess and racist and xenophobic aggression from her fellow acolytes, who don’t know her divine origins and believe she is from Africa. Her life takes a dramatic turn when the sea god Poseidon sexually assaults her. Outraged by this violation of Meddy’s oaths, Athena transforms her into a snake-haired monster who can petrify with a glance. Caught between anger and grief, Meddy must find a new purpose. In focusing on the young Medusa’s coming-of-age in a toxic environment and the assault that redefines her life, Gray emphasizes the tragic aspects of the original myth and the pervasiveness of rape culture. Both empowering and infuriating, it’s a strong take on the classic character. (Nov.)

Reviewed on 09/19/2025 | Details & Permalink

Harrison (Such Sharp Teeth) puts a millennial spin on the haunted house genre with this spooky but underbaked tale of sisterhood, self-destruction, and social media. While enjoying a night out, influencer Clio Barnes gets a call informing her that her estranged and deeply troubled mother has died. She reunites with her sisters, Leda and Daphne, to process the news. After making the bold decision to attend their mother’s funeral, it becomes clear that death was only the beginning of the trouble to follow. The sisters inherit their childhood home, which their mother always claimed was haunted and used as the basis of her paranormal memoir, Demon of Edgewood Drive: The True Story of a Suburban Haunting. With memories of childhood trauma lurking around every corner, none of the sisters want anything to do with the house, except for Clio, who sees the potential for house-flipping social media content. When she discovers and starts reading a worn copy of her mother’s memoir and strange occurrences plague the house, she begins to question what’s real, culminating in a confrontation with the many ghosts of her past. The result is certainly a breezy and entertaining supernatural story, but one that offers few surprises. Meanwhile, a shoehorned romance subplot and underdeveloped secondary characters detract from the fun. This isn’t Harrison’s best. (Nov.)

Reviewed on 09/19/2025 | Details & Permalink

Clines (The Broken Door) crams unpredictable action and an inventive mix of fantasy and sci-fi elements into this surprisingly tender story of a brother’s love for his sister. As a child Billy Gather disappeared along with his father and sister for five years. When Billy was found without the rest of his family, he described where he’d been as a valley full of dinosaurs (including a T. rex that killed his father), robots, Neanderthals, and a six-dimensional alien, a story that psychological experts wrote off as an elaborate coping mechanism spurred by trauma. But Billy, now an astronomy professor going by Noah Barnes, has spent his life figuring out how to return through a stable wormhole to save his sister, who he believes is still trapped in the valley. When he finally succeeds, however, a group of his grad students are sucked through with him, including no-nonsense Parker, strapping Logan and his discontented girlfriend, Olivia, and indoorsy Sam. Worse, the valley is not how Noah remembers it. When the explorers come across a fortified human village, the residents claim that Noah has arrived 400 years after when he left and his sister is long dead. Meanwhile, these humans are barely surviving, forced to pay tribute to the self-appointed “Empress.” Clines maintains a light tone and brisk pace through all the zany chaos and smuggles in some real heart. It’s a twisty and satisfying epic. (Nov.)

Reviewed on 09/19/2025 | Details & Permalink

This bold standalone from Carey (Once Was Willem) relays the hair-raising exploits of four-footed, foul-mouthed outlaw Dog-Bitch Bess and her extraordinary sentient weapon, Wakeful Slim. Set in the wild frontiers of the States’ Union around the year 3000, when canine-human hybrids are the norm, the novel opens with Bess’s outlaw origin story. Her disdain for her privileged northern existence as the daughter of an industrialist prompts her to respond to a notice seeking a schoolmistress in distant small-town Ottomankie. On a wagon train there, Bess witnesses a stickup that ends with the murder of an innocent passenger. Spurred by this injustice, she takes up manhunting in addition to teaching and wins talking pistol Slim, a “smart gun” from a different part of the multiverse, as a prize in a gunfight. After Bess’s lover, Martha, is killed by a raiding party, Bess and Slim set out on a deeply personal revenge mission. Carey hints at the injustices in his imagined society (there are “exactly seventeen” enslaved squirrels in Ottomankie) but mostly avoids thorny topics to make an entertaining study of weird western tropes. The sci-fi elements eventually ramp up, revealing a multiverse caught in a never-ending cycle of war. Told in a twangy voice and studded with wild worldbuilding details, this cinematic saga has nary a dull moment. (Nov.)

Reviewed on 09/19/2025 | Details & Permalink

Rogerson (Herc) opens this solid if familiar retelling of the Greek myth with Aphrodite narrating the unusual circumstances of her own birth: when Cronos, son of the god Ouranos, cut off his father’s testicles and threw them into the sea, “those balls were me.” Newly sentient Aphrodite is responsible for weaving threads of Fate that tell her the stories of every being in existence. It’s overwhelming, and soon the gods are tangling themselves in her threads as well, giving her visions of their fates. When she sees her closest friend and first love, Prometheus, in great danger, she hatches an ambitious plan to save him from his destiny: she will walk into Olympus and announce herself as the brand new Goddess of Love. With the power of a goddess, maybe she can save Prometheus and finally take control of her own destiny. Unfortunately for her, being a goddess is a little more complicated than she anticipated, and before she knows it, she’s started a war that may destroy them all. Rogerson gives Aphrodite an energetic voice and manages not to lose sight of her humanity in the sprawling story of her life. There’s little to make this stand out in a crowded field, but die-hard fans of mythological retellings will find plenty to enjoy. (Nov.)

Reviewed on 09/19/2025 | Details & Permalink

The conflict between sisters Hakara and Rasha mirrors the war raging between the gods, in Stewart’s emotionally charged second Hollow Covenant epic (after The Gods Below). While the sisters tussle over the god Kluehnn’s plans to alter the remaining untouched human kingdoms and eliminate the rest of the gods, cousins Sheuan and Mullayne investigate both the shady political ascension of the imperious Sovereign of Langzu and the mysterious fate of legendary explorer Tolemne. Sheuan, now wife of the Sovereign, uses her position to dig into his doings and to help Mullayne infiltrate a prison that may contain Tolemne’s tomb. While secrets are uncovered and faiths are shaken, the complications involved in thwarting Kluehnn grow no smaller. Stewart skillfully toggles between her four main characters, but the points of connection between each of their plot lines occasionally feel forced and strain credulity. Still, readers will find much to chew on here. Agent: Juliet Mushens, Mushens Entertainment. (Nov.)

Reviewed on 09/12/2025 | Details & Permalink

Taking a detour from all things cozy, Thorne (Can’t Spell Treason Without Tea) amps up the tension and danger in this fast-paced standalone fantasy. Sgt. Nix Marr swore she would never take another assignment in the Crypt, the deep sea mines underneath the submerged city of Fall and the primary source of ichoron, a metallic substance with seemingly limitless applications. Her last deployment to the mines ended with her best friend dead and Nix’s heart broken by her royal ex, Subarch Kessandra “Kess” Marie Vendermere Biltean III. Now, however, Kess needs Nix’s help investigating a massacre in Fall, and she’s not above using bribery to get her way. Nix reluctantly agrees to act as Kess’s bodyguard aboard the Luminosity, the submersible that makes the three day trip to Fall. They soon discover that the ship offers no safety from the violence sweeping Fall as an illness that “incites violent rage in its victims” spreads among the passengers, putting both women in terrible danger. Thorne skillfully weaves together horror, mystery, and sapphic romance to create an un-put-downable fantasy. Hannah Whitten fans should snap this up. Agent: Taryn Fagerness, Taryn Fagerness Agency. (Nov.)

Reviewed on 09/12/2025 | Details & Permalink

Get Out meets The Matrix in this solid excursion into dark academia from Cole (So Let Them Burn). At 21, Ellory Morgan is older than the other freshmen at Warren University in Hartford, Conn. Additionally, her status as a Jamaican immigrant in the awkward American tax bracket where she can’t afford college on her own but doesn’t qualify for financial aid makes her feel she doesn’t belong on the Ivy League campus. As the school year progresses, she experiences increasingly peculiar events: strange hallucinations, feelings of déjà vu, a tattoo on her neck that vanishes as soon as she sees it, and hidden notes in her own handwriting that she doesn’t remember writing. One of these notes claims her hated academic rival, Hudson Graves, will help her. Together they dive into Warren’s unusual occult history and, in a late and somewhat clichéd twist, discover the startling truth about the Goodwin scholarship that brought Ellory to campus. The resulting tale doesn’t break any new ground, but it competently engages with the tropes of the genre, hits expected beats cleanly, and delivers a heartfelt if obvious moral about inequality. Cole’s fans will be pleased. Agent: Emily Forney, BookEnds Literary. (Dec.)

Reviewed on 09/12/2025 | Details & Permalink