Head below for the full list of fantasy titles heading your way in December!
Keep track of all the new SFF releases here. All title summaries are taken and/or summarized from copy provided by the publisher. Release dates are subject to change.
December 5
The Dragons of Deepwood Fen (Holt #1) — Bradley P. Beaulieu (DAW)
Lorelei Aurelius is the smartest inquisitor in the mountain city of Ancris. When a mysterious tip leads her to a clandestine meeting between the Church and the hated Red Knives, she uncovers a plot that threatens not only her home but the empire itself. The trail leads her to Rylan Holbrooke, a notorious thief posing as a dragon singer. Rylan came to Ancris to solve the very same mystery she stumbled onto. Knowing his incarceration could lead to the Red Knives’ achieving their goals, Lorelei makes a fateful decision: she frees him. Now branded as traitors, the two flee the city on dragonback. In the massive forest known as the Holt, they discover something terrible. The Red Knives are planning to awaken a powerful demigod in the holiest shrine in Ancris, and for some reason the Church is willing to allow it. It forces their return to Ancris, where the unlikely allies must rally the very people who’ve vowed to capture them before it’s too late.
Protected Species — Charles E. Gannon (Baen)
Caine Riordan and his self-styled “Crewe” have survived their first months on the planet they call Bactradgaria. They’ve overcome floods, dust storms, tornadoes, searing heat, bitter cold, desperate battles, and attacks by various strange species. However, their most desperate struggles have been against the wildly ferocious x’qao, for whom the pursuit and genocide of other beings is as much a sport as it is a strategy.Accordingly, Caine and his friends realize that if they are to endure, they must not merely survive but thrive. So far, they’ve done just that and made friends along the way. But a few scattered tribes and towns can’t defeat the x’qao and their vassals. To do that, humans must claw higher up the food chain… before they tumble off into extinction.
All The Hidden Paths (Tithenai #2) — Foz Meadows (Tor Books)
With the plot against them foiled and the city of Qi-Katai in safe hands, newlywed and tentative lovers Velasin and Caethari have just begun to test the waters of their relationship. But the wider political ramifications of their marriage are still playing out across two nations, and all too soon, they’re summoned north to Tithena’s capital city, Qi-Xihan, to present themselves to its monarch. With Caethari newly invested as his grandmother’s heir and Velasin’s old ghosts gnawing at his heels, what little peace they’ve managed to find is swiftly put to the test. Cae’s recent losses have left him racked with grief and guilt, while Vel struggles with the disconnect between instincts that have kept him safe in secrecy and what an open life requires of him now. Pursued by unknown assailants and with Qi-Xihan’s court factions jockeying for power, Vel and Cae must use all the skills at their disposal to not only survive, but thrive. Because there’s more than one way to end an alliance, and more than one person who wants to see them fail… and they will resort to murder if needed.
A River of Golden Bones — A.K. Mulford (Harper Voyager)
Twins Calla and Briar have spent their entire lives hiding from the powerful sorceress who destroyed their kingdom… and from the humans who don’t know they are Wolves. Each twin has their own purpose in life: Briar’s is to marry the prince of an ally pack and save the Golden Court. Calla’s purpose is to remain a secret, her twin’s shadow… the backup plan. No one knows who Calla truly is except for her childhood friend—and sister’s betrothed—the distractingly handsome Prince Grae. But when Calla and Briar journey out of hiding for Briar’s wedding, all of their well-made plans go awry. The evil sorceress is back with another sleeping curse for the last heir to the Golden Court. Calla must step out of the shadows to save their sister, their kingdom, and their own legacy. Continuing to hide as a human and denying who she truly is, Calla embarks on a quest across the realm, discovering a whole world she never knew existed. Outside the confines of rigid Wolf society, Calla begins to wonder: who could she be if she dared to try?
Saevus Corax Gets Away With Murder (Corax #3) — K. J. Parker (Orbit)
If you’re going to get ahead in the battlefield salvage business, you have to regard death as a means to an end. In other words, when the blood flows, so will the cash. Unfortunately, even though war is on the way, Saevus Corax has had enough. There are two things he has to do before he can enjoy his retirement: get away with one last score, and get away with murder. For someone who, ironically, tends to make a mess wherever he goes, leaving his affairs in order is going to be Saevus Corax’s biggest challenge yet.
December 12
Chains of the Earth (Ascension #3) – David Mealing (Orbit)
The Divide separating the east from the west, the realms of death from the realms of life, has fallen. Sarine and her champions find themselves overwhelmed, assaulted on every side by swordsmen, assassins, and skinchangers infiltrating, killing, and twisting even their most loyal allies against them. Every victory hides a defeat, and yet there is still hope. If Sarine can learn the true nature of her powers, she can make a final stand against the Regnant, to challenge him and remove his death grip on the world’s heart. To find the truth, she must journey to a new continent and find new allies, rallying their strength, and wielding every strain of magic in the world in a final battle between life and death.
December 19
The Doom of Odin (Grimnir #3) — Scott Oden (St. Martin’s Press)
For over a century, he has tracked the dragon, Níðhöggr—the Malice-Striker—from the shores of Lake Vänern, across the Baltic Sea, through Russia, and down into the Mediterranean; he has hounded the wyrm from Old Muscovy to Messina. And finally, to the Eternal City—to Rome, itself. And in Rome, on a cold November night in 1347 AD, on the ruined steps of Old St. Peter’s basilica, Grimnir’s saga comes crashing to an end. A crossbow bolt, loosed in terror, slays him out of hand. It is a mundane finale to a life spent hip-deep in bloodshed and slaughter, surrounded by steel and savagery and the sorcery of the Elder World.
