Here’s the full list of fantasy titles heading your way in June!
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.
June 2
The Unicorn Hunters — Katherine Arden (Del Rey)
Anne of Brittany was a child when France invaded and drove her royal father to his death. Now she is a young woman, sovereign duchess of an occupied realm, and France means to crown their conquest by marrying her to their king. Such an alliance would put her title, her lands, and her body forever in the hands of her enemies. But Anne refuses to be the last duchess of Brittany. Her only hope of resisting conquest is another alliance sealed with marriage, so Anne arranges a daring last gambit: a secret betrothal to Charles of France’s greatest rival. But secrets are hard to keep in a world where rival courts spy on each other with diviners. The forest of Brocéliande was once the haunt of Merlin the Enchanter and the long-lost faerie queen. But magic is long gone from Broceliande, except for the occasional sight of a unicorn and one critical quirk: This ancient forest is completely hostile to divination. While pretending compliance with France, Anne plans a unicorn hunt in Brocéliande. A bit of pointless pageantry. A diversion so she can wed in secret. Or so she thinks.
Blood Lands (Savage Lands #5) — Stacey Marie Brown (Blackstone Publishing—Indie conversion)
Those who survived Halálház never imagined going back. But this isn’t Halálház, this is Věrhăza, and nothing prepared any of them for this. With General Istvan Markos in control of the new prison, torture and cruelty is taken to a whole new level. And what Brexley is forced to do will not only change her, but the course of the future. With her abilities starting to show themselves, Brexley risks everything to save those she loves from dying. But in doing so, she exposes her abilities to the General. When she and Warwick are tortured and used as experiments, she finds that Markos’s deceit and betrayal go far deeper than she could imagine. The General will do anything to stay in control. As Brexley’s powers grow, so does the hate and darkness inside. Her hands are marked red, her soul heavy with guilt. How much can one person endure before the hero becomes the villain?
Hell on Wheels — D.J. Butler, David J. West (Baen)
Silas Danger can’t stop running. The year is 1975. Silas drives a red Pontiac GTO. Trapped in the back of his muscle car are the ghost of his sister Betty and half of the demon that killed her. He doesn’t know how she died, and he hasn’t figured out how to save her yet, but he knows that if he spends three days in any one place, the other half of the demon will catch up, kill him, and drag Betty down to hell. Silas works as a scout, messenger, courier, herald, and sometimes spy across the weird, fragmented, magical world of Other America. Dodging bridge trolls as well as alien grays, lamiae along with snallygasters, undead blues singers and also bison-headed giants, he runs errands in exchange for information that will help him save his sister. This time, he’s hired to run a deck of Tarot cards from New York to San Francisco on a tight schedule. The first complication comes when the dame with the card deck won’t just hand them over, she insists on coming along. The second is that everyone else in Other America seems to know that Silas has the cards, and everyone seems willing to kill to get them.
Moonfall (Everlands #2) — Ed Crocker (St. Martin’s Press)
The revolution is here… but in the Everlands, nothing comes easy. In the last vampire city of First Light, the rebels know the truth about the Grays. But nothing has changed. Sam has a plan to bring the whole rotten city down: a plan of peace, not violence. But in this city, the best laid plans have a way of falling apart, and she’ll need the help of the city’s ex ruler and former enemy if she’s to avoid a bloodbath. Meanwhile, in the Wolflands, Jacob, Sage, and Raven must seek help from the wolves. But when a murder is committed, the land threatens to descend into war, and unless the culprit is found, they might not escape with their lives. But with a long list of suspects and a long set of claws out for them, the odds don’t look good. And then there’s Neuras Sinassion. History’s most dangerous sorcerer has decided it’s finally time to tell his secrets and the truth about the humans. But the truth will come at a price. When the dust has settled and the bodies are counted, only one thing is certain—the Everlands will never be the same again.
The Dawn Throne (Dark Gods #3) — Tara Sim (Orbit)
In the aftermath of the chaos and tragedy of Godsnight, the recovering heirs struggle to determine their next moves. But when Phos, the god of light, stages an attack on their home in a bid for cosmic control, the heirs decide to take the fight to Phos’s own realm of Solara. Yet Solara hasn’t gone unscathed. It is being terrorized by an assassin named the Sunslayer targeting those in Phos’s bloodline, whose methods are troublingly familiar. As tensions run high and the Solarians prove reluctant to trust outsiders, Nikolas, Rian, and Julian set off to capture the Sunslayer to forge a delicate truce. Meanwhile, Angelica, Risha, and Dante search for a way to defeat Phos for good. But with adversaries closing in from every direction, the heirs will need to trust in one another if they want to survive long enough to take down a god. That is, if they can survive the Sunslayer first.
The Heart of the Nhaga (Bird That Drinks Tears #1) — Lee Young-do, translated by Anton Hur (Harper Voyager)
The world is divided by the Line of Limit. To the north are the Tokkebi—fire people able to manipulate flames as both weapons and illusions; Rekon—giant birdmen with immense strength and warrior acumen; and the humans—as divided as the other races are unified. To the south are the Nhaga—a reptilian people who relinquish their hearts for immortality. For centuries, the races didn’t cross that line, but change is in the air. A Nhaga is being sent North… and a trio is being dispatched to make sure this agent from the South makes it out alive—one from each race. But the illusion of a simple journey is quickly dispelled by the fact that the Tokkebi is merely a scholar, not an adventurer; the Rekon is deathly afraid of water; and the human hunts and eats Nhaga. And when the Nhaga they’re supposed to be escorting out of the Kiboren forest is murdered, the one sent in his place turns out to very much have a heart—meaning he’s quite vulnerable to the dangerous exodus. The four must quickly forge an alliance and shed the distrust and prejudice that plagues them if they are to survive. And just as crucial, they must figure out what this mission is actually about, because unbeknownst to them, the very fate of the world might rest on this one Nhaga making it to the North intact.
June 9
Paris Celestial (Shanghai Immortal #2) — A. Y. Chao (Hodder & Stoughton)
As Minister of Hell, all Lady Jing wants is to escape yin Shanghai and spend time with her mortal beau Tony Lee. So when a visiting Irish deity turns up drained of qi and desperate for passage to his pantheon’s healer in Paris, Lady Jing is happy to oblige; she turns the trip into an impromptu holiday for her, Tony, and their friends Gigi and Ah Lang. But Jing’s holidays are cursed. When her train is hijacked by vampires, Jing comes face to face with her scheming grandmother—and is drawn into a tangled web of dangerous secrets and warring loyalties, where following her heart could cost her the ones she loves…
The Unmagical Life of Briar Jones — Lex Croucher (Harper Voyager)
For as long as they can remember, Briar Jones dreamed of attending the Temple School of Thaumaturgy. Behind its looming ornate gates, the elite boarding school—the place that has produced the most CEOs and Prime Ministers in British history—is whispered to be magical. Briar’s best friend, Sebastian Wolfe, never cared about Temple. He just wanted them to stay together forever. When, at age eleven, Seb gets an acceptance letter and Briar doesn’t, their childhood friendship is shattered. Seb vanishes onto Temple’s grounds and Briar resigns themself to a mundane life. But they can’t completely forget their yearning for Temple, for the extraordinary, to be one of the chosen in the ivory tower. Seven years later, Briar secures a temp job sorting through the junk in Temple’s attics. And when Briar takes it, they discover that quiet, sensitive Seb, the boy they once loved more than anything else in the world, has become Bastian: a beautiful, arrogant villain feared by the entire school. And worse, the secrets Temple is hiding might not be so enchanting after all.
Endless Blue Beneath (Daughters of Atlantea #1) — Shannon English (Orbit)
On land, Eppie will never be anything more than the outcast girl who kissed the grocer’s daughter. But beneath the water’s surface lies a future and a society she could never have imagined. Stolen from the shore, she is transformed. Eppie is stronger, swifter—and hungrier. Human flesh smells like heaven on earth, and Eppie is ravenous. She has become a monster of the deep—a mermaid. Despite the horror of her new appetites, Eppie learns to love this strange second life. The mermaid colony is mesmerizing and Eppie’s new sisters are fiercely loyal. And when Eppie meets Marie, a stunningly beautiful mermaid with a past as shadowed as her raven-black scales, she finds she no longer needs to resist the desires that were denied to her on land. But dark sails are on the horizon. The mermaid hunters are coming, armed with cannons and Biblical wrath. Eppie must decide whether to protect the new, monstrous family she’s found or leave it all behind for a chance to live above the waves once again.
The Reimagining of Thornwood House (The Magic of Iskendra #1) — Jaleigh Johnson (Ace)
Evelyn Sharpe is accustomed to dealing with natural disasters as a land witch, but she longs for a life with a little less danger for her and her adopted daughter, Ruby. So when the opportunity to take over as Caretaker of Thornwood House—a sentient home that acts as the magical heart of the village of Iskendra—arises, it seems almost fated. When they arrive in sunny Iskendra, Evie and Ruby find the house is nothing like what they expected: First of all, it has walked away from the address. Thornwood House is also grumpy, guarded, and extremely hesitant to allow the two witches through its doors. Armed with gentle hearts and wild magic, Evie and Ruby begin to form tentative bonds with the house and the citizens of the small town. But there’s something deeply damaged about the building seeping into the forests surrounding Iskendra, and Evie will have to use all her power to protect the roots she’s started to grow.
Inkpot Gods (Alchemical Journeys #4) — Seanan McGuire (Tor Books)
More than a century has passed since Asphodel Baker refined the process allowing her to imbue alchemically created life with power in a way no one else had ever been able to achieve. More than a century since she built the Impossible City on the ruins of Olympus, forging it from nothing more than imagination and spite, and penned it in plain view, enabling it to be read and cherished and believed by children the world over. And now, so long after her exit from the world, the descendants of her dark alchemy—who exist in a reality that inches ever closer to the hellscape of her imagination—step into a place of birth, of discovery, of horror, to make amends for the sins of the past. Can the gods of today defeat the evils of their maker, or will the legacy of the most powerful alchemist the world has ever known prove to be their undoing?
Steelbound (Tales from the Riven Isles #4) — W.A. Simpson (Flame Tree Press)
In the epic conclusion of the Tales from the Riven Isles series, Ursa, a once selfish princess turned bitter exile, and Lucea, a determined chronomancer, must unite to stop the Rot threatening their world. Tasked with recovering the Steel Driver’s Hammer, a powerful relic, they face internal demons and external threats. Their journey through a world teetering on the brink of destruction reveals secrets that could save or doom the Riven Isles.
The Sourdough Compendium — A.G. Slatter (Titan Books)
Within these pages, coffin-makers work hard to keep the dead buried and their own murderous urges in check; poison girls are schooled in the art of marital assassination; books carry forth stories and forbidden secrets; a young witch wreaks a terrible revenge on an old lover; the Little Sisters of St Florian devote their lives to knowledge good and bad; a dying forest god is reinvigorated; mermaids and seamstresses make dangerous bargains; changelings bring havoc. Saints slumber, hind-girls dance across the countryside, bears show their true colours, and the fate of the upper and lower worlds rests on the whim of a volatile plague maiden… Comprised of three collections (Sourdough and Other Stories, The Bitterwood Bible and Other Recountings and The Tallow-Wife and Other Tales) these award-winning storms form much of the foundational mythology for Slatter’s dark fairy-tale gothic Sourdough novels.
The Silent Paths of Night (Gods of Night and Day #2) — David R. Slayton (Blackstone Publishing)
For Raef, priest of the moon goddess Phoebe and one-time thief, it was too much to hope that resurrection of the moon and his mistress might set the world aright. The Grief still chokes the docks and streets of Versinae with vampiric ghosts, while the nations of Aegea prepare to war against each other. Even worse, Phoebe did not return alone. Something evil came with her. Rerek, a demon who once waged war with the gods themselves, Corpse-Taker and sower of chaos, is back to make sure there is no peace in Aegea, now or ever again. And it has a plan. Raef and his beloved Seth, knight of the sun god Hyperion, are all that stand between Rerek and utter destruction. But the ghosts of their respective pasts, the dangers they must face, and the truths that await them will test them as nothing they’ve yet endured. One way or another Rerek will get what it wants… and it will use Raef and Seth to achieve it.
The Gilded City of Dreams (Golden Age of Magic #2) — Luanne G. Smith (47North)
Unlike most dreamers, Celeste made it in Hollywood—albeit as a Fée Gardienne in a magical, centuries-old sisterhood. Yet her excitement is tempered by the death of the Gardiennes’ leader, making Celeste and her fellow fairy godmother Anaïs caretakers of the sacred elder staff. Charged with returning the ancient relic to Paris, they set off for New York City to catch a steamship to France. But the 1920s Big Apple roars with danger in ways Celeste and Anaïs never anticipated. Upon their arrival, a street urchin steals the staff and disappears into the shadows. When Anaïs taps into her rebellious streak to search for the thief on her own, she falls into the clutches of a mysterious band of kidnappers who are seemingly aware of the magical possibilities the stolen staff can offer. To find Anaïs and retrieve the enchanted heart of the sisterhood, Celeste must rely on her wits, her magic, and her trust in a stranger—even if it means putting her friend at risk.
June 16
Kill All Wizards (Barbaric Ledgers #1) — Jedediah Berry (Tordotcom)
We could think of nothing but the barbarian. He had come here, surely, to murder or marry someone, to exact revenge, or to say or do something very scandalous. We could hardly wait to see which it was. We hoped it would be all of them. The barbarian traveled far to consult the wizards of the empire. Instead of lending their aid, they ensorcelled him, exploited his strength, and stole his sword. They should not have done that. Now the barbarian plans to kill every wizard who wronged him, even if that means blending in with their vile society: dressing in finery, taking tea in exclusive clubs, and reserving the best box at the theater. Oh, he hates it all with the fiery passion of his savage heart—but not as much as he hates these wizards.
The Shape of Monsters (Moon Heresies #2) — Tessa Gratton (Orbit)
Iriset—prodigy, outlaw, now sunderer—has broken the Moon-Eater god’s prison at the heart of the empire. But the consequences of her actions land her in a city of monsters where the heretical magic of human architecture is freely practiced, and the only person she knows—and can trust—is Lyric, the emperor she’s lied to and loved in equal measure. As scheming kings and capricious gods drive them towards different extremes, they soon realize that to find their way home, they must remake the world… at the risk of breaking it forever.
Six Savage Thrones (Queens of Elben #2) — Holly Race (Orbit)
The kingdom of Elben is in turmoil. One of its magical palaces lies in ruins at the bottom of the ocean and the king is on the hunt for the traitor Queen Seymour. He will not stop until he brings her to her knees. No one would ever suspect Queen Howard of treachery or spy craft, but she is no longer content to be the king’s songbird. She will see to Henry’s downfall. But there is a new gentleman at court, one who seems to know more about her true motives than he should—is he friend or foe? Queen Cleves has already survived a war. She knows what she must do to protect herself, but now she finds herself fighting a longing for another queen that is so fierce it might swallow her up. Amidst the turmoil, King Henry’s sister Cecilia vies for the power she has been denied. But the queens will soon learn they must work together to break the bonds that tie them to the king. For Henry is delving deeper into strange old magics, ones that could birth a monster.
Songs of the Dead (Strata Wars #1) — Brandon Sanderson and Peter Orullian (Saga Press)
When Jack Solomon, a struggling musician who works in London’s West End, is killed, he awakens to a new reality in which light and music are used to create magic and where living eras of the past sprawl beneath modern London, layer upon layer, all the way back to recorded history. Jack also soon discovers that many of those who reside in the stratums of London’s past have grown angry with the present world, and that their anger is being channeled by a powerful society of light-and-music-based magic wielders who can cross the realms between life and death, between the present and the past. A past where the dead are sowing revolution against the living, and all of history is at stake.
Queenswood — Kathleen Schwab (Blackstone Publishing)
In twelfth-century Ireland, girls go missing—fleeing arranged marriages, carried off by outlaws, abducted by faeries. Rhiannon, treasured daughter of nobility, believes herself secure, shielded by her parents’ stone manor and friendship with the king. But as her beauty grows and suitors jostle for her dowry, she watches her father’s tenants wrung dry in order to supply the banquet for her older sister’s wedding, and realizes the marriage market is a game she does not want to win. A convent offers a life of books and learning, although it means turning her back on mortal men for good. Angus, Crown Prince of Faerie, grew up in the Queenswood, the enchanted old-growth forest that feeds all the woodlands of Earth and Faerie. Even once he comes of age, Angus much prefers roaming the wilds over the High Court and the responsibility of choosing a bride. But when he sees his mother fading—and the Queenswood dropping its leaves in mourning—he knows he cannot put it off any longer. He must do his duty as the prince and journey to the human world to find a maiden who can become the next Queen of Faerie.
The Three Coffin Problem (Judge Dee) — Lavie Tidhar (JAB Books)
Medieval Europe. A world of darkness. Of Gothic castles, isolated monasteries, of monks and knights and things that go bump in the night. A world where vampires can roam at will… At least, as long as they obey the rules! For a vampire may not murder another vampire. Not unless they have a really good reason to, anyway. Enter Judge Dee. Ancient. Immortal. Ascetic. His cold intellect draws him wherever a mystery is present, and he will rest at nothing to solve the puzzle. Jonathan, the judge’s human assistant, on the other hand, mostly just wants cheese. With bread, if possible. And some pickles would be nice. After all, it’s not easy spending your life in the company of murderous vampires who only see you as a tasty snack… Their adventures take them from the warm Italian valleys to the heights of the French Alps as they come face to fang with fiendishly complicated puzzles—not the least of which is love! But as they are drawn inexplicably onwards to London, Jonathan wonders what awaits them when they finally arrive—and what choices he may have to make once they get there.
June 23
The Tinder Box — M. R. Carey (Orbit)
Wounded in his county’s endless wars, former soldier Mag Tresti finds work in the home of a reclusive widow, Jannae Mirchella. But Jannae is more than she seems. A witch of great skill and might, she hides her powers and her deep-laid plans behind a mask of harmless respectability. When a dead demon falls out of the sky, the fates of the soldier and the witch are irrevocably intertwined. On the demon’s body Mag finds a tinderbox—an artefact of terrifying magical power that can not only grant his every wish, but also change the fate of nations.
Isis of Egypt: Goddess of Thrones — Malayna Evans (Alcove Press)
Isis, goddess of thrones and magic, steals the crown of Egypt and hands the power to her husband, Osiris. Together, Isis and Osiris live an idyllic life, ruling justly until the god of chaos, set on revenge for a crime Isis knows nothing about, traps Osiris in a box—a box that quickly vanishes. Driven by rage and desperation, Isis spends decades disguised as a human woman, isolated from home and family as she searches for her lost love. When she finally uncovers the box, what she finds will change her life—and the fate of gods and mortals—forever. Unless Isis can right the wrongs of a betrayal she didn’t commit and deliver Egypt into the hands of a worthy leader, Egypt will fall into chaos.
Hunt the Ever Wild — S.E. Kiser (Angry Robot)
When the king calls a hunt for the Lichtenwald forest’s elusive phoenix, wizard Sy jumps at the chance. Years ago, he indentured himself to the crown to pay for his magical education, and an unbreakable spell binds him to carry out the king’s every wicked whim, or face certain death. The prize is enough to pay off his debt, but he can’t survive the forest alone. Seeking help, he finds Anya, a skilled huntress living on the Lichtenwald’s edge, and lies about splitting the prize. But Anya’s lying too. Cursed by a witch after killing her familiar, Anya must find the phoenix and bind it to the witch by the summer solstice, or else suffer a gruesome transformation. With the curse worsening and the Lichtenwald swarming with wizards, she needs Sy on her side—for now. Neither of them can split the prize, nor win alone. And despite the growing attraction between them, betrayal remains their only option. But anything is possible in the forest. And the forest is hungry.
June 30
This is Where the Future Bleeds — Mike Brooks (Titan Books)
Kitt Carver is one of the best diviners in the business at finding destinies for the rich and powerful. When she’s nearly killed, and her regular broker is murdered, it becomes clear someone has an issue with the last destiny she found. Determined not to let anyone else die, Kitt gathers a mismatched group—including Two Tongue Derna, her childhood friend and now a renowned street duellist, and Sulian the Swallowmage, powerful but plagued with intrusive visions of futures—and sets off across the Timeless Lands to warn the destiny’s recipient. However, unbeknownst to Kitt, she has her own destiny; one which might spell disaster for everyone.
Pasha the Storm — Linda H. Codega (Erewhon Books)
Pasha the Northern Storm was once the most infamous Meridian pirate who ever sailed the sister oceans. Now, a decade into her exile, Pasha’s afterlife is being held hostage by Atle, an absurdly attractive noble who knows far too much about pirate magic—but not enough about sailing to realize how dangerous Pasha really is. Minister Atle Itaavar is duty-bound to serve the Kingdom of Garda, but as Queen Thivaldís gathers support for her ambitions of empire, Atle turns to treason to stop her. In order to destroy the Queen’s new necromantic navy, Atle plans to steal the Queen’s flagship, kidnap a washed-up pirate to sail it, and track down a legendary killer whale to bring it down. But the hunt for the great undying whale drags Pasha, Atle, and the crew of the Dog into a cosmic reckoning as they face threats from ghosts and gods alike—and the Queen of Garda is close behind.
The Loom Tree — Angela Mi Young Hur (Erewhon Books)
Sharon and her daughter V’s points of origin hold common threads—both Korean American teenagers, raised by single mothers and searching for identity in the California suburbs. But during a Finals week celebration, high schooler V, compelled by strange impulses, crawls into a hollow tree trunk. That night in a fever haze, she sees gleaming strands of illegible text hovering over her body—flowing between her and her mother, leading to a long-forgotten diary. With the aid of a luminous quill, a fountainhead of Sharon’s memories spill onto the faded pages. V witnesses her mother map out her past through drawings, diagrams, and reclaimed histories of her brief time at Alvsdahl, an exclusive East Coast college. Here, legacies and heiresses claimed descent from Bluebeard or Cinderella, grappling for control over family stories that could grant them terrifying abilities or burn them to ash. An Asian girl with an unknown inheritance was no one—until her discoveries cracked open Alvsdahl’s secrets. Sharon’s rewritten narrative—of classroom rivalries, animal professors, debauchery in the woods, threatening Godmothers, and world-shattering powers—unfolds line by line as V desperately tries to help her mother, ultimately learning how to wield Sharon’s story to transform them both.
Last of the First (Recluce #26) — L. E. Modesitt Jr. (Tor Books)
The Mirror Lancer Alyiakal has been ordered to Mirror Lancer Headquarters and promoted to Subcommander, ostensibly to advise the high command on tactics—except Alyiakal’s successful military campaigns have removed most external threats to the Empire of Light. The external threats to Cyador are nothing next to the internal threats of a weak emperor controlled by his manipulative empress, a ruthless Merchanter clan embezzling the Empire’s finances, an indecisive high commander of the Mirror Lancers, and a power struggle among the Magi’i. Alyiakal will navigate the dangerous streets and politics of Cyador and meet his destiny.
These Immortal Truths (Peaches & Honey #1) — Rachelle Raeta (Tor Books—Indie conversion)
Anna is used to hunger and hardship. Ever since the pale shadows on her skin were mistaken for leprosy, she has lived alone in exile, each day focused only on survival. Then a single act of kindness towards a beautiful stranger changes her life forever. Suddenly, neither time nor harm can touch her, and Anna strives to embrace a life with boundless potential, one that isn’t only about survival. But as decades and centuries pass, she is continually forced to abandon each new life before it has the chance to feel like home. The only constant in her eternal existence is Khiran—the shapeshifting god who gave her immortality. No matter the years or distance, he always finds her when she most needs him. But there is more to immortality than Anna knows, and as she travels the ages, she will discover the beauty—and cost—of a life without end.
Everybody’s Perfect — Jo Walton (Tor Books)
The Serenissima is built from mist and belief, a mythical shadow sister to Venice and crossroads of the nine worlds. When a laborer called Tiry has a dream that Serenissima will have a doge, and that they will marry the sea, he tells it to a fortune teller named Khadsha. She tells her apprentice, a gondolier called Taddeo, who tells a cop named Gom, who’s heard it from five people this morning already. And by that point, it’s already settled into the bones of the Serenissima, more than half-fated.
