Here’s the full list of fantasy titles heading your way in May!
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.
May 5
Bad Lands (Savage Lands #4) — Stacey Marie Brown (Blackstone Publishing—Indie conversion)
Some myths should just stay buried. Brexley’s epic journey has now led her to the most coveted substance in the world. In discovering the Nectar, Brexley has also discovered secrets and truths she was not ready for—ones that will destroy everything she has ever known and force her to confront a power within herself she is not ready to face. Magic is about balance. Things come at a cost. In saving lives, Brexley destroys her own power, cutting her connection with the infamous legend, Warwick Farkas. When faced with devastating loss and destruction, the fabric of friendship, trust, and love are put to the ultimate test. Trying to ignore her grief, Brexley delves deeper into stopping General Markos, uncovering the depths he will go to gain power. She is thrown deep into the underbelly of greed and deceit, leading her back into the depths of hell.
The Girl with a Thousand Faces — Sunyi Dean (Tor Books)
When Mercy Chan washes up on the shores of Hong Kong with no family, no money, and no memories, the only refuge she finds is the infamous, ghost-infested slum of Kowloon Walled City. Since then, she has rebuilt her life, working for the local triad as a ghost talker and dealing with the angry and bitter spirits who haunt the district. The filthy gutters and cramped alleyways of Kowloon have become her home. But the past Mercy can’t remember isn’t done with her. An unusually powerful ghost has infested Kowloon’s waterways, drowning innocents and threatening the district. It claims to know Mercy—and secrets from her past that are best left forgotten. As Mercy is drawn into a deadly cat-and-mouse game with this malignant spirit, she begins to realize that the monster she fights within these walls may well be one of her own making.
Sisters of the Lizard (Rakada #2) — Jackson Ford (Orbit)
All Sayana wanted was to enjoy her life in the rolling grasslands of the Tapestry. After she and her fellow Rakada managed to ride humongous, fire-breathing lizards to face down the Great Khan’s army, they should have been able to kick back a little for once. Not too much to ask, right? Instead, the Tapestry is in turmoil—invading armies threaten, the other raider clans are at war, and inside his fortress city of Karkorum, the Khan broods and plots. What’s more, the Rakada’s giant lizards are getting sick, and they have no idea how to cure them. If they die, there’s no telling what might happen to the Tapestry. But then the Rakada receive a vision—apparently from the gods. A deep emerald pool surrounded by bone-white sands—one that may be able to heal their lizards. With no other option, the raiders set out on an epic quest across the mountains and into the desert. But the danger that awaits them will be one greater than they’ve ever faced before. These guys really can’t catch a break.
Agatha Harkness: Fall of the Coven — Sara Shepard (Random House/Marvel)
Agatha Harkness is a powerful witch stuck living amongst an untalented group of witches in 1690s Salem, Massachusetts. That’s all right—the dreary coven meetings and fake herbal potions will all be worth it once she finally gets her hands on one of the most magical artifacts in existence: the Darkhold, a book of extraordinary power. But just as it’s within her grasp, disaster strikes the coven! Agatha is about to reluctantly save the day when she is rebuffed by the nosy, stuck-up Martha. Now, thanks to the interference, Martha, Agatha, and the Darkhold have been unceremoniously dropped in one of the most terrifying locations a witch has ever encountered—modern-day high school. Armed with just her smarts and her spells, Agatha embarks on a quest to recover the Darkhold and an incognito Martha. Along the way, she encounters a meddlesome crow, a potential first crush, and a new coven. She almost starts to feel like she’s found her home, until Martha returns from the shadows—this time with dire consequences.
Two’s A Charm — Heather Spellman (Pan—Indie Conversion)
Sisters Effie and Bonnie might both be witches, but they’re worlds apart. Reserved and bookish, Effie finds solace in library corners, while Bonnie knows all about being popular. They strive to stay away from one another—a challenging task in the confines of their small hometown, Yellowbrick Grove. When their estranged Uncle Oswald draws Bonnie into a magical scheme under the guise of helping the locals, Bonnie readily agrees. But it turns out no good deed goes unpunished—Oswald’s real motives are truly wicked. Within a day, Bonnie’s spells start misfiring and Effie notices something sinister taking root. Can they unite to reverse this magical mishap? Or is life as they knew it over for good?
A Long and Speaking Silence (Singing Hills Cycle #7) — Nghi Vo (Tordotcom)
On the banks of the Ya-lé River, the town of Luntien gathers to celebrate the start of the rainy season, but the celebration is marred by the arrival of refugees from the sea. Everyone has a story about the foreigners newly in their midst—lazy, violent, unwanted—while the refugees themselves grieve the loss of the home they loved. Cleric Chih, very recently still Novice Chih, is also a stranger in Luntien. A moment of carelessness and bad luck leaves them waiting tables as they struggle to establish themself as a real cleric. A cleric’s job is to listen and record, but the stories emerging in Luntien are ugly and violent, as hard to predict as the river itself. With their hoopoe companion Almost Brilliant by their side, Chih must help the refugees while also unraveling a mystery that may have roots in their own faraway home in the abbey of Singing Hills.
May 7
Mercutio — Kate Heartfield (HarperVoyager)
On the battlefield, as warring factions deal out death, young Mercutio chances upon the charismatic poet Dante Alighieri. In their desperate stand against the enemy, they inadvertently open a crack between our world and Faerie, literally changing the stars over Mercutio’s head, and creating a mysterious presence who will follow Mercutio for all the days of his life. With new stars come new destinies for young men who will travel to the ends of the Earth to honour the bonds of love and friendship. As outcasts and exiles, Mercutio and Dante find family in a band of fighters called the Montecchi, near Verona. With his friends at his side, Mercutio will battle to change his stars, and to free the changeling upon whose fate hangs the future of the human world.
May 12
All Hail Chaos (Time of Iron #2) — Sarah Rees Brennan (Orbit)
Rae is a fantasy reader who’s been transported to her favorite fictional world of swords and sorcery, castles and monsters. Playing the villainess, she thought she could change the narrative, but this version of the plot is far more deadly than the one she knew. Her friends are on the run: the Cobra shelters in an eerie manor haunted by dark secrets, while Emer and Lia stoke a revolution in the gutters. Undead armies roam the kingdom, raiders camp at the city gates, and the all-powerful Emperor—Rae’s favorite character ever, now possibly the greatest monster in the land—wants her to be his evil queen. Romantic in fiction, complicated in reality. What’s a villainess to do? Time for wicked bargains and fake engagements, in a fantasy where the most dangerous thing you can do is believe in someone.
The Tapestry of Fate (Amina al-Sirafi #2) — Shannon Chakraborty (Harper Voyager)
Amina al-Sirafi thinks she’s struck gold. Tasked with hunting down arcane artifacts for the council of immortal peris, she can savor the occasional rollicking adventure on the high seas with her cherished criminal companions while still returning home to raise her beloved daughter, Marjana. But when Raksh, the spirit of discord with whom she is reluctantly wed, provokes the council’s wrath, Amina is charged with a seemingly impossible quest: steal a spindle capable of rewriting fate from a mysterious sorceress on an island no one can escape. Forced to leave Marjana—who is increasingly frustrated at being peddled what are clearly lies about her mother’s life and her own past—Amina finds her mission almost immediately thrown into peril. But deadly storms, an erratic poison mistress, and old enemies are the least of her worries. For the peris’ story is unraveling, hinting at a far deadlier game whose rules Amina must swiftly puzzle out. A game that sets her against an adversary more cunning and powerful than she has ever faced. A game that not everyone on her crew wants her to win.
The Devil and Mrs. Gooch (Household Gramarye #2) — Oliver Darkshire (W. W. Norton & Company)
In the storm-drenched city of Verdigris, home to indolent sorcerers and undead hotels, something is dreadfully wrong. Buildings are starting to crumble due to the kidnapping of their hobs, the many-legged house spirits that keep each home in order. In such times, one would ordinarily blame the Devil, but he has been enchanted by a new and enticing evil: The jackbooted villainy of Gwendolyn Gooch, who has taken the hobs for her latest diabolical scheme—apartments for rent. As the hobs retrofit the gaudy Gooch Towers, the fate of the city lies in the hands of the arboreal Professor Green; his rare, complete set of the Household Gramarye; and its famulus, the prim Mrs. Bobkins.
The Lost Book of Lancelot — John Glynn (Grand Central Publishing)
Hidden away on the Isle of Women, a nameless orphan grows up among a powerful sisterhood, but always at a distance. He hears whispers of a prophecy that may shed light on his destiny—and his true identity: Lancelot. Determined to master the skills of knighthood, he begins training in tandem with the handsome Galehaut. As the two become inseparable, they guide one another toward their truest selves. But no matter how tightly they cling to one another, each has a role to play in the wizard Merlin’s grand prophecies. When Lancelot is forced to follow Merlin to Camelot, he fights to protect his heart while seeking the fabled grail alongside King Arthur and his knights of the Round Table. But when Roman legionaries encroach on their kingdom, their quest takes on new urgency, as does Lancelot’s explosive secret—the truth of what he left behind on the Isle of Women.
Moon Over Brendle — Jeff Noon (Angry Robot)
1968, Lancashire: It is Joe Sutter’s last summer before going to secondary school. His world is like ours but beyond and beside what we know is Greot; a vast swirling rainbow of many-coloured dust. It settles on the dead, it swathes cities and fields. Joe is one of the few who have the gift of always being able to see it. But no one knows what Greot is. Is it the trillion-eyed god? The history of everything told grain-by-grain? Prophecy? The magic of creativity? Joe can’t know; all he wants to do is draw comics and listen to music. Then one day, after climbing up to the ancient tower on Brendle hill, he meets an old writer of pulp SF books who is determined to pass on the power and joy of telling stories. And everything changes.
Sister Svangerd and the Devil You Know (Loyal Opposition #2) — K. J. Parker (Orbit)
A new epic fantasy novel from World Fantasy Award-winner author K. J. Parker.
We Dance Upon Demons — Vaishnavi Patel (Saga Press)
As a reproductive health care worker in Chicago, Nisha is barely staying afloat in the ocean of abortion bans, screaming protestors, and her own all-consuming depression. When she escapes to the Indian art exhibit at her favorite museum for a brief respite, Nisha suddenly finds herself bleeding, disoriented, and collapsed on the ground. The last thing she remembers is the statue that beckoned her to touch it. In the days that follow, Nisha feels a strange power coursing within her, one that attracts a host of dangerous and enigmatic characters who covet it for themselves. Facing threats both otherworldly and distinctly human, Nisha must navigate uncertain alliances to piece together the centuries-old mystery of her odd and terrifying abilities. And as danger closes in on her loved ones, community, and the clinic she’s determined to protect, Nisha must make a choice about the life she wants—and fight all the demons standing in her way to get it.
Seek the Traitor’s Son (The Burning Empire #1) — Veronica Roth (Tor Books)
Elegy Ahn did not ask for destiny to find her. She is happy with her life as a soldier, defending her small country from the Talusar, a powerful nation who worships a deadly Fever. A fever that blesses half of its victims with mysterious gifts. But then she’s summoned to hear a prophecy—her, and the most ruthless of Talusar generals, Rava Vidar. Brought face to face, they learn that one of them will lead their people to victory over the other… but they don’t know which. And at the center of both of their fates: a man. A man that, Elegy is told, she will fall in love with. In just one day, Elegy’s old life—her job, her purpose, and her future—is over. She and Rava are destined to collide, with the fate of their nations hanging in the balance. And when they do, only one will be left standing. Elegy intends to make sure it’s her.
The Whisper Tree (Amarra #2) — Holly Searcy (Blackstone Publishing)
The continent of Amarra rests on the brink of disaster. With the heart of druidic magic failing, the balance of nature faces destruction. At the behest of the enigmatic sage Xander, elven druid Kiana Paletine joins a new party of adventurers—including a fearsome Infernal, an axe-happy half-orc, and an unpredictable mage—to help stop the spread of evil. Their quest is to track down three magical artifacts once belonging to the long-dead royal family of Amarra. These Treasures of Rule hold the power to bring peace back to the lands—but only if an heir can also be found. Before their mission can succeed, however, Kiana must find a way to save the Whisper Tree from corruption brought by the devils who invaded centuries ago. A monster once held in stasis now roams free, imbuing the surrounding lands with chaotic magic and sinister aberrations. Kiana and her companions must race against the hourglass sands to save the Tree and find the Treasures of Rule—before their enemies enslave all of Amarra.
The Bone Door — Frances White (Hanover Square Press)
When Hop awakens in an ancient labyrinth, he has no memory of his life, or how he got here. He does not recognise the mysterious girl trapped with him. And he certainly cannot identify the shadowy figure stalking him, whispering terrible things… But there is one thing he is certain of: He must escape. The only way out of the labyrinth is through The Bone Door. But it lies behind a series of locked doors hidden across an array of strange realms. To open the way, Hop must complete impossible tasks before his time runs out. As Hop travels deeper into the maze, he discovers that he and his companions may be more connected to the place and its horrors than he could ever imagine. Unless Hop is able to unravel the true mystery of the labyrinth, and his own role within it, the Bone Door and any hope of escape will be lost forever.
May 19
Mortedant’s Peril (Trials of Irody Hasp #1) — RJ Barker (Tor Books)
Irody Hasp is a Mortedant, a cleric tasked with reading the last thoughts of the dead—though no one thanks him for it. No Mortedant is popular, but Irody is scarcely tolerated even by the other members of his own guild, and rarely selected for anything but the lowliest of jobs. This impoverished existence would be dismal enough—but after reading the corpse of a low-level records keeper, Irody’s troubles quickly multiply when his own apprentice is murdered, and all fingers point to him as a suspect. The only way to save his own skin is to find the real culprit himself, an investigation that quickly attracts powerful enemies with few scruples, and draws him into a plot that threatens the entire corrupt yet wondrous city he calls home.
Our Lady of Blades (Court of Shadows #2) — Sebastien de Castell (Arcadia Books)
Blood Week may have been banned in Rijou, but the streets still run red—and now murder is being sanctioned by the courts. Only a reckless fool would believe they can beat the system. But then, the Greatcoats have always been more than a little reckless… Rijou’s notorious Court of Blades is as corrupt as it is cutthroat, destroying lives with impunity. Now the city’s all-powerful Ascendant Houses have started buying and selling verdicts to enslave and even execute those who oppose them. Into this depraved world of licensed death comes a mysterious duellist who dares to foil the intrigues of the city’s elite. They call her Lady Consequence, but years ago she had a different name, until her family was slaughtered and she was consigned to the hellish prison known as the House of Tears. Lady Consequence means to rescue her idealistic younger brother, restore their House and wreak vengeance upon those who betrayed them. But a far more dangerous game is unfolding in the shadows, one which threatens the freedom of the entire nation.
Darkened Dawn (Way of Wings #2) — E.J. Mellow (Montlake)
Cādra is on the brink of war. With their king in a coma and rebellion spreading across the lands, the winged Volari and horned Süra gather for tense peace negotiations. But beneath the momentary fragile truce simmers unrest—the mixed-blood Mütra rise, demanding the freedom denied them for centuries, as the gods themselves seem poised to intervene. Tanwen—now a known Mütra and fugitive of the crown—and Zolya, a prince on the precipice to inherit his father’s broken kingdom, find themselves caught in a web of betrayal and divine reckoning. When their forbidden bond is exposed, they risk far more than their love—their lives, their families, and the fragile hope of peace. Together they must decide whether their love is worth the ruin it may bring to their fractured world… or perhaps be the only key to healing it.
Palaces of the Crow — Ray Nayler (MCD)
Neriya, a young Jewish girl who dreams of becoming a biologist, has befriended a local flock of crows in her shtetl. Czeslaw is an underage Polish soldier who deserts the Red Army and runs into the freezing Lithuanian woods. Kezia is a Roma horse trader whose family is on the run from Soviet collectivization. As the German blitzkrieg crashes across the border in June 1941, all three are caught up in the onslaught. Along with Innokentiy, an abandoned boy who cannot speak, they are driven into the primeval forest, where they survive by forming an unbreakable bond with one another—and with Neriya’s intelligent crows, who for years have been bringing her intricate gifts suggesting they are no ordinary corvids. As the war goes on, the crows warn the children of danger and help them hide from the human threats of the forest—not only the Germans but also Russian deserters, Polish partisans, fascist Lithuanian police, and the other bandits and outcasts wandering the benighted landscape.
Startup Hell — Caitlin Rozakis (Titan Books)
Morgan Blackwater’s mother is a kickass, world-saving, demon-slaying Shadow Council wizard. As for Morgan? Morgan’s a junior salesperson at a tech startup that can’t even decide what its product is. But with magic dyslexia and a disinclination to kick ass, Morgan is doing her best carving out a niche for herself in the mundane world. Leaving work late one night, she discovers her boss dead from the effort of summoning a demon to trade his soul in order to make his quarterly target. The disturbingly-attractive demon, Lucareoth (Luke for short), is trapped here until he finds someone to sell their soul. While trying to sneak Luke out of the building, Morgan runs into her infamous mother. Apparently, someone has been summoning demons and she’s here to get to the bottom of it. Trying to protect Luke from her mother, Morgan gets sucked into the Infernal Plane and discovers hell really is a corporate nightmare. She only gets back home with a promise to deliver a human soul of her own. While her coworkers are really annoying, she’s not willing to sacrifice their souls. The company’s tech bro CEO, though, is another story.
Trollheim: Tale of Sýstir — Georgia Summers (Titan Books)
Sýstir’s world is small and quiet, but shrouded in secrets. Outside of her family’s cottage lurks the constant threat of being discovered for what she truly is: unwanted, dangerous, Huldra. When their mother is accused of witchcraft and dragged to the stake, she and her sister must run for their lives. Yet only Sýstir escapes. Taken in by the rogue troll Agagkantor, Sýstir finds herself in the Dark Forest, otherwise known as Trollheim. Here, she discovers a magical realm for mythical beings and a sanctuary for those with nowhere left to turn. For Sýstir, it’s a chance to forge a new family and live life as her true self. But questions remain about her missing sister, and Agagkantor carries a secret of his own—one that could unravel Sýstir’s past and destroy the Dark Forest entirely…
Villain (Hench #2) — Natalie Zina Walschots (William Morrow)
The hench once called Anna, now known to her colleagues and enemies as the Auditor, has carved out a wicked name for herself. Any superhero unlucky enough to cross her path knows her potential and powers. Surely, her recent success should taste sweet: she has an incredible job with lots of perks, her boss will literally annihilate anyone who crosses her, and her greatest enemy, the former hero Supercollider, has been utterly defeated—literally ground to a still-living pulp. But the Auditor still has her sights set on a greater work: destroying The Draft, the organization that makes, trains, and manages the world’s most powerful superheroes. These “heroes” have shown time and time again that they do more harm than good (she has the spreadsheets to prove it), and now is the time to stop the damage at its source. Yet all is not well for the Auditor and her fellow evildoers. Her employer, Leviathan—the world’s most feared supervillain—is not coping well with Supercollider’s defeat at someone else’s hands. As their relationship deepens, her work-life balance increasingly involves navigating the feelings of someone who doesn’t believe they have any. Moreover, her unlikely ally and unexpected friend, Quantum Entanglement, has reappeared, forcing the Auditor to confront all the ways they deceived each other. Tension and uncertainty haunt the Auditor, and the fear that their triumph is about to crumble looms over all of them. The Auditor soon finds herself facing down an opponent unlike any she’s taken on before—not another superhero, but someone like her, someone much more dangerous: The Draft’s Chief Marketing Officer. Their conflict isn’t a test of physical prowess, but ideas, and as their fight escalates, she’ll need more than preternatural pattern recognition, data analysis, and a horrific imagination to meet this challenge. It’s guerrilla ad warfare, and the Auditor might have finally met her match.
May 26
The Rainshadow Orphans (Rainshadow #1) — Naomi Ishiguro (Saga Press)
Life is hard for the inhabitants of Rainshadow City, a place where poverty and corruption are rife and where they are terrorized by an underground criminal organization known as the Lucky Crows. Toshiko, Jun and Mei Kawakami are a family, bonded through loyalty if not blood, who live outside the increasingly corrupt law and who are seeking revenge for the murder of their beloved “aunt” Reiko by the Lucky Crows. Haru is the son of the Emperor, destined to one day rule over the Archipelago and uphold his mother’s ignoble legacy, but he is more interested in making friends with the magical Sun Spirits it seems only he can see. Theo, forced to leave his homeland, is a reluctant foot-soldier for the Lucky Crows. He doesn’t want to be a gangster, but as an illegal immigrant to the city, his choices are severely limited. When Toshiko steals a dragon pearl from the leader of the Crows, it sets them all on a thrilling path which will determine the future of Rainshadow City.
The Blackthorn Women — Jess Lourey (Thomas & Mercer—Re-issue)
After her husband’s infidelity, devastated Katrine Blackthorn reluctantly returns to Faith Falls, Minnesota, to her family’s Queen Anne mansion on the hill and the magic that binds them all. Her grandmother Velda charms everyone she meets. Her mother, Ursula, is a brewer of potions who sees a threat around every corner. And there’s her estranged sister, Jasmine, broken by something no one will name. With Katrine’s return, all that the Blackthorns have feared seems to be manifesting. The snakes amassing with the spring thaw and the stranger who’s rolled into town are just the first omens threatening the fragile peace the family is rebuilding. Now Katrine must face the darkest secret of her lineage and rediscover her own magic if the Blackthorn women are to survive. Revised edition: Previously published as The Catalain Book of Secrets, this edition of The Blackthorn Women includes editorial revisions.
I Hear a New World (Long London #2) — Alan Moore (Bloomsbury Publishing)
It’s 1958 and Dennis Knuckleyard has decided to leave his adventures in the Great When in the past where they belong. For nine years, he’s avoided so much as thinking about the magical version of London, until he rediscovers an unpleasant reminder of his last adventure—a key that he’d secretly brought into his own world from the other for safekeeping. But while Dennis may believe he’s done with the Great When, it’s far from done with him. When Dennis gives the key to a friend, its magical properties reawaken, bringing creatures from the other world into Dennis’s and sparking riots in Notting Hill. Even worse, Dennis’s old crush Grace Shilling has been forced into the Great When to investigate strange happenings in both cities. Desperate to keep Grace safe, Dennis follows her into Long London. But once inside the other city, it will not let him go away again so easily, and Dennis and Grace must fight to set things right in the Great When and their own world, or forever lose their lives-and each other.
Curses, Keys, and Secret Societies (Sisters of Light and Shadow #2) — Breanne Randall (Dell)
Eléa Deniz dreads going home to the French countryside after leaving four years ago. Upon her return, she finds the estate has become host to the Shadowcraft Academy, an elite graduate school where a world of mysteries and power plays await. What’s worse, her father is the enigmatic and ruthless headmaster with an agenda of his own. And then she discovers a prophecy about her magic that could change everything. As her power is tested, Eléa becomes torn between Alex, her stoic first love whose loyalties are as murky as his past, and the brash, irreverent Logan, who challenges her to see herself in new ways. Faced with family secrets, a secret society, and the weight of her own magic, Eléa must reclaim her power and forge her own path. Destiny is calling… and it demands a price.
