Once again, I have scoured the internet for speculative fiction books coming out this year and compiled a list of works I wanted to highlight. After looking through book descriptions, early reviews, and any available excerpts, I’ve put together a list of 17 fantasy and science fiction books coming out in 2025 that sound particularly compelling to me. (Of course, some of these are mainly here due to my having enjoyed other work by the same author!)
As always, this is not a comprehensive list of speculative fiction books being released this year. It’s not even all the books I’m curious about that are scheduled for release in 2025, but it is those that sound most intriguing to me personally. Almost all of these are fantasy since I didn’t find that many science fiction books coming this year that sounded as interesting to me as upcoming releases in that genre (other than the hardcover re-release of Arkady Martine’s Rose/House in March). Given my interests, this list includes epic fantasy, fantasy inspired by history and mythology, dark academia, and fantasy romance, as well as some works promising morally gray characters and political intrigue. I hope that those of you with similar taste find something here that appeals to you as well.
There are other books I’m hoping might end up being 2025 releases, like Laini Taylor’s first novel for adults, the next book in the False Goddess trilogy by Amy Leow, and The Road to Emberlain novellas by Scott Lynch (and, of course, I continue to hope for Winds of Winter, although I think that one’s a lot less likely!). Also, there are a couple of books that are supposed to be released this fall that I’m keeping an eye out for based on what little I know about them so far:
- The Isle in the Silver Sea by Tasha Suri, a “standalone novel about a knight and a witch who must change the fate of magic and the world by altering the end of their story, pitched as Green Knight meets THE STARLESS SEA with reincarnation.”
- An Arcane Inheritance by Kamilah Cole, “a modern-day dark academia speculative fantasy with a twist, perfect for fans of Babel and A Deadly Education.” The rest of the description so far says “Warren University has long stood amongst the ivy elite, built on the bones―and forbidden magic―of its most prized BIPOC students…hiding the rot of a secret society that will do anything to keep their own powers burning bright, no matter the cost to those lost along the way.”
The books I’m excited for that have 2025 release dates and book descriptions are listed below. They are ordered by scheduled publication date, and these are US release dates unless otherwise stated.
Due to the length of this blog post, I’m only showing the first 6 books on the main page. You can click the title of the post or the ‘more…’ link after the sixth book to read the entire article.
Cover images link to Bookshop. As a Bookshop affiliate, I earn from qualifying purchases.
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The Desert Talon (The Crowns of Ishia #2) by Karin Lowachee
Release Date: February 11
The Mountain Crown, the first book in The Crowns of Ishia trilogy, was one of my favorite 2024 book releases. Though very different from Karin Lowachee’s Warchild Mosaic (my favorite science fiction series), this novella shows the same thought and care that make her such an excellent writer. With its wonderful storytelling and characters that seemed alive, I felt like I was accompanying the latter on their journey, and I’m excited to actually meet Janan in the second book in this trilogy. And, of course, I’m looking forward to more dragons!
The exciting sequel to the gunslinging, dragon-riding world of The Mountain Crown
Sephihalé ele Janan sits in a prison cell in the southern island of Mazemoor, dreaming of escape. After months in a provisional prison for fighting for the imperial Kattakans, Janan is sponsored by another refugee who was once a part of his scattered family. Yearning to build a life on his sister’s land with the dragons their people revere, the peace Janan seeks is threatened by a ruthless dragon baron who covets both Janan’s connection to the earth and the battle dragon to which he is covenanted.
The conflict may drive Janan to acts of violence he hoped to leave behind in the war, and bring more death to the land Janan now calls home.
The Desert Talon is a story of two groups of people who, despite a common ancestry, have diverged so far in their beliefs that there appears to be little mutual ground—and the conflict may well start to unravel the burgeoning hopes of a country, and a man, still recovering from the ravages of war.
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The Dream Hotel by Laila Lalami
Release Date: March 4
This upcoming novel by Pulitzer Prize and National Book Award finalist Laila Lalami sounds both deeply disturbing and fascinating in its exploration of technology and surveillance. Set in the near future, it’s about a woman with young children who uses some new technology that is supposed to aid with sleep, resulting in her being detained for a crime she might commit based on an algorithm’s assessment of her dream data.
I’ve had a hard time finding 2025 science fiction releases that really pique my interest, but I’m eagerly anticipating The Dream Hotel after reading some early reviews.
From Laila Lalami—the Pulitzer Prize and National Book Award finalist and a “maestra of literary fiction” (NPR)—comes a riveting and utterly original novel about one woman’s fight for freedom, set in a near future where even dreams are under surveillance.
Sara has just landed at LAX, returning home from a conference abroad, when agents from the Risk Assessment Administration pull her aside and inform her that she will soon commit a crime. Using data from her dreams, the RAA’s algorithm has determined that she is at imminent risk of harming the person she loves most: her husband. For his safety, she must be kept under observation for twenty-one days.
The agents transfer Sara to a retention center, where she is held with other dreamers, all of them women trying to prove their innocence from different crimes. With every deviation from the strict and ever-shifting rules of the facility, their stay is extended. Months pass and Sara seems no closer to release. Then one day, a new resident arrives, disrupting the order of the facility and leading Sara on a collision course with the very companies that have deprived her of her freedom.
Eerie, urgent, and ceaselessly clear-eyed, The Dream Hotel artfully explores the seductive nature of technology, which puts us in shackles even as it makes our lives easier. Lalami asks how much of ourselves must remain private if we are to remain free, and whether even the most invasive forms of surveillance can ever capture who we really are.
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A Song of Legends Lost (Invoker Trilogy #1) by M. H. Ayinde
Release Date: April 8 (UK); June 3 (US/Canada)
This epic fantasy debut novel by M. H. Ayinde, winner of the 2021 Future Worlds Prize, sounds fantastic in every way. Set in a world inspired by Yoruba, Filipino, and other non-Western cultures, it features a commoner who may have accidentally discovered how to end a thousand-year war when she summons a spirit, an ability that was thought to be limited to the elites who could call forth their ancestors to fight for them.
An unforgettable tale of revenge and rebellion unfolds when an inexperienced king implements a doomed plan to end a thousand-year war in this relentlessly gripping epic fantasy debut from a “master storyteller” (Andrea Stewart, author of The Bone Shard Daughter).
“The exhilarating must-read fantasy debut of 2025.” —Tasha Suri, author of The Jasmine Throne
A SONG OF REBELLION. A SONG OF WAR. A SONG OF LEGENDS LOST.
In the Nine Lands, only those of noble blood can summon the spirits of their ancestors to fight in battle. But when Temi, a commoner from the slums, accidentally invokes a powerful spirit, she finds it could hold the key to ending a centuries-long war.
But not everything that can be invoked is an ancestor. And some of the spirits that can be drawn from the ancestral realm are more dangerous than anyone can imagine.
Drawing on multiple pre-colonial cultures, including Yoruba and Filipino, and set in a non-Western-inspired world, A Song of Legends Lost is not just a tale of vengeance but a stunning debut novel of identity and heritage.
“A whirlwind debut of ferocious talent and compulsive storytelling that lifts you up from the first page and never lets go.” —Lavie Tidhar, World Fantasy Award–winning author
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The Raven Scholar (Eternal Path Trilogy #1) by Antonia Hodgson
Release Date: April 15
I love epic fantasy with some good politics and scheming, and the description of The Raven Scholar had me at “imperial intrigue, cutthroat competition, and one scholar’s quest to uncover the truth.” Between hearing this is excellent and reading a bit of the beginning for myself, I’m not even daunted by the size of this chunky novel—just excited to dive into its pages!
From an electrifying new voice in epic fantasy comes The Raven Scholar, a masterfully woven and playfully inventive tale of imperial intrigue, cutthroat competition, and one scholar’s quest to uncover the truth.
Let us fly now to the empire of Orrun, where after twenty-four years of peace, Bersun the Brusque must end his reign. In the dizzying heat of mid-summer, seven contenders compete to replace him. They are exceptional warriors, thinkers, strategists—the best of the best.
Then one of them is murdered.
It falls to Neema Kraa, the emperor’s brilliant, idiosyncratic High Scholar, to find the killer before the trials end. To do so, she must untangle a web of deadly secrets that stretches back generations, all while competing against six warriors with their own dark histories and fierce ambitions. Neema believes she is alone. But we are here to help; all she has to do is let us in.
If she succeeds, she will win the throne. If she fails, death awaits her. But we won’t let that happen.
We are the Raven, and we are magnificent.
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The Floating World (The Floating World #1) by Axie Oh
Release Date: April 29
I was utterly charmed by The Girl Who Fell Beneath the Sea, Axie Oh’s retelling of the Korean folktale “The Tale of Shim Cheong,” which was one of my favorite books of 2022. I was delighted to discover she has a new young adult fantasy novel that reimagines another Korean legend coming out this year.
The Floating World, which draws some inspiration from the myths of Celestial Maidens as in the folktale “The Woodcutter and the Heavenly Maiden,” will be followed by The Demon and the Light on October 21. Axie Oh described this duology as “if a Final Fantasy boy met a Ghibli heroine” in a post on Instagram.
From Axie Oh, the New York Times-bestselling author of The Girl Who Fell Beneath the Sea, Final Fantasy meets Shadow and Bone in this lighthearted romantic fantasy reimagining the Korean legend of Celestial Maidens.
Sunho lives in the Under World, a land of perpetual darkness. An ex-soldier, he can remember little of his life from before two years ago, when he woke up alone with only his name and his sword. Now he does odd-jobs to scrape by, until he comes across the score of a lifetime—a chest of coins for any mercenary who can hunt down a girl who wields silver light.
Meanwhile, far to the east, Ren is a cheerful and spirited acrobat traveling with her adoptive family and performing at villages. But everything changes during one of their festival performances when the village is attacked by a horrific humanlike demon. In a moment of fear and rage, Ren releases a blast of silver light—a power she has kept hidden since childhood—and kills the monster. But her efforts are not in time to prevent her adoptive family from suffering a devastating loss, or to save her beloved uncle from being grievously wounded.
Determined to save him from succumbing to the poisoned wound, Ren sets off over the mountains, where the creature came from—and from where Ren herself fled ten years ago. Her path sets her on a collision course with Sunho, but he doesn’t realize she’s the girl that he—and a hundred other swords-for-hire—is looking for. As the two grow closer through their travels, they come to realize that their pasts—and destinies—are far more entwined than either of them could have imagined…
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The Sun Blessed Prince (A Tale of Two Crowns Duology #1) by Lindsey Byrd
Release Date: April 29 (US); May 1 (UK/Canada)
This epic fantasy romance novel sounds like it contains some good drama: two men with opposing types of magic are thrown together when one of them fails to assassinate the other, all amidst plotting and war.
A battle-weary prince meets a reluctant assassin. But could their bond end their war?
SEPARATED BY WAR, UNITED BY FATE…
Prince Elician is a Giver. He can heal any wound and bring the dead back to life. He also can’t be killed, so is cursed to watch his country wage an endless war.
Reapers can kill with a single touch. And when one attacks Prince Elician by a hotly-contested battlefield, but fails, the Reaper expects a terrible punishment. Instead, Elician offers him a chance at a new life and a new name on enemy territory. The Reaper hadn’t realized he could ever find something, or someone, to make life worth living—until Elician. Yet the prince is unaware that his kindness is part of his enemy’s plan, until danger engulfs in turn.
As the pieces of a deadly plot come together, featuring abduction, treachery and forbidden magic, tensions escalate at court and on the battlefield. The fires of conflict burst into new flame—but can those who wield the powers of life and death find peace?
A POWERFUL AND RICHLY-IMAGINED TALE OF LOVE, WAR, MAGIC AND YEARNING.
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