There’s something exciting about figuring out what books will make your TBR list for the new year.
We’ve compiled a list of fantasy novels that you’ll want to keep an eye out for, whether they’re the latest installment in a beloved series, the beginning of a brand new series, or a standalone novel that you’ll want to sink your teeth into.
2024’s fantasy novels are sure to take us on some wonderful adventures.
In order of release date, here are 15 fantasy novels we’re looking forward to reading in 2024:
1. The Atlas Complex by Olivie Blake – January 9
The final installment in The Atlas trilogy finds our favorite cohorts struggling with the lethal aspect of their recruitment as they try to protect themselves and the archives from those wishing to destroy them. The Atlas Complex releases on January 9.
Book Description: An explosive return to the library leaves the six Alexandrians vulnerable to the lethal terms of their recruitment.
Old alliances quickly fracture as the initiates take opposing strategies as to how to deal with the deadly bargain they have so far failed to uphold. Those who remain with the archives wrestle with the ethics of their astronomical abilities, while elsewhere, an unlikely pair from the Society cohort partner to influence politics on a global stage.
And still the outside world mobilizes to destroy them, while the Caretaker himself, Atlas Blakely, may yet succeed with a plan foreseen to have world-ending stakes. It’s a race to survive as the six Society recruits are faced with the question of what they’re willing to betray for limitless power — and who will be destroyed along the way.
2. Emily Wilde’s Map of the Otherlands – January 16
Emily Wilde finds herself dodging faerie assassins while helping Bambleby find a way back to his realm. Emily Wilde’s Map of the Otherlands releases on January 16.
Book Description: When mysterious faeries from other realms appear at her university, curmudgeonly professor Emily Wilde must uncover their secrets before it’s too late in this heartwarming, enchanting second installment of the Emily Wilde series.
Emily Wilde is a genius scholar of faerie folklore — she just wrote the world’s first comprehensive of encylopaedia of faeries. She’s learned many of the secrets of the Hidden Folk on her adventures… and also from her fellow scholar and former rival, Wendell Bambleby.
Because Bambleby is more than infuriatingly charming. He’s an exiled faerie king on the run from his murderous mother, and in search of a door back to his realm. So despite Emily’s feelings for Bambleby, she’s not ready to accept his proposal of marriage. Loving one of the Fair Folk comes with secrets and danger.
And she also has a new project to focus a map of the realms of faerie. While she is preparing her research, Bambleby lands her in trouble yet again, when assassins sent by Bambleby’s mother invade Cambridge. Now Bambleby and Emily are on another adventure, this time to the picturesque Austrian Alps, where Emily believes they may find the door to Bambley’s realm, and the key to freeing him from his family’s dark plans.
But with new relationships for the prickly Emily to navigate and dangerous Folk lurking in every forest and hollow, Emily must unravel the mysterious workings of faerie doors, and of her own heart.
3. House of Flame and Shadow by Sarah J Maas – January 30
The next installment in the Crescent City series finds Bryce separated from her loved ones, forced to navigate a new world alone. She’ll have to align herself with new people if she stands a chance of getting back home. House of Flame and Shadow releases on January 30.
Book Description: Bryce Quinlan never expected to see a world other than Midgard, but now that she has, all she wants is to get back. Everything she loves is in Midgard: her family, her friends, her mate. Stranded in a strange new world, she’s going to need all her wits about her to get home again. And that’s no easy feat when she has no idea who to trust.
Hunt Athalar has found himself in some deep holes in his life, but this one might be the deepest of all. After a few brief months with everything he ever wanted, he’s in the Asteri’s dungeons again, stripped of his freedom and without a clue as to Bryce’s fate. He’s desperate to help her, but until he can escape the Asteri’s leash, his hands are quite literally tied.
4. The Invocations by Krystal Sutherland – January 30
After the death of her sister, Zara Jones will do whatever it takes to bring her back; Jude Wolf is cursed and doesn’t have long left to live. Emer Bryne promises solutions to both Zara and Jude’s problems, but there’s a steep price to pay. The Invocations releases on January 30.
Book Description: Zara Jones believes in magic because the alternative is too painful to bear — that her sister was murdered by a serial killer and there is precisely nothing she can do to change it. If there’s anything Zara cannot stand it’s feeling powerless, so she decides she will do whatever it takes — even if that means partaking in the occult — to bring her sister back from the dead.
Jude Wolf might be the daughter of a billionaire, but she is also undeniably cursed. After a deal with a demon went horribly wrong, her soul is now slowly turning necrotic. Flowers and insects die in her wake and monstrous things come to taunt her at night. If Jude can’t find the right someone to fix her mistake, she fears she’ll die very soon.
Enter Emer Bryne: the solution to both Zara’s and Jude’s predicaments. The daughter of a witch, Emer sells spells to women in desperate situations willing to sacrifice a part of their soul in exchange for a bit of power, a bit of magic to change their lives. But Emer has a dark past all her own — and as her former clients are murdered one-by-one, she knows it’s followed her all the way to London.
As Zara and Jude enter Emer’s orbit, they’ll have to team up to stop the killer — before they each end up next on his list.
5. Dead Things are Closer than They Appear by Robin Wasley – February 13
Sid Spencer lives in a town that sits on top of fault lines that keep magic away from the world. When a Guardian tasked with protecting the seal dies, magic and monsters rush into the town, making Sid’s relatively normal life suddenly a lot more interesting. Dead Things are Closer than They Appear releases on February 13.
Book Description: High school is hard enough to survive without an apocalypse to navigate.
Sid Spencer has always been the most normal girl in her abnormal hometown, a tourist trap built over one of the fault lines that seal magic away from the world. Meanwhile, all Sid has to deal with is hair-ruining humidity, painful awkwardness, being one of four Asians in town, and her friends dumping her when they start dating each other — just days after one of the most humiliating romantic rejections faced by anyone, ever, in all of history.
Then someone kills one of the Guardians who protect the seal. The earth rips open and unleashes the magic trapped inside. Monsters crawl from the ground, no one can enter or leave, and the man behind it all is roaming the streets with a gang of violent vigilantes. Suddenly, Sid’s life becomes a lot less ordinary. When she finds out her missing brother is involved, she joins the remaining Guardians, desperate to find him and close the fault line for good.
Fighting through hordes of living corpses and uncontrollable growths of forest, Sid and a ragtag crew of would-be heroes are the only thing standing between their town and the end of the world as they know it. Between magic, murderers, and burgeoning crushes, Sid must survive being a perfectly normal girl caught in a perfectly abnormal apocalypse.
Only — how can someone so ordinary make it in such an extraordinary world?
6. A Tempest of Tea by Hafsah Faizal – February 20
Arthie Casimir is the proprietor of Spindrift, a tearoom that serves tea to upstanding citizens by day and blood to vampires by night. When Spindrift is threatened, Arthie has to put together a crew to pull off a heist inside the Athereum, which is a secretive vampire society. A Tempest of Tea hits shelves on February 20.
Book Description: On the streets of White Roaring, Arthie Casimir is a criminal mastermind and collector of secrets. Her prestigious tearoom transforms into an illegal bloodhouse by dark, catering to the vampires feared by society. But when her establishment is threatened, Arthie is forced to strike an unlikely deal with an alluring adversary to save it — and she can’t do the job alone.
Calling upon a band of misfits, Arthie formulates a plan to infiltrate the dark and glittering vampire society known as the Athereum. But not every member of her crew is on her side, and as the truth behind the heist unfolds, Arthie finds herself in the midst of a conspiracy that will threaten the world as she knows it.
7. Fate Breaker by Victoria Aveyard – February 27
The final book in the Realm Breaker trilogy follows Corayne as she tries to defeat Taristan and Queen Erida and prevent them from summoning What Waits into the world. Fate Breaker releases on February 27.
Book Description: Change your fate — or kneel to it. The Companions are scattered and hopeless, torn from each other. After Corayne barely escapes with her life, she must forge on alone, leaving her blade broken and her allies behind her. Her only consolation — Corayne now has Taristan’s sword, the only Spindleblade left in existence. Without it, he can’t rip open any more Spindles. Without it, he can’t end the world. But Taristan and Queen Erida will not be defeated so easily. Both will burn the world to bring down Corayne — and bring forth their demon god, What Waits, ready to claim the realm of Allward for his own. In a final clash between kingdoms and gods, all must rise to fight — or be destroyed. Everything has come to this.
8. The Prisoner’s Throne by Holly Black – March 5
Oak must choose between the girl he loves and his country in the stunning conclusion to the Stolen Heir duology. The Prisoner’s Throne releases on March 5.
Book Description: Prince Oak is paying for his betrayal. Imprisoned in the icy north and bound to the will of a monstrous new queen, he must rely on charm and calculation to survive. With High King Cardan and High Queen Jude ready to use any means necessary to retrieve their stolen heir, should Oak attempt to regain the trust of the girl he’s always loved, or remain loyal to Elfhame and hand over the means to end her reign-even if it means ending Wren, too…
With war looming and treachery lurking in every corner, neither Oak’s guile nor his wit will be enough to keep everyone he loves alive. He will have some terrible choices to make.
9. The Familiar by Leigh Bardugo – April 9
Leigh Bardugo’s newest is a standalone, historical fantasy novel set in Spain. Luzia is forced to use her magic to improve her mistress’ social standing, pushing Luzia into the spotlight and into danger. The Familiar releases on April 9.
Book Description: In a shabby house, on a shabby street, in the new capital of Madrid, Luzia Cotado uses scraps of magic to get through her days of endless toil as a scullion. But when her scheming mistress discovers the lump of a servant cowering in the kitchen is actually hiding a talent for little miracles, she demands Luzia use those gifts to better the family’s social position.
What begins as simple amusement for the bored nobility takes a perilous turn when Luzia garners the notice of Antonio Pérez, the disgraced secretary to Spain’s king. Still reeling from the defeat of his armada, the king is desperate for any advantage in the war against England’s heretic queen — and Pérez will stop at nothing to regain the king’s favor.
Determined to seize this one chance to better her fortunes, Luzia plunges into a world of seers and alchemists, holy men and hucksters, where the line between magic, science, and fraud is never certain. But as her notoriety grows, so does the danger that her Jewish blood will doom her to the Inquisition’s wrath. She will have to use every bit of her wit and will to survive — even if that means enlisting the help of Guillén Santangel, an embittered immortal familiar whose own secrets could prove deadly for them both.
10. The Hemlock Queen by Hannah F. Whitten – April 9
As Prince Bastian prepares for his coronation, Lore begins to notice worrisome changes in his demeanor. If that isn’t enough of an issue, the catacombs are crawling with dark power, and it’s only a matter of time before that power escapes. The Hemlock Queen, book two of The Nightshade Crown series, releases on April 9.
Book Description: The corrupt king August is dead. Prince Bastian has seized the throne and raised Lore — a necromancer and former smuggler — to his right hand side. Together they plan to cut out the rot from the heart of the sainted court and help the people of Dellaire. But not everyone is happy with the changes. The nobles are sowing dissent, the Kyrithean Empire is beating down their door, and Lore’s old allies are pulling away. Even Prince Bastian’s changed. No longer the hopeful, rakish, charismatic man Lore knows and loves, instead he’s reckless, domineering and cold.
And something’s been whispering in her ear. A voice, dark and haunting, that’s telling her there’s more to the story than she knows and more to her power than she can even imagine. A truth buried deep that could change everything.
With Bastian’s coronation fast approaching and enemies whispering on all sides, Lore must figure out how to protect herself, her prince, and her country before they all come crumbling down and whatever dark power has been creeping through the catacombs is unleashed.
11. Heavenly Tyrant by Xiran Jay Zhao – December 2024*
Almost three years after Iron Widow was published, the second novel in the series is nearly in our hands. Zetain must work together with a man she despises to take down their enemy and protect their country. Heavenly Tyrant hits shelves in December 2024.
*After publication of this list, the release date was pushed back to December 2024.
Book Description: After suffering devastating loss and making drastic decisions, Zetian finds herself at the seat of power in Huaxia. But she has also learned that her world is not as it seems, and revelations about an enemy more daunting than Zetian imagined forces her to share power with a dangerous man she cannot simply depose. Despite having vastly different ideas about how they must deconstruct the corrupt and misogynist system that plagues their country, Zetian must join this man in a dance of truth and lies and perform their roles to perfection in order to take down their common enemy, who seeks to control them as puppets while dangling one of Zetian’s loved ones as a hostage.
With political unrest and perilous forces aiming to undermine Zetian at every turn, can she enact positive changes as a fair and just ruler? Or will she be forced to rely on fear and violence and succumb to her darker instincts in her quest for vengeance?
12. Mirrored Heavens by Rebecca Roanhorse – June 4
Serapio, Xiala, and Naranpa’s destinies will finally be determined. Mirrored Heavens, the final book in the Between Earth and Sky trilogy, releases on June 4.
Book Description: Serapio, avatar of the Crow God Reborn and the newly crowned Carrion King, rules Tova. But his enemies gather both on distant shores and within his own city as the matrons of the clans scheme to destroy him. And deep in the alleys of the Maw, a new prophecy is whispered, this one from the Coyote God. It promises Serapio certain doom if its terrible dictates are not fulfilled.
Meanwhile, Xiala is thrust back amongst her people as war comes first to the island of Teek. With their way of life and their magic under threat, she is their last best hope. But the sea won’t talk to her the way it used to, and doubts riddle her mind. She will have to sacrifice the things that matter most to unleash her powers and become the queen they were promised.
And in the far northern wastelands, Naranpa, avatar of the Sun God, seeks a way to save Tova from the visions of fire that engulf her dreams. But another presence has begun stalking her nightmares, and the Jaguar God is on the hunt.
13. Children of Anguish and Anarchy by Tomi Adeyemi – June 25
It’s been a long four years, but it’s finally time to rejoin Zelie’s battle against her enemies. Children of Anguish and Anarchy, the epic conclusion to the Legacy of Orïsha trilogy, hits shelves on June 25.
Book Description: When Zelie seized the royal palace that fateful night, she thought her battles had come to an end. The monarchy had finally fallen. The maji had risen again. Zélie never expected to find herself locked in a cage and trapped on a foreign ship. Now warriors with iron skulls traffic her and her people across the seas, far from their homeland.
Then everything changes when Zélie meets King Baldyr, her true captor, the ruler of the Skulls, and the man who has ravaged entire civilizations to find her. Baldyr’s quest to harness Zélie’s strength sends Zélie, Amari, and Tzain searching for allies in unknown lands.
But as Baldyr closes in, catastrophe charges Orïsha’s shores. It will take everything Zélie has to face her final enemy and save her people before the Skulls annihilate them for good.
14. The Spellshop by Sarah Beth Durst – July 9
When her library burns down, Kiela and her assistant, Caz (a spider plant), relocate to the island where Kiela grew up. However, the island has changed since Kiela was last there, and she’ll have to open up her own shop if she wants to restore the island’s magic. The Spellshop releases on July 9.
Book Description: Kiela has always had trouble dealing with people, and as librarian at the Great Library of Alyssium, she hasn’t had to.
She and her assistant, Caz, a sentient spider plant, have spent most of the last eleven years sequestered among the empire’s precious spellbooks, protecting the magic for the city’s elite. But a revolution is brewing and when the library goes up in flames, she and Caz steal whatever books they can and flee to the faraway island where she grew up. She’s hoping to lay low and figure out a way to survive before the revolution comes looking for her. To her dismay, in addition to a nosy — and very handsome — neighbor, she finds the town in disarray.
The empire with its magic spellbooks has slowly been draining power from the island, something that Kiela is indirectly responsible for, and now she’s determined to find a way to make things right. Opening up a spell shop comes with its own risks — the consequence of sharing magic with commoners is death. And as Kiela comes to make a place for herself among the quirky townspeople, she realizes that in order to make a life for herself, she must break down the walls she has kept so high.
15. Lady Macbeth by Ava Reid – August 13
Ava Reid’s latest retelling puts a darker and more magical spin on one of Shakespeare’s well-known characters. Lady Macbeth releases on August 13.
Book Description: The Lady knows the stories: how her eyes induce madness in men.
The Lady knows she will be wed to the Scottish brute, who does not leave his warrior ways behind when he comes to the marriage bed.
The Lady knows his hostile, suspicious court will be a game of strategy, requiring all of her wiles and hidden witchcraft to survive.
But the Lady does not know her husband has occult secrets of his own. She does not know that prophecy girds him like armor. She does not know that her magic is greater and more dangerous, and that it will threaten the order of the world.
She does not know this yet. But she will.
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Which books are you looking forward to reading? Share your thoughts in the comments below!
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Allison Nichols
Allison is in a love affair with books and television that doesn't seem to be letting up anytime soon. Slightly damaged fictional characters are her weakness. She loves to spend her free time curled up with a cat and a book to read or a show to watch. Allison is a Tomatometer-approved critic (Rotten Tomatoes).
