The Most Anticipated Fantasy & Science Fiction Books

Here there be dragons, superheroes, aliens, and warlords. In the coming months, readers will get to return to Westeros and the All Souls universe, explore an India-inspired world of mythology and magic, experience the haunting tale of a monster coming into her own, and so much more.
To discover the best fantasy and science fiction novels hitting bookshelves through the rest of the year, we focused on and reactions from early reviewers. We measured anticipation by how many times a book has been added to Want to Read shelves, and then we only included books that have earned at least a four-star rating. (If you're curious how you can read prepublished books and be among the first to rate them, take a look at our book giveaways.)
Check out the fantastical reads below, and add what catches your eye to your Want to Read shelf!
To discover the best fantasy and science fiction novels hitting bookshelves through the rest of the year, we focused on and reactions from early reviewers. We measured anticipation by how many times a book has been added to Want to Read shelves, and then we only included books that have earned at least a four-star rating. (If you're curious how you can read prepublished books and be among the first to rate them, take a look at our book giveaways.)
Check out the fantastical reads below, and add what catches your eye to your Want to Read shelf!
Soldiers don't get paid to ask questions. In this installment in the beloved Chronicles of the Black Company series, Croaker struggles to trust his new ally, the peculiar sorcerer Mischievous Rain, as the Company attempts to break a rebel army.
Publication date: September 11
Immune to magic, Lady Everleigh escapes a massacre at the court of Bellona and goes into hiding with a gladiator troupe. As her desire for vengeance grows, she trains herself to take on the cruel usurper who assassinated the royal family.
Publication date: October 2
To save the world, Baru Cormorant must tear it apart. She becomes the very thing she once sought to destroy, all in a quest for revenge against the Empire of Masks in this sequel to The Traitor Baru Cormorant.
Publication date: October 30
Mehr can manipulate the dreams of the gods. An outcast descended from desert spirits, she defies an emperor and challenges a cabal of ruthless mystics in this captivating debut inspired by India's Mughal Empire.
Publication date: November 13
Brace yourself; The Winds of Winter is…still not here. Instead, the author of A Song of Ice and Fire delivers the first volume of his two-part history of the Targaryens, charting their volatile rise to power in Westeros.
Publication date: November 20
Formed around an alien biodome, Rosewater is a town on the edge. Its residents are hopeful and hungry to unlock the mysterious structure's rumored powers in this scientific thriller set in Nigeria.
Publication date: September 18
In the final installment in the Murderbot Diaries, the rogue robot fights its own programming to help the only human who ever showed it respect, traveling the width of the galaxy to stop a nefarious corporation and save innocent colonists.
Publication date: October 2
As humanity's interstellar empire nears collapse, Emperox Grayland II sets desperate measures into motion while the rest of the universe prepares for war in this pulse-pounding sequel to The Collapsing Empire.
Publication date: October 16
The crew of the Rocinante is scattered across the galaxy. Fighting to hold off an authoritarian regime and a sociopathic scientist, they launch a daring, last-ditch plan in this eighth installment in The Expanse series.
Publication date: December 4
This summer Liu became the . She and artist Takeda continue their acclaimed Monstress comic about a young woman struggling to control her inner beast in an alternate 20th-century Asia.
Publication date: September 11
Heading into a year-long hiatus, Vaughan and Staples leave their fans with an explosive spacefaring adventure that follows Alana, Marko, and Hazel as they encounter fake news, old enemies, and genuine terror.
Publication date: October 2
After a devastating betrayal, October "Toby" Daye worries her fragile self-made family will fall apart. She juggles a kidnapping, an annoying ex-boyfriend, and meddling faeries in this latest installment in the October Daye series.
Publication date: September 4
What does it take to become a vampire? Harkness returns to the world of her All Souls trilogy to tell the story of a young immortal during the Revolutionary War and the human he will come to love hundreds of years later.
Publication date: September 18
In this sequel to Vicious, the line between life and death blurs as ambitious Sydney Clarke does everything she can to try and save Victor Vale, the superhuman man who stood up to Eli Ever and paid the ultimate price.
Publication date: September 25
Peter Grant, detective and apprentice wizard, is used to solving magical crimes, but he wonders if he's met his match when he encounters Martin Chorley, the so-called Faceless Man wanted for numerous crimes against humanity.
Publication date: November 13
Check out the complete coverage of Sci-Fi & Fantasy Week:
Top 50 Fantasy Books on Å·±¦ÓéÀÖ
The Best Sci-Fi & Fantasy of the Year (So Far)
Hidden Gems for Lifelong Fans of Sci-Fi & Fantasy
Comments Showing 1-50 of 70 (70 new)
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Tanya
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Aug 20, 2018 08:39AM

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Honestly at this point I don't think he has any intention of ever finishing the series. I hope I am proven wrong.



My guess: 2019
No doubt to coincide with the climax of the HBO series. Also, I suspect, considering the "quality" of the writing on the show......Grrrrm probably wants to wait until it's too late for D&D to steal his storyline. Once they're done getting it all wrong we'll get the real story from him.
Hopefully.....

Honestly at this point I don't think he has any intention of ever finishing the series. I hop..."
true that.

I feel the same about Doors of Stone.
Movie deals are signed with pre-production underway, but the final part of the series is 3-years late.

If it ever does. I wonder if he's got a massive case of Writer's Constipation?




Ryanb wrote: "Honestly at this point I don't think he has any intention of ever finishing the series..."
I feel the same about Doors of Stone.
Movie deals are signed with pre-production underway, but the final..."
I just finished the first 2 of KingKiller and also looking forward to the 3rd installment

Totally agree. One has the thought that he feels the history of the Targaryans needs to be known before the WoW can be fully appreciated.
But whenever WoW gets released i'm looking forward very much to re-reading all the other books again before hand - including these Targaryan books.


It's obvious the list has books with a release date which means my favorite - Joe Abercrombie won't be on this list because he's writing a trilogy.
I'm waiting on Scalzi and Corey's books.


Honestly at this point I don't think he has any intention of ever finishing the series. I hop..."
I agree!



I thought of that one too - the last book in an epic series.

My guess: 2019
No doubt to coincide with the climax of the HBO series. Also, I suspect, cons..."
He is waiting for HBO to tell him how the series will end.

Ryanb wrote: "Honestly at this point I don't think he has any intention of ever finishing the series..."
I feel the s..."
You may be in for a Looooooooonnnnnngggggggg Wait Teresa. Rothfus doesn't seem to be in any hurry and I fear his story may never see an ending. It's a shame because he is an amazing story teller however he and Martin seem to have lost the vision of their stories and the fact that they will lose readers/respect if they fail to finish their series. Maybe they never knew where they were going in the first place and are hoping they die so readers will forgive them for not finishing the books? It is frustrating when an author leaves off in the middle of the story and the final book isn't in the publishers office with some idea of the next publishing date.
While we knew the HP series would be multiple books long, each book finished THAT story even though the Whole story needed all of them. You weren't left hanging in the middle!

Thankfully? Benioff and Weiss have ruined this series.

Agreed, when shall our watch end?

So of course, George RR Martin writes a new book about Dany's family.

But I don't believe it is Cosmere, right? He says its in a shared uni with some other stories, but not an actual Cosmere book sadly. :[