May flowers are here, pressed between pages stained by dragon fire, for all those who carry some otherworldy-ness. A great month is waiting to bring wonderful SFF books to the shelves, and I’m here to ramble my excitement for them all. Neon Yang is bringing an epic fantasy that holds a stunning cover and Joe Abercombie is promising the perfect mix of humour and grimdark.
My lists of new releases is incomplete without romance so four romantasy books are offering different variations of enemies to lovers, or unexpected allies forced to work together. For social reflections, Tochi Onyebuchi has written a fantasy noir and Gabe Cole Novoa is bringing a revolution to a dystopian world.
Short stories are my personal favourite and this month, an anthology exploring queer and trans futures through fantasy, sci-fi, horror, magical realism, etc. is one I’m looking forward to. A collection based on portals is another I can’t wait to read. A science-fiction in the list even reminded me of USS Callister so there’s that.
The Incandescent by Emily Tesh, May 13
When Tasha Suri [The Jasmine Throne] says “this is magical school with teeth,” who am I to deny such delight. I’m always interested in the exploration of privilege and power against the backdrop of a private school and The Incandescent seems to promise exactly that—through the lens of a grown-up. This sapphic dark academia fantasy is about the director at a magical school. One of the most powerful magicians in England, she’s great at her job of keeping her school with its six hundred students and centuries-old legacy safe from everything, including demonic incursions. But in tiring adulthood, even magical tattoos, vape imps, and possessed printers can be a threat.
Titan of the Stars by E.K. Johnston, May 27
From just the cover and the YA/Adult crossover promise in science fiction, this is reminding me of Iron Widow. But I do think this is different: Titanic meets Aliens isn’t a pitch you come across everyday. In this tense science fiction horror, an engineer aboard a voyage from Earth to Mars is optimistic about her new life. The son of the ship’s owner feels trapped aboard and in a life chosen for him by his father— away from his dreams of an art school. Ancient aliens discovered under melted ice caps are caged aboard for entertainment. Until an act of sabotage releases them into the ship.
Brighter than Scale, Swifter Than Flame by Neon Yang, May 6
I’ve read Yang’s The Black Tides of Heaven and the genre-queerness it explored in the midst of political intrigue and a tech-fantasy world impressed me. Their latest, an Asian-inspired epic fantasy, is now telling the story of an armored, oath-bound hero reminiscent of The Mandalorian. A masked guildknight is trained in dragon-slaying. Now a legendary dragon hunter, she must go to an independent and reclusive kingdom that harbours a dragon. But while searching for the beast, she doesn’t expect to find home with the mysterious and beautiful dragon queen.
The Devils by Joe Abercombie, May 13
A notorious band of anti-heroes on a delightfully bloody and raucous journey? This sounds both fun and potentially profound. An irresistible vampire, an undying knight, a strict librarian, and an entertaining werewolf—all must help in a grand holy assignment that will require bloody measures in order to achieve righteous ends. Tamsyn Muir [Gideon the Ninth] has said “it slammed the living shit out of [her]” and who doesn’t want to experience that from a tale monstrous heroes?
The Knight and the Moth by Rachel Gillig, May 20
I’m always weak for a romantasy, but when you tell me it’s a gothic romance, I’m practically begging for it. And a slow-burn? Yes, please. A young prophetess can dream of terrible things before they occur, and like the other foundling girls, has traded a decade of service for a home in the great cathedral. Just as she nears the end of her service, a mysterious knight arrives—heretical but devilishly handsome—who has no respect for her visions. But when her fellow diviners begin vanishing, she must seek his help in finding them as the world outside is wrought with peril.
The Enemy’s Daughter by Melissa Poett, May 6
Something about the medieval romantic tragedies make them great tales to re-imagine in fantasy. And this enemies-to-lovers romantasy is reimagining Tristan and Isolde in a dystopian world. A healer risks her life to help soldiers in a fight between two settlements for the untainted land. But when shot with a poisoned arrow, the enemy assassin offers to save her life using a rare magic. Now she’s unknowingly bound to him. While a race for survival continues between their people, they use this magical connection to glean fragments of each other’s memories—both hoping to destroy the other first.
A Fate Forged in Fire by Hazel McBride, May 27
I mean, there’s a dragon on the cover. And the title has a slight alliteration which is one of the many things that can easily impress me in this genre. This is the first book in a Celtic-inspired fantasy romance duology. To become the first queen in centuries, a blessed-by-fire blacksmith—born to rule but has to live in hiding after the region is poisoned with anti-magic teachings by an oppressive group in power—must overthrow the corrupt ruling her kingdom. While also fighting her growing desire for one of her dragon-riding adversaries who is a powerful fire-wielder himself, and a prince blindly supportive of his corrupt family.
Behooved by M. Stevenson, May 20
How could I be a romantasy fan and not enjoy anything that promises a fairy tale? I’m expecting all the wonderful banter that leaves me smiling. Also, a prince who turns into a horse? I’m reminded of My Lade Jane in all the good ways. When the threat of war looms, Bianca is betrothed to a cold, aloof heir of the neighbouring kingdom. When an assassination attempt goes wrong on their wedding night—leaving the prince magically transformed into a horse—they ride away to safety. But a larger plot is brewing against the throne and Bianca has been framed for the prince’s murder, while the prince turns back into a frustratingly attractive man by night.
These Vengeful Gods by Gabe Cole Novoa, May 27
Dystopian worlds are returning to shelves and I’m all here for it. Especially when the story doesn’t shy away from recognising the ugly—even better when the protagonist becomes a leading activist in a revolution. In a world bound by violence, a teen descended from the god of Death must keep their true identity a secret as they fight their way through a gladiator-style competition towards victory and rebellion against the gods who murdered their family.
Harmattan Season by Tochi Onyebuchi, May 27
A hard-boiled fantasy noir. But I have this feeling it’s going to be something more too. In a postcolonial West Africa, a veteran and private eye is suspended between two cultures and two worlds. Work has dried up and he prefers being left alone with his bills as dust rolls in to coat the city. But when a bleeding woman stumbles on his doorway, he’s now reluctantly enmeshed in secrets of a city on the brink of violence. French occupiers want to keep peace at any cost and the indigenous in restless factions want a chance to reclaim lost heritage. What follows is the revelation of horrifying new truths.
Amplitudes: Stories of Queer and Trans Futurity Ed. by Lee Mandelo, May 27
Self-styled knights fighting in dystopian city streets. Conservatonists finding love in the Appalachian forests. Domestic “bliss” is lottery-based. Street drugs creating doppelgangers. Dance-club cruising at the edge of the galaxy. And more—twenty-two speculative stories that explore the vast potentialities of queer and trans futures. I’m especially excited for stories by Ash Huang [Blood, Bone, and Water in Orion’s Belt], Wen-yi Lee [The Dark We Know], Ewen Ma [What Does Your Revolution Look Like? in Haven Speculative], and of course, Neon Yang [The Black Tides of Heaven].
Portalmania by Debie Urbanski, May 13
The title itself is promising so much portal-driven speculative fiction—and of course, speculative fiction being a portal in itself. This is a genre-busting collection holding up a dark mirror to the ordinary world. Portals appear in linen closets. Planetary gateways materialise in boarding schools. Monsters wait in bathroom vents. Transformations of women’s bodies is an everyday occurrence. Political division causes physical rifts that break apart the Earth’s crust. A son on another planet sends dispatches home to the mother who failed him, and a wife turns to the supernatural to escape her abusive marriage.
Metallic Realms by Lincoln Michel, May 13
From the cover itself, I feel this is promising some brilliant throwback to the pulp age of sci-fi. Also, having recently watched the sequel to USS Callister in Black Mirror Season 7, I’m especially seeking the vibes of intergalactic adventures blurring the line between real life and fiction. A socially awkward and drowning in debt Michael Lincoln—I’m loving the eerie similarity with the author’s name—has a higher calling to bring a great series of mind-bending adventures written by his best friend and the Orb, a misfit science fiction writing club, to the world. Not matter the cost. But as personal melodramas begin to unravel the reason behind the fallout of this group, the line between real and fiction becomes dangerously thin.
The ‘H’ in SFF stands for Horror
I don’t often read the horror genre but some stories explore the speculative so well through fear, I always include a few that caught my attention. The Starving Saints by Caitlin Starling is a transfixing fever dream of medieval horror following three women in a besieged castle that descends into madness under the spell of mysterious, godlike visitors.
If you loved reading Mexican Gothic like me, you’ll especially be interested in Bochica by Carolina Flórez-Cerchiaro—a young, aristocratic woman desperate to escape her past must navigate the shadows of a real-life Latin American haunted mansion, unearthing its darkest secrets and confronting a legacy that threatens to swallow her whole.
When Devils Sing by Xan Kaur is a southern gothic horror novel where four unlikely allies in a small town investigate a local teen’s disappearance and what they discover festering at the core of their community is far more sinister and ancient than they could’ve ever imagined. This is, again, reminding me of Mexican Gothic but is also said to be for fans of Midsommar so you can expect something quite chilling.
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