If there is a season that is synonymous with reading books, surely it must be summer. Long days, warm weather, a distinct increase in pool time, and the promise of days off with nothing to do but tackle that TBR list you’ve been putting off for months. (We can dream, right?) But with the arrival of what is likely the most highly anticipated season of the year comes the publication of some of the biggest fantasy titles of the year. (Sorry in advance to that aforementioned endless TBR.)
With thrilling series enders and buzzy romantasies alongside exciting debts and thrilling sequels, fantasy lovers are truly spoiled for choice this summer and will likely be reading many of these books well into the year’s cooler months.
Here are our most anticipated fantasy books of summer 2024.
Daughter of the Merciful Deep by Leslye Penelope
Release Date: June 4 from Redhook
Why We’re Excited: A historical fantasy that mixes folklore, African American history and magical realism this second novel from the author of The Monsters We Defy is lyrical and haunting. Penelope uses an underwater realm of gods and ancestral magic to explore and reflect the all-too-real stories of drowned Black towns of the American South, and the end result is fascinating.
Publisher’s Description: Jane Edwards hasn’t spoken since she was eleven years old, when armed riders expelled her family from their hometown along with every other Black resident. Now, twelve years later, she’s found a haven in the all-Black town of Awenasa. But the construction of a dam promises to wash her home under the waters of the new lake.
Jane will do anything to save the community that sheltered her. So, when a man with uncanny abilities arrives in town asking strange questions, she wonders if he’s might be the key. But as the stranger hints at gods and ancestral magic, Jane is captivated by a bigger mystery. She knows this man. Only the last time she saw him, he was dead. His body laid to rest in a rushing river.
Who is the stranger and what is he really doing in Awenasa? To find those answers, Jane will journey into a sunken world, a land of capricious gods and unsung myths, of salvation and dreams made real. But the flood waters are rising. To gain the miracle she desires, Jane will have to find her voice again and finally face the trauma of the past.
The Wren in the Holly Library by K.A. Lindie
Release Date: June 4 from Red Tower Books
Why We’re Excited: This steamy high-stakes fantasy heist features a richly imagined monster-filled New York and is almost compulsively readable.
Publisher’s Description: Some things aren’t supposed to exist outside of our imagination.
Thirteen years ago, monsters emerged from the shadows and plunged Kierse’s world into a cataclysmic war of near-total destruction. The New York City she knew so well collapsed practically overnight.
In the wake of that carnage, the Monster Treaty was created. A truce…of sorts.
But tonight, Kierse—a gifted and fearless thief—will break that treaty. She’ll enter the Holly Library…not knowing it’s the home of a monster.
He’s charming. Quietly alluring. Terrifying. But he knows talent when he sees it; it’s just a matter of finding her price.
Now she’s locked into a dangerous bargain with a creature unlike any other. She’ll sacrifice her freedom. She’ll offer her skills. Together, they’ll put their own futures at risk.
But he’s been playing a game across centuries—and once she joins in, there will be no escape…
Mirrored Heavens by Rebecca Roanhorse
Release Date: June 4 from S&S/Saga Press
Why We’re Excited: It’s the final installment in Rebecca Roanhorse’s Between Earth and Sky trilogy—what’s not to be excited about??
Publisher’s 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.
Running Close to the Wind by Alexandra Rowland
Release Date: June 11 from Tordotcom
Why We’re Excited: A queer pirate fantasy from the author of the (excellent) A Taste of Gold and Iron is bursting with humor and will delight everyone still mourning Our Flag Means Death.
Publisher’s Description: Avra Helvaçi, former field agent of the Arasti Ministry of Intelligence, has accidentally stolen the single most expensive secret in the world―and the only place to flee with a secret that big is the open sea.To find a buyer with deep enough pockets, Avra must ask for help from his on-again, off-again ex, the pirate Captain Teveri az-Haffar. They are far from happy to see him, but together, they hatch a take the information to the isolated pirate republic of the Isles of Lost Souls, fence it, profit. The only things in their way? A calculating new Arasti ambassador to the Isles of Lost Souls who’s got his eyes on Avra’s every move; Brother Julian, a beautiful, mysterious new member of the crew with secrets of his own and a frankly inconvenient vow of celibacy; the fact that they’re sailing straight into sea serpent breeding season and almost certain doom.But if they can find a way to survive and sell the secret on the black market, they’ll all be as wealthy as kings―and, more importantly, they’ll be legends
Rakesfall by Vajra Chandrasekera
Release Date: June 18 from Tordotcom
Why We’re Excited: The second novel from the author of The Saint of Bright Doors would belong on this list no matter what it was, but Rakesfall’s genuinely original story of two souls bound together throughout time makes for one of the most intriguing premises on this list in its own right.
Publisher’s Description: Some stories take more than one lifetime to tell. There are wrongs that echo through the ages, friendships that outpace the claws of death, loves that leave their mark on civilization, and promises that nothing can break. This is one such story.
Annelid and Leveret met after the war, but before the peace. They found each other in a torn-up nation, peering through propaganda to grasp a deeper truth. And in a demon-haunted wood, another act of violence linked them and propelled their souls on a journey throughout the ages. No world can hold them, no life can bind them, and they’ll never leave each other behind. But their journey will not be easy. In every lifetime, oppressors narrow the walls of possibility, shaping reality to fit their own needs. And behind the walls of history, the witches of the red web swear that every throne will fall.
Foul Days by Genoveva Dimova
Release Date: June 25 from Tor Books
Why We’re Excited: A gritty, atmospheric story rooted in Slavic folklore that’s described as a mix between The Witcher and the novels of Naomi Novik sounds like the definition of a summer fantasy must-read to me.
Publisher’s Description: As a witch in the walled city of Chernograd, Kosara has plenty of practice taming rusalkas, fighting kikimoras, and brewing lycanthrope repellent. There’s only one monster Kosara can’t defeat: her ex the Zmey, known as the Tsar of Monsters. She’s defied him one too many times, and now he’s hunting her. Betrayed to him by someone close to her, Kosara’s only hope is to trade her shadow―the source of her powers―for illegal passage across the Wall to Belograd, where monsters can’t follow.
Life in Belograd should be sweet, but Kosara soon develops a fast-acting version of the deadly wasting sickness that stalks shadowless witches―and only reclaiming her magic can cure her. To trace her shadow, she’ll have to team up with the suspiciously honorable detective investigating the death of the smuggler who brought her across the Wall.
Even worse than working with the cops is that all the clues point in a single direction: one of the Zmey’s monsters has found a crack in the Wall, and Kosara’s magic is now in the Zmey’s hands.
The clock is ticking, the hunt is on, and Kosara’s priorities should be clear―but is she the hunter or the hunted? And in a city where everyone is out for themselves, who can Kosara trust to assist her in outwitting the man―the Monster―she’s never been able to escape alone?
Children of Anguish and Anarchy by Tomi Adeyemi
Release Date: June 25 from Henry Holt and Co.
Why We’re Excited: The long-awaited and much-anticipated finale to Tomi Adeyemi’s Legacy of Orïsha series, it feels like this book has been on my must-read list for literal years. Bring it on.
Publisher’s 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.
Reckless by Lauren Roberts
Release Date: July 2 from Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers
Why We’re Excited: If you spend any time on BookTok or Book Twitter, you’ve probably come across Lauren Roberts’ megapopular Powerless, with its The Hunger Games vibes and much talked about cliffhanger ending. Its sequel, Reckless, arrives this summer, and while details are being kept under wraps, this is one you’ll probably see by the pool at many Fourth of July festivities.
Publisher’s Description: The kingdom of Ilya is in turmoil…
After surviving the Purging Trials, Ordinary-born Paedyn Gray has killed the King, and kickstarted a Resistance throughout the land. Now she’s running from the one person she had wanted to run to.
Kai Azer is now Ilya’s Enforcer, loyal to his brother Kitt, the new King. He has vowed to find Paedyn and bring her to justice.
Across the deadly Scorches, and deep into the hostile city of Dor, Kai pursues the one person he wishes he didn’t have to. But in a city without Elites, the balance between the hunter and hunted shifts – and the battle between duty and desire is deadly.
The Night Ends with Fire by K.X. Song
Release Date: July 2 from Ace
Why We’re Excited: An retelling of the traditional Chinese legend of Mulan, The Night Ends with Fire comes from the author of An Echo in the City and embraces popular tropes from wuxia drama even as it asks timely questions about female ambition and power.
Publisher’s Description: The Three Kingdoms are at war, but Meilin’s father refuses to answer the imperial draft. Trapped by his opium addiction, he plans to sell Meilin for her dowry. But when Meilin discovers her husband-to-be is another violent, ill-tempered man, she realizes that nothing will change for her unless she takes matters into her own hands.
The very next day, she disguises herself as a boy and enlists in her father’s place.
In the army, Meilin’s relentless hard work brings her recognition, friendship—and a growing closeness with Sky, a prince turned training partner. But has she simply exchanged one prison for another? As her kingdom barrels toward destruction, Meilin begins to have visions of a sea dragon spirit that offers her true power and freedom, but with a deadly price.
With the future of the Three Kingdoms hanging in the balance, Meilin will need to decide whom to trust—Sky, who inspires her loyalty and love; the sea dragon spirit, who has his own murky agenda; or an infuriating enemy prince who makes her question everything she once knew—about her kingdom and about her own heart.
Masquerade by O.O. Sangoyomi
Release Date: July 2 from Forge Books
Why We’re Excited: A Persephone-inspired fantasy story set in 15th-century West Africa, O.O. Sangoyomi’s debut Masquerade is pretty much targeted at me, specifically. Particularly vivid worldbuilding and political intrigue are a bonus.
Publisher’s Description: Òdòdó’s hometown of Timbuktu has been conquered by the warrior king of Yorùbáland. Already shunned as social pariahs, living conditions for Òdòdó and the other women in her blacksmith guild grow even worse under Yorùbá rule.
Then Òdòdó is abducted. She is whisked across the Sahara to the capital city of Ṣàngótẹ̀, where she is shocked to discover that her kidnapper is none other than the vagrant who had visited her guild just days prior. But now that he is swathed in riches rather than rags, Òdòdó realizes he is not a vagrant at all; he is the warrior king, and he has chosen her to be his wife.
In a sudden change of fortune, Òdòdó soars to the very heights of society. But after a lifetime of subjugation, the power that saturates this world of battle and political savvy becomes too enticing to resist. As tensions with rival states grow, revealing elaborate schemes and enemies hidden in plain sight, Òdòdó must defy the cruel king she has been forced to wed by re-forging the shaky loyalties of the court in her favor, or risk losing everything—including her life.
The Blood Dimmed Tide by Stephen Aryan
Release Date: July 9 from Angry Robot
Why We’re Excited: The Judas Blossom was one of last year’s most underrated historical fantasies, so none of us should sleep on sequel The Blood Dimmed Tide. The first book in Stephen Aryan’s Nightingale and the Falcon series took its time introducing a magical element into its slow-burn reimagining of the Mongol invasion of Persia, but this second installment certainly doesn’t have that problem.
Publisher’s Description: Kaivon, the last Persian General, is celebrating as Hulagu Khan’s dream of conquering the whole world lies in tatters. But the fight is not yet done, as Persia is still occupied by Mongol invaders.
Betrayed by his cousin in the north, Hulagu must strike back at the Golden Horde, weakening the Mongol Empire even further with another civil war.
Temujin, the youngest son of Hulagu, has developed abilities that can destroy a city’s walls in a heartbeat. Unwilling to trust his father with something so powerful, he abandons the Empire. Recruited by others like him, Temujin seeks to restore balance to the world, whilst learning more about what he has become.
Kokochin is the newest member of a secret society that protects Persia. She has found her purpose, but her double life has been exposed. Now, she must find a way to escape the clutches of Empress, who seeks to use Kokochin’s abilities to further their husband’s plans of conquest.
Deep within the Empire, a new threat is rising. One so dangerous that it could overshadow the legacy of Genghis Khan and change the world.
The Sky on Fire by Jenn Lyons
Release Date: July 9 from Tor Books
Why We’re Excited: A new standalone high fantasy adventure from the critically acclaimed author of the Chorus of Dragons series that features conniving dragons, lightning banter, and high-stakes intrigue. Yes, please.
Publisher’s Description: Anahrod lives only for survival, preferring to thrive in the jungles of the Deep with the titan drake she keeps by her side. When an adventuring party saves her from capture by the local warlord, Sicaryon, she is eager to return to her solitary life, but this is no ordinary rescue. Anahrod’s past has caught up with her. And these cunning misfits intend to spirit her away to the cloud cities, where they need her help to steal from a dragon’s hoard.
There’s only one in the cloud cities, dragons rule, and the hoard in question belongs to the current regent, Neveranimas―and she wants Anahrod dead.
Shadowstitch by Cari Thomas
Release Date: July 9 from HarperVoyager
Why We’re Excited: This sequel to Cari Thomas’s Threadneedle will take us further into the magical underworld of London, and delve further into Anna’s unique magical abilities, as a deadly witch hunt looms around both her and her coven.
Publisher’s Description: Anna survived the attempt to bind her magic, but Anna and her coven aren’t free from danger yet.
Haunted by her aunt’s death, living in fear of her curse, and fated to love the one man she can never have, the last thing Anna needs is a witch hunt. Now she must conceal her magic once more or risk losing everything.
But when deadly hysteria strikes across the capital, and in her own school, the coven are left dangerously exposed. Delving deeper into the magical underworld of London, Anna and her twin sister Effie must find a way to work together to protect the coven.
But as the witch hunt intensifies and the hysteria spirals out of control, can Effie and Anna truly trust each other?
Navola by Paolo Bacigalupi
Release Date: July 9 from Knopf
Why We’re Excited: Lots of epic fantasies get compared to Game of Thrones these days. But this sweeping literary tale of the young heir of an influential banking family who faces rebellion as he ascends to power in a world inspired by 15th-century Florence might actually deserve it.
Publisher’s Description: In Navola, a bustling city-state dominated by a handful of influential families, business is power, and power is everything. For generations, the di Regulai family—merchant bankers with a vast empire—has nurtured tendrils that stretch to the farthest reaches of the known world. And though they claim not to be political, their staggering wealth has bought cities and toppled kingdoms. Soon, Davico di Regulai will be expected to take the reins of power from his father and demonstrate his mastery of the games of Navolese knowing who to trust and who to doubt, and how to read what lies hidden behind a smile. But in Navola, strange and ancient undercurrents lurk behind the gilt and grandeur—like the fossilized dragon eye in the family’s possession, a potent symbol of their raw power and a talisman that seems to be summoning Davico to act.
As tensions rise and the events unfold, Davico will be tested to his limits. His fate depends on the eldritch dragon relic and on what lies buried in the heart of his adopted sister, Celia di Balcosi, whose own family was destroyed by Nalova’s twisted politics.
The Bright Sword by Lev Grossman
Release Date: July 16 from Viking
Why We’re Excited: A doorstopper of an Arthurian retelling from the author of The Magicians trilogy, The Bright Sword offers a fresh take on the story by considering what comes after King Arthur. Here, the king is dead, many of his knights perished at the Battle of Camlann, and it is left up to Collum—a young freshly arrived at Camelot just as it’s too late—-to try and hold Arthur’s legacy together. It isn’t quite The Once and Future King come back to us….but it’s not far off either.
Publisher’s Description: A gifted young knight named Collum arrives at Camelot to compete for a spot on the Round Table, only to find he’s too late. The king died two weeks ago at the Battle of Camlann, leaving no heir, and only a handful of the knights of the Round Table survive.
They aren’t the heroes of legend, like Lancelot or Gawain. They’re the oddballs of the Round Tables, from the edges of the stories, like Sir Palomides; the Saracen Knight; and Sir Dagonet, Arthur’s fool, who was knighted as a joke. They’re joined by Nimue, who was Merlin’s apprentice until she turned on him and buried him under a hill. Together this ragtag fellowship will set out to rebuild Camelot in a world that has lost its balance.
But Arthur’s death has revealed Britain’s fault lines. God has abandoned it, and the fairies and monsters and old gods are returning, led by Arthur’s half-sister Morgan le Fay. Kingdoms are turning on each other, warlords are laying siege to Camelot, and rival factions are forming around the disgraced Lancelot and the fallen Queen Guinevere. It is up to Collum and his companions to reclaim Excalibur, solve the mysteries of this ruined world and make it whole again. But before they can restore Camelot they’ll have to learn the truth of why the lonely, brilliant King Arthur fell and lay to rest the ghosts of his troubled family and of Britain’s dark past.
The Black Bird Oracle by Deborah Harkness
Release Date: July 16 from Ballantine Books
Why We’re Excited: The long-awaited fifth installment in Deborah Harkness’s All Souls series will see witch Diana Bishop explore the darkest places of her psyche—and her family’s history.
Publisher’s Description: Deborah Harkness first introduced the world to Diana Bishop, an Oxford scholar and witch, and vampire geneticist Matthew de Clermont in A Discovery of Witches. Drawn to each other despite long-standing taboos, these two otherworldly beings found themselves at the center of a battle for a lost, enchanted manuscript known as Ashmole 782. Since then, they have fallen in love, traveled to Elizabethan England, dissolved the Covenant between the three species, and awoken the dark powers within Diana’s family line.
Now, Diana and Matthew receive a formal demand from the Congregation: They must test the magic of their seven-year-old twins, Pip and Rebecca. Concerned with their safety and desperate to avoid the same fate that led her parents to spellbind her, Diana decides to forge a different path for her family’s future and answers a message from a great-aunt she never knew existed, Gwyneth Proctor, whose invitation simply reads: It’s time you came home, Diana.
On the hallowed ground of Ravenswood, the Proctor family home, and under the tutelage of Gwyneth, a talented witch grounded in higher magic, a new era begins for Diana: a confrontation with her family’s dark past and a reckoning for her own desire for even greater power—if she can let go, finally, of her fear of wielding it.
Long Live Evil by Sarah Rees Brennan
Release Date: July 30 from Orbit
Why We’re Excited: The adult debut from YA author Sarah Rees Brennan, Long Live Evil takes a favorite trope (a real-world reader who crosses over into the pages of a fictional story) and gives it a thrilling new twist (she’s actually the evil sorceress in her favorite fantasy tale). Entertaining, subversive, and downright fun, Brennan delights in turning expected aspects of the familiar villain’s tale on their heads and asking readers to consider whether the bad guys are really….all that bad.
Publisher’s Description: When her whole life collapsed, Rae still had books. Dying, she seizes a second chance at living: a magical bargain that lets her enter the world of her favourite fantasy series.
She wakes in a castle on the edge of a hellish chasm, in a kingdom on the brink of war. Home to dangerous monsters, scheming courtiers and her favourite fictional character: the Once and Forever Emperor. He’s impossibly alluring, as only fiction can be. And in this fantasy world, she discovers she’s not the heroine, but the villainess in the Emperor’s tale.
So be it. The wicked are better dressed, with better one-liners, even if they’re doomed to bad ends. She assembles the wildly disparate villains of the story under her evil leadership, plotting to change their fate. But as the body count rises and the Emperor’s fury increases, it seems Rae and her allies may not survive to see the final page.
A Sorceress Comes to Call by T. Kingfisher
Release Date: August 6 from Tor Books
Why We’re Excited: At this point, I’m basically willing to read T. Kingfisher’s grocery list, so the idea that she’s releasing a dark, complicated retelling of The Goose Girl this summer is all I need to know. (If you don’t get it, please go read her recent fantasies Thornhedge or Nettle and Bone while we wait.)
Publisher’s Description: Cordelia knows her mother is . . . unusual. Their house doesn’t have any doors between rooms—there are no secrets in this house—and her mother doesn’t allow Cordelia to have a single friend. Unless you count Falada, her mother’s beautiful white horse. The only time Cordelia feels truly free is on her daily rides with him.
But more than simple eccentricity sets her mother apart. Other mothers don’t force their daughters to be silent and motionless for hours, sometimes days, on end. Other mothers aren’t evil sorcerers.
When her mother unexpectedly moves them into the manor home of a wealthy older Squire and his kind but keen-eyed sister, Hester, Cordelia knows this welcoming pair are to be her mother’s next victims. But Cordelia feels at home for the very first time among these people, and as her mother’s plans darken, she must decide how to face the woman who raised her to save the people who have become like family.
The Dead Cat Tail Assassins by P. Djeli Clark
Release Date: August 6 from Tordotcom
Why We’re Excited: This fantastical, steam-punkish story about a group of assassins who are not cats and who do not possess tails, but are most assuredly dead is an entertaining, fast-paced and decidedly quirky romp.
Publisher’s Description: Eveen the Eviscerator is skilled, discreet, professional, and here for your most pressing needs in the ancient city of Tal Abisi. Her guild is strong, her blades are sharp, and her rules are simple. Those sworn to the Matron of Assassins―resurrected, deadly, wiped of their memories―have only three unbreakable vows.
First, the contract must be just. That’s above Eveen’s pay grade.
Second, even the most powerful assassin may only kill the contracted. Eveen’s a professional. She’s never missed her mark.
The third and the once you accept a job, you must carry it out. And if you stray? A final death would be a mercy. When the Festival of the Clockwork King turns the city upside down, Eveen’s newest mission brings her face-to-face with a past she isn’t supposed to remember and a vow she can’t forget.
Lady Macbeth by Ava Reid
Release Date: August 13 from Del Ray
Why We’re Excited: An ambitious and atmospheric reimagining of William Shakespeare’s Macbeth from Ava Reid, author of feminist, gothic-tinged tales that wrestle with complex issues of trauma and agency. (See also: A Study and Drowning and Juniper and Thorn.) Containing everything from dark magic to dragons, Lady Macbeth feels like a book everyone will be talking about this summer in one way or another.
Publisher’s 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 kno 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.
The Phoenix Keeper by S.A. Maclean
Release Date: August 13 from Orbit
Why We’re Excited: A super cozy fantasy that follows the story of a phoenix keeper working at a zoo filled with magical animals while trying to save a critically endangered species is pretty much everything I never knew I needed. Bring on the sweet, low-stakes romantasy stories that aren’t driven by trauma or betrayal, publishing world.
Publisher’s Description: As head phoenix keeper at a world-renowned zoo for magical creatures, Aila’s childhood dream of conserving critically endangered firebirds seems closer than ever. There’s just one glaring her zoo’s breeding program hasn’t functioned for a decade. When a tragic phoenix heist sabotages the flagship initiative at a neighboring zoo, Aila must prove her derelict facilities are fit to take the reins.But saving an entire species from extinction requires more than stellar animal handling skills. Carnivorous water horses, tempestuous thunderhawks, mischievous dragons… Aila has no problem wrangling beasts. Inspiring zoo patrons? That’s another story. Mustering the courage to ask for help from the hotshot griffin keeper at the zoo’s most popular exhibit? Virtually impossible.Especially when that hotshot griffin keeper happens to be her arch-rival from Luciana, an annoyingly brooding and insufferable know-it-all with the grace of a basilisk and the face of a goddess, who’s convinced that Aila’s beloved phoenix would serve their cause better as an active performer rather than a passive conservation exhibit.With the world watching and the threat of poachers looming, Aila’s success isn’t only a matter of keeping her the future of a species depends on her.
Between Dragons and Their Wrath by Devin Madson
Release Date: August 27 from Orbit
Why We’re Excited: The current dragon obsession in fantasy publishing is 1.) amazing and 2.) targeted at me specifically.
Publisher’s Description: When dragons rage, chaos reigns.
Conquest built the Celes Basin, now enemies once more threaten its borders. But when the Lord Reacher declares himself supreme ruler to enforce unity, old angers erupt, threatening to tear the basin apart from within.
Tesha, a glassblower’s apprentice with a talent for poisonwork, becomes a false tribute bride as part of a desperate political plot. In the Reacher’s court, she’s perfectly placed to sabotage him, but her heart has other plans.
Naili is laundress to an eccentric alchemist, a job that has left her with strange new abilities that are slowly consuming her—and attracting the notice of the city’s underground rulers. With time running out, she’ll have to gain power by any means just to survive, let alone change the world.
And in the desolate Shield Mountains, sharp-shooting dragon rider Ashadi protects the basin from the monsters of The Sands beyond, but when an impossible shot pierces his dragon’s glass scales, he becomes the hunted one.
As chaos sweeps across the land, Tesha, Naili, and Ashadi must fight to survive political enemies, long-buried secrets, and monsters both within and without.
Lacy Baugher Milas is the Books Editor at Paste Magazine, but loves nerding out about all sorts of pop culture. You can find her on Twitter @LacyMB