This glittering tale of 1920s London and Egypt from Graudin (The Enchanted Lies of Céleste Artois) kicks off when Ezra Bright runs into his half-sister, Lady Elizabeth “Biz” Ellington, at the British Museum after hours. Scholarly Ezra is there working on his dissertation, while socialite Biz is participating in a treasure hunt game. Ezra allows himself to be swept back into Biz’s orbit in the hopes of reconnecting with her after the death of their brother, George, in WWI. This decision reunites him with Vincent, his former lover at Oxford and now Biz’s fiancé, and introduces him to heiress Celia Sinclair, who reveals to Ezra that the hallucinations and madness he’s feared all his life are signs that he is truly magic. She also cautions him that the British Order seeks to bring all magicians under its control, and uses elaborate parties to syphon power from the uninitiated. Ezra joins Celia in breaking into the Order’s secret vault to reclaim the inheritance it stole from Celia—and discovers a relic belonging to his own mother. Stealing it back sets the Order on them and begins a race to Egypt to find the treasure Ezra’s mother’s relic leads to, a treasure the Order suspects enables resurrection of the dead. Fast, taut, and action-packed, this page-turner balances fun and glamor with grief and depth. (Sept.)

Reviewed on 10/16/2026 | Details & Permalink

Hyunh (The Fortunes of Jaded Women) delivers an eerie dystopian tale worthy of a Black Mirror episode. In a near-future matriarchal society where men are socially sidelined, Lena Do is overworked and burned out in her corporate finance job. Then she comes across recruiting ads for Hatch, a glossy startup offering a beautiful home, security, and robotic domestic assistance in a state-supported motherhood compound: “All you have to do is exchange your corporate labor for child labor!” Behind the baroque iron gate of Hatch’s compound, Lena finds an idyllic world of koi ponds, plentiful green juice, and an old-timey soda shop. Some oddities are also immediately evident, however, including the security cameras trained on residents, live-streaming drones, and not a man in sight. As her time there progresses, she notices gaps in her memory and those of her newfound friends, meets odd children, and notices women going missing. Flashbacks to Lena’s childhood with her mother are the book’s greatest strength, showing how she grew up in the home of a brilliant roboticist who loved her daughter but couldn’t show it in a way a child could understand. Though the twists are easy to spot and the many themes become a bit jumbled, Hyunh’s satire still has bite. Fans of Jessamine Chan and Ashley Winstead should check this out. Agent: Jordan Hill, New Leaf Literary. (Dec.)

Reviewed on 10/16/2026 | Details & Permalink

Solomon debuts with a zippy fantasy rom-com following Pearly Gates, who is probably the afterlife’s most fabulous drag queen—until her soulmate leaves her, fed up with her inability to change and grow, even after multiple reincarnations. Single, heartbroken, and staring down the unsatisfying remnants of her afterlife, she heads to the celestial bar. There, she befriends an overworked White Robe, one of the afterlife elite responsible for guiding human souls while still alive, and impulsively offers to take over his caseload while he gets a much-needed vacation, which might finally prove to her bosses that she’s ready for a promotion. Suddenly Pearly is deep in small-town Illinois, looking after three troubled souls: a young widow who can’t move on, a recent college grad with only months to live, and a partially closeted trans woman trying to fit her true self into her old life. Seems like nothing some of Pearly’s sparkle can’t fix—until she realizes that the gorgeous barista running the town’s coffee shop is her reincarnated soulmate. Now she must not only help her three charges toward their happy endings but also reclaim her own. There’s a lot of heart and humor to this quest, and Solomon is refreshingly unafraid to explore Pearly’s faults and foibles. Fabulous, funny, and sweet as a pumpkin spice latte, this hits the spot. (Self-published)

Reviewed on 10/16/2026 | Details & Permalink

Mostyn-Brown debuts with a taut family drama with a bloody twist. Rosie Armstrong; her brother, Sam; and their mother, Talia, are a reclusive family in constant flight from the consequences of Sam and Talia’s unfortunate shared genetic trait: the need to consume human meat to survive. Rosie, like her late father, has escaped the family curse, but this makes her a target of her paternal grandmother, Vera, a proud cannibal who has been searching for a genetic “cure” to reverse both Rosie and her father’s ordinariness. For Vera, the only thing that matters is genetic purity and the continuation of the Armstrong line and she will stop at nothing to succeed in her quest. It becomes clear that the latest small town Rosie and her family settle in is unlike any that came before when they’re introduced to the first family outside of their own with the same unnatural appetite. As Vera closes in for the kill, it becomes a vicious fight for survival. The fast-paced action, uncomplicated characters (fabulous villain Vera is a highlight), and cinematic gore make for a page-turner that doesn’t take itself too seriously. Horror fans are sure to have a good time. (Sept.)

Reviewed on 10/09/2026 | Details & Permalink

Returning to Aurora, planet of the giant, deadly lizard-like armadons first visited in 2026’s To Tread Obsidian Shores, the elite Bronze Legion finds more trouble with politics than with the local fauna in this rip-roaring space adventure from Cordova and Olthoff. Private Diego Tavi, hero of the previous mission, now owes a debt to Aurora’s acting governor, Sir Percival Norwood III. Meanwhile, Lt. Astra “Blue” Eliassen finds maneuvering her Rhino dropship far easier than avoiding her mother’s attempts to match her up with an eligible senator, in spite of Blue’s current interest in the senator’s younger brother, Ensign Garrett “Hotness” Campbell. Things heat up when the mystery of how and why the armadons are capable of using gunpowder weapons explodes into vicious first contact with an alien species that clearly resents humans trespassing on their turf. Cordova and Olthoff bring together the usual cadre of resolute troopers, hard-nosed squad leaders, and grizzled vets who cheer them on to greater glory, even as the specter of loss and the toll of warfare hang heavy over the gung-ho action. This series has legs. (Dec.)

Reviewed on 10/09/2026 | Details & Permalink

Though of noble birth, Elisa von Ahlefeldt, the heroine of this lyrical but rocky riff on the Brothers Grimm tale “The Wild Swans” from Bea (The Changeling Queen), is “elf-wild,” preferring the trees of the woods to the walls of her castle. In the woods, Elisa befriends Nuve, an ash-tree maiden who teaches her nature magic and warns her of the threat of hexen, witches who wish to see the land razed. Elisa’s father’s new bride is one such hexe, a cruel woman who transforms Elisa’s six brothers into swans and influences Elisa’s father to cast her out of his life, exiling her to the woods. Years pass as Elisa works desperately to break her brothers’ curse. To do so, Nuve explains, she must craft six magical shirts out of nettles while under a vow of silence. The stakes rise when, still upholding this vow, she hatches a scheme to impersonate a noble woman as part of her efforts to save her family. Bea’s graceful prose conjures a breathtaking woodland atmosphere and Elisa makes for a captivating heroine even when she’s not speaking. Unfortunately, the plot meanders and the pace often lags, with no real weight given to the passing of time and not enough character development along the way. This is a mixed bag. (Dec.)

Reviewed on 10/09/2026 | Details & Permalink

Centered around a deadly tabletop role-playing game, this unsettling and formally audacious horror outing from Winkler (The Nothing That Is) is told entirely through documents, including after-game reports, emails, therapy transcripts, police logs, and excerpts from the game itself. Cole Wyler, a bartender with a side hustle playtesting board games, and his wife, Lorraine, receive a “staggering number of materials” forming an obscure new TTRPG called The Ship of Death, designed by X.J. Mordan. The game follows the crew of the Krirruk, a cursed landship, as they sail across the hostile Mishilect to bring a new deity into being. From the couple’s first session, the boundary between play and reality thins: soon, Lorraine’s using her own blood to create character sigils and has started sleepwalking and praying in an unknown language. Meanwhile, the couple meet a mysterious stranger named Javier, who introduces himself as a “traveling consultant” specializing in “end of life matters.” As Javier joins the play, Michael’s reports grow increasingly intense and the game’s demands escalate. Winkler’s commitment to the epistolary conceit is both the book’s greatest strength and its chief liability, as the novelistic precision of Michael’s reports occasionally strains plausibility. Still, Winkler manages to generate a potent sense of otherworldly dread. For readers who relish cosmic horror and TTRPG culture, this daring experiment makes play feel perilously consequential. (Sept.)

Reviewed on 10/09/2026 | Details & Permalink

Superhero ethics come under scrutiny in this electric fantasy romance series launch from Raasch (The Fake Divination Offense). Lux, a tech genius descended from the Greek god Zeus, breaks into a safe deposit box belonging to his older brother, widely beloved but secretly corrupt superhero Castor, while Castor is fending off a harpy attack. In addition to the bank account information Lux will use to repay losses caused by Castor’s reckless heroics, he finds a hunk of pandora metal, the only substance known to kill gods, suggesting Castor has some deeper, more nefarious scheme cooking. After Castor disappears mid-harpy fight, his friend Erik, a superhero descendant of Thor, rescues Lux from the collapsing bank. To quell public concern, the New York Hero Council provisionally invites Lux to join them, despite suspicion on both sides. As Lux wrestles with his long nursed crush on Erik, he discovers that Erik, refreshingly, shares some doubts about Castor’s motivations. Together the duo sets out in search of both Castor and proof of his crimes. Lux’s snarky voice, the genuine chemistry between the leads, and the subversion of superhero tropes make for fun and frothy reading. Raasch is good at what she does. Agent: Michelle Wolfson, Wolfson Literary. (Dec.)

Reviewed on 10/09/2026 | Details & Permalink

Lovewell’s spirited fantasy debut follows a potion maker who must hide her true powers while traveling with a snake oil salesman. Ella Strange swore an oath to do no harm with her potions. She practices her magic in secret under the cover of a traveling medicine show to avoid the disdain and ignorance of the general populace. When the show sets up shop in a remote town, they learn too late it’s full of light-worshipping zealots, “fire and brimstone types” who fear and persecute witchcraft. In the aftermath of this discovery, Ella and her con artist business partner, Doc Caspien, flee for their lives, pursued by the unrelenting Mavis Hornby and her team of enforcers. Ella and Doc are soon joined by tavern owner Rolli and his little sister, Kimmie, who are also targets of Mavis’s ruthless crusade. Making their way through the wilderness, always one step ahead of disaster, this unlikely quartet slowly bonds. But only by pushing Ella’s potion-making talents to their limits can she and her newfound friends hope to survive. Lovewell conjures a cozy yet occasionally harrowing romp through a fantastical frontier setting with danger lurking at every turn. With a focus on found family and shared risk, the story’s stakes feel personal and intimate. Add in a subtle hint of romance and plenty of sequel potential and this is sure to have readers hooked. (Dec.)

Reviewed on 10/09/2026 | Details & Permalink

West’s fast-paced and humorous fantasy debut chronicles the adventures of a reformed warlord. The ruthless Morfran the Beheader, Dark Lord of Ruthven™, has had a change of heart after all the bloodshed and pillaging, evildoing he now blames on his sorceress wife, Ravana. He’s managed to escape Castle Atrago to become a goat farmer and make delicious jam in peace. When Ravena sends a threatening note (“Found you”), he packs up his goat, Benjamin, and her two kids, and flees. In the forest, he encounters the formidable Brim, who is mounting a rebellion against the Dark Lord. At first accused of being a spy, Morfran convinces them he’s Bernard, one of Morfran’s generals who defected. Afraid of what Ravana will do if she finds him, Morfran reluctantly agrees to be Brim’s battle strategist for their assault on the city of Ferndock. Morfran fights alongside Brim; Brim’s assassin daughter, Bronwen; the arrogant knight Gueldefore, with his majestic butt chin; the muscular, stuffed animal–obsessed manchild Rapunzo; and others, all while making sure he outwits his own army, keeps the trust of Brim’s men, and conceals his true identity. There’s lots of wit, snark, and charm along the way, with hilarious anachronisms and forays into mixed-up fairy tales. This playful swashbuckling adventure is a gem. (Sept.)

Reviewed on 10/09/2026 | Details & Permalink