47 New Sci-Fi and Fantasy Books to Start 2022 Off Right

47 New Sci-Fi and Fantasy Books to Start 2022 Off Right

Forget quitting booze or starting an exercise regime — the only New Year’s resolution worth making (because it’s the most fun to stick with) is “read more books.” Gizmodo’s got you covered with a robust list of sci-fi and fantasy releases coming in January, including new titles from James Rollins, Charles Stross, Nnedi Okorafor, Tochi Onyebuchi and many more.

Image: Subterranean Press
Image: Subterranean Press

Holy Terror by Cherie Priest

The author’s first short-story collection spans tales of World War II-era dragons, steampunk zombies, vanishing 19th century boats, and lots more. (January 1)

Image: Thomas & Mercer
Image: Thomas & Mercer

Murder at Teal’s Pond: Hazel Drew and the Mystery That Inspired Twin Peaks by David Bushman and Mark T. Givens

OK, technically this isn’t a sci-fi or fantasy book, but it is a true-crime history tale examining a 1908 murder that remains unsolved — and whose puzzling details later inspired the story of Laura Palmer on Twin Peaks. (January 1)

Image: Razorbill
Image: Razorbill

Echoes and Empires by Morgan Rhodes

A new fantasy duology begins as a young woman becomes accidentally infected by a warlock’s spell — something she’ll have to get rid of quickly (because all magic is deadly) and discreetly (because all magic is illegal). (January 4)

Image: Clarion Books
Image: Clarion Books

The Ivory Key by Akshaya Raman

This first book in an Indian-inspired fantasy duology follows four royal siblings who must put aside their differences and find a new magic source to save their country from a devastating war. (January 4)

Image: Bloomsbury YA
Image: Bloomsbury YA

Spin Me Right Round by David Valdes

A gay teen time-travels back to 1985 — when his mother and his homophobic father were the age he is now — hoping to rewrite history and save a closeted student in this tale, which is billed as “Back to the Future with a twist.” (January 4)

Image: Del Rey
Image: Del Rey

Star Wars The High Republic: The Fallen Star by Claudia Grey

This sequel to The Rising Storm finds the Jedi doing their best to protect the Outer Rim’s Starlight Beacon from the rampaging Nihil. Read an excerpt here! (January 4)

Image: Tor Books
Image: Tor Books

The Starless Crown by James Rollins

When a student has a vision of the apocalypse, she gets a death sentence in return — so she goes on the run and soon falls in with a ragtag crew that includes a battered soldier, a misfit prince, and a thief in possession of a remarkable artefact. Read an excerpt here. (January 4)

Image: Mariner Books
Image: Mariner Books

The Unfamiliar Garden by Benjamin Percy

The Comet Cycle continues as biologist Jack and homicide detective Nora — estranged since their daughter’s disappearance in the wake of a comet dropping mysterious debris on Earth — are drawn back together when his discovery of a new fungus ties into the series of ritualistic murders that she’s investigating. (January 4)

Image: Flatiron Books
Image: Flatiron Books

Waking Romeo by Kathryn Barker

A retelling of Romeo and Juliet set in the year 2083, in a world where time-travel exists — but only if you want to go forward — and where Romeo lies in a coma while his true love tries to figure out what to do next. (January 4)

Image: Tordotcom
Image: Tordotcom

Where the Drowned Girls Go by Seanan McGuire

The Wayward Children series continues as the kids enrolled at an anti-magic school — a place not at all as welcoming as Eleanor West’s Home for Wayward Children — stage a rebellion against their teachers. (January 4)

Image: Hot Key Books
Image: Hot Key Books

Fall of the Argosi by Sebastien de Castell

A wandering philosopher teams up with a deaf child to try and stop a plague that’s being passed around by a rather sinister verse — if you hear it, you turn into a human-slaughtering monster. (January 10)

Image: DAW
Image: DAW

The Amber Crown by Jacey Bedford

The king is dead — but that doesn’t mean his ghost isn’t still handing down orders. A failed bodyguard, a witch, and the assassin who was hired to kill the king are the unlikely trio charged with figuring out who exactly paid the assassin — and with making sure the wrong royal doesn’t end up on the throne. (January 11)

Image: Tordotcom
Image: Tordotcom

Battle of the Linguist Mages by Scotto Moore

Dive into the world of “combat linguistics” in this tale, which follows a VR game champion who must take a stand against the spellcasting anarchists (who have some terrifying inter-dimensional allies) trying to take over California. (January 11)

Image: Razorbill
Image: Razorbill

The Bone Spindle by Leslie Vedder

The pitch on this fairy tale-inspired story is “Sleeping Beauty meets Indiana Jones;” it’s about a treasure hunter and a warrior who team up to break the curse that’s got its hold on a slumbering prince (January 11)

Image: Wednesday Books
Image: Wednesday Books

Cold the Night, Fast the Wolves by Meg Long

In this fantasy riff on a classic survival narrative, girl and her wolf pal must dodge ice goblins, huge bears, and the malevolent ruler who’s chasing both of them across a frozen planet. (January 11)

Image: Harper Voyager
Image: Harper Voyager

Daughter of the Moon Goddess by Sue Lynn Tan

The legend of the Chinese moon goddess inspires this fantasy about a young woman who goes on a quest to the Celestial Kingdom in disguise to learn magic — and hopefully, rescue her mother from exile. (January 11)

Image: Angry Robot
Image: Angry Robot

Deep Dive by Ron Walters

When an experimental VR headset transports a struggling video game designer into an alternate reality, he must figure out how to get back to his family in the real world before it’s too late. (January 11)

Image: Tor Books
Image: Tor Books

Gods and Dragons by Kevin J. Anderson

The Wake the Dragon series continues as tensions rise between the Three Kingdoms and Ishara — and the situation becomes even more complicated when a deadly ancient race begins to emerge again. (January 11)

Image: Clarion Books
Image: Clarion Books

The Monarchs by Danielle Page and Kass Morgan

The Ravens duology concludes as sisters at a sorority for witches discover a dangerous new form of magic, then must prevent a rival sorority from unleashing literal hell. (January 11)

Image: Holiday House
Image: Holiday House

Nightrender by Jodi Meadows

While human kingdoms fight a seemingly endless war, a demon invader makes itself known. The war could be ended with a promising marriage between a prince and princess from each side — but the other conflict requires the help of an immortal warrior who’s fond of killing royals. (January 11)

Image: Orbit
Image: Orbit

A Practical Guide to Conquering the World by K.J. Parker

After Sixteen Ways to Defend a Walled City and How to Rule an Empire and Get Away with It, the author’s witty trilogy about a scheming ne’er-do-well concludes with this entry. (January 11)

Image: Tordotcom
Image: Tordotcom

Quantum of Nightmares by Charles Stross

Espionage meets Lovecraft horrors in this Laundry Files entry, which sees a quartet of supernaturally charged stories intertwine in a Britain run by a Prime Minister who happens to be an eldritch god. (January 11)

Image: Del Rey
Image: Del Rey

The Shattered Skies by John Birmingham

In this sequel to The Cruel Stars, a small group of heroes have managed to repel a powerful enemy hellbent on eliminating any human with genetic or neural engineering. But now comes the hard part: rebuilding Earth’s civilisation while remaining on high alert for both new and familiar invaders. (January 11)

Image: DAW
Image: DAW

The Silver Bullets of Annie Oakley by Mercedes Lackey

The Elemental Masters alt-history series continues with Wild West legend Annie Oakley, who in this version is not only a talented sharpshooter, but also a magician who fights creatures of the night. (January 11)

Image: Viking Books for Young Readers
Image: Viking Books for Young Readers

Akata Woman by Nnedi Okorafor

After Akata Witch and Akata Warrior, the Nigerian folklore-inspired series continues as Sunny Nwazue undertakes a life-changing quest to an otherworldly realm, intent on recovering an object that could prevent the end of the world. (January 18)

Image: Wednesday Books
Image: Wednesday Books

Anatomy: A Love Story by Dana Schwartz

When an aspiring surgeon gets kicked out of school (because she’s a woman), she turns to a grave robber to supply the corpses that’ll help her continue her studies. But all is not well in Edinburgh, where people are vanishing, strangers are lurking, and dreadful plague has started to make a comeback. (January 18)

Image: Erewhon
Image: Erewhon

The Beholden by Cassandra Rose Clarke

Orphaned sisters — one magical, one elegant — ask a river goddess for help when they’re in danger of losing their land. But the favour they’re granted comes at a steep price, and they must embark on a dangerous and disruptive mission to pay their debt. Read an excerpt here. (January 18)

Image: Delacorte Press
Image: Delacorte Press

Bound by Firelight by Dana Swift

When the royal heir is mistakenly accused of unleashing devastation upon her kingdom, she’s sent to a magical fortress where a jailbreak seems impossible — but that’s just what her beloved is going to attempt to do. (January 18)

Image: Solaris
Image: Solaris

The Chosen Twelve by James Breakwell

Billed as “The Hunger Games meets Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy,” this sci-fi story pits 22 humans against each other to determine which 12 will get to depart their ship and actually begin colonising the planet they’ve arrived at. Some other complications, though: there are both monsters and killer robots. (January 18)

Image: Orbit
Image: Orbit

Engines of Empire by R.S. Ford

A new series begins as three siblings are sent to the far edges of their realm to oversee their nation’s valuable industries. What they find is surprising: a growing rebellion, dark magic that conceals a darker secret, and a dangerous deception that lands one of them in big trouble. (January 18) 

Image: Viking Books for Young Readers
Image: Viking Books for Young Readers

Game On edited by Laura Silverman

This anthology compiles 15 stories about gaming, from athletic competitions and tabletop competitors to video games and virtual reality. (January 18)

Image: William Morrow
Image: William Morrow

How High We Go in the Dark by Sequoia Nagamatsu

In the Arctic Circle, a long-dormant plague is accidentally unearthed by archaeologists working in the melting permafrost. In the aftermath, various human lives are forever altered, including a scientist who teaches a pig to talk and a grandmother and granddaughter who blast off in search of a new home planet. (January 18)

Image: Flame Tree Press
Image: Flame Tree Press

Mestiza Blood by V. Castro

This collection gathers stories from the author exploring “nightmares, dreams, desire, and visions centered around the Chicana experience.” (January 18)

Image: Tordotcom
Image: Tordotcom

Servant Mage by Kate Elliott

After she’s freed from indentured servitude, a fire mage lends her skills to a group of rebels — and ends up getting entangled in a royal conspiracy along the way. (January 18)

Image: St. Martin’s Press
Image: St. Martin’s Press

Such a Pretty Smile by Kristi DeMeester

In this horror novel, a mother and daughter must overcome darkness in their pasts to take down a killer known as “the Cur,” who targets young women that refuse to conform. (January 18)

Image: Third Man Books
Image: Third Man Books

Trouble the Waters: Tales From the Deep Blue edited by Sheree Renée Thomas, Pan Morrigan, and Troy L. Wiggins

An international array of authors including Nalo Hopkinson, Jaquira Diaz, Andrea Hairston, Linda D. Addison, Rion Amilcar Scott, Marie Vibbert, and Maurice Broaddus contribute to this anthology of “speculative fiction tales of ancient waters in all its myriad forms.” (January 18)

Image: MIRA
Image: MIRA

The Broken Tower by Kelly Braffet

This sequel to The Unwilling continues the story of Judah the Foundling, who’s now free from her castle prison but must now find her way alone through a strange forest. (January 25)

Image: Tordotcom
Image: Tordotcom

Goliath by Tochi Onyebuchi

The acclaimed author’s adult debut is set in the 2050s — when the rich have begun to depart Earth to populate space, and the people left behind struggle to survive on a dying planet — and follows different points of view on this unique vision of the future. (January 25)

Image: Black Spot Books
Image: Black Spot Books

Hold My Place by Cassondra Windwalker

A woman falls for a married man, but when his wife dies suddenly she realises women dying suddenly is a distressing pattern in his life. Things get even more distressing when the ghosts of his past begin to bleed into her present. (January 25)

Image: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
Image: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers

Into the Midnight Void by Mara Fitzgerald

This sequel to Beyond the Ruby Veil finds Emanuela enjoying her position of power — at least, until her magic begins to falter and she’s forced to make alliances with some of her most dreaded enemies. (January 25)

Image: MIRA
Image: MIRA

Light Years From Home by Mike Chen

Years after their father and brother vanished — (possibly) due to an alien abduction — a pair of sisters remain estranged due to their different perspectives on what really happened. When their brother suddenly reappears, they’ll need to reconnect fast to help him avoid the FBI and (possibly) hostile interstellar forces. (January 25)

Image: HQ
Image: HQ

Midnight in Everwood by M.A. Kuzniar

In this retelling of The Nutcracker, when an aspiring ballerina in 1906 Nottingham meets her new neighbour — an enigmatic toymaker — he brings magic and mystery into her life. (January 25)

Image: Angry Robot
Image: Angry Robot

Obsidian by Sarah Daley

A woman who’s the only witch in a land of wizards protects outcasts with her swords — until it becomes necessary to enhance her weaponry with a magic spell that could either save everyone or destroy her. (January 25)

Image: Thomas & Mercer
Image: Thomas & Mercer

Quicksilver by Dean Koontz

An orphan with no knowledge of his birth family grows up to discover he has unusual powers — and once the government learns about those powers, he’s forced to go on the run with sinister agents in pursuit. (January 25)

Image: St. Martin’s Press
Image: St. Martin’s Press

Road of Bones by Christopher Golden

In the frozen reaches of Siberia, a documentary filmmaker drives an infamous rural highway collecting local ghost stories and legends — until he reaches “the coldest place on Earth” and finds otherworldly beasts awaiting his arrival. (January 25)

Image: Tor Books
Image: Tor Books

Stan Lee’s the Devil’s Quintet: The Armageddon Code by Stan Lee and Jay Bonansinga

The work of the late Marvel comics legend inspired this thriller about a special ops unit whose members enhance their bad guy-nabbing skills with a little help from the Devil himself. (January 25)

Image: Dutton Books for Young Readers
Image: Dutton Books for Young Readers

Star Child: A Biographical Constellation of Octavia Estelle Butler by Ibi Zoboi

The highly acclaimed author (Parable of the Sower, Kindred) gets a creative biography focusing on her younger years, told in both poems and prose. Read an excerpt here. (January 25)


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