January is here and frankly it should have come earlier. We’re all tired but if there’s anything to recharge it’s the fantastic books. Books like Wings of Ebony, We Free The Stars, and Persphone Station! I’ve got a fantasy bite size book guide for January so you can easily browse for your tastes and see what peaks your interest.
Lore by Alexandra Bracken
Release Date: January 5th
Published by: Disney Hyperion
Subgenre: contemporary fantasy
Market: Young Adult
Short: Greek gods forced to walk the earth as mortals and are hunted by the descendants of ancient bloodlines in NYC.
Persephone Station by Stina Leict
Release date: January 5th
Published by: Gallery/Saga Press
Subgenre: space opera
Market: Adult
Short: The Mandalorian meets Cowboy Bebop. A bar owner caters to wannabe criminals and rich tourists.
Siege of Rage and Ruin by Django Wexler
Release date: January 5th
Published by: Tor Teen
Subgenre: epic fantasy
Market: Young Adult
Short: The third book in the trilogy featuring female warriors, magic, mages, and a ghost ship.
Across The Green Grass Fields by Seanan McGuire
Release date: January 12th
Published by: Tordotcom
Subgenre: Portal fantasy
Market: Adult
Short: a. young girl discovers a portal to a place of wonder with centaurs, unicorns, and kelpies.
The Frozen Crown by Greta Kelly
Release date: January 12th
Published by: Harper Voyager
Subgenre: Epic fantasy
Market: Adult
Short: A princess witch with a powerful and dangerous secret must save her country from invaders. A political fantasy for fans of Naomi Novik, S.A. Chakraborty, and R.F. Kuang.
The Ruthless Lady’s Guide To Wizardry by C.M. Waggoner
Release date: January 12th
Published by: Ace books
Subgenre: historical fantasy
Market: Adult
Short: A down-and-out fire witch and a young gentlewoman go up against a deadly conspiracy. An occasional thief, a con artist, fire witch is behind on her rent and gets herself a job asap to guard an imporant lady from unknown assassins.
We Lie With Death by Devin Madson
Release date: January 12th
Published by: Orbit Books
Subgenre: epic fantasy
Market: Adult
Short: The sequel to We Ride The Storm. An empress is detemined to save her empire as allies grow increasingly desperate.
The Brass Queen by Elizabeth Chatsworth
Release date: January 12th
Published by: CamCat Books
Subgenre: gaslight fantasy, romantic fantasy
Market: Adult
Short: 1897 but with magic, including British aristocrats and a US spy.
Blood Heir by Ilona Andrews
Release date: January 12th
Published by: NYLA
Subgenre: Urban Fantasy, dystopia
Market: Adult
Short: an all new series in the Kate Daniels World but centering her adopted daughter, Julie Lennart-Olsen.
Hall of Smoke by H.M. Long
Release date: January 19th
Published by: Titan books
Subgenre: epic fantasy
Market: Adult
Short: An epic fantasy with warrior priestesses, fickle gods, revenge, and a battle between the gods of the Old World and the New.
Remote Control by Nnedi Okorafor
Release date: January 19th
Published by: Tordotcom Publishing
Subgenre: futuristic
Market: Adult
Short: The adopted daughter of the Angel of Death. Her touch is death, a town can fall with but a glance from her.
Rise of The Red Hand by Olivia Chadha
Release date: January 19th
Published by: Erewhon Books
Subgenre: science fiction, dystopia
Market: Young Adult
Short: an imagined world where South Asia is at the center of climate change. A revolutionary and a hacker take down a technocratic government sacrificing its poorest citizens. Robotics, cyborgs, rising se levels, and dead superbugs all tucked into a debut novel.
Amari and The Night Brothers by B.B. Alston
Release date: January 19th
Published by: Balzer + Bray
Subgenre: paranormal, magic school
Market: Middle Grade
Short: Artemis Fowl meets Men In Black.
The Forever Sea by Joshua Phillip Johnson
Release date: January 19th
Published by: DAW
Subgenre: epic fantasy, environmental fantasy
Short: Ships travel afloat via magical hearthfires on an endless, miles high grass sea. A mage wields power with her voice and shapes the bones of captains to keep her ship afloat. A water war starts to simmer and a mythical pirate city floats beyond the safety of the seas.
The Mask of Mirrors by M.A. Carrick
Release date: January 19th
Published by: Orbit Books
Subgenre: epic fantasy
Market: Adult
Short: A dark and magical fantasy set in a normalized queer world where a con artist slides into the hearts of aristocratic houses.
We Free The Stars by Hafsah Faizal
Release date: January 19th
Published by: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Subgenre: Epic fantasy
Market: Young Adult
Short: The sequel to We Hunt The Flame. The Zumra’s dangerous shenanigans continue all the while Faizal writes gorgeous prose (romantic gazing is almost guaranteed.) Inspired by ancient Arabia and its mythology.
Winterkeep by Kristin Cashore
Release date: January 19th
Published by: Dial books
Subgenre: epic fantasy
Market: Young Adult
Short: A new novel in the Graceling Relam series. Bitterblue reigns as Queen of Monsea. Winterkeep, a place where telepathic foxes bond with humans and people fly in airships.
A Vow So Bold And Deadly by Brigid Kemmerer
Release date: January 26th
Published by: Bloomsbury YA
Subgenre: portal fantasy
Market: Young Adult
Short: The Cursebreaker series continues. This series is a reimagining of Beauty and the Beast but with a dark twist. Instead, the prince is forced to repeast his quest to find true love over each season.
The Mask Falling by Samantha Shannon
Release date: January 26th
Published by: Bloomsbury
Subgenre: urban fantasy
Market: Young Adult
Short: The fourth novel in the world of Scion. Set in the Scion Citadel of Paris, a young girl adventures from the catacombs of Paris to the glittering hallways of Versailles and into a Parisian underworld. Revolution begins with her.
Brother Red by Adrian Selby
Release date: January 26th
Published by: Orbit Books
Subgenre: epic fantasy
Market: Adult
Short: a dark epic fantasy following a soldier torn between her family and her quest to save her home.
Shadow City by Francesca Flores
Release date: January 26th
Published by: Wednesday Books
Subgenre: urban fantasy
Market: Young Adult
Short: A fantasy about a street girl fighting her way through criminal ranks by controling an assassin empire. A new civil war brews. Criminals work together to stop weapon shipments.
Wings of Ebony by J. Elle
Release date: January 26th
Published by: Denene Millner Books/Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers
Subgenre: Urban Fantasy
Market: Young Adult
Short: A teen from Houston learns of her godly ancestry. When she returns to her home after she’s taken to a hidden island of magic wielders, the half god, half-human sees Black kids are forced into crime and violence in her neighborhood.
We Could Be Heroes by Mike Chen
Release date: January 26th
Published by: MIRA books
Subgenre: superhero, science fiction
Market: Adult
Short: Two misfits with extraordinary powers have amnesia. A vigilanted and a villain team up to stop a mad scientist threatening the city.
A Dowry of Blood by S.T. Gibson
Release date: January 31st
Published by: Nyx Publishing
Subgenre: Paranormal, historical fantasy
Market: Adult
Short: Dracula’s Brides with an emphasis on gay vamps and found family.
What are reading in January?
Do you think you’ll read any of these books?
What do you want to read more of in 2021?
Some causes to support!
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